Committed to You

Chapter 5 Sleepless Nights

Elise interrupted her thoughts. "You asked me a question. Do you want me to give you an honest answer?"

"He used me, Mom. That is evident."

"Do you want me to give you an honest answer or not?"

Sloan threw up her hands and began pacing across the kitchen. "What do I have to lose at this point? Your answer couldn't possibly crush me more than losing him did. What do you have to say, Mom?"

"You went back to school and got degreed and licensed to figure out everybody else's problems, and you have failed to figure out your own. You need to find out why he walked out."

"What, me? Why should I have to figure out why he walked out? He should be begging and crawling at my feet for forgiveness! I don't owe him anything. He flat out used me."

"Do you honestly believe that, or is that something that Dillon has planted in your head?"

Sloan became statue-still. It felt as though her heart had thudded to a complete stop. Her temples were throbbing. She turned and faced her mother. "What?" She didn't know whether to be shocked, in rage or offended.

"From the day Jet walked off our front porch until six months later, when you moved to Florida, all I ever heard in this house was your father cursing Jet, telling you that he was just like any other man and that men could not be trusted. To be exact, he said—and I quote—'All men are the same; they get what they want and are gone.' You danced to his tune, even though I begged you to try and communicate with Jet."

"So this is all my fault! He would ... not ... marry ... me. Every time I set a date, it fell through because of Jetson Trent, not Sloan Jensen. How can you even be saying anything like this?"

The kitchen became a powder keg. If Elise said one more disagreeable thing, there would surely be an explosion. Sloan looked at her mother with daggers in her eyes. Elise wouldn't back down; she glared back, folding her arms. "Your father said things that made you feel justified. He gave you a reason to hate Jet. I know you were hurting, baby. We all were, but relationships are built off of communications. In a relationship, in good times and in bad times you have to try to work things out."

Sloan kicked over a bar stool that was sitting at the kitchen counter. Her face was red as a hot poker, and she was squeezing her hair. "Are you saying to me that Jet Trent is such a saint that he could not have possibly played me?"

"No. I am not saying that at all. Your father could be absolutely correct. Jet Trent may be a dog, just like a lot of men are. I am saying that you never tried to find out if he was a dog or if there was another reason."

"Ooh, Mother, how could you say this to me?!!"

"I've had to live my life without you for seven years. I miss you. I want you home. I can't bear to go through this any longer." Elise was in tears. She put her face in her hands and wept.

"Oh, Mother." Sloan walked across to her mom and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Mom."

Between her sobs Elise muttered, "All I know is that you and Jet have cared about each other your whole lives, and when the two of you fell in love I thought it was the most precious thing. I have never seen Jet treat you badly, but I have seen him love and adore you."

Now there were tears trickling down Sloan's cheeks. "Mom, I know you want that to be true, but Jet has had plenty of women in his life since me. He told me himself. If he wants anything with me, it's just to be another trophy on his shelf."

"You've been gone seven years; of course, he's been dating. My God, you've had more than a few yourself. What exactly did he say, Sloan?"

Her lip started trembling as she recalled Jet's exact words. It was finally dawning upon her that there might be some truth to what her mother was saying. I'm not going to lie. Plenty. But they didn't mean anything. However, she wasn't willing to admit it. She picked up her now cold cup of tea and gulped it down with a prayer that it would put her into a deep, deep sleep. She needed to forget Jet Trent right about now. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Goodnight, Mom."