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Carter couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that
she had been gone for so long. Her brain racing to
what she had put her mother through, knowing that
she would never forgive herself.

Her eyes rose to meet Teddy’s, silently shaking her
head. “I had to do it alone, I didn’t and don’t want
Mom to see me like this Teddy… I- She can’t…”
Even the mere thought of seeing her mom scared the
brunette. “She’s going to hate me… She probably
already does…” Hate, disappointment, everything that
Carter wanted to avoid. Two weeks clean, and a lifetime
to go, she would need her mom and family, but facing
any of them seemed unfathomable right now.

“Your  mother  couldn’t  hate  you,”  Teddy said  quietly.
If  all else fell though, and  one thing remained, it would
be   a   mother’s  love  for  her  child.  Being   a  mother
herself,  Teddy could surely vouch for this   —  nothing
Delia  could do or say would  ever  amount  to  loathing.

“Disappointed,  maybe.  Heartbroken,  yes. But that’s a
price you’re going to have to pay, honey. I know you’ve
been  trying, but there are people counting on you to be
even stronger now. Just trust that you’ll make it, Carter.”
Life  did  often  seem  to  favor  some  over others, and 
who  could blame her if she truly was trying to make it
better?  It  took  one  to know one, and Teddy could tell
that Carter was stronger than  most  —  she’d  already
proven her will by making it this far.