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“I’m starting to see that.”
“Let me ask you something. Would you ever treat Olivia like that?”
“God, no.” Her answer was immediate.
“There you go, you know the truth inside. No one protected little Mara from Mom’s wrath. You’re going to have to protect yourself. Unless I’m there. If I’m there I’ll be all over that shit.” I was disgusted with the pressure my mother constantly put on Mara.
“I know you would. I need to stop feeling guilty for saying no to her. I should be allowed to say no without having a panic attack.”
“Agreed. However, the only person who will allow you to do that is you. If you’re waiting for her permission, it’ll be a long wait. She won’t give it.”
“Love you, Willa.”
“Love you, too, Mara.”
Junie and I worked through the rest of the morning together on a joint project. Minty did what paperwork was required, manned the phones, and worked on her art website. Occasionally she would pass it over to one of us to take a look-see and give her a few tips. Either of us would have been happy to put it together for her but she liked to work out creative things on her own.
It was closing in on two o’clock when she stood up from her desk and stretched. “Do you guys want Spuds?” She asked while grabbing her coat.
Spuds, the poutine bar, owned by Minty’s bestie, Ruby, was only two doors down in the same plaza. In between us and Spuds was Shop the Parthenon, a tiny grocery store with every Greek delicacy you could imagine. I bought a lot of my dry groceries from them. Crazy nice people. Crazyandcrazy nice. I never left their store without a smile on my face and free extras that Elisavet tucked into my bag.
Junie stretched as well. “Yes, good, OPA Spud for me please.”
“Same,” I added, “wait! What are you getting Minty? I don’t want to be jealous.”
She chuckled. “I don’t know yet. I’m going to walk over and decide when I get there. The sun is out, and I could use a breath of air. I might sit with Ruby for a bit. She’s feeling kind of down. I think she’s running into problems with the franchising idea she had.”
“Tell her if there’s anything we can do marketing wise we’re happy to help. Are you going to eat there?”
“No, I’ll bring it back here and eat with you. If you’re jealous and you want mine, I’ll eat your OPA Spud.”
“Well, now I feel like a giant baby,” I grumbled.
The door closed on her laughter.
The following weeks passed with no further contact from my mother, not even on my birthday. I barely saw Barrett, and I told myself, repeatedly, that it was better that way.
Chapter 6
Denny’s
Barrett
Several weeks passed in a blink and the beginning of April was on top of him. He hadn’t seen Willa, other than in passing at the animal shelter, for weeks. He had decided to back off a bit and give her some time to think. His hope was that the way would be clear for them to proceed after Rhys and Rebecca’s wedding at the end of April.
Tonight, they were hitting the bar, Rhys, Rebecca, Zale, Mara, Willa, and himself. The anticipation had been building for the past few days. He was honest enough with himself to admit to losing patience. For fuck’s sake, Rhys met Rebecca in July and five months later she was living with him, and they’d be married within nine months of meeting. In that same nine months, he’d barely gotten a date. He snorted to himself. He’d never had to work this hard for a woman.
He got to the bar after Rhys and Rebecca, but before Zale, Mara, and Willa. Mara had always reminded him of someone and every time he saw her it teased the edges of his memory. Seeing her for the first time in this atmosphere, feeling the anxiety that rolled off her in waves, and noting the wariness she wore like a second skin, it suddenly occurred to him. She reminded him of his sister-in-law, Amy, Rhys’s late wife.
Barrett had loved Amy. She was the older sister he never knew he always
wanted. She loved hard. There was no other way to describe it. While she did have her rough moments, it was mostly Rhys who bore the brunt of her outward struggle with borderline personality disorder. She, of course, suffered the most. Until she got help, her suffering was always close to the surface. When he looked into Mara’s eyes, he saw hints of the same angst.
She stopped to say hello to him and her sweetness, as always, shone through. He looked up and met his brother’s eyes over her head and he nodded. He saw it, too. So, that was the source of her struggle he had first sensed months before when Willa asked him what he saw. He wondered if Willa knew.
Mara looked at him closely. “What’s the matter?” she asked.
He looked into her big, sad eyes. “You remind me of someone I still miss.”
