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put distance between us as I fumbled for my phone in my purse. My heart was beating so fast and hard I could barely breathe and I nearly dropped the phone onto the ground. All the while I could feel Asher’s eyes, still on me, watching, waiting.
    â€œExcuse me,” I mumbled, glancing at the caller ID.
    Shit. It was Mom.
    Under any other circumstance I would have ignored the call. But at that very moment it was my only Get Out of Jail Free card and I couldn’t pass it up. I held up a hand to Asher before cowardly retreating to the other side of the tent and answering the call.
    Before I even said hello, I knew it was a bad idea.
    â€œSweetie!” my mother’s voice cried from the other end. The connection was crackly. There wasn’t great cell service out in the desert where she lived.
    â€œWhat do you want, Mom?” I asked, gripping the phone tightly.
    â€œWhat do I want? Can’t a mother call her daughter just to say hello?”
    I closed my eyes for a moment. Even through the static I could hear the squeakiness in her voice. The slight slur of her words. I so should have let this go to voice mail.
    â€œMom, I’m at Beth’s wedding, remember? I was going to call you when I got to the Holloway House?”
    â€œOh yes. You and your fancy wedding. I bet there’s a lot of food there, huh? Fancy food? And maybe some fancy wine? Lucky you, hobnobbing with the jet set while your poor mother sits in her trailer with an empty fridge.”
    I tightened my grip on the phone, my stomach nowchurning.
Don’t let her get to you
, I tried to scold myself. But, of course, that was impossible.
    I glanced around the wedding tent. At all the happy people, talking and laughing. Enjoying the day without a care in the world. What must it be like to live like that? Where your only true worries were where you were going to eat that night, rather than whether you’d eat at all.
    I reluctantly turned back to the phone.
    â€œWhat do you want, Mom?” I asked in a tight voice. “Do you need me to pick up some groceries for you?” I glanced at my watch, biting my lower lip in frustration. I had timed everything perfectly to give my toast, then head to the Holloway House where I was working the night shift. There was no way I’d be able to do both and deliver groceries in time.
    But the alternative . . .
    â€œOh, sweetie. You don’t have to go grocery shopping for me,” my mother cooed into the phone sweetly. Too sweetly. Alarm bells began to go off in my head. “I know how busy you are and I have nothing to do. So if you could just wire some money maybe, then I could go shopping myself. No big deal.”
    I sank into a nearby chair. “Mom, what’s going on?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Her voice got defensive. “Like I said, I just need some money for food.”
    â€œIs David there? Is he out of jail again?”
    The questions left my mouth before I could stop them and I froze, suddenly looking up, my eyes darting around the reception tent, praying no one had been close enough to overhear the
J
word. Thankfully everyone appeared to be occupied, drinking the aforementioned fancy wine and eating the fancy food.
    â€œMom?” I repeated, my annoyance rising again.
    Just one night
, I wanted to scream at her.
I just wanted one night at the ball. But you couldn’t even give me that, could you?
    There was a pause. I could practically hear the lies rolling around her empty head. “Well, yes, he is, actually. But I don’t see how that has anything to do with . . .”
    â€œMom, I’ll bring you some food. But I’m not wiring you any more money.”
    â€œYou ungrateful girl,” my mom snapped. “Your brother would have never done this to me. You brother would have—”
    It took all my effort to hang up the phone and stuff it in my purse. I didn’t need to hear anymore. I knew exactly