Page 78 of Not As Advertised

“Abigail? Hello. I saw Aiden’s email regarding his family emergency. What can you tell me?”

Oh, you know, I know shit-all, Mr. Blakley. Because the second he walked out of the house last night and told me nothing else since.

“Umm, I’m sorry, sir. I don’t have any new information other than he’s going to need the next few days or even a week? I just assisted Miles with rescheduling his entire week.” Well, if by assisted I meant I did all the work, then yep, I’d definitely assisted him.

“I see.”

I wasn’t clear what exactly he “saw” at the moment. All I could hope for was that he didn’t know I had a much more personal stake in this whole thing.

“Listen, Abigail. This is not ideal timing. I’d prefer to do this a different way, but can you be available for a meeting in my office at 3:00 p.m.?”

“Ugh, sure, sir. Is this about the BrownBagproject? Because Ethan absolutely can oversee anything that comes up in Aiden’s absence.”

“I’d prefer to go over everything at three if you don’t mind, Abigail.”

That sounded like a “I don’t have time for this now” or maybe a “You’re wasting my time” kind of comment, so I agreed and hung up.

I spent the remaining hours before the meeting gathering everything we had on our newest campaign. The least I could dowas show Mr. Blakley that things were under control in Aiden’s absence.

I was going to explode if we didn’t hear something soon. The cheerful walls of the waiting room seemed to mock me the longer I looked at them.

Claire was sitting with Heath in the seats across from my mom and me.

Mom’s eyes stared blankly at nothing. She took turns between glancing worriedly at the doors to the unit, which held Rennie, Isabel, and Andreas, and back to their group in the waiting area. Every so often, she’d pretend to read the magazine in her hands before looking to the door again.

I had been too late to see Rennie before she was admitted. Isabel had texted that they’d gotten her on fluids for dehydration right away and some headache medicine. She was resting more quietly and showing more responsiveness than the early listlessness that had scared everyone so much.

I understood that we all couldn’t be in there together, but I wished there was something more I could do than just sit here.

Mom covered my hand with hers, and I interlaced our fingers.

“Aiden, this is hard, but she’s going to be okay.”

“I should have been here for them. Isabel’s hours are super long, and I know Andreas is working shifts on-site all the time. I could have helped somehow.”

Sighing, Mom patted our joined hands with her free hand.

“Sweetheart, you’ve always done so much for us. Isabel and Andreas have all of us, including you, which you’ve proven by jumping on a plane. Sometimes things happen that we can’t prevent.” Her tone brokered no argument.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that this wouldn’t have happened if I had been here.

“When we lost Patrick, it was a major hit to us all. I know having him as part of the family completed something we didn’t know we needed so badly. It was your only chance to be a kid, and it was taken from you.”

I dropped my head and let it hang forward as if the worry had a physical weight pushing down on my back. It was a weight I’d been carrying for over two decades. The responsibility I felt for my family knew no bounds.

I had been the one to pick up the slack when Mom got a weekend job to provide for us. I was the one who made sure my sisters were fed and taken care of. I kept them safe on their walk to school in our terrible neighborhood. I helped them with their homework and gave them pocket money for candy from odd jobs I picked up.

“He was your husband, Mom. It was the worst for you. And Claire too—she didn’t get a chance to know him.”

Yes, I loved him. But Patrick was the love of her life. I remembered overhearing her whisper that to someone at the funeral. And she’d lost my stepfather so quickly.

“You know, there is no quota on who gets affected when something happens in a family. It was just as bad for each of you kids in different ways. You grew up way too fast.”

“Mom, I’m not up to talking about this right now. Rennie is all I can think about.”

Turning her body to face me fully, she moved her hand to hold my cheek. She firmly guided my face toward her so that I had no choice but to look into her eyes.

“Aiden, I want you to hear me. You can’t control everything. There was nothing any of us could have done to stop this. You can’t avoid living your own life by spending your time worrying about us.”

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