The Summer House by Lee Moore Page A

anything.”
     
    “You’re thinking it’s pretty bad then?”
     
    “Yeah, I do.  She’s got a while, but this time it’s more aggressive, faster.”
     
    My heart was heavy, and I knew that I’d need to definitely mend things with my mother. My dad wholeheartedly agreed.
     
    “I really wish you would.  I’ve done a lot of thinking in this past week and a half, even spoken with our minister and laid it out for him.  He said that I’ve probably been a bit too overbearing, and your mother…”
     
    “Is off her rocker?” I tried to lighten the mood.
     
    “Yeah, something like that,” he chuckled, “but if there’s any chance of you two finally coming to an understanding… I don’t think she has much time, Caroline.”
     
    “I’ll try, Daddy, I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try.  She’s just so… hateful at times; I don’t know if it’ll ever work, but I want it to work.”
     
    “I hear you.  Are you coming home soon?”
     
    “Tomorrow, or the day after, if that’s OK?”
     
    “Sure it is,” he told me.
     
    “And what about Mom, am I still welcome there?” I asked, because honestly, this might be a real possibility.  Daddy had stood up for me, and stood up to Mom, threatening to dump her in what amounted to a nursing home.  She might resent the wedge I had driven between them, and that had been a constant worry of mine for the past couple of days.
     
    “You’re welcome here.  Either your mother will keep a civil tongue, or we’ll figure something else out,”
     
    “Janice has offered to let me borrow a couch at her place,” I said timidly, knowing he would hate the idea.
     
    “That might work also,” he told me, and I just shook my head.  Life, and these things in it, change so rapidly.  It made me feel like anything was possible, anything at all.
     
    “OK, I’ll call you when I get close; is any particular time better than another?”
     
    “No, I’ll be here all day.  I took this week off because of appointments.”
     
    “OK, Daddy, I’ll see you tomorrow, love you,” I told him, feeling guilty.  Should that have been me taking her?
     
    “Love you too, sweetie.  Bye now.”
     
    “Bye,” I told him hanging up, a quick stab of guilt going through me, and sadness, knowing that my mother didn’t have long.
     
    I knew we’d always had our differences, but suddenly confronted with the knowledge that the end might be near, it was frightening to me.  How many times I’d wished she’d just leave us.  I was determined to make things right.
     
     
     

Chapter 10 -
     
    I called Jan on my drive home, and she was sleeping off another night of drinking and the debauchery of Sin City.  I told her I was heading to my parents’ house a day early, and to stash a key just in case things didn’t go so well and she was stuck at work.  She readily agreed, and I called the house to let them know they’d be seeing me in a couple of hours.
     
    “Hello?” my mom answered.
     
    “Hi, Mom, how are you feeling?” I asked, trying to keep things on neutral territory.
     
    “Better than usual, Caroline, are you coming home?” she asked, and I could hear the hopeful tone she was using.
    “Yes, Mom, is that OK with you?”
     
    “Yes, dear, I want to talk to you; I want to apologize, but not here, not on the phone.”
     
    “OK, Mom, I’m looking forward to it,” I told her and we said our goodbyes.
     
    My heart was soaring; after twenty-five years of tension and misery, my mother was finally trying to communicate with me, not preach to me.  I hoped this worked out; I really, really did, especially if what Dad had told me was true.  I didn’t know if I could live with myself otherwise.
     
    Pulling into my parent’s driveway, I stretched a moment, giving my cramped muscles a chance to unwind.  The door opened and both of my parents were standing there; my father had his arms around Mom, and she held her arms out for a hug.  I ran up, and