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Weirded out, mostly.
“What do you think?” she asks me, batting her thickly coated lashes.
“I think…” I say as I rise out of my seat, “that you should head home, Ms. Thatch.”
A flicker of disappointment flashes across her features, but it’s so quick that I wonder if I imagined it. “Are you staying late? I could keep you company if—”
“That won’t be necessary. Good night.”
Her jaw tenses, but she says nothing more. Renee nods and turns, disappearing as quickly as she came.
The whole encounter leaves me feeling chilly.
What the fuck was that about?
Chapter 30
Tip #30: Always give credit where credit is due.
EDEN
“I’m really proud of you,” I tell him as we get out of the car and walk up the front steps of the rehab center. “Seriously, Dad. You’re making a really good choice.”
Dad nods wearily. He hasn’t spoken a whole lot since being released from the hospital. He’s been camped out on my couch for the past couple of nights, glaring at the informational pamphlets the emergency room doctor provided us. At first, I thought he was going to brush the whole thing off, maybe come up with an excuse.
It’s not that bad.
I have my drinking under control.
It was just a one-off incident.
I was admittedly floored when he agreed to check in to Malibu Paradise Clinic. A part of me was frustrated that he took so long to make the decision. He needs the help. Why can’t he see that? But in the same breath, the other part of me was immensely relieved. A stay here might do wonders for him and his sobriety. I’m nowhere near capable enough of giving Dad the support he so clearly needs, so his decision to come is a huge weight off my shoulders.
The nurse that meets us at the reception is nice. Clare, I think her name is.
Dad’s listless, barely able to concentrate as she gives her practiced first-day spiel.
“We encourage regular contact with friends and loved ones,” Clare explains as she guides us down the pristine and well-lit hall toward the room Dad will be staying in. “We strongly believe in providing our patients with supportive networks. Calls will be monitored, of course. We’ve had unfortunate incidents in the past where external sources have brought in prohibited substances, so we want to make sure that everyone’s following protocol. It’s not meant to be an invasion of privacy, but of safety.”
“How are we even going to pay for this?” Dad asks. He picks at his fingernails, his eyes shifting anxiously from left to right. I can feel his hesitation as well as his shame. “I already owe JWC a lot of money, Eden. My credit cards are… not an option, either.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve got the whole thing covered.”
He frowns. “How?”
I contemplate bringing Hunter up again, but then I remember how pissed off Dad got when I told him who I was working for. “I’ve got a job now, remember?”
Dad sneers. “Working forhim.”
“Don’t start with me.”
“That rat bastard… I want you to quit.”
I put my hands on my hips, my patience non-existent today. “You of all people don’t get to tell me what to do. This is the last I’ll hear of it. I’m a grown woman, Dad. I can work for whoever the hell I want,especiallyconsidering I’m the only one in this family apparently making sound financial decisions.”
Dad winces. I love him, but he’s really getting on my nerves. Do I feel bad for reaming him out like this? Obviously. Is it the bitter tablespoon of medicine he needs to get his ass into gear? Hell yes.
“You can act all high and mighty once you’re sober,” I tell him flatly. “And even then, you still don’t have the right to tell me what to do. I can make my own decisions, and if you can’t respect them, that’s on you.”
