Page 59 of Bring Them Home

“But you need to find Mr. Archer’s family and who killed him.”

Her words weren’t meant as a dig… “And I will.”

“No.” Zoe adamantly shook her head. “You can’t do that if you’re with me.”

“Let’s talk about this more when we get home.”

“No!” Zoe yelled, and let it carry.

The noise rang in Amanda’s ears, and she debated whether she should silence Zoe or let her continue with her tantrum. She decided on the latter. During Amanda’s time speaking with a therapist, her doctor stressed the importance of not censoring her feelings or suppressing them. She added it was also best to allow them to be expressed in whatever way came naturally.

A moment later, Zoe was looking over at her as if stunned her outburst never got a reaction.

“Trent is still working on finding them while I’m with you. Right now, it’s you and me.” Amanda got them on the road for home. “We’ll make pizza and talk.”

“I don’t want to talk.”

“Well, I do,” Amanda said firmly, changing her mind from earlier.

Zoe didn’t respond, and the drive home passed in silence.

Once they got into the house, Zoe plopped onto the couch and turned on the TV.

Amanda took the remote from her and turned it off again.

“Hey,” Zoe griped.

“Help me make the pizza.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I didn’t ask if you did. Come on, let’s move.”

“Do I have to? I’d like to watch TV.” Zoe slumped, wriggling flat out on the couch.

“You want to eat pizza, then you’re going to help me.”

“Who said I want pizza?”

For Zoe, pizza was right up there with pancakes and a burger from Petey’s Patties, but it had failed to get a rise out of her. They had pizza two nights ago but that wouldn’t matter. The girl could eat it every night.

Zoe turned the television back on.

“I know you’re upset, but your behavior is unacceptable. Turn it back off.”

Zoe looked at her with defiance in her eyes and turned up the volume.

Grief or not, Amanda couldn’t tolerate this disrespect. Amanda took the remote and turned the TV off again. “Go to your room.”

“But pizza.”

“I’ll get you when it’s ready to put the toppings on it. Go.” She thrust a pointed finger toward the hallway.

Zoe pushed out her chin and stomped off. Seconds later, her door slammed shut.

Amanda fell against the closest wall and took a deep breath. We will get through this… Her mind kicked out the positive thought despite it being hard to put faith in it at the moment. She walked into the kitchen, grabbed a ball of frozen dough from the freezer and put it into a sink full of warm water to thaw. Next, she got to work gathering toppings.

What am I going to do? The question pinged around in her head. Her mother had advised her to be honest, but one other thing Amanda had learned from her example was that there also had to be guidance and discipline. Being a mother was all that Amanda had wanted from the moment she was engaged to Kevin, her late husband. She always thought she had what it took and could handle whatever life brought her way. How naive she had been. Being a parent was the toughest job on the planet—balancing love and acceptance while correcting and guiding them. Parents were also called upon to act as judge and jury. They needed to decide what punishment fit the “crime.” That was the riddle Amanda was trying to solve right now. Was sending Zoe to her room enough to send the message that the way she’d treated Amanda was unacceptable? Or should there be heavier consequences? It was tricky for Amanda when she understood Zoe’s point of view.