Page 34 of The One Who Got Away
I just hoped Eloise didn’t have too much to deal with at home.
Chapter 10
Eloise
I walked into a war zone.
My mother had pulled every one of her China dishes off the top shelf of the hutch. They were in stacks with Post-it notes on them with prices. All the remaining clothes my father had left behind were in piles on the dining room table.
Their wedding photos were stacked in a box, the glass shattered on each of them.
“Crap,” I whispered.
I could hear her tearing around upstairs. I slowly walked upstairs. Her bedroom was stripped down to bare bones. The bed taken apart and the mattress against the wall.
“What’s going on, Mom?”
“I’m purging,” she said as she came out of the closet with an armful of dresses.
“Are we having a yard sale?”
“I was just going to send it to Goodwill, but maybe your idea is better.” She dropped the dresses on the bench that used to sit at the foot of her Queen-sized bed.
I glanced around. “Um. Where are you going to sleep?”
My mother blew a curl out of her eyes. “I’m moving into the guest room.” She put her hands on her hips. “I can’t stand this room any longer.”
“What happened?”
“Well, you’re going to be going now so I have to just figure things out.”
“Going where?”
“Didn’t you see your mail on the table?”
“No. I was a little distracted by everything on the dining room table.”
“Well, there was a letter from your old company. It was a big packet, so I assumed it was to go back to work. I wish you’d told me. Icandeal with it, you know.”
I went right over to my mother and wrapped my arms around her. “Mom, I’m not going anywhere.”
Her fingers clutched my shoulders. “You shouldn’t have to be here for me.” I heard the bubble in her throat that was a precursor to tears. I was well versed in all of my mother’s moods.
Well, until that day.
“Of, course I want to be here for you.” I set her back from me and smiled at her. “Let me show you something.”
She frowned. “What?”
“Come down to my room.” I led her down the hall to where my room was and sat down at my computer desk.
She glanced around the walls and sniffles started up again.
I glanced up at her. “Oh, Mom don’t cry.”
“You’ve been staying in here in this time capsule. I’m so sorry. It was like a haze over my eyes. I couldn’t even see it until today.”
“Hey, it’s okay.”
