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From the expressions on their faces, Mia didn’t think this was going to be a pleasant conversation, but she couldn’t imagine that the day could get much worse than it already was.
They all settled at the kitchen table, Amy and Steve on one side, and Trey and Mia on the other. She wasn’t sure what was going on here, but the couple kept exchanging worried glances, obviously uncomfortable about the upcoming conversation.
“I’m not sure how to begin,” Steve finally said. “I don’t want to alarm you or anyone really. We’re just…”
“Concerned,” Amy said, jumping in. “We’re concerned. Mike isn’t acting quite right, and we know that he just lost his wife so we’re trying to give him some grace, but he’s said some disturbing things that we can’t ignore.”
Now Mia was truly worried. She’d also thought that Mike might not be handling Lane’s death all that well and now Steve and Amy were confirming it.
“I don’t quite know how to describe it,” Steve said. “It’s like he’s completely moved past Lane’s passing and simply moved you into her role. He’s talking about you like you’re his wife. He’s making plans for a vacation. Did you know he’s planning to convince you to sell your house and move in with him? When I questioned him on that, he said it would be simpler.”
Sell her house? Move in? That wasn’t something she would do.
“He mentioned the vacation idea when I visited him in the hospital,” she admitted. “He talked about renting an RV and traveling for months around the US.”
“He’s already on the internet doing searches about that,” Amy said. “He told me that as soon as the doctor says he can drive, the two of you are going off on an adventure. When I pressed him about it, he said that you agreed to it.”
“I didn’t do that,” Mia replied, her voice shaky. Grant’s fears were starting to take on a whole new meaning. “I specifically told him that I couldn’t commit to something like that. I said we’d talk about it more when he was better, but that I can’t be gone for months. Lane and I have work contracts that I have to honor. I can’t be gone for a long time, even if I wanted to go.”
Steve scraped a hand over his face, clearly struggling to find words.
“Shit, I don’t even?—”
“I’ll just say it,” Amy said. “Mike seems to be obsessed with you. You are literally all he’s talked about since we got to the hospital today and then when we brought Mike home. He won’t talk about anything else. We tried to bring up the final arrangements for Lane and he told us to do whatever we wanted. I was floored. Like Steve said, it’s like he’s just skipped over his relationship with Lane and inserted you in her place so that his life goes on without a blip. We’re worried that he’s having some sort of mental break.”
“I told him that he wasn’t thinking straight,” Steve said. “That he sounded delusional. He didn’t take that well. He yelled at me that no one understood him. I told him that he was right because he was acting crazy.”
“That probably wasn’t a great idea,” Amy said under her breath. “It just made him mad.”
“Someone needed to wake him up, but I don’t think it worked. He just keeps muttering to himself, so I finally just left him alone. We’re hoping that maybe you can get through to him.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
Mia was genuinely concerned for her friend’s mental health. It did sound like he wasn’t dealing with things and just ignoring the reality of his wife’s death. They needed to get him to a professional to help him sort to all out.
“I’m not sure what we should do,” Steve said, jumping up from his chair and pacing the small area between the table and counter. “There’s a part of me that thinks you shouldn’t talk to him and another part that thinks you may be the only person he’ll listen to. We talked to a doctor at the hospital about this before he checked out, and if we can get Mike to agree, he’ll even come here to have the first session. We feel like we need to intervene immediately. Right now, Mike is so unpredictable. We don’t know what he’ll say or do next. He’s in the bedroom renting an RV for a trip that you say you don’t want and never agreed to. My baby brother is losing it, and I feel helpless. He’s not listening to either of us, and he keeps saying he’s fine. But he sure as hell is not fine.”
“I will talk to him. I’ll try to get him to talk about Lane’s funeral, and I’ll remind him that I didn’t agree to the trip. Maybe if all three of us talk to him, he’ll realize that he can’t just pretend last night didn’t happen.”
“I’ll go see if he’s awake,” Steve said. “See if he’ll join us in the living room. The doctor said that Mike needs to move around a little if he can tolerate it. Thanks, Mia. Amy and I didn’t know what to do.”
“I’ll do all that I can,” Mia replied, taking a deep breath to psych herself up. She didn’t have any illusions that this was going to be an easy conversation with Mike. “We can work on this together.”
Steve went upstairs and the three of them went into the living room. Trey offered to wait out in the car or the front porch. He was a stranger to Mike, and he didn’t want to be an impediment to making progress since he was a stranger.
Mia didn’t want Trey to leave, but he’d made a good point. Mike might not respond well if Trey was there, even if he didn’t say anything. Trey slipped out the sliding glass door to the backyard. From where he was standing, he could see what was going on, but unless Mike walked up to the window he wouldn’t see Trey.
“Do you know what you’re going to say?” Amy asked as they settled on the couch.
Mia’s hands were shaking, and her heart was racing far too fast. She didn’t want to screw this up and cause Mike any more pain than he already had.
“No, but I’m hoping something will come to me quick.”
She’d wanted to ask Mike about Grant and the sheriff’s allegations, but with her friend’s fragile mental state she didn’t think she’d get a coherent response. Maybe in a few days? Should she tell Amy and Steve that the police suspected Mike of murdering his own wife? She didn’t have a clue as to what to do or say.
The sound of heat footsteps hurrying down the stairs drew Mia’s attention and Steve stood at the bottom of the staircase, a dazed look on his face.
“Honey, what’s wrong?”
