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“For?”
“For your depression.”
There it is. It takes a whole hell of a lot to pull something over on Annie Mitchell, and clearly, I didn’t do a great job.
“Momma, I’m fine. I don’t need to see a doctor. It’s under control.”
“There’s nothing wrong with it. I saw one when I was going through it.”
My eyes go wide. “When were you depressed?”
“Darlin’, your daddy completely uprooted our happy little life with all of his demons. I went from a comfortable stay-at-home mom with a warm and loving husband to basically a single mother who had four mouths to feed and a husband who would only show up to steal from her.”
My heart suddenly aches. My brothers and I always complain about our daddy and all the issues he caused us growing up, but I can’t imagine what it must have been like for my mother.
“Momma, I—”
She holds up her hand. “Nope. That’s not why I’m telling you this. I did what I had to do, and we made it through. And as far as I’m concerned, all four of my babies turned out pretty wonderful. But at the time, things seemed pretty hopeless. It was hard for me to get out of bed in the morning. Four little mouths to feed, though, meant that lying in bed all day wasn’t an option, so I went and saw a doctor.”
“What did they do?” I ask.
“They said that a chemical imbalance in my brain was making the whole situation worse, so they gave me some pills to take. Honestly, at first, I thought the whole thing just sounded like a load of hogwash. Pills to help my brain?” She waves her hand as though the thought is insane. “But low and behold, I took them, and they worked. I still had bad days, but they weren’t nearly as bad. Most of the bad thoughts were gone. And I’m still on the meds even now.”
I’m shocked at what I’m hearing. My momma has never even given the slightest hint that there might be a chink in her armor.
“Why are you telling me all this?” I ask her.
“Because I feel like I might have passed on more to you than your blonde hair and witty attitude. Maybe you have some of my shortcomings too, and maybe this is one of them.” She pauses for a moment and chokes back the tiny bit of emotion creeping up in her throat. “Baby girl, I don’t want you to miss out on your life because you’re lying in bed, hiding from the world. I’m not saying that medicine will fix everything. I’m just saying that maybe talk to a doctor and see what they have to say.”
I nod, truly vowing to consider what she’s saying.
“And Jenna?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She sighs. “For not ever telling you about this before now. I thought it was always better to be strong for you kids and not let you see any type of weakness.”
As far as I’m concerned, what she just told me isn’t weak. It makes me appreciate and admire her even more.
Chapter Forty
Shane
“What are you reading, Sunshine?” I ask, walking into the living room after my shower.
She jumps as though I’ve scared the daylights out of her.
“Nothing,” she says, snapping the book shut.
Oh, now I have to know.
As quickly as I can, I lunge forward and grab the book out of her hands. It’s clear that it’s some romance book.
“A little light reading?” I ask.
