I roll my eyes. “I prayed that it wouldn’t, but deep down, I’ve always known she would drink herself to death.”
There’s a long silence as we both think about our future with our alcoholic mother.
“So, tell me about this boyfriend.”
I laugh and throw my head back dramatically.
“Oh, come on. You knew this was coming.”
“Fine. I met him several months ago when Vesper took the vet job at the ranch.”
“He owns a ranch?”
“No, he’s the ranch hand. But one day, he wants his own.” I smile. “I know he can do it, too. He’s come a long way from the closed-off guy I met. You’d be proud of him.” I nudge his arm.
“As long as he’s a decent guy and treats you well, I’m okay.”
I stand and grab us another beer from the fridge. He looks at it with confusion when I hand it over. I shrug. “We gotta dry this place up,” I joke. “So, what’s your plan? You’re done with the military for good?”
“Yep. I think twenty years is enough, don’t you? Can you handle having me around constantly?”
“You mean, like, in the same town but having your own place, right?” I joke.
He reaches over and ruffles my hair. “Always such a brat. Yes, I will get my own place. I’ll only be here a couple of weeks, tops!”
I laugh and smack him away. “You can stay as long as you need. You know that.”
“Question is, who gets Mom?” he asks, suddenly serious.
I hold my hands up, palms facing him. “I have enough going on right now. I’m trying to start my own business. Plus, I’ve taken care of her for ten years now. It’s your turn for a little while.”
He laughs. “Guess I better call the building manager and tell him I’ll need a two-bedroom.”
“This building?” I point toward the floor.
“Yep. We’ll be neighbors, little sis. What do you think of that?”
I groan and throw myself back.
Two days later, my cell phone rings as I’m handing over the check to the construction company to start work on the coffee shop.
“Excuse me,” I tell, Bill, the owner.
I pull my phone from my pocket and walk out the door. “Hello?”
“Is this Amy Brighton?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“This is Officer Wilburn. I’m here with your mother. She’s been evicted and refuses to leave the premises.”
“I’ll be right there.” I hang up the phone and call Ethan.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“We have to go get Mom. She’s been evicted and is refusing to leave. I just got a call from a police officer.”
“Fuck,” he breathes out.
“I’ll pick you up in five.” Without another word, I hang up the phone and head back inside the building.
“I’m sorry, Bill, but I have to go.” I slip my phone into my pocket as I close the distance between us.
“That’s fine. I’ll lock up here when we’re done. We’ve just got a few more measurements to take so we can get the ball rolling.”
I hold out my hand and he reciprocates with a handshake. “Please call if you have any questions.”
“Will do.” He salutes as he turns toward his men, who are moving about the space.
I rush out to the truck and climb behind the wheel.
It takes us twenty minutes to drive to the neighboring town, to our mom’s place. There are two police cars with their lights flashing out front, along with the landlord. I park across the street and we both rush over.
“I’m sorry,” the landlord starts. “I gave her plenty of chances.” He genuinely looks sorry. Small wrinkles are forming around his dark brown eyes, and he rubs his hand through his fuzzy gray hair.
“I know you did, Mr. Tucker. I’m sorry it’s come to this. I’ve tried for months to get her help.”
Ethan places his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll go in and see what I can do.”
I nod him on, watching as he walks across the yard and into the house.
“I really wish there was another way, but she hasn’t paid rent in months,” Mr. Tucker says, bouncing from foot to foot with nerves.
“Months?” I ask surprised.
He presses his lips together and nods.
“Will we be able to get her belongings?” I ask the policeman.
“The judge has granted Mr. Tucker the right to go through the belongings and sell what he can to make up for lost rent.”
I look over at the landlord. “Would it be okay if I took the other things? Her clothes, our family photographs? I promise, I’ll leave anything of value.”
He nods while looking at his feet. “Well, I guess that’d be okay.” He offers up a quick nod while crossing his arms over his chest.
“Thank you,” I say softly, as I push myself forward.
Stepping into the house, the smell of stale air, trash, and alcohol takes over my senses. I have to force myself to stifle a gag. Off in the distance, I can hear Ethan softly talking to our mom. He’s trying to talk her into leaving her home and coming back to mine. I leave them alone, and instead grab a couple of bags out of the front closet to start packing up a few things.
It takes Ethan a good half-hour before they come walking down the hall together.
“I’m going to go ahead and take her back to your place. Once she’s settled, I’ll come back and pick you up, along with everything you’ve packed.”
I nod once and toss him the keys, purposely keeping my eyes away from my mother. I know her haggard appearance will only anger me.
Once Ethan and my mom leave, the landlord comes inside to check out the damage on his property. He walks in, back straight and jaw cocked. He places his hands on his hips and stops in the center of the floor, looking around the room and letting out a long breath.
“I’m really sorry for how this played out, Mr. Tucker. I just—I couldn’t keep putting myself through this every day. I hold a trash bag at the end of the coffee table and swipe all the empty bottles into it.
“This is just part of it, Amy. I really appreciate your help with the mess. Most people wouldn’t do that.” He grabs a trash bag of his own.
