Rachel & Huck

 

"I knew she'd hate everything about you," Rachel did her best to look Huck in the eye. It was the truth. She knew that look of her mothers.

"Now, that's rather harsh, don't you think," Huck gave her a shrug and plopped himself on the bed. He sat next to her as the bed did bounced back as if it knew what was coming. He put his arm around her.

Of course, her mom's new husband didn't show up at Thanksgiving. And Carol was out of snuff from the get go. But she gritted a smile ever so often while Gretta laid out all the fixings of a nice Thanksgiving that she'd done on her own.

Really, Rachel was glad she hadn't had to do anything. Actually, she was waiting to hear back from the elementary school, just down the street, but she had to go through a background check and a physical just to be a teacher's aide.

They'd decided it would be a good fit. Huck got on in maintenance out at a new hotel near the convention center. He worked a few weeks at Cabellas but somehow became friends with the manager at the Hotel and he got on quickly. It was mainly small jobs like painting rooms and fixing the TV cables. He was learning about the indoor pool and keeping it in check. Perhaps it wasn't the most high-paying job, but it was enough. Of course, her mother wasn't impressed.

"You can't let her get the best of you, you just can't," Huck said he'd talked to her brother who was optimistic their mother would make up with her new man. "Besides, your brother and Gretta have her bedroom and he is paying the mortgage these days."

Rachel pressed her lips tight. She knew what to expect out of her mother too. They were never to be friends. She'd always hoped they could be. Some day. But she was just a mom who only knew to yell when her future never panned out. At least the yelling hadn't happened yet.

They'd put out the wine at Thanksgiving. Of course, she'd gone through four bottles already and was asleep on the couch. It was snowing ever so quaintly like a cozy white blanket. Yes, it felt like it would be their winter of discontent after all.