The Debra Dilemma (The Lone Stars Book 4) by Katie Graykowski Page B

big difference to her.
    She would no longer run from AJ’s memory, she would embrace it. There were people to talk to about her baby, people who understood her loss and didn’t think it was her fault.
    What if…just for tonight, she gave herself a little break? Just for tonight, she’d skip the blame game, silence her own mental abuser who always waggled his index finger and called her bad, and just enjoy the evening. Didn’t everyone deserve a vacation? Well her inner critic was overdue. Really, giving him the night off was only fair. He’d been at work in her head for as long as she could remember.
    That was it. Tonight, she was just Debra Covington, mother of AJ Covington, counselor for Safe Place, and all around good person. Her shoulders practically squared themselves and for the first time in a long time, she held her head high.
    The elevator door rolled open, revealing the lobby.
    Emit, the concierge and doorman, smiled and nodded, “Good afternoon, Ms. Covington, you look lovely.”
    His warm smile was gracious and honest and contagious.
    She felt lovely and smiled back at him. “Emit, isn’t it time you called me Debra?”
    Ms. Covington was the old her, now she was just Debra…or maybe Debbie. No, she was definitely Debra. That’s what fit. That’s what felt right.
    “All right, then. Debra, you look lovely. Have a wonderful evening.” He nodded as he opened the heavy front door.
    “Thank you, I intend to.” She walked out into the sunshine and spotted Grace in a silver Lincoln Navigator. She waved to her new friend and pointed to her white Ford Escape.
    Thirty minutes later, she pulled up to the Robbins’ house and parked in the driveway. Her good mood and bravado were waning, but she needed to face the people she’d wronged. This couldn’t be any harder than facing Grace, Summer, and Laney. She put a hand over her nervous stomach.
    Everything was going to be all right. Everything was going to be all right. She recited the affirmation over and over in her head. Maybe she should click her heels together three times for good measure.
    Something Dr. Ben had once said after he’d fallen on a slick sidewalk and hurt his knee drifted into her head, “If the worst thing that happens to me today is this, then I’m doing pretty good.”
    He’d been right. If the worst thing that happened to her today was facing down men that she’d wronged, then she was doing pretty good…er…well. When she put things in perspective, it was amazing how little petty grievances became—well—little and petty. She’d been through hell, she could handle a couple of football players.
    “Let me get those.” Debra raced over to Grace and took four of the canvas grocery bags she was about to loop over her shoulder, and looped them over her own shoulders. After balancing the bags, she picked up a plastic gallon of milk in each hand.
    “Thanks for the help. It’s strange, the boys always seem to disappear when it’s time to unload the groceries.” Grace picked up the remaining bags and looped them over her forearms. With her elbow, she clicked the garage door button and the heavy door rolled down. Again with the elbow, she opened the door into the house.
    “You have some mad elbow skills. How do you manage to use it as another hand?” Debra was impressed.
    “It’s a mom thing. It comes with the ability to talk on the phone while cooking dinner, helping with homework and holding a baby on your hip—all at the same time. Motherhood is all about multitasking. I’ll show you.” Grace hefted her bundle of bags onto the kitchen island.
    Debra followed her lead and placed her bags and milk on the counter next to the island. See eyed the real garland draped on the top of the kitchen cabinets. Paper snowflake cut-outs, probably done by the kids, hung from varying lengths of red ribbons above the kitchen table. The room smelled fantastic and she was willing to admit that these Christmas decorations were lovely. Ben had