Page 81 of Resisting Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings 3)

Josh lifted his head, realizing then that it had been Thor barking that had woken him in the first place. Thor had never woken him up before. He lifted his head and saw that his dog was standing close to the door and he wondered if it was because Audrey had left, and he was trying to tell him.

“She had to go to work, bud. But she’ll be back.” Josh loved that he could say that with complete confidence. With any luck, she would be moving in with him or vice versa. He didn’t want to spend one more night away from her. He patted the side of the bed. “Come on. Let’s go back to sleep.”

Instead of hopping up on the bed, circling three times and plopping down, Thor barked again.

“Do you have to go out?” Josh asked.

When Thor barked again, he figured he better get up and let him out so he didn’t have an accident to clean up. He was getting out of bed when he heard something that sounded like someone coming in the front door. Or someone trying to come in the front door. Audrey must have forgotten something. She’d probably called or texted but his phone was dead.

He grabbed a pair of sweats and headed down the darkened hallway. When he got to the front room he turned on a light as he opened the door. When he did, he saw a woman crouched over with a pocketknife in her hand who had obviously been trying to pick the lock. And not just any woman. His mother.

“Mom?” Josh asked. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I didn’t want to wake you,” she said as if that was a perfectly reasonable explanation as she stood and opened her arms to give him a hug.

He took a step back. “You thought breaking into my house would be better?”

Thor was beside him and when his mom noticed him, she knelt down. “You got a dog! Hi dog!”

“His name is Thor.”

“Oh, what a handsome name for a handsome boy.”

Josh ran his hands through his hair. He had no idea what his mom was doing here, but if he had to guess it had something to do with money. It was usually money. Sometimes she just wanted a place to stay for a few days, but even those times she’d ask for money, or just outright steal his money before she left.

As much as he wished he could turn her away, he knew that he couldn’t. Even if that’s what she deserved.

“Do you want to come in?” he asked as he stepped to the side.

It was strange how one minute ago, he’d felt like everything was right in the world and the next thing he knew, his entire world depended on whatever chaos his mother had brought to his front door, literally.

She stood and stared at him for a moment. “Look at you. So handsome.” She reached up and patted his face but unlike Nonna the pat didn’t make him feel loved and secure, it made him angry. “It’s so unfair. Men just keep getting better looking the older they get, and women just wrinkle and get cellulite.”

His mom was in her fifties but she looked like she was in her thirties. She was thinner than the last time he’d seen her and had a few new scars on her face and neck from scabs she’d picked. But even with those she was still stunningly beautiful. People had always told him that his mom reminded them of Angelina Jolie. She had large eyes and naturally full lips well before full lips were in style.

She walked inside and sat on the couch, making herself at home. “Your father, may he rest in peace, was more handsome the day he died than the day I met him.”

Josh’s entire body tensed at the mention of his dad. He’d always hated the way his mom talked about him, like he was a saint, which in fairness, to her he probably was. He’d always let her come home, no matter how long she’d been gone or what she’d been doing. She’d suddenly appear, out of the blue with no warning. She’d say that she wanted to be a family, apologize for all manner of sins, and he’d forgive her. She’d get cleaned up, and for however long she deemed to stay they’d be a family.

She’d cook, clean, and try to be a normal mom. But then one day, without any warning, Josh would wake up and she’d be gone. Or he’d come home from school, and she’d be gone. Or he’d come home from hanging out with Caleb, and she’d be gone. The running theme was she’d be gone. He never knew how long she’d be there or when or if she’d come back.

When he was young, he used to think it was something he did. So every time she’d show up he’d do everything he could to be on his best behavior. But once he got into his teens, he realized that her behavior had more to do with her mental illness and drug addiction than it did with him. And he’d been angry that his dad enabled her.

One time when Josh was fifteen and his mom showed up, stayed for a month, and then disappeared again, he’d confronted his dad about why he let her vacation in their lives. Why his father hadn’t cut her out of his life. His dad just looked at him and said, “Because I love her.”

His father’s answer had infuriated him at the time, but that was before he knew what unconditional love was. Yes, his dad had enabled his mom, but he’d done it from a pure place. A place of love.

“What are you doing here Mom?” he asked as he shut the door.

“I missed you.”

“What do you want? Money, a place to stay, what?” Josh just wanted her to get to the point. His father might have had the patience of a saint with his mom, but he did not.

“Why do you always think I want something? Can’t I just visit my only son?”

“Mom,” his patience was running thin.

“Okay, fine. I need three thousand dollars and bus fair to Los Angeles.”

She’d never actually just come out and asked for what she wanted this quickly before. And her answer was so specific that his curiosity was piqued. “What’s in Los Angeles and why do you need three thousand dollars?”

“Rehab.” She dug into her purse and pulled out a pamphlet. “Here. Look. It’s legit. And they are holding a bed for me but I have to be there by noon. I know that you don’t owe me anything. I know that you probably hate me. But I don’t have anyone else to ask and I want to do this, this time. For real.”

She’d agreed to go to rehab a few times when he was growing up but it had always been because his dad had pushed for it. To Josh’s knowledge, she’d never been the one to initiate it. “Why? What’s so different about this time?”

“I, um, I overdosed and it was…bad. The doctors said that when I got to the hospital, I was minutes, not hours, away from dying. I was in full cardiac arrest. If I don’t do this, I’m going to die.”

He’d never seen his mom take any responsibility before now, but there was no way he was going to put her on a bus with three grand. She was an addict and he knew that if he did that, she would use before she made it to rehab. So, it looked like he and Thor were going on a road trip.

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