Abbie closed her eyes again as her mother's hand smoothed over her hair. She wanted to take comfort from it. She did take comfort from it. There was simply too much pain for it to last, both physical and emotional.
Things hadn't been as easy between her and her mother lately. Honestly, the changes had become noticeable shortly after Abigail had moved back to Willow Creek and back into her childhood home. If her mother had had her way, Abbie would probably have been off on her honeymoon right now instead of lying in a hospital bed. A year was the perfect amount of time to plan a wedding — at least, it was for Rachel and her network of connections. There was no obstacle too great for her to overcome...except for the bride-to-be herself. Abbie had dug in her heels at every turn. She'd resisted. She'd shirked her duties, ignored deadlines, and refused to show up for appointments. Her entire life, she'd done her very best to fit herself into the mold her mother had created. It probably should have been a giant red flag — not only to her mother, but also to herself — that she chose to make her stand over something as seemingly trivial as wedding planning.
"I am. I'm okay," she said as she turned her head to look at her mother. Her face was bruised, her lip was busted, her bones were broken, but she was okay.
That's what she had to keep telling herself so she didn't lose her mind.
Abbie couldn't remember the last time she'd seen her mother look so tired. Rachel Knight was one of those impeccable style icons. If she could have attributed a motto to her mother, she would have gone with something like: Never let them see your weakness. Her mother had always exuded strength, determination, resilience. Right now, she looked like a woman who'd come back from the brink of loss and hadn't quite shaken the threat of something she couldn't defeat. "I'm really okay," Abbie said again. With her good arm, she reached up and touched her mother's hand. Her ribs objected to too much movement, and a grimace followed, but her fingers reached her mother's and curled around them loosely.
Her expression became less pained, but it was clear that the younger raven was still troubled. "I told Gabe the truth. About me. About us. He…." Abbie's words trailed off as she replayed his reaction over again. "He accepted it." She wasn't sure what else to say about that.