Lizzie felt like weeping for the umpteenth time. The only parent she had left, and her mother was slipping away by degrees. And today had been a good day. Now even the good days wore on Lizzie and she found it harder and harder to rejoice in the lucid moments.

“I’m sorry, Mom. My mistake.” She packed away the pie before Rosemary could get upset and smiled. “Maybe we can sneak some ice cream from the kitchen. What’s your favorite flavor?”

“Vanilla,” Rosemary answered clearly. “But shouldn’t we wait for your father? He’ll be so sorry he missed lunch.”

Lizzie felt like banging her head on the table. It hurt to think of her dad at the best of times, but to be reminded this way by her mom was nearly unbearable. How many times could a person’s heart break anyway?

“Let’s sneak into the kitchen, then. See what’s in the freezer.”

She packed the dirty dishes into the cooler and zipped the top, then walked with her mom back over the lawns, through the gardens and flower beds to the low building that housed the patients. It looked like a lovely, restful place … until you got to the front doors and recognized the security features in place to keep patients from wandering away.

Lizzie guided her mom to the kitchen, where they managed to sneak a scoop each of vanilla ice cream before Rosemary started to show signs of fatigue and Lizzie helped her back to her room. “Thanks for having lunch with me today, Mom.” She put her arms around her mother, closed her eyes, and realized once more that the woman before her was her mother and yet bore little resemblance to the woman she’d known all her life. Rosemary had lost weight over the last few years, and she didn’t smell the same, like her preferred laundry soap mixed with Chanel perfume, a scent she’d always called “classic.”

What surprised Lizzie the most was that she wasn’t only grieving for one parent. She was mourning two.

Gently, she helped her mom to her bed. “You’re tired. Why don’t you rest your eyes for a bit? It’s time for me to go anyway, but I’ll be back soon. Is there anything I can bring you?”

Rosemary sat on the edge of the bed, acquiescing to Lizzie’s attentions, her body totally submissive. “I wish you could bring Russ back. I miss him so, Lizzie.”

Christ, what a moment for lucidity to return. Lizzie continued removing her mom’s shoes, but the view of them was blurred by tears. “I miss him, too, Mom.”

“He was so proud of you. So am I.”

Lizzie sniffed, gathered herself together, and lifted her head with a smile. “Thanks. He was a really great inspiration, you know?”

Rosemary nodded sadly. “Yes. Better than I ever was.”

Lizzie sat beside her mom and took her hand. “You are the best mother I could ask for,” she whispered. “And don’t you forget it.”

But Rosemary would. As she usually did. It never seemed to make sense, what she pulled from her memories. But Lizzie was highly doubtful her mother would remember today. Certainly not the things they’d said.

As if she could read Lizzie’s thoughts, Rosemary squeezed her hand and looked at her with a tired but concerned expression. “Lizzie, did you remember to pay the bill for lunch?”

“It’s taken care of, Mom. You rest.” She eased her mother down on the bed and covered her with a light blanket. Lizzie, who wasn’t generally prone to emotional displays of affection, leaned over and kissed her mom’s forehead in a way similar to how Rosemary had kissed hers when she was a little girl, being tucked in for a nap or bedtime. “Love you.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Rosemary sighed, a contented sound. “Maybe Russ will be by later. He promised.”

“Maybe,” Lizzie replied, feeling like she’d been through an emotional wringer, wondering exactly when she and her mother had made such a complete reversal of roles.

She left as Rosemary was drifting off to sleep, stopped to chat briefly with staff, and then hit the road, heading back to Jewell Cove. And wondered what it meant that she was relieved to be returning to the little cottage instead of her condo in Springfield. Somehow the little spot overlooking the inlet was exactly where she needed to be.

Not in the bustle of the city or the chaos of an emergency room. Good God. She might actually be losing

her edge.

* * *

Honest to God, if Sarah tried to set him up one more time he was going to lose his cool and be very blunt in telling her to back off.

This time it was an impromptu family trip to Sally’s Dairy Shack for banana splits. Josh shook his head as he stood in line, wondering why he hadn’t seen it coming. Summer Arnold was behind the counter taking orders, her pink-striped hair pulled back into a weird twist and covered with a hairnet. Her diamond-stud nose ring was visible, and with her hair pulled back so was the row of earrings in each ear, including one ear cuff hooked by a chain to a dangling daisy earring.

She was so not his type. Not that she wasn’t a nice girl. She was. He’d known her for years. Sarah and Jess thought a lot of her, which was why he’d tolerated a certain amount of interference. But really, they had to stop doing this. He wasn’t interested. Full stop. And it was getting damned awkward.

Matthew and Suzie placed their orders, and then Mark and Sarah ordered splits for six—the two of them, plus Rick and Jess and Meggie and Josh. When Josh went to collect his, Summer gave him a sympathetic smile. “Extra pineapple on yours. I know you like it that way.”

He hoped he didn’t blush. “Thanks, Summer.”

He started to take the plastic boat from her hands, but she held on just a second until he looked up at her. It surprised him to see she had understanding written all over her face. “Don’t worry about it, Josh. Eventually they’ll stop pushing.”

Tags: Donna Alward Jewell Cove Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net