Life, Love & A Little Coffee

Deleted/Rewritten Scenes (Part Two)

After Tom admitted to having feelings for Ada:

When Ada killed the engine of her car next to her fathers truck and saw that her mothers car wasn't there, she noticed only a single light on in the living room. But when she went in, she noticed it wasn't her father waiting up for her or her mom, but her mom waiting up for her or her father.

"Busy night?" Her mother asked before taking a sip of what she assumed was tea based on the tag that dangled from the cup.

"Not really," Ada admitted before she dropped her purse in the doorway and joined her mom on the couch. "Where's dad?"

"Tom called for a ride. I guess he took a drive and ended up all the way in Whittenburg when his car broke down. That's going to be one hefty ass tow bill in the morning."

"Why didn't he take his truck?"

"He didn't?" Her mom asked, lifting herself off the couch enough to spot the truck outside. "Asshole took my car. You know, someday he's going to admit that he likes driving that thing." She shook her head and lowered herself back down on the cushion. "So what took you so long? You should have been home a while ago."

Ada ran her fingers through her hair and let out a small sigh. This wasn't something a girl should talk to a parent about, at least not with this particular situation, but Ada needed someone to talk to and Britt had been quiet enough where Ada more than got the hint.

"Can I talk to you about something without you telling dad?"

Her mom leaned against the cushion and the armrest, getting comfortable. "Is this about Tom? Please don't tell me you proposed to him. Men don't like that when you aren't dating them. They think it's creepy."

Ada looked down at her lap, uncertain of how to proceed.

"Oh, honey, please tell me you didn't propose to Tom."

"I didn't propose to Tom," Ada answered quickly. "But you know how I sort of told him I had a thing for him the other day."

Her mom nodded. "Yeah?"

Ada tucked her hair behind her ear, the words failing to come to her.

"If that asshole broke your heart, I'll break his fucking knee cap."

"He didn't break my heart, mom. I think he admitted to having feelings for me tonight."

"I'm gonna break that asshole's fucking knee cap!"

"Mom, please."

"What do you mean you think he admitted to having feelings for you?"

"I mean I kind of asked him how he felt about me and he sort of answered." Ada scrunched her nose and looked off into the distance, replaying it yet again in her mind in the hopes of finding a definitive answer where there wasn't one to be found.

"As deep as that conversation sounds, are you sure you aren't reading into it? Seeing what you want to see?"

"No, I'm not sure," Ada admitted. "But the way he said it... I dunno. It was like he was disappointed in himself or something, like he was scared to say it out loud. And then he just left and apparently took a road trip."

Her mom shook her head. "Well, considering he knows your dad would kill the crap out of him if he started dating you, I don't think he'd call him to pick him up after his car broke down."

"Well, the way we left things I don't think he'd call me and I don't think he has anyone else."

Headlights appeared through the window and Ada realized her father had returned home. At moved her attention back to her mother. "You can't tell dad. Please. Even if it's all in my head. He can't know about this." Desperation could be heard in Ada's voice and could be seen clearly on her face.