answered it, hoping it would be Daisy. It was.
“Hi, Mom,” Daisy said, sounding so much like herself that Caroline felt a catch in her throat.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Caroline said, with studied casualness. “How’ve you been?”
“Other than worried about you?” Daisy asked.
“ You’re worried about me ?” Caroline said. “I think it’s supposed to be the other way around, sweetie.”
“But I don’t give you anything to worry about, do I?” Daisy asked. And it was true. She’d been born responsible, as far as Caroline could tell.
“You don’t usually give me anything to worry about,” Caroline qualified. “But you’ve never lived on your own before. Even you might have a learning curve.”
“Speaking of learning, guess what Giovanni said today?” Daisy asked. Giovanni was the Italian man who owned the coffee bar that Daisy was working at for the summer.
“What?”
“He said I made a perfect cappuccino.”
“Well, of course you did,” Caroline said, loyally. Cappuccino, though, was out of her depth. She served two kinds of coffee at Pearl’s: regular and decaf.
“Trust me, it’s not easy to make one,” Daisy said.
“Well, it should be for you,” Caroline said. “You’ve got coffee in your veins, honey.”
“That’s true,” Daisy laughed, and then she chatted with Caroline about her apartment, her roommates, and a boy who came into the coffee bar to flirt but hadn’t asked for her phone number yet. Caroline listened and made what she thought were all the appropriate remarks. But Daisy wasn’t fooled by her performance.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” she asked, when there was a lull in the conversation.
“Nothing,” Caroline said, a little too quickly.
“Mom,” Daisy said, sighing, “I know you so well.” And she did. But if Caroline told her how much she missed her, it would only make Daisy feel guilty. So instead she told her about Frankie’s long hours, and about Allie Beckett, and her son Wyatt’s, terrible loss.
“Mom, I know Frankie works too hard. And I’m sorry about that woman and her son. But I want to talk about you . Do you remember that conversation we had before I left?”
“Which one?” Caroline asked, being deliberately vague.
“The one where we talked about how you’re always worrying about everyone else, and never worrying about yourself?”
“Well, I’m not worried about myself because I don’t have anything to worry about,” Caroline said. “I mean, beyond the usual things everyone worries about.”
“Okay, forget I used the word ‘worry’ then. I don’t mean that, exactly. I mean, when is it going to be your turn to think about you ?”
Caroline frowned. “Wasn’t that an episode of Dr. Phil?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” Daisy said, exasperated. “But again, Mom, you’re getting away from the point.”
“Which is?”
“Which is that it’s your turn now. Your turn to concentrate on your own life. You took care of Grandpa and Grandma. You took care of me. Now you need to take care of yourself.”
“I do take care of myself,” Caroline objected.
“Mom, I’m not talking about taking vitamins, okay? I’m talking about doing things for yourself. Taking a class. Or taking a trip. Or joining a book club. Something like that.”
“But I don’t want to join a book club,” Caroline said, a little irritably.
“Mom, you like to read,” Daisy pointed out.
“I do like to read,” Caroline conceded. “But I don’t want to be told what to read.”
“Oh, Mom,” Daisy scolded. “You don’t even have to read the books if you don’t want to. Just think of it as an opportunity to socialize.”
Caroline was silent. It was her opinion that she did plenty of socializing at the coffee shop as it was, but she didn’t want to hurt Daisy’s feelings.
“Well, I give up for tonight,” Daisy said, with a sigh. “But I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Bye, sweetie,” Caroline said, and she hung up the phone slowly. Then
“Hi, Mom,” Daisy said, sounding so much like herself that Caroline felt a catch in her throat.
“Hi, sweetheart,” Caroline said, with studied casualness. “How’ve you been?”
“Other than worried about you?” Daisy asked.
“ You’re worried about me ?” Caroline said. “I think it’s supposed to be the other way around, sweetie.”
“But I don’t give you anything to worry about, do I?” Daisy asked. And it was true. She’d been born responsible, as far as Caroline could tell.
“You don’t usually give me anything to worry about,” Caroline qualified. “But you’ve never lived on your own before. Even you might have a learning curve.”
“Speaking of learning, guess what Giovanni said today?” Daisy asked. Giovanni was the Italian man who owned the coffee bar that Daisy was working at for the summer.
“What?”
“He said I made a perfect cappuccino.”
“Well, of course you did,” Caroline said, loyally. Cappuccino, though, was out of her depth. She served two kinds of coffee at Pearl’s: regular and decaf.
“Trust me, it’s not easy to make one,” Daisy said.
“Well, it should be for you,” Caroline said. “You’ve got coffee in your veins, honey.”
“That’s true,” Daisy laughed, and then she chatted with Caroline about her apartment, her roommates, and a boy who came into the coffee bar to flirt but hadn’t asked for her phone number yet. Caroline listened and made what she thought were all the appropriate remarks. But Daisy wasn’t fooled by her performance.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” she asked, when there was a lull in the conversation.
“Nothing,” Caroline said, a little too quickly.
“Mom,” Daisy said, sighing, “I know you so well.” And she did. But if Caroline told her how much she missed her, it would only make Daisy feel guilty. So instead she told her about Frankie’s long hours, and about Allie Beckett, and her son Wyatt’s, terrible loss.
“Mom, I know Frankie works too hard. And I’m sorry about that woman and her son. But I want to talk about you . Do you remember that conversation we had before I left?”
“Which one?” Caroline asked, being deliberately vague.
“The one where we talked about how you’re always worrying about everyone else, and never worrying about yourself?”
“Well, I’m not worried about myself because I don’t have anything to worry about,” Caroline said. “I mean, beyond the usual things everyone worries about.”
“Okay, forget I used the word ‘worry’ then. I don’t mean that, exactly. I mean, when is it going to be your turn to think about you ?”
Caroline frowned. “Wasn’t that an episode of Dr. Phil?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” Daisy said, exasperated. “But again, Mom, you’re getting away from the point.”
“Which is?”
“Which is that it’s your turn now. Your turn to concentrate on your own life. You took care of Grandpa and Grandma. You took care of me. Now you need to take care of yourself.”
“I do take care of myself,” Caroline objected.
“Mom, I’m not talking about taking vitamins, okay? I’m talking about doing things for yourself. Taking a class. Or taking a trip. Or joining a book club. Something like that.”
“But I don’t want to join a book club,” Caroline said, a little irritably.
“Mom, you like to read,” Daisy pointed out.
“I do like to read,” Caroline conceded. “But I don’t want to be told what to read.”
“Oh, Mom,” Daisy scolded. “You don’t even have to read the books if you don’t want to. Just think of it as an opportunity to socialize.”
Caroline was silent. It was her opinion that she did plenty of socializing at the coffee shop as it was, but she didn’t want to hurt Daisy’s feelings.
“Well, I give up for tonight,” Daisy said, with a sigh. “But I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Bye, sweetie,” Caroline said, and she hung up the phone slowly. Then
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