“I need you, Jett,” he whispered, eyes forward, admiring the woman who gave him life. We walked closer until we stopped before the table. No one looked up from the table to acknowledge us.
The receptionist tapped the older woman on the shoulder and pointed toward Ethan and me. “Mary, look who came to visit you,” she said gingerly with an even amount of excitement as if talking to a young child. “It’s Ethan, your son.”
Mary had the same red hair as Ethan, though hers was wispy and dulled. Her eyes were a pale blue against her even paler skin, and her thin lips opened into a big smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she admired the man standing beside me. “Ethan?” Mary’s voice came out tired and ragged, and Ethan clutched my hand tighter. “I have a son?”
“Hi, Mum.”
I’d never seen Ethan so nervous. He was usually put together, composed and unbreakable. But as his eyes hit his mum, he instantly became vulnerable to the woman sitting before him.
“Would you look at that, Ellen,” Mary clapped her hands together, “I have a son, and he’s so handsome.”
“I’ll be back at the desk if you need me,” the receptionist stated as the older ladies around the table agreed before she slipped away.
Ethan let go of my hand, and I awkwardly stood as he took an empty chair beside Mary. “How have you been?” His eyes beamed at the woman as he rubbed his palms down the front of his jeans. “Is this place treating you well?”
“Yes, sir. It’s like one big holiday here, though George is probably somewhere sleeping. Have you met George, my husband? I can go wake him up. He should meet you and your beautiful—”
“Mia,” Ethan quickly said, waving me over. “This is Mia, Mum.”
I walked closer, and Mary held out her hand. “Well, nice to meet you, dear. Aren’t you just the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen,” her cold hand patted the top of mine, “Ellen would you look at her. Natural beauty right there, I’ll tell ya. Nowadays, girls cover their beauty with makeup and nonsense. However, you should visit the salon we have here. They could doll-up that hair of yours, make it look posh.”
“Yeah, real posh.” Ellen nodded with a trembling hand, reaching for a black checker on the table.
Mary smacked Ellen’s hand. “Don’t think I’m not watching you, this boy may be blinding my vision, but not my senses. You can’t pass one by me.”
I laughed, something I haven’t been able to do in a long time.
Mary pointed a shaky finger at Ellen. “That Ellen, I’ll tell you what. You have to look out for that one. Never played an honest game in her life.”
I glanced over at Ellen, who continued to nod and agree with her friend.
“Mum, let’s take a walk in the garden. Get you outside for a little bit, yeah?”
“Yeah, all right, handsome. And Donald,” Mary tossed a checker over at a gentleman staring out the window in a daze to grab his attention, “Watch Ellen while I’m gone, will ya?”
“All right,” Donald nodded, munching on his veneers, his big brown rimmed glasses covering his face.
Ethan pushed his mom in a wheelchair across the grass until we parked by a concrete table surrounded by benches. His foot pushed down the brakes of the wheelchair, making sure it didn’t wander off, and I took a seat over the bench, following Ethan’s lead. He pulled a large coat tightly around Mary’s small frame as white clouds appeared with every breath he took between them.
“Did ya hear about that cabin fire in Cheshire? Two dead, they say,” Mary shook her head, “such a shame.”
Two dead?My eyes snapped to Ethan, and he didn’t look shocked by the same news I was hearing.
“You shouldn’t be watching the news, Mum,” Ethan pointed out, ignoring my blatant stare and taking a seat beside her, straddling the bench. “You should be enjoying yourself.”
“How else am I supposed to know what’s going on in the world?”
“You’re not, you’ve done that for far too long. It’s perfectly okay not to have to worry about everyone else. Enjoy your days. Every single one of them. For me.”
“Then tell me about yourself, would ya? Put me at ease with some good news for once.” Mary kept her eyes out in the distance, her hand in Ethan’s and my heart clenched inside my chest.
“Mia and I are taking off to the states after we leave here. We’re going on a boat, how’s that for good news?”
“Are you taking your sister? You can’t leave her behind, Ethan. Olivia needs you right now. She’s not doing so well. I always said that’s why I had two kids. In case anything ever happened to me and George, you and my Livy would have each other. You have to push her through it, the darkness took her under, but you can lead her out. I know you can,” she sighed, shaking her head before turning to face Ethan, “Depression isn’t funny business. Not something to treat lightly. And it’s not that she doesn’t care about you either, you have to remember that. Depression isn’t about not caring anymore. It’s about caring too much for too long. It’s the ones with the biggest hearts, giving too much away to too many who end up in the dark,” she turned to look at Ethan, “be her beacon.”
The tears falling were like fire against my icy cheeks, and my clouded vision trailed toward Ethan, whose cheeks were red. He briefly glanced toward me and quickly wiped a tear before it had a chance to fall. His mom had no idea she’d been dead for over two years now.
“I know, Mum. I know,” Ethan paused to gather himself, “She’ll always be with me, wherever I go, you can rest easy knowing that.”
