Page 67 of I'm Watching You

Hard didn’t begin to describe what lay ahead. ‘You need to tell Brenda that if she doesn’t get help there are going to be consequences.’

‘Such as?’ Howard said.

‘If she doesn’t stop drinking and using, then you will withdraw all financial support. No access to your cash, definitely no use of your car, until she sees me or anAAcounselor. And you can always ask her to leave your house.’

Marilyn’s shoulders slumped. ‘How can we ever ask her to leave? She depends on us so much. I don’t want to see her suffer anymore.’

‘I understand the rough road you face,’ Lindsay said softly. ‘I’m not saying you put her out on the street today. But she needs to understand if she’s going to stay in your house, she’s expected to be clean and sober. It’s yourhouse and your rules.’ Lindsay kept her tone gentle. ‘The alcohol and drugs are eating her up. It’s only going to get worse.’

Tears ran down Marilyn’s lined face. ‘But she needs our help. And I’m afraid if she doesn’t have us, she’ll go back to her ex-husband.’

Lindsay thought back to the hour-long conversation they’d had on Sunday. ‘Brenda is twenty-six, and she doesn’t have a job. She depends on you for cash, which she’s using to buy drugs and alcohol. She’s stolen from you. Marilyn, it’s time to stop making it so easy for her to drink and use.’

Marilyn started to weep.

Howard’s frown deepened. ‘Have you ever been through anything like this? And I mean personally, not just professionally.’

Lindsay nodded. ‘As a matter of fact, I have. I’ve been through the kind of battle you are going to fight.’

Marilyn sniffed. ‘Who did you have this problem with? A brother or a sister?’

Lindsay usually was careful not to reveal too much about herself. It was important to keep barriers between her and her clients. But today her guard was down. Seeing Zack yesterday had brought a lot to the surface. ‘My husband. I was devastated when I realized he was an alcoholic, like my father had been.’

Marilyn stared at her through watery eyes. ‘What did you do?’

‘I begged him to stop drinking. And when he refused, I kicked him out of our house.’

Howard stiffened. ‘That sounds drastic.’

‘It was. But he is a tough, arrogant man and I wanted to get his attention. I wanted him to understand he had to clean up.’

‘Did he?’ Howard asked.

Her hope had been to save her marriage, not destroy it. ‘Yes. In the end, he got sober. But it was a very long haul.’

Marilyn swiped a tear from her cheek. ‘Did he ever thank you? Did he ever understand what you really did for him?’

Sadness tightened Lindsay’s chest as she remembered the morning after he’d left. She’d been guilt ridden after their fight, so she’d called his cell early the next morning to talk. A woman had answered.He’s in the shower right now. Can I have him call you?

That’s when she’d realized Zack had slept with another woman and their marriage was truly over.

Lindsay swallowed the emotions in her throat. ‘He’s living a happy, productive, and clean life now. That’s all I really wanted for him.’

‘So it was worth it,’ Howard said.

Lindsay tried to smile. She still loved Zack, but understood it was over for them. ‘Yes.’

Howard and Marilyn thanked her, made promises to consider what she’d said, and left.

Lindsay had spent a long time talking to the couple, and she felt completely drained. Normally, she worked through lunch, but today, she had to escape the building and get fresh air.

She dug in her jeans pocket and counted out the money she’d scrounged this morning from the coin jar on her washer. It was only six dollars and twenty-five cents. Not a fortune, but until she got her purse back, it was enough to buy her lunch.

She pushed through the security doors separating the counselors’ offices from the lobby, then swung by the receptionist desk. ‘Back in a half hour. Need anything, Madge?’

The forty-something woman peered over reading glasses. ‘A man who cooks.’

Lindsay laughed as she signed out. ‘I’ll see what I can do. Any particular type of cook you’re looking for?’

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