Page 82 of Nate

Markie’s heart raced as she looked at Nate. “Will you be alright?” she whispered urgently.

Nate gave her a reassuring smile. “Of course. I’ll ignore him.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” She kissed his lips before leading her mother toward the restrooms.

As they entered the ladies’ room, her mother’s expression was troubled.

“What is it?”

“I think Jarrett is stealing my pain meds,” she confided in a hushed tone. “That’s why I’ve been so short with him this evening.”

Markie had noticed her mother’s irritability, but she hadn’t realized the cause. “I’m sorry, Mom. What makes you say that?” She didn’t want to give away the fact that she was aware that Jarrett just might be stealing them.

“I’m low on them. You know I don’t take them unless absolutely necessary, but I’m missing twenty of them and I just got them filled ten days ago. The prescription is for one hundred twenty pills for a month; that’s four a day and I rarely take it like that. But I do keep track of what I take. I should have a hundred pills, and I only have seventy.” Stella shook her head in frustration. “There’s no way I could have taken that many pills. I have written it down that I took two pills a day for ten days, but a total of fifty are gone. So, if I have a bad day, I won’t be able to take more than two a day. You know how bad it gets for me some days.”

Markie felt her stomach drop at the thought of her mother running out of medication before it was due to be refilled. “I do, and I don’t know what we can do if you run out early. If the doctor thinks you’re taking too many, he won’t refill them for you. They’re afraid of people getting addicted.”

Sighing heavily, Markie continued, “Mom, when Nate and I visited you on your birthday, he told me he saw Jarrett taking pills from a prescription bottle in the kitchen cupboard. When Jarrett saw him, he held up the bottle and said he had a bad back. I told Nate that Jarrett doesn’t have a bad back and he better not be taking your pills. You need them. He’s taken the others that you would have.”

Stella’s face fell in disappointment and worry. “Yes. If I took them as prescribed, I would have taken forty in ten days. Ten more are gone. What do I do?”

“Confront him. Throw him out, Mom. He’s not good for you. He just wants your money.”

“Well, he’s not getting any of it,” Stella declared firmly. “I haven’t changed my will and I’m not going to. You’ll inherit everything I have.”

Markie shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you married him, Mom. You can’t possibly love him.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever love anyone as much as I did your father.” Stella’s voice was heavy with sadness. “All I know is that Jarrett is too young for me, and I was flattered that he was interested in me, but now I see that he’s not really interested in me, just my money. He’s always wanting me to buy him something.”

Tears welled up in Markie’s eyes as she hugged her mother tightly. “I’m so sorry, Mom. You deserve someone who loves you for who you are, not for your bank account.”

Stella let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t know what I was thinking when I married him. I was just so lonely, and he seemed to say all the right things. I should have known better.”

Feeling a surge of protectiveness toward her mother, Markie declared, “I won’t let him hurt you, Mom. He’s not a good person. I’ve told you how he always tries to get me alone. And Nate... he wants to punch Jarrett every time he sees him.”

Stella nodded sadly. “I know Nate doesn’t like him and Jarrett doesn’t like him either, probably because he’s jealous of Nate. He sees how in love you two are.”

A wistful smile spread across Markie’s face. “We’re not in love, Mom,” she said softly.

Stella chuckled, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes. “Yes, you are. Both of you. The way he looks at you... it’s the way your father used to look at me. And you can’t keep your eyes off of him. I mean, have you seen that man? Your Aunt Lola would call him a handsome devil, and she’d be right.”

Before Markie could say anything more, Stella motioned toward the door with a nod of her head. “We should probably get back out there before they come to blows.”

Markie couldn’t help but laugh at her mother’s honesty. “So... you didn’t really need to use the restroom?”

“No,” Stella admitted sheepishly. “I just wanted to tell you while Jarrett wasn’t around. It seems like the only time I can get away from him is if I’m in the bathroom.”

Markie’s concern spiked as she asked, “You’re not afraid of him, are you?”

Stella shook her head resolutely. “No. I don’t think he’d physically hurt me, but stealing from me is unacceptable. And I won’t stand for it.”

Feeling a surge of pride for her strong-willed mother, Markie offered support. “Then you need to tell him that you know what he’s been doing. He needs to know that it’s not okay.”

“I will,” Stella promised with determination. “Once we get back to the B and B tonight.”

“Do you want me to be there with you?” Markie offered.

Shaking her head, Stella replied, “No, I’m tougher than I look. Where do you think you got it?” She gave her daughter an affectionate pat on the cheek and added with a wink, “And you know I never hesitate to speak my mind.”

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