Addison (The Mitchell/Healy Family #6)(4)

I shooed her. “You’re terrible. Don’t you have a crossword puzzle to do?”

“I’m bad. I know it. I get it naturally. My daddy was a Marine. I was around a ton of men growing up. If you think Joe hasn’t checked parts of you out, then you’re way due for an eye-opener.”

“Hush. I’m getting to work.”

“You don’t get paid yet, missy.”

Getting my certification to be a drug counselor was in the works. I had to still put in the time and complete one more online course, but I was near the finish line as far as making it my permanent career. Soon my volunteer work would pay off and I’d start getting paid for making these visits. “I will soon. Another six months and I’ll be raking in the dough,” I teased.

“You don’t need to rake anything when Daddy is already loaded.” Her snicker wasn’t uncommon. Everyone knew who my family was. When you come from the Mitchell clan, everyone in Kentucky knows your business.

Sure, I was lucky. I had a family to not only support me while I seek out a new career and future, but they loved harder than any family I’d ever known. I needed that kind of attachment; commitment even.

My father may have made a name for our family, but I liked doing things on my own. Part of the reason I got into trouble was because I felt smothered. I wanted to go out and see the world beyond the fence of the ranch, in a matter of speaking.

Sammy liked to tease me, because for some reason it made me smile. She wasn’t from Kentucky, so often she teased me about my strong accent, or the fact that my father was a full-fledged cowboy. Imagining him being sexy gave me the heebie-jeebies. I mean, what girl wants to look at her dad that way? Eww.

“You know I don’t like to gloat, Sammy.”

“Yeah, I know. I just like giving you a hard time.”

I shook my head. “I’m getting to work. Maybe you should do the same instead of fantasizing about men’s hands and such.”



She laughed again. “Go turn some lives around, Mrs. Kentucky. I’m going to have to get you a crown.”

I pointed my latte toward her as I spoke. “Keep it up and these here drinks will stop magically appearing.” I winked as I walked away, feeling like I got the last slap at the bantering between us. It made me happy to be well liked, enough to be able to joke around on a daily basis. I felt like I didn’t have to hide behind my problems.

That being said, this part of my life was often difficult. Seeing people struggling, going through withdrawals, feeling as if they were on death’s door, well it sucks. As many times as I could say that things would get better, they’d never believe it. I’d been at the bottom. I knew what it was like to puke until you felt you were hollow inside. My eyes had sunken so far into my skull at one point that I looked like a walking skeleton. I pretended my family didn’t matter to me, and that life was a joke. I’d felt their pain firsthand. I knew the battle they’d have to conquer.

My first patient had been to this location several times before. She was a mother of two children, her husband locked in jail for petty theft. She was a victim of the system, collecting government checks to feed her habit instead of her family. Social services usually stepped in, and the last time they’d taken the kids away. I wondered if she’d had enough and was hoping to end her life.

When I stepped inside I found her watching reality television. She was playing with her hands, unable to still them for even a second’s time. “Rachel, I didn’t think I’d be seeing you in here again. I thought you promised last time you were done with the life?”

“Well it wasn’t done with me. It figures they’d send you in here. Don’t you think it’s time to give up trying to help people. We don’t want your help.” It was common for addicts to treat me disrespectfully. I’d gotten used to it.

“This doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I know you miss your kids.”

“Fuck off. You don’t know anything about me.”

I looked down at my paper, paying close attention to her history. “According to this document you were clean for a while. What happened?”

“Life, obviously. It doesn’t take a damn genius. Are we done here? I don’t feel like being besties.”

She was so rude. It had always been this way with her. “I’m here when you’re ready to admit you have a problem, Rachel. The first step into getting those kids back is being clean. You’re here. Now is your chance to make that change. Be the mom they need. I’m sure they miss you.”

She chucked a styrofoam cup of water at me. It burst on the floor beneath my feet. I picked up the remnants and tossed them in the trash. “I’ll get someone to clean up the mess. I’m leaving my card here. You may think I’m your enemy, but you know in your heart I’m not. When you’re ready to live your life again, you call me. I’ll be there for you, no matter what day, or the time. I’ll be the rock you need, if you’ll let me.”

“People like you are all the same. Get off your pedestal and leave me the hell alone.”

“Have a good day, Rachel. I do hope it gets better.”

Sammy was watching as I exited the room. She shook her head and laughed to herself, obviously hearing from that far away how she’d spoken to me. “Another lost cause?”

“I don’t get it. She’s got so many reasons to want to get better.”