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bsp; “I’ll be back soon. We okay?”
She nods and swallows.
I kiss her on the mouth and say, “I’m falling in love with you, Carly. I don’t want to do anything to fuck this up. Honest, baby.”
She smiles against my lips. “I’m falling in love with you, too, so don’t do anything to fuck this up.” She hugs me.
I bury my face into her shoulder for a second and take a deep breath. “I’ll try.”
I get up a minute later. “I’m running to my parents’ house. I’ll be back. If you go to bed, sleep in this bed. Move your stuff to this room. Okay?”
She gives me big eyes and nods slowly.
I lean over and kiss her lips one more time. “Be back soon.”
***
When I get to my father’s house, I see my siblings’ vehicles in the driveway.
I bang on the door. Auz opens and waves me in.
My mother is sitting on the couch in the drawing room, puffy-eyed. My Dad looks ten years older, sitting beside her, his hand on her knee.
She looks up at me guardedly.
“You okay?” I ask her.
She bursts into tears.
I hesitantly move in and sit down on the other side of her. She leans into me for a second and then straightens up.
My sister is sitting in the chair on the other side of the room.
“I’m entering rehab,” my mother says, clutching her tissue. “I’m sorry for the shame I’ve brought on our family. I’m… I’m going to work on it.”
“You’re not the first person to make a mistake, Mom,” Adele says.
Dad gets up and goes to the kitchen and returns with a bottle of water for my mother.
No one is sitting here drinking. This is like being in the Twilight Zone. I’ve always thought of this room as the boozing room as this is always where my parents go for drinks. Before meals. After meals.
“No, but today was the first wave. The DUI and assault. I received a text message telling me the second wave is going to be about my infidelity to my husband who has cancer. I’ll be crucified. Is it weak of me to go into rehab and leave you all to deal with that? By the morning, they’ll be on our lawn with cameras. I’m surprised it hasn’t already started.”
“No, Mom. You take care of you. We’ll handle that,” Auz says.
“I don’t deserve any of you, you know? But here you all are for me.” She starts to weep. Auz moves in and puts his arm around her. I rake my hand through my hair.
She did this to herself with her association with Bella, but I’m not exactly feeling like rubbing her nose in it right now.
There’s another knock at the door. It’s late so the staff must be all gone. Adele goes this time.
“Careful, Adele. It might be a---” I move to answer the door, in case there’s paparazzi. It’s Roger Greer. Roger strides in and glances at my father and goes directly to my mother.
“I do not think so,” Dad shouts and he’s suddenly between Roger and my mother.
“Aw fuck,” I say aloud, and move in to flank my Dad. Austin rises and gets on Dad’s other side. We’re a wall in front of my mother.
