Tara clapped. “That’s amazing! You’re a natural.”
“Good job, Mom,” I said.
“So I can steal your daughter for the night?”
“Her left arm is still weak, so I don’t know if she can…”
Tara walked forward and stepped in front of my mom. “Push against my hand.” She held her right hand in front of my mom’s left. Mom pushed against her hand. “How do youfeel, Andrea? Do you think you can do your nighttime routine tonight without Ms. Helicopter Daughter over here?”
My mom let out a dry laugh. “I do.”
“Great. But call us if you need us, okay?”
Tara dragged me toward the door.
“I’m not even properly dressed,” I said.
“Okay, you have ten minutes. Hurry.” She released me and I went to my bedroom. I felt uneasiness churning in my chest. I didn’t want to leave. Sure, I had left her for several hours here and there, but not when she had to actually accomplish tasks. Tara hadn’t been here to see how dizzy my mom got—even if itwasin her head. She hadn’t held her after she fell. She hadn’t watched her suffer in pain, sometimes silently, sometimes not.
But if she thought my mom was ready and my mom thought she was ready, maybe I really was being overprotective, hovering. She was going to have to start taking care of herself again at some point, after all.
As I was leaving ten minutes later, I looked back over my shoulder at my mom, who was still standing there, gripping the handles of the scooter, watching us go, and my uneasiness grew.
“This isn’t a karaoke restaurant,” I said.
Tara had taken me to a restaurant to “celebrate” the completion of the therapy challenge. I thought it was a thank-you gesture, but when we arrived, Michael and Elijah were already there, and on the table in front of them was some sort of large speaker. It wasn’t until my eyes followed the cord that was attached to a microphone at the end that I realized what it was.
“We talked to the manager,” Michael said. “And it’s all good.”
Why didn’t I believe him? Elijah was smiling beside him like this was an everyday occurrence.
“The other customers aren’t going to be happy,” I said.
“A bet is a bet, Sutton,” Michael said. “Are you the type who follows through or aren’t you?”
I groaned. “Fine, but can I get at least three alcoholic beverages in me before this goes down?”
Elijah laughed. “At least.”
I sat down next to him. “I hate you.”
He kissed me. “You can punish me later.”
The waitress came by and we ordered drinks and some appetizers. It was past dinnertime, but we all agreed that we could eat.
It took me two drinks to feel any sort of loosening of my tight muscles, but that was about all I felt as I looked at the speaker that Michael had moved to the bench seat between him and Tara.
As our waitress walked by, I called out, “Excuse me!”
She turned.
“Can I get another margarita?” I held up my glass, which only had a few ice cubes in it.
“Sure thing,” she said. “Anyone else?”
“I’m driving,” Tara said.
“Me too, I’m good,” Elijah said. They’d both had only one drink. Michael ordered another with me and added some shots for both of us as well.
