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“I believe your mother said we were making shepherd’s pie tonight. I’ve had it, but I’ve never fixed it, so I’m excited to learn the receipt.” Heather gave him a half-smile, as if she had no idea how he’d react.
Sally came downstairs after taking Caroline her food, and she looked at Heather in shock. “She said you need to call the doctor. She thinks she’s having a relapse.”
Heather nodded. “I’m sure she does.” She wasn’t about to go fetch the doctor though. There was no point.
When Heather finished her meal, she cleared the table with both Patrick and Sally watching her. “Aren’t you going to get the doctor?” Sally asked.
Heather shook her head. “Trust me. It’s best if we just let her stay up there as long as she wants, but don’t offer to take her anything. That’s what she wants.”
Sally frowned. “What if she’s really sick?”
“She’s not. She’s simply tired because she did some actual work this morning. If we bring in a doctor, she will never leave that room.”
Sally and Patrick exchanged a look. “But if we don’t help her, will she die up there?” Sally asked.
Heather shook her head. “She’s fit as a fiddle. At least that’s what the doctor in Beckham told me before I left.” She continued clearing the table as if nothing was wrong at all, pleased that they were seeing some of her mother’s theatrics.
While Heather and Sally made supper that afternoon, they could hear Caroline calling them from upstairs. At first, she used a voice that made her sound sick. And then her voice grew louder. Finally, it sounded like someone bellowing orders.
Sally looked at Heather who was doing her best to simply ignore everything her mother said. “I don’t think I can take this much longer. I need to take her a drink of water or something.”
“If you do, you will become a slave to her every whim. She was tired after picking up potatoes all morning, but only because she hadn’t done anything in almost ten years. I would strongly suggest not going up there, but if you do, know that you go up alone. I will not be party to my mother pretending to be dying ever again.”
Sally looked at her for a moment, but seeing the resolve on Heather’s face, she knew she should follow her daughter-in-law’s lead—no matter how hard it was.
When Patrick arrived home for the day, Caroline was still yelling sporadically, telling them she needed water, or that someone needed to read her a book. He was very surprised to see his mother not running to help her. She was a born caretaker, and he knew it must be hurting her not to do as the woman asked.
The shepherd’s pie was delicious, and Heather complimented Sally. “I would like this receipt written down, so I don’t forget how to make it,” she said. “This is wonderful.”
Patrick glanced toward the stairs. “Are you sure we shouldn’t check on her?”
Heather took a deep breath. “Do you want your mother-in-law living in this house for the rest of her days? She’ll expect to be fed three meals a day in bed. I could only talk her into going to the table in Beckham because there were no stairs.”
Patrick looked toward the stairs one more time and shrugged. Heather knew her better than he did.
Chapter Ten
After the supper dishes were done, Patrick asked Heather if she’d walk with him for a while.
Heather nodded, happy to get out of the house where her mother was still yelling from the upstairs.
“Are we going to be able to get her out of the house tonight?” Patrick asked as he looked up at the house from outside.
“I don’t know if we’ll get her out tonight, but soon. No one will cook for her or take food upstairs for her, so she’ll eventually get hungry and come down to find something to eat. I’ll have to talk to your mother about hiding any food that’s ready to eat. The bread we made today and any desserts. We’ll need to keep them so Mother can’t find them. She won’t cook for herself. She’ll go home to the boarding house.”
“Is there a way we can send her back to Massachusetts?”
Heather shook her head. “I really don’t think so. It would be nice, but she sold the farm. There’s nothing there for her to go back to.”
He sighed. “I guess you’re right. But does that mean she has to stay here for the rest of her life?”
“Oh, no. I’m not living with her. She can stay at the boarding house, and we can see her at church on Sundays. I don’t think we need to let her keep coming here and acting this way.” Heather knew she sounded cold-hearted, but she also knew that both Patrick and Sally were starting to understand that what she’d said about her mother was true.
“Do you think she’ll let me take her to the boarding house tonight?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I never know what she’s going to do. I doubt if she’ll let us get her out of the house tonight. She had not stepped foot out of the house in Massachusetts for ten years. She had a chamber pot that I needed to empty for her.”
He groaned. “How are you able to be such a good, sensible person when you came from her?”
