Looking for Wildflowers

Chapter 11

Riley woke up early and started fixing the leaky pipes under the bathroom sink. Although they had all been replaced recently, it had been leaking for a few days and Taylor was tired of waking up to wet socks.

Taylor was busy doing laundry and dishes, ensuring everything was kept up and the house was clean. It may get cluttered from time to time, but she tried to always make sure it was clean.

Suddenly, as she was washing one of the last plates and watching a bird that had sat on the kitchen windowsill, there was a knock on the door. Much lighter than Riley's had been, but it still startled both of them. Riley came out of the bathroom and instructed Taylor to go into the bedroom while he answered the door. She did as she was told, despite wanting to see who was outside.

As he opened it, he was welcomed by an older woman with hair that was a simple light brow, only a few shades darker than Taylor's. Her eyes were a light grey and she had a small frame. She also carried a lot of luggage with her.

"Can I help you?" Riley asked, eyeing the luggage. This can't be good. he internally rolled his eyes as he waited for a response. Taylor kept her ear against the door, trying to listen to the conversation.

"Yes, I'm here to see Taylor. Does she still live here?" The woman tried to look around Riley but was unable to see much since she was much smaller than he was.

"Who are you?" He kept his voice firm, wanting to wave off any freeloaders who just wanted a free place to stay.

"I'm her mother." Riley's face dropped and the bedroom door opened.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Taylor asked, coming over to the door and almost seeming annoyed.

"Well, your grandmother and I had a big disagreement about some things, and she thought it is best if I found another place to stay."

"And you came here... Why?"

"What? Is the only daughter I have left not going to help me?" Her mother looked baffled by Taylor's attitude. Since she had been away from her mother, she had enjoyed and embraced the independence and freedom she now had. Her mother never let her do anything growing up.

"Well, we don't really have room for you, so I'm afraid not." Riley answered for Taylor as he started to close the door.

"I'll help out around the house. I'll even pay rent. It'll just be for a few weeks, maybe a month or two. I'll stay out of the way, I promise." The woman begged before the door was shut.

Taylor and Riley sighed as they both knew what was going to end up happening. Taylor couldn't turn her mother away, despite how much she hated the idea of living with her again.

"Hang on a moment." Riley grunted as he shut the door and turned to Taylor.

"No." Riley immediately turned to Taylor before she could even respond.

"Why not? If she really does pay rent, then we'll be able to have a little extra money for things like food and repairs."

"And if she doesn't, then we'll be without even more food." Riley had a point but Taylor wasn't giving up.

"Riley, we can't just turn her away."

"Why not? It's not like she's in danger anymore, we took care of that. If she can pay rent here, then she can afford a place in town."

"Riley, come on. It won't be that bad, especially now that she's living with me and not the other way around. We'll be the ones in charge and we can kick her out if need be. Just give her a chance, she's had a rough life. Let me try and help her get her back on her feet." Taylor begged. She couldn't bare the thought of living with her mother, but she also despised the idea of turning her away.

Riley placed two fingers on his nose and then threw his hand down. "Fine, whatever. But the second she does something wrong, she's gone. Understood?" Riley made himself clear and Taylor agreed. She didn't want to deal with whatever bullshit her mother would most likely bring either.

"You can stay, but only for a few weeks, a few months at the most. And you will be paying rent." Riley opened the door and informed the woman who gave a warm smile that sent a chill down his back.

They allowed the woman to come in and drop her luggage, placing it up against one of the walls in the corner, out of the way.

"You'll be sleeping on the couch." Riley announced as he went back to the bathroom to finish his work.

"I can't thank you enough," She told Taylor who was uncomfortable. "I don't know what I would have done if you two had turned me down." Taylor just stayed silent and tried to force a smile as her mother brought her in for an involuntary hug.

Taylor returned to the kitchen to finish the dishes and laundry and to get away from her mother.

"Who is that dashing young man you have staying with you?" Lindsey, her mother, was standing in the kitchen with her arms crossed.

"He's just a friend." Taylor didn't even bother cutting her eyes over, she hoped if she kept her answers short and simple, Lindsey would leave her alone.

"A friend? He seems to like you quite a bit." She winked. "I won't get in you two's way, but if you need help with anything, just let me know. You guys have done a fantastic job at fixing this place up!" She exclaimed as she stood there waiting for a response, which she never got. Once she realized Taylor was ignoring her, she dropped her arms and went back to the living room, setting up the couch for the night and getting ready to shower.

The rest of the day was tense, as all three of them sat at the dining room table, eating dinner. Taylor had made a simple casserole with some random ingredients she found that were about to go bad. They were trying to limit how much they spent as Riley's funds were starting to get low. They planned on spending the rest on investing in a small farm so they could just live off the land. However, that took time and a lot of work.

"So, how long have you two known each other?" Lindsey broke the awkward silence as she looked at the both of them.

"A while." Taylor answered, not looking up from her plate. She knew Riley was mad at her, and having her mother around again just brought a heavy wave of depression. She would have agreed with Riley and turned her down, but since she would often take the beatings instead of her when she was a child, she felt indebted to her.

"Well, I think you two are just adorable." She smiled. Riley wasn't sure what it was, but something felt off about this woman. On the outside, she appeared nice and caring, but he thought she was hiding something. Something they should probably know.

"What did you and Grandma disagree about?" Taylor asked as she finally stopped ignoring Lindsey and asked the obvious.

"Oh, just... the usual, you know how she is. I would be helping her do laundry and she'd always correct how I folded it or how I cooked or cleaned. Eventually, I had had enough and asked her to stop and she got mad at me and told me to just leave." Taylor stared at her with a blank expression. That was not the image she had of her grandmother, and something about the story just seemed weird.

"You two didn't try to just settle it?" She raised her eyebrows, digging for more answers.

"Oh we tried, but it always failed." Lindsey waved her hand in the air as in to say forget about it. Taylor took a deep breath as she collected her and Riley's plates, heading to the kitchen and cleaning up.

"Oh, let me help you with that." Lindsey tried to push her way into doing the dishes but Taylor pushed back, insisting she be the one to clean, at least tonight.

"I'm going to have Riley take me to Grandma's tomorrow." She announced simply, placing a bowl into the dish drainer.

"Why?" Her mother suddenly sounded offended.

"I want to hear her side of the story. Plus, it's been a while since I've seen her. I want her to meet Riley." Taylor continued washing silverware.

"There's no need for all that, just let it die down." Lindsey sounded frantic.

"Mom, it's been decided. I'm going." Taylor said plainly. Lindsey's mouth formed a straight line as she turned and walked out of the kitchen, laying down on the couch and turning away from everyone. Riley and Taylor hid in their bedroom, trying to figure out what they had just done.