Page 45 of All Bets are Off

“My name is Colt, ma’am,” Colt says politely.

“West is busy tonight,” I tell her, gently taking her elbow and guiding her to the couch, but she jerks out of my grip.

“Don’t touch me. Go away. I don’t need you here.” Even though I know my mother isn’t in her right mind, her words sting.

“Why don’t you just sit down for a minute?”

“I don’t want to sit down!” my mother yells. “Stop telling me what to do.” She walks away from me.

“What’s happening?” I ask Donna when Mom’s out of earshot.

“She got upset earlier out of the blue. She wanted to go back to her house.”

I look at Mom, who’s got her back to me and is mumbling at the wall. “I don’t know what to do. She doesn’t want me around.”

“Dementia is a terrible thing. It doesn’t make any sense,” Donna says sympathetically. “Try not to take what she says and does to heart. She’ll have a moment of clarity soon enough where she knows you.”

I nod, throat tight. When Mom turns around, she looks at me, aghast. “Are you still here? Get out!”

Donna leads my mother into the bedroom, and I sit on the couch and scroll through my phone while my mother argues with the nurse in the next room.

“Are you okay?” Colt asks me.

“I don’t care if he’s busy, I want West!” my mother yells from the next room.

Letting my phone drop, I lean my head back and close my eyes. “Not really.”

“I’m sorry,” Colt says, resting his hand on my shoulder. “This must be so difficult for you.”

“We might as well leave,” I say, standing. “I think Donna hoped I could calm her down, but we can see that’s not working.”

I go tell Donna I’m going to head out. She tells me if my mother doesn’t calm down soon, she’ll give her some medicine to help her rest.

“How about we stop for some ice cream on the way home?” Colt suggests. “That always makes me feel better.”

I can’t help smiling. “Okay. That sounds good.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

West

Anna’s waiting for me in the parking lot of the assisted living facility when I drive in.

Giving me a bright smile, she says, “I thought we could eat at this place nearby. It’s a beautiful night, and we can walk there.”

“Sure,” I say, getting out of the car.

The moon’s full with myriad stars surrounding it in the inky sky. As we walk, Anna peppers me with questions about what I’ve been doing since we last saw each other. I never expected to see her again, and the lie I told her when we broke up makes me uncomfortable. Only, hasn’t the lie become the truth? Aren’t I in love with a man? But she doesn’t ask me about that, only about my retirement from the Marines and my new job.

As we cross the road, Anna stumbles, and I grab her to keep her from falling. After that, she hooks her arm around mine, not letting me go until I reach out to open the restaurant door for her.

It takes forever for our food to arrive, and during that time I politely ask Anna how she’s been doing. She tells me about graduating from college and about a trip she took to Italy last year.

The food was worth the wait, and after a while, I find myself relaxing. Despite having latched onto my arm so possessively when we walked to the restaurant, Anna isn’t giving any indication that she’s trying to get back with me, and that’s an enormous relief. Our breakup wasn’t pretty, with a lot of tears on her part and apologies on mine. She didn’t want to believe I could be bisexual or that I would want to end our relationship, and, well, the whole thing had been messy. But she seems to have moved on, and since we have memories to talk about, the meal isn’t as awkward as I was initially afraid it was going to be.

When I look at my watch and see that it’s nearing ten p.m., I signal the waiter and pay the bill.

“Oh, we can go Dutch,” Anna objects.

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