Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(61)

“Your daddy used love to cover his trail of lies until after they were married. She would threaten to leave him, and he would tell her he couldn’t live without her; he would be good for a few weeks, and the cycle would repeat. After she had you girls, she was determined to shield you as much as she could. Your daddy told her if she ever left him, she would never see you and Chrissie again. He was a lawyer with a lot of powerful friends, and they’d never take the side of someone like her against him. She did try Claire; she wanted out. She was so afraid of what would happen if she left. Her greatest fear was that you and Chrissie would be left alone with him. She always tried to make sure he burned out the worst of his anger on her so that nothing was left to be directed at you girls. I honestly think she would have killed him if he ever raised a hand to you. He tried his best to break her, and he assumed that he had long ago; he never did though. She lived for the day you’d all be free and when that finally happened there was no joy in it because Chrissie had been taken. I think she always felt that by wishing for him to be gone, she was responsible for what happened to Chrissie as well. Honey, you both need to talk about it and then move past it. I know that young man of yours would very much like to build a life with you free of ghosts.”

Claire looked at her in surprise. “I might be an old woman, but I’m not senile. I saw the way that boy looked at you. I think you’d be surprised to hear what your mama has to say about him too. Why don’t you go on back and see if she’s in her room now? I’m going to have me another cup of coffee and rest for a minute.”

She stood and leaned down to give Louise a hug. “I love you so much; I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Always strong, Louise gave a suspicious sniff, and said, “I know, now you run along and see your mama; it’s long overdue.”

~~~

Glenda waved at her and told her that her mother was back in her room now. She was happy to see how much better she was looking each day. Her speech, although still difficult, had improved some. Claire knew that she got frustrated when trying to get the words she needed out, but she was adjusting. “Hey mom, you look pretty today. Did you have a good workout?” Her mother rolled her eyes and smiled. “Louise is here. She’s having a cup of coffee before she comes in for a visit. Her sister Janet looks pretty scary behind the wheel of that big car of hers,” laughed Claire. Her mother smiled again and reached over on her bedside table to get something. “Mom what’s that?”

Her mother tapped her fingers on the front of it, and suddenly a voice said, “A computer.” Still confused, Claire walked around to watch her.

Since her right hand and arm hadn’t been affected by the stroke, she could type on it. Claire looked at a big keyboard made on a screen that looked like a large tablet computer. “Mom, that’s amazing, where did you get it?”

With a hesitant look, her mother typed, “Jason.” Shocked, Claire could only stare at her mother.

“My Jason?”

Instead of typing her mother said, “Y..es. Yo..ur Ja…son.”

Claire sat down heavily in the chair beside the bed. “How?”

Her mother turned back to the computer and typed, “He comes to see me.” Just when she thought there were no more surprises where Jason was concerned, she was completely floored.

“Mom, when does he come to see you? I’m here all the time.”

With more taps on the keypad, her mother said, “When you take Louise home.”

“Mom, just once?” asked Claire.

Almost reluctantly, she said, “Every evening.” More typing followed, “He’s a good man, and he loves you.” Claire felt like she was in the twilight zone. Her mother, who on a good day seemed out of it, was talking to her via a computer that Jason, whom she’d practically thrown out of her apartment last week, bought for her. Jason was now apparently visiting her mother, whom he had never officially met, in the hospital every evening after she left. Had the entire world gone insane?

“Mom, um, I’m at a loss here. Why would Jason be visiting you and how does he know I’m not here?” Suddenly, her mother looked at her with a bright smile and started laughing. Claire rushed to the bedside fearing she was having another stroke. “Mom, calm down, this isn’t good for you.”

Her mother shook off her concern and typed again, “Mom now taking care of you for once. I’m not letting you lose him. I told him about your father, about your fear. My story to tell, he understands now.” She’d never seen her mother look so happy and free. When most people would be terrified of what they were facing, she looked like she’d slain a dragon.

It took a long time with her mother alternating between trying to put the words together to speak and using her new computer, but they talked about her father for the first time. The person that she thought her mother to be was so different from the reality. Her mother had spent her entire life trying to protect them, and in the end had come close to losing herself. Having the stroke in a way saved her life.

Dr. Mauldin had taken her off all the Alzheimer’s medications and the confusion she’d lived under the last few years was clearing. Dr. Mauldin believed that instead of having Alzheimer’s, she was dealing with depression and anxiety due to the trauma of living with an abusive husband and then the loss of her daughter. The medication she’d been prescribed was actually keeping her from recovering. Her diabetes medication was also adjusted, and the change in her mental clarity was nothing short of amazing. This was a woman Claire had only ever caught glimpses of through the years.