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“She loves you,” he repeated, then tugged gently. “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
Because he’d driven her here, she didn’t have a car. “Stay. I’m fine. I’ll get an Uber.”
“I’m not sending you home with someone I don’t know. I have a car waiting here in case someone is too drunk to drive. He’ll take you.”
“Thank you. You’re being silly, but thank you.”
“Let me know what happens with Summer.”
“I will.”
Thirty minutes later, she was tipping the driver. She’d barely started toward the front walkway when Summer burst out of the house.
“Mom! Mom! You came home.”
Her daughter ran to her, arms outstretched. Tears streaked her face.
“It’s so bad. If you’d seen her. She was on the floor and I thought she’d lost the baby. They took her paycheck and she doesn’t have anywhere to live and we have to help. We have to!”
Erica put her arm around the teen. “Slow down. I don’t know what you’re saying. Who took Allison’s paycheck?”
“The bank. It was automatically deposited.”
Erica held in a groan. Of course. Most paychecks were, but with the accounts frozen, there was no way for Allison to get it out. She could cancel the automatic deposits going forward, but her current check was gone, at least in the short term.
“Her doctor is worried about her. Her blood pressure is too high and she’s not eating, so she’s not gaining weight.”
They went inside. Erica stepped out of her three-inch heels. Summer faced her. Her skin was blotchy, her eyes red. As she spoke, she squeezed her hands together.
“Plus the house. Allison can’t get an apartment. She can’t show enough income on her own. Dad’s in jail and she’s pregnant and she’s going to be homeless.” Tears dripped down her cheeks. “It was so awful.”
Erica agreed the situation was dire but where did Allison get off dumping all this on a sixteen-year-old? But before she could figure out what to say, Summer repeated, “We have to help.”
She knew there was no response possible beyond “We do and we will.”
“She’s my family, too.”
“I know.”
“I’ve been thinking and I’ve come up with a plan. Don’t be mad, Mom, but I want Allison and Jackson to move in with us.”
12
Work had always been Erica’s happy place. Even when there were problems, she enjoyed every second of every day. Her salons were temples of joy and possibility. Yes, there were always crap things to be done, but they were a means to an end. She loved the high ceilings, the buzz of conversation, the scents in the spa area, the whir of the air purifier. She’d worked sick, pregnant and hungover. She’d worked while falling in love and while dealing with the fact that her husband didn’t want to be married anymore. She’d worked through disappointments and a false positive on a mammogram. Until today, until this very moment, she had always been able to work. But right now, she couldn’t.
Her mind was like a hamster on a wheel, circling around and around, not going anywhere, instead churning over the same thing.
I want Allison and Jackson to move in with us.
Summer’s words still haunted her. They’d kept her up most of the night and now they sat with her, repeating themselves over and over again.
Oh, there had been more. Her daughter had an entire plan to make an impossible request seem reasonable. She would give up her beautiful corner en suite with the giant walk-in closet for Allison and the baby, and move into a still very nice but smaller bedroom with a Jack and Jill bathroom shared with the room next door. That was for Jackson, when he was ready to be on his own. Summer had said for the first few weeks they should put his crib in with her so he wouldn’t get scared.
Living with them would mean Allison wouldn’t have to work, freeing her to care for her toddler and her newborn. When Peter was finally out of jail, they could go live together, happily ever after, as God intended. Or some such nonsense. Then life would return to normal.
It was, her daughter had informed her, the perfect plan. Except for, you know, the part about Erica’s ex-husband’s second wife and her child moving into her house and mooching off her for who knew how long. Sure, it was great. Erica couldn’t imagine being happier.
Her mother knocked on her half-open office door, then walked inside. Mara’s expression was sympathetic.