It’s going on midnight before Ethan walks back into the house. Everything I’ve packed up to take is piled up by the front door. All the furniture is staying to be sold, and all the trash has been packed out to the curb.
“I can’t believe things got this bad,” Ethan says, walking through the living room, looking at the bare walls and stained carpet.
I nod, feeling tears begin to leak from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have just abandoned her like that. I should have been here every day making sure things were taken care of.” I fall onto the couch, holding my head in my hands.
Ethan takes the seat next to me, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me to his side. “This isn’t your fault, Amy. I mean, if we want to start playing the blame game, I think I’d win. I’m the one who up and left you alone to deal with her. I thought running away would solve the problem, but all it did was make everything fall on you.”
“How was she? When you dropped her off, I mean? You were gone a while.”
He lets out a deep breath and shakes his head. “I stayed there until she passed out. I didn’t want her to trash your place looking for booze. We’ll sit her down and talk with her tomorrow when she has a clear head.” He gently rubs my arm up and down. “Let’s get home and get some sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a doozy.”
Chapter 12
I have no idea what time it is, but I wake to my phone ringing. After all the stress of last night, and then having to stay up late packing, I’m nowhere near ready to wake up. But I roll to my side and grab my phone off the nightstand.
“Hello?” I ask, without opening my eyes to see who’s calling.
“Good morning, beautiful,” Tyler coos.
I smile, unable to hold it back. “Good morning.”
&
nbsp; “Do you have plans for today? I was hoping to get you alone. Maybe have a picnic, enjoy the sunset…” He lets his sentence drop off, letting my mind wander.
“Mmm, that sounds amazing. But I’m not sure. My mom was finally forced out last night and Ethan brought her back here. We need to have an intervention.” I sit straight up in bed. “Crap. What time is it?” I whip my head around to check the time.
“It’s going on nine. Why?”
“I have to call Vesper. I was up so late night packing up my mom’s stuff that I completely forgot to call into work. I’ll call you back.” Without another word, I hang up and quickly dial Vesper.
“Amy, what’s up? You’re late.”
“I know.” I wipe at my eyes. “I’m sorry. Listen, I can’t come in today.”
“Are you okay? Are you sick?”
“No, nothing like that.” I take a deep breath and explain everything—from my mom finally getting kicked out, to having to pack up her belongings all night, to the talk we have to have with her today.
“Amy, I’m so sorry. Of course you can take the day off. Take the week off if you need it to get things squared away.”
I snort. “No way can I afford that. Today will be enough. Thank you for understanding.”
“Anything you need, I’m just a call away.”
I’m about to thank her again and say goodbye when a loud crashing sound fills my ears. My eyes pop up to the door, and in a split second, I hang up the phone and run from the room, finding Ethan and my mom in the kitchen having a heated discussion.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask, rushing to Ethan’s side.
“I’m hopeful with time things will start coming back to her. She didn’t remember getting kicked out of her house last night. And…she’s angry she can’t find the vodka.” He says this like it’s just an ordinary sentence.
I want to laugh, but the seriousness of it all dampens my amusement. “Mom, we need to talk.”
“I’m not going. You…you don’t understand.” Her dark hair is a mess all around her, and she has dark circles under her bloodshot eyes.
“How about I make us all some coffee, and we can sit around the table and talk?” I hold out my hand.
Her wild eyes go from my hand, to Ethan, to me, and back to my hand before she finally takes a deep breath and reaches for it. Slowly and cautiously, I guide her to the table and sit her down before turning around to brew the coffee.
It only takes a minute before the coffee is ready, and I pour us all a cup before taking my place beside my brother and mother.
“Mom, what do you remember about last night?” I ask before taking a sip, eyes glancing between her and my brother.
She thinks over the question for a minute. “I don’t remember anything.” She shakes her head.
I bite the inside of my cheek. How in the world can this life be okay for anyone? How can you live day by day, not remembering anything that happened the day before? Why would you want to?
“Mom, you haven’t paid rent in months. You’ve already had your power, water, and phone turned off. Now you’ve lost the house. You have to see that this isn’t okay.”
“I don’t need those things,” she retorts.
My eyes feel like they stretch wide with her response. “Then what do you need?”
“I need you to leave me alone,” she mumbles like a child who’s being punished.
“So you can do what? Where would you go? Where would you live? Under a bridge? You want that life?”
“You two don’t understand. I can’t just stop drinking. I’ve tried so many times. I get sick. It’s the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. I need to drink. I have to drink.”
I shake my head. “No, you don’t. What you need is help. Let us help you,” I plead.
She takes a drink of her coffee and wrinkles her nose—probably because it’s not Irish. “And how can you two help me? Stick me in some facility and let me become someone else’s problem?”
“Mom, those facilities would be like a fucking vacation! They’ll keep you from experiencing the withdrawals as badly. There is medicine to wean you off. They know what they’re doing. They won’t just lock you in a room and let you wither away.”
“Mom, I know this is how you’ve lived your life for the last twenty years, but you have to see it isn’t working anymore,” Ethan adds on. “You’ve lost everything you had to lose.”
