The Sweetest Love (Love Conquers All Book 5) by Victoria Wells

the curtains, found two panels in brown with swirls of beige. By the time they got to Home Depot to pick up some paint swatches, mother and daughter were all tuckered out.
    Rolling over on her back, she glanced up at the ceiling. She wanted to tell her mom about Adam, but figured it was too soon. What if after a few dates, that special connection she thought they shared wasn’t there? I’ll wait it out before I say anything, she wisely advised herself .
    Besides, she needed to get to the bottom of whatever was troubling her mother. Several times during their day together she would catch her mother staring off in space. She really knew something was up when her mother suggested, “Why don’t you stay with me tonight? We can take our showers, then climb in the bed and watch movies like we used to when you were a little girl.”
    “It’s about time,” she teased when her mom came into the bedroom in her robe with a towel wrapped around her head.
    “Oh hush your little fresh mouth up. I washed my hair and you know how long that takes when I do it in the shower.”
    “Don’t I know it,” Roxy mumbled under her breath as she crawled on her knees to the nightstand. Picking up the wide-tooth detangling comb and Carol’s Daughter Healthy Hair Butter, she positioned herself behind her mom.
    Reba’s long, damp tresses fell down her back as Roxy removed the towel. She smiled as her daughter began to tenderly comb through her hair. The pair sat in comfortable silence and enjoyed the ritual they’d been doing for years.
    Parting the hair down the middle, she plaited the one side. Working the loose hair in small parted sections, she began applying the hair butter to the scalp and hair. “Mom, your hair is so long and pretty. Why do you keep it up in a bun all the time? You should wear it out. Get it cut in long layers or something.”
    Why was she still wearing her hair in an old granny bun? And why was she still shopping at thrift stores? And why hadn’t she been on a date in years? And why did she feel so much older than her forty-five years?
    Going to meet Harold and then running into Donna and sharing her story had stirred up memories she’d fought to keep buried. For the last few days all she could think about was her life from the time her mother had abandoned her. Until she had her daughter, there was never a soul who cared about or loved her.
    “Mom? What’s wrong?” Roxy asked again, her voice strained with worry. All this spacing out was so not like her mother.
    Snapping out of her reverie, Reba turned around to face her daughter. The worried expression on her face was tearing her heart into a million pieces. “Oh, come here baby,” she whispered, opening her arms.
    Roxy willingly went. Her body began to tremble as silent tears ran down her face. Something was wrong with her mother and she didn’t know what it could be. Was she sick and not telling her? Oh God, please no!
    Her body began to tremble even harder at the thought of something happening to her mother. What would she do if she lost her mother… just like she lost Abby? Oh God.
    Reba tightened her hold as Roxy’s heart began to pound so fiercely that she could feel it. “Oh baby, calm down,” she soothed. The last thing she wanted was to have her go into a panic attack.
    “I… can’t… something’s… wrong… with… you…” Roxy wailed in between hiccupping sobs.
    Roxy tightened her hold when Reba tried easing her out of her arms. Nope, she wasn’t letting her go.
    Good Lord, I’m going to need the Jaws of Life to get this child off of me. “Roxy, baby, mommy can’t breathe.”
    She took in a deep breath of air when she loosened her grip. It was time to tell her what was going on. All Roxy’s life she shielded her from the ugly truth; mostly because she was ashamed to tell her about her past. But she wasn’t a baby anymore. It was time for her to know everything.

    Roxy quietly listened as her mother shared her story. “I want to