He's The Boss

13

"And now you're in this man's home," Mom crows at me as I stand in the guest room that same night, opening up my luggage and rummaging for a nightdress. "Look at what you've come to, Caitlin. Are you really so hard-nosed that you'd rather accept help from a complete stranger over your own father?"

"He's not a complete stranger," I retort before I can stop myself.

Over on the other side of the room, Haley pauses in the middle of typing on her phone to look at me. Mom is standing right there with us in the guest room, but my sister's gaze is focused only on me. "What?" she asks, bewildered.

I blink, doing a telltale gaze over at Mom. "You don't ... see it?"

"See what?"

Wow. I really am the only one who can see Mom. Does this mean I'm ... crazy? Maybe all my drinking and partying, plus the stress of what happened with Sam has finally caught up to me. "Nothing," I answer quietly. To myself, I mutter, "Why? Why me?"

"Because you're the one who needs me," Mom answers smugly, doing a shrug of her shoulders.

"Go away," I hiss under my breath.

"What was that?" Haley's frown deepens as she gazes at me. "Are you feeling OK, Cait?"

"Yes, I'm just tired."

"You had me really worried tonight, you know. And now, look where we are. Not that I'm complaining. This room is huge. And don't get me started on the apartment itself ... "

"Yeah, I know, I know."

"Kind of reminds me a little bit of home, actually."

I pause for a moment, watching Mom watch my younger sister. There is a wistfulness in my mother's eyes, and for the first time, I realize just how much she misses us. How she'll never be able to touch us or hug us ever again, never be able to hold our kids – if we ever get around to having any. "I guess now that you mention it ... yeah, I it is kind of similar."

"Do you miss it? Home?"

Both she and Mom stare at me, waiting for my answer.

"It's been years, Haley. I've moved on."

"That doesn't answer the question though," she says, flashing a cheeky, little-girl smile.

"Yeah, I miss it. But what I miss isn't there anymore. It's different now. We're grown up, Dad's changed, Mom's ... gone."

"Hey, you can't get rid of me that easily, young lady," Mom comments, and I smile to myself.

"Anyway," I add, focusing on my sister. "I'm sorry I made you worry tonight. I never meant to do that."

"Are you going to tell me who those guys were?"

"They're trying to get to Sam through me. I'm sure they'll give up once they realize I don't know anything." I see no point in telling her that I actually did see Sam once, after all this began. I don't want her worrying about me even more.

"Are you sure about that? They looked like they wanted to ... " She shifts uncomfortably on the bed. " ... hurt you."

"They're nothing. Nobody."

"Maybe you should take this more seriously, Cait."

"I can handle it, OK?"

She sighs loudly, exasperatedly. "You're always like this."

"See," Mom can't resist adding.

"I don't like dragging people into my problems."

"Even family?"