I don’t say anything. I just sit, waiting—praying—that she will finally accept that this is the end.
“Can we at least take you to a few of the places and let you look around? You can see it with your own eyes,” Ethan begs.
“And then what? When I get released? Where will I go?”
“By then, I’ll have my own place and you can come stay with me. I’ll help you get back on your feet. I’ve left this hanging over Amy for so long that it’s her turn to go out in the world and find her place.” He reaches over and takes my hand that’s resting on the table.
I offer him a small smile as a thank you.
“Okay. I will go look at these places. But I’m not promising anything,” she finally agrees.
Ethan and I both nod as we push away from the table. “Let’s get dressed and we’ll go right now.” I leave them alone in the kitchen while I go to dress, afraid that if we both leave her alone, she’ll sneak out and run off.
When I dress and walk back into the kitchen, Ethan leaves to get ready.
“What was he talking about with you finding your place in the world?” Mom asks. “Are you planning something? Are you leaving?” This is the first time I’ve heard her speak clearly in years. Usually, she wakes up still drunk from the night before and reaches for the bottle, never sobering up. But last night, her drinking was cut short, and there’s nothing here for her to start back up with. I know we have to get her into rehab soon before the withdrawals start.
“I’ve recently bought a building in town. I’m opening my own coffee shop,” I answer, turning to grab my purse and keys.
When I face her, I see her nod once before finishing off her coffee. It feels like she wants to say something, but she doesn’t. Instead, she sits quietly waiting until Ethan is back.
“Ready?” he asks.
“I’ll drive,” I volunteer, pulling out the email I’d printed out that Vesper gave me weeks ago with the list of facilities.
It’s going on five o’clock when I’m pulling up to the ranch. I climb out of the truck and walk toward the barn, finding Tyler putting away a horse.
He turns when he senses my presence. “Hey, you never called me back. I didn’t know if I’d see you today or not.”
I walk straight up to him and wrap my arms around his middle, resting my head against his heart.
“Rough day?” he asks, wrapping his arms around me and holding me close.
“You have no idea,” I mumble, refusing to let go.
“I’m done here for today. Let’s go back to my place and you can tell me all about it.” He releases me only to place his finger under my chin, directing my eyes to his as he bends down and presses his lips against mine.
This kiss causes everything else to fall away. I forget about last night. This morning. My mom. All of it gone and replaced by him and the way he makes me feel.
It only takes us minutes to drive down the old dirt road to his cabin. When he pulls the truck to a stop, he rushes around to my side and catches the door as I’m opening it. Before I can step out, he’s holding me in his strong arms, carrying me into the house and setting me down on the brown leather couch.
“You want a glass of wine?” he asks, tossing his baseball cap onto the chair, followed quickly by his tight t-shirt.
“Please.” I reach down and remove my boots, kicking my feet up on the couch.
Moments later, he’s back with two glasses of wine. He lifts my feet and sits down, then places my legs over his lap.
“Tell me about your day,” he requests. His hand lands on my knee, gently ru
bbing up and down my legs.
I take a sip, then a deep breath, and dive into my day, hoping that talking about it will help the tension leave my body. “Ethan and I talked Mom into checking out some rehab facilities today. To my surprise, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be, but I guess talking to her sober is easier than talking to her drunk.”
“Well, that’s a step in the right direction, isn’t it?”
I nod. “It is. I’m just worried that she’ll leave as soon as things get hard, you know? She’s not ordered to be there, so she can leave at any time.” I take another sip, then put the glass on the table and I slide down, lying on my back. “We ended up visiting four different facilities today before we finally talked her into staying at one. I’m beat.”
Tyler finishes off his glass and sets it on the table. He picks up my foot and starts massaging it. “I’m sure it’s been hard on you, but just think about how everything will be easier from here on out. I mean, your mom is being taken care of. You no longer have to worry about finding her dead, or wonder if she’s taking care of herself. Plus, I’m sure having Ethan home is a big help.”
“He is a big help. He’s even volunteered to keep her with him once she gets out, just to give me a bit of a break. I think he’s blaming himself. I mean, he’s been gone all these years, so he’s been able to pretend this situation didn’t exist. But coming home to it all, and seeing firsthand how bad things have gotten…”
He releases my foot. “Things are getting better, Amy. Just trust.” He climbs up my body, resting his hips between my legs as his hand cradles my face and his lips move against mine.
“You’re so beautiful,” he says against my lips, “and so giving and caring.” He deepens the kiss. “I don’t deserve you, Amy.”
I break away, looking into his dark eyes. “Why would you say that?”
He tears his eyes from mine. “You’re just…so selfless. I mean, you’ve spent nearly your entire life taking care of your mother and you’ve never asked for anything in return. And I ran away from home the minute life got hard for me.”
I push him back as I sit up. “You did what was best for you, Tyler. You needed distance and space to heal. What your fiancée did to you would be painful and damaging for anyone.”
Claimed By Him: (Contemporary Romance Box Set) Page 22
