There she was, the mother he knew, disliked and loved all in one package. Belligerent, antagonistic and angry. This insane plan had better work. He was at his wit’s end. His stomach churned, his shoulders ached and he wanted to cut and run. Leave town, leave his mother to deal with her own problems.
“Not an interrogation,” Hailey said softly. “More a discussion, an intervention of sorts. We just want to talk to you. Nothing more.”
Jesse admired her calm, rational attitude.
“Do you remember any of last night, Mom? You were asleep when I went to bed.” Once his mother went down, she was out for the night, giving him a little piece of mind. If only she’d done that last night.
“I went to bed before you,” she admitted. “But I woke up.”
“Do you know how you got here? Hailey asked.
His mom shook her head, wincing. This was worse than he thought. He had no idea she was having blackouts. The idea his mother might blackout and injure or kill herself made him ill. He bit back a gag and massaged his aching stomach. If this kept up, he’d be eating antacids by the handful.
“You crashed a car you borrowed on Thorpe Street. I don’t know where you were going, or where you were before that. You crashed it and abandoned it.” Thank heavens Hailey had come along and had the foresight and determination to find her.
His mom ducked her head. “No.” The single word was barely a breath of air. “I couldn’t have.”
“Yes, you did.” He slid the photo of the car onto the table, keeping the others they’d gathered and printed in reserve. “You’re lucky no one was hurt.”
She covered her mouth with her hands and sobbed. Tears streamed down her cheeks and dripped off her chin.
Part of him rejoiced in her remorse, maybe they were getting through to her. The rest of him cried at the pain and agony on her face. Every tear was a knife to his heart.
“You could have killed someone. You might have died.” Hailey inserted her pre-arranged line, her voice trembling. She stood a framed picture of Amy Jo, her husband and three kids, on the table.
“They could have lost their only grandparent.” Jesse forced the statement out calmly, though he wanted to shout at her, to scream out his anger and fear, but held himself in check. This was the time for rationality and hard truths, not emotional displays.
“I wouldn’t do that to them,” his mother objected, refusing to look at the picture.
He slid the picture toward her. “You nearly did. You crashed the car and abandoned it. Hailey found you, shoeless, blocks away and stumbling down a walkway. If she hadn’t recognized your purse and chased you, you would have frozen to death in the blizzard.”
He slid three more photographs on the table. Amy Jo had sent them when he called to tell her what had happened. His sister hadn’t liked the plan, but she’d photographed each of her sleeping children and sent them along for printing.
“Look at them, Mom. Gary, Giselle and your namesake, Iris. She’s only two. She’d grow up with absolutely no memory of you.”
“No!” she cried. She hunched in on herself, body shaking, wringing her hands together. “No. No. No. I didn’t. I couldn’t.” Her voice broke and she cried silently, shame etched on her face.
“You have to stop drinking,” he pleaded, laying it all on the line. “Please, Mom. Before it’s too late.”
“I have nothing left. Your father left; your sister left. All my friends are gone, except the regulars at the bar.”
The desolation, the absolute terror of abandonment in her voice cut through him like a blizzard wind, chilling him to his soul.
“You are so wrong, Iris. You have your family and you have me.” The voice came out of nowhere.
Jesse spun toward it. Hailey’s mom stood in the doorway; her face streaked with tears. He gaped at her. Where had she come from? Last he heard she was on vacation with her husband.
She crossed the room to kneel beside her friend. Jesse saw the wobble in her steps and quiver in her arms. She embraced his mother and leaned back to take her hands. He couldn’t imagine what it had cost her to set aside a feud to help his mother; he admired her guts and compassion.
“Iris Phillips, you are the most stubborn person I have ever met. You’ve made mistakes. We all have, I should have forgiven you long ago. You’re sick. You need help. Turn that stubbornness to good use. Save yourself. Those grandbabies of yours need you. I need you.” She wept openly.
His mother stared and tugged her old friend closer. Leaning on each other, they wept away five years of pain and anger.
Hailey’s father stood in the doorway, tears on his cheeks. Hailey sobbed through her watery smile. His heart ached like it would break. For the pain, the loss, the near tragedy and with the hope he might get his mother back.
His mom looked up at him. “I am so, so sorry.” She blinked away fresh tears. “I’ll go. Tomorrow. Today. I guess it’s morning.” She gestured at the light peeking through the drapes. “I’ll go to rehab in the city.”
“We’ll all take you,” Hailey’s mom stole the words from his mouth. “We’ll fight this together.”
