The Charm Bracelet(70)

“For what?” she asked again.

“This,” Lauren said, nodding toward the easel. “For listening.”

Arden ducked her head. “You’re welcome.”

“Mom?” Lauren started. “I just want you to know that I’ll help pay off my loans, I’ll do a work study next year, I’ll…”

“You let me worry about that, okay?” Arden said. “I gave up my dreams, and I regret it. I’ve been trying to ensure you’d never worry about money, but I realize now that it’s more important that you never have the regrets I do.”

She stepped forward to study the painting. “It’s stunning, Lauren. It really is. Not just your talent but your understanding of subject. There’s depth on so many levels.”

Lauren’s face flushed, and she hugged her mom, leaving a trail of paint down the back of her T-shirt. “Sorry.”

“Your grandma bought me this shirt years ago,” she said. “Speaking of which, where is she?”

“Watering, I think.”

The two stopped and tilted their heads. They could hear the faucet running on the backside of the cabin, where Lolly had a large yet still emerging cottage garden of phlox, hydrangea, lilies, dinner plate hibiscus, bellflower, daisies of all colors, foxglove, coral bells, and hollyhocks. Lolly cut from the garden all summer long.

“What’s that?” Lauren asked, looking down at a tiny, but growing, river of water, rolling downhill toward the lake.

“Mom?” Arden yelled.

The tone of Arden’s voice intensified from question to panic, when there was no response.

“Mom!”

The two took off running, Lauren dropping her brush and Arden her mug, until they saw Lolly, sitting on the ground holding the hose, a peony in her hands, the water running. She looked like an old garden statue, a fountain come to life, sitting there, expressionless.

Arden sat next to her mother, put her arm around her shoulder, and removed the hose from her hand while Lauren turned the water off.

“Mom, are you okay?” she said quietly. “Are you hurt? Can you talk? Tell me what’s going on, okay?”

Lolly looked at her daughter very seriously and said calmly, “I’m sorry. I forgot what I was doing. And then I got tired.”

Without warning, Lolly began to shake.

“I’m so scared,” she said, as Arden held her tightly. “I just forget sometimes.”

“We all do,” Arden said, placing her arms around her mother. “We all do.”

A whippoorwill called from the lake.

Lolly didn’t return its whistle.

Lauren and Arden helped Lolly to the screened porch, where they lay her on the couch, covered her with a blanket, and made her some tea. She quickly fell asleep, the soft light off Lost Land basking Lolly in an ethereal glow.

She looks like she’s wearing a halo, Lauren thought, holding her hand.

Arden retreated to the kitchen and called Jake. Then she went upstairs to the bathroom, turned on the faucet and the shower, and began to weep.





Forty




“How are you feeling, Lolly?”

Lolly’s false eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes—one at a time.

“I was dreaming of loons,” she said with a dry voice, still holding the peony from the garden. “Looks like I still am!”

Dr. Van Meter, Jake, Arden, and Lauren were all hovering around her, anxiously waiting for her to wake up. They all laughed at Lolly’s words, greatly relieved.

Lolly noticed that Arden’s cheeks were quivering, as she tried to hold back tears. She gave her earlobe a weak tug to show her daughter everything was going to be okay. Arden smiled and repeated the gesture.

“We’re going to try you on some new meds, Lolly,” Dr. Van Meter said. “I think they will help with your clarity and not make you as confused. Might make your mouth dry, but that’s about it. And I want to see you again in a couple of weeks.”

Lolly nodded. “Thanks, Doc,” Lolly said. She looked to Arden and Lauren. “I am thirsty. Could I get some water?”

“I’ll get it,” Lauren said.

“I’ll walk you out,” Arden said to the doctor.

“I’ll keep you company,” Jake said to the others.

“I’ve always had that effect on men,” Lolly laughed.

“So, what’s really going on, Doctor?” Arden asked out of earshot, as they approached Dr. Van Meter’s SUV.

“MCI patients will have good days and bad. This is a bad one. Unfortunately, there can be more like this as the months progress, especially if your mother’s condition should ever deteriorate into dementia. You need to be ready for that, just in case.”

The doctor looked at the inlet, where Fred and Ethel were floating. She turned and considered Arden with a serious expression. “Living so far away, you need to begin to think about where your mother might live long-term.”

“Long-term?”

“When, and if, she’s ever unable to live on her own way out here,” the doctor said. “Right now, you just might consider having someone check on her regularly.”

Arden turned toward the lake to hide her emotions.

“I know it’s hard,” Dr. Van Meter said. “But dementia is like thunderstorms in the brain. Lolly’s short-term memory will be affected, so she will have trouble with daily activities as some time progresses: bathing, cooking, eating, paying bills. No need for immediate alarm, but—like we all do—your mother has to prepare for the future.”