Page 147 of Breathe Again

They had a great day. After making love they had to boot it to make their joint session with Erin and then grabbed a late lunch. They arrived home about fifteen minutes before Olivia came in spouting off the news from the shelter, after which she retreated to the sunroom to decompress. She was there still, and Mara was in the kitchen with Bex and Willa, when his cell lit up with Bea’s name yet again. He walked out to the front porch and took the call.

“Bea.”

“Finally!” Her strident voice pierced his ear drum, and he winced as he pulled the phone away from his ear. “I’ve called you four times.”

“I spoke to you yesterday.”

Yesterday she wanted to know when Mara was going to bring Olivia to see her. She didn’t ask how Mara was doing.

“Yes, and what if this had been an emergency?”

“Then you call 911. But I’m guessing this is not an emergency?”

She huffed. “Well, isn’t that nice? How lucky am I to have you for a son-in-law?”

“You didn’t answer my question. Is this an emergency?” He could not believe the amount of patience required to cut through the bullshit with this woman.

“When are you going to let me speak with my daughter? It’s like you’ve kidnapped her or something. You’re like one of those abusive men who cut their wives off from their families.” She laughed it off as a joke, but the joke had teeth.

“Mara has suffered no abuse from me. You, however, are a different story. Your manipulations have hurt her.”

The story of what had happened with Bea had eventually come out during one of their therapy sessions with Erin. He had always tried to be sensitive to her as Mara’s mother, and as a widow who had suffered the loss of her husband, but he was no longer interested in catering to her ‘lonely widow’ routine. His priority was to care for Mara and Olivia, and Bea had shown herself to be in direct opposition to that goal with her actions.

“I’ve hurt her?” Bea scoffed, then continued, bitterness dripping from each word. “She abandoned me! My husband died! He died and I had no one!”

“You were here twice a week for dinner if memory serves me correct, for the first few years until Mara started working from home with her writing. Since then, Mara made a point of taking Olivia to see you two or three times a week all of these years, despite all the things she has to do.”

She scoffed again. “Invited for dinner, like a charity case, then? Not like family! And those visits are going to stop, apparently! Olivia’s too busy all of a sudden. It’s shameful. I’m ashamed and it hurts meto say it, but I didn’t raise Mara like this. Willa, she was always a lost cause, but with Mara I had hope!”

The vitriol coming from this woman, who he’d always seen as controlling, insensitive, and slightly neurotic, but never malicious, shocked him yet again. No wonder Mara had the self-esteem problems she had, if this had been going on her whole life?

And what must Willa have gone through to lead her to cut her off entirely? He knew part of it, obviously, she’d lived with them off and on since she was a teen, but he’d never heard this kind of talk from Bea. He needed to end this call before he said something he might regret, though he doubted that would be an issue at this point. She had yet to inquire about Mara’s wellbeing.

“What did you need to speak to Mara about?”

“I want her to stop this nonsense! Ignoring her own mother! What if I needed something?”

“Bea,” he growled, “Mara is the one who needs something this time…”

“She always needs something!” she screeched. “What about me? I have a heart condition and I’m alone! What if something happened?”

Zale was known for his composure, and it did not fail him in this instance, but it was sorely tested.

“If you have an emergency, text me at this number and I will call you back. If I call you back and it’s not an emergency, you may rest assured that I will not respond the next time you text.”

She started to talk but he cut her off with a barked command. “Quiet, Bea, I’m only going to say this once and if you screw up it’ll be on you. If you would like to inquire as to how Mara is doing, you may text me at this number and ask. As for speaking to Mara, you will speak to Mara when she is sufficiently recovered to be able to deal with you.”

“Well, I cannot believe…”

“Believe it. Good-bye for now, Bea. Take care of yourself.”

He ended the call but did not go inside. The front door opened, and he blew out a breath and turned, cringing at the possibility that Mara might have heard. Seeing Willa stepping outside to join him was a relief.

“Everything okay?”

“Yes, sweetheart.” He winced. “Could you guys hear me?”

“I was at the door, getting something from my purse. No one else heard.” She paused, then questioned, “That was my mother?”

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