LITMIR.BIZ

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but right this second she regretted having let it slip away.

      “Do you ever hear from Raylene?” she asked Sarah. The three of them had once been as inseparable as the Sweet Magnolias.

      “You mean the hoity-toity princess?” Sarah said with a chuckle. “Not so much. She sends out fancy Christmas cards and even scrawls a note on them about how fabulous her life is, but we haven’t talked in years. You?”

      “I ran into her a couple of times in Charleston, but we definitely weren’t traveling in the same social circles. I had some business contact with her husband, who seemed like an okay guy.”

      “Was he gorgeous?” Sarah asked.

      “Ordinary, actually, but he had a terrific sense of humor.”

      “And he’s rich, of course, and has that pedigree her family wanted,” Sarah assessed. She grinned. “I’ve missed this so much, Annie. When I heard you were back in town, it made the prospect of being banished here a whole lot easier.”

      To her surprise, Annie realized she understood just what Sarah meant. It was as if a piece of herself had just clicked back into place this morning. “I know, sweetie. I know just what you mean.”

      For the first time in her life, she understood why her mom, Maddie and Helen had stayed so close over all these years. Friends like these, who stuck together through thick and thin, were worth their weight in gold. It was about time she appreciated that for the blessing it was.

      Chapter Five

      It had been nearly a year since Helen had seen her mother, and she was shocked by the changes. Flo Decatur looked old and frail, asleep in her hospital bed, her complexion ashen, her gray hair badly in need of a perm. She was only seventy-two, but years of hard work and smoking had clearly taken a toll.

      She moaned softly, then opened her eyes. Her expression brightened when she saw Helen.

      “You came,” she said in a way that suggested she hadn’t believed Helen would take the time.

      “Of course I came,” Helen said briskly, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek. “I had to see for myself just how much trouble you’ve gotten yourself into. How did it happen, Mom? How’d you break your hip?”

      “Believe it or not, I was taking a class in line dancing at the community center,” Flo said, then added wryly, “I thought it would be good exercise. At my age you’ll try anything to keep your parts working.” She patted her hip. “I guess this one was already shot.”

      Helen smiled at the image of her mother taking any kind of dance class, much less one involving country music. She’d always claimed to hate all those love-gone-wrong songs. She said she’d lived it, and it wasn’t worth glorifying. She’d also always had two left feet, or so she’d said. It appeared she might have been right.

      “So, what happened?”

      “Tripped over my own feet, if you must know,” Flo said, her expression chagrined at the admission of clumsiness. “Down I went. Took two other people with me.”

      “Were they hurt, too?”

      “Nope. They both had a few extra pounds on them. They bounced,” she joked, then coughed so hard, Helen handed her a cup of water. When she’d taken a sip, Flo regarded Helen intently. “Did they tell you?”

      “Tell me what?”

      “I can’t go back to my apartment.”

      She didn’t sound as dismayed by that as Helen had expected. Still, Helen sought to reassure her. “The nurse mentioned you’d need some rehab, then maybe some help at home. Don’t worry about that. We’ll work it out, Mom. The nurse has already suggested a couple of places, and I’ll talk to the social worker and get some more recommendations. I’ll make sure you’re set up someplace really nice.”

      Flo was shaking her head before the words were out of Helen’s mouth. “I’m not going into a nursing home,” she said flatly. “That’ll be the beginning of the end, and you know it.”

      “I didn’t say anything about a nursing home,” Helen argued. “I’m sure there are some great rehabilitation centers around, places dedicated to getting you back on your feet and back home. The minute they say it’s okay for you to be back in your condo, I’ll arrange for someone to come in and help you.”

      Her mother’s jaw set. “No.”

      “Well, what then?” Helen asked, trying to hang on to her patience. “You can’t go directly back to your place. There’s no way you can manage on your own right now. The doctors won’t allow it, anyway.”

      Her mother’s gaze locked with hers. “I want to come home with you.”

      Helen regarded Flo with alarm. That was out of the question. They’d kill each other in a week. Besides, she was barely coping with a husband, a toddler and a nanny in the house. Adding her mother to the mix simply couldn’t happen, not when she was finally getting back some real balance between family and career. Just the thought of it made her palms sweat.

      And yet, if this was what Flo really wanted, did she have a choice?

      “Wouldn’t you be happier right here? You have friends here,” Helen said, a desperate note in her voice. “I’m sure they’re all anxious to have you back on your feet.”

      “I have friends here, but I have family in Serenity,” her mother declared, her gaze not wavering, her tone stubborn.

      Her argument mirrored so closely what Jeanette had said that it gave Helen pause. “Why?” she asked, bewildered by the sudden change in attitude from the time when Flo had been eager to leave Serenity.

      “I want to spend some time with my granddaughter,” Flo said, her expression wistful. “She’s growing up so fast, and I’m missing it.”

      “That doesn’t solve the problem of rehab, Mom. Maybe once you’re back on your feet, you could come for a visit.”

      Her mother shook her head. “I want to come home permanently.” She frowned at Helen. “Oh, don’t look at me as if I’ve invited myself to stay with you forever. As soon as I’m back on my feet, I’ll get my own place.”

      Helen was still bewildered by her mother’s determination. “I thought you loved your apartment here,” she said. Helen had spent a fortune buying and furnishing the place for her mother, trying to make her golden years easier than the early years of her life had been. Helen had spared no expense, either with the location or the furnishings. Her monthly checks to help out with expenses were generous, as well.

      “It’s a lovely apartment and I appreciate you wanting me to have it, but I miss home, Helen. This accident was the final straw. If it had happened in Serenity, you wouldn’t have had to disrupt your life to fly all the way down here. I’ve made up my mind—I’m coming home. If you don’t want me underfoot at your place or you don’t have the room, then find a rehab facility up there. What was that one place called? Sunset Manor?”

      Helen stared at her in horror. “Mom, you can’t go there, even temporarily. That place was a dump ten years ago when we visited your coworker there.”

      “Surely by now there’s another alternative,” Flo said. There was no mistaking the intractable note in her voice or the determined glint in her eyes.

      “I’ll have to discuss this with Erik,” Helen said, more to buy time than out of any conviction that he’d say no. In fact, he’d seemed to get along with her mother better than she did on the few occasions when they’d met.

      “Of course,” her mother said, sounding meek now that she was well on her way to victory.

      “And it would just be until you’re back on your feet and we’ve found you your own place.” Helen wanted to be very sure they were on the same page about that.

      “Absolutely.”

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