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I scrunch my face and shake my head. “I’m not sure what you mean. What did you lose?”
Her deep blue eyes darken as she throws her clothes on the floor. “Don’t lie to me, Janet! You stole my necklace. Where did you put it?”
She’s becoming hysterical and I’m not sure how to handle this situation. Sometimes, I’m able to calm her down, and sometimes, when I try to soothe her, it makes it worse.
“What necklace? I’ll help you look for it.”
“No, you won’t. You won’t help me. You always take my stuff. I’m going to tell Mom.”
When she yanks open another drawer, it falls out of the dresser and drops to the floor. Before she can try to pick it up, I move to her and gently grab her wrists. She looks at me and freezes.
“Summer,” she says softly. “When did you get here, honey? I’ve missed you.”
A lump forms in my throat. It’s been four days since she recognized me last. I blink several times, trying to keep my tears from falling. She stares at me, waiting for an answer but I’m struggling to keep myself under control. After several swallows, I finally feel like I can speak.
“I just got here, Mom. I missed you too. Do you want to go have a cup of tea and sit in the living room?”
She smiles and wraps her frail arms around me in a tight hug. A soft sob escapes, but thankfully, she doesn’t seem to hear.
“Tea sounds wonderful. I made your favorite cookies earlier, hoping you’d come over.”
There are definitely no cookies anywhere in this house, but I don’t correct her. If she wants to think she made me cookies, I’m absolutely okay with that. It’s the thought that counts.
“That was sweet of you, Mom. Come on.”
We go to the living room, and she settles down in her recliner. I’m reluctant to go into the kitchen to make the tea for fear she won’t remember me when I get back. It’s so hard to know how long it will last, and I want to savor every second of it I can.
I lower myself onto the couch and smile at her. “How are you doing, Mom?”
She smiles at me in that loving, motherly way she used to when I was younger. It warms my heart, and I choke up all over again.
“I’m good, honey. How’s work? Do you still like being a lawyer?”
As nonchalantly as I can, I brush my thumb under my eyes before the tears fall. “It’s okay. Stressful. I’ve been considering looking for a new job here in Pine Hollow. You know, so I can be closer to you.”
Her eyes sparkle, and she leans forward to grasp my hands in hers. “Oh, Summer. That would be so wonderful. Only if you want to, though. I know I let you down when you were growing up, and I understand why you wanted to get as far away from your father as you could.”
My brows shoot up, and I shake my head. “Mom, you never let me down. I mean, I wish you’d had someone who treated you better but that was on him. Not on you. You were a great mom.”
She looks sad, and my heart aches painfully.
“I’m not so sure about that. I tried. I know your dad did some terrible things. He had so many demons inside left over from fighting in the war. It’s no excuse, though. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you more. I wish I could have done things differently. Then maybe you would have stayed.”
This time, I let my tears fall. “Maybe I could move back. So we can spend more time together. I can be an attorney anywhere.”
“I’d like that, honey.”
I nod, unable to speak. My home life growing up wasn’t great. My dad was a liar, a cheat, a gambler, and an alcoholic, and he had a mean streak. He never hurt me, but there were times he hurt my mom. Through it all, she did her best to give me as much love as she could, and I’ve always been grateful for that. I wish she would have left him instead of staying married to him until he died, but that was her choice. I’ll never understand it fully, but I don’t hold it against her. She did the best she could at the time, and that’s okay.
“I love you, Mom,” I choke out.
Her bottom lip wobbles as she pats my hand. “I love you too, honey. Now, how about that tea?”
It only took an hour before she forgot who I was. In that hour, we laughed and talked and drank tea. It was both wonderful and painful. It felt like I was waiting for the shoe to drop the entire time. Then I went to the bathroom and when I returned, she called me Janet again. I went into my bedroom and cried for a few minutes before I pulled myself back together again.
She’s been pacing the living room for the last hour, mumbling under her breath, and no matter what I say or do, I can’t get her to settle down. My nerves are frayed, and I’m struggling not to cry again.
My phone vibrates. Dane’s name on the screen brings a smile, though my chest feels tight.
