Page 19 of The Man Next Door
Louise sighed again, and a tear trickled down her cheek. “You’re already dealing with so much and now you’ve got me to deal with as well.”
“We’ll be fine,” Zona said even as she wondered yet again how she was going to take care of her mother and keep working.
She wasn’t going to, that was the bottom line. She’d have to get in some help.
“We can hire someone to help,” Louise said as if reading her mind. “I’m sure my Medicare will cover it. If not, my other insurance will.”
Zona hoped Louise was right. She didn’t have the money to pay someone.
She pulled the bag of chocolates out of her purse. “We brought you sustenance.”
Louise smiled for the first time since they’d arrived. “Every cloud has a silver lining.”
Zona hadn’t found hers, but she kept her mouth shut.
Eventually, Louise was released, and issued crutches, and between Zona, Bree, and the orderly who had wheeled Louise out of the hospital, they got her into Zona’s car.
“I guess I won’t be driving anytime soon. It would have to be my right leg,” Louise said miserably.
“I’m not sure you would have been driving even if you broke your left leg,” Zona said. “That cast is a monster, and I don’t see how you could get in and out of the car.” It had been hard enough getting her into the passenger seat of Zona’s compact.
Louise said nothing to that, just shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the seat’s headrest.
Zona sneaked a peek in her direction. Louise’s humor and energy were the magic show that hid her age. She was the bubbly counterpart to the Great and Terrible Oz fromThe Wizard of Oz.Pay no attention to the woman behind the curtain.But exhaustion and discouragement had pulled aside the curtain, forcing Zona to look. Her mother was growing old. Not ancient, but old enough for a daughter reality check. She wouldn’t have Louise forever.
It was a chilling thought. Her mother had always been her biggest fan, bragging to everyone and anyone when Zona got the role of Miriam the Librarian in her high school’s musical production ofThe Music Man, framing Zona’s college degree, assuring her that her Bachelor of Arts degree was just the beginning of great things.
It hadn’t been. Zona hadn’t done anything great. Had never climbed the corporate ladder to the top. Never became a singing sensation, never written the bestselling novel Louise had predicted she’d write, and she’d failed at business. And marriage. Twice. You couldn’t forget that.
Louise had been there to catch her. “This is not your fault. You’re better off without him and better times lie ahead,” Louise had said after things blew up with Luke. Then, when the better times became the worst of times and Gary ruined their life together and ruined Zona’s credit, Louise again said, “You’re better off without him and better times lie ahead.” She’d opened her arms and her home. She was always there, helping Zona move toward those better times, Zona’s own personal safety net, and Zona couldn’t imagine life without her.
Yet at some point every daughter had to learn to work without a net. And at some point, that daughter became the net for her mother. That was where they were, for the moment, anyway.
The good news was, Louise had broken her leg and not her neck. Or a hip. She’d recover. Get back her spunk. And she wasn’t that old. They would have lots of years together. Zona needed to remember that and stay out of negative territory.
If she weren’t so tired and miserable, Louise would have shared one of her favorite sayings, “Things have a way of working out.”
Zona said it for her.
Louise opened one eye and glared at her.
“Who knows? The universe might have been saving you from falling overboard or something,” put in Bree from the back seat.
“The universe does not care about humans,” Louise snapped. “The universe just exists. Honestly, where do people get these ridiculous ideas?”
“Whatever,” Bree said, ending the philosophical discussion. “The point is Mom’s right.”
Mark this moment on the calendar.Heaven knew, Zona hadn’t been right about much of anything when Bree was a teenager. She couldn’t help smiling.
She turned to the pop classics music station, hoping it wouldcheer Louise up. Gloria Gaynor came on, singing, “I Will Survive.”
“You guys should make that your theme song,” said Bree.
“Yes, we should,” said Zona.
Louise just grunted.
Next came “Footloose.” Oops.
