Christmas at Barncastle Inn: Four-in-One Collection by Susan Page Davis Darlene Franklin Janelle Mowery Lynette Sowell

Author:Susan Page Davis, Darlene Franklin, Janelle Mowery, Lynette Sowell [Davis, Susan Page]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781607428787
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2011-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

Sean slept on his mother’s beat-up old couch, something he never did. He woke early on Christmas Eve day, and set to cleaning the house while she slept. Where did you draw the line between helping and enabling? How could he at least try to have a halfway normal relationship with his mother, without her spoiling everything?

He found cheese slices and bread, and prepared some grilled cheese sandwiches for them. Not much else to eat. But he noted an empty liquor shelf and a trash bag full of empty bottles.

“I got fired from Quinlan’s, Sean,” Mom said after she dragged herself into the kitchen and they sat down to eat their sandwiches. Her attitude had done a complete 180-degree shift from the disastrous night before.

“All those gifts you bought? Where’d you get the money?” Unbelievable.

“I cashed my last check.” Her eyes were shadowed with dark circles, her normally swishy hairdo looked matted, unkempt.

“Mom, you can’t live like this. Do you remember when your lights were turned off last month? I wouldn’t pay the bill and made you wait until your next check came around?”

She nodded. “I was so angry at you.”

“You need to get back with your support system. They can’t do it for you; I can’t do it either. You have to want to make the change and get the help you need. Above all, let God help you, too.” Anytime he’d mentioned God in the past, Mom would either shut down or blow up. “I finally, finally meet someone special, really special, and now I don’t know where we’ll be. Know this, Mom. I’ll be here for you. But I won’t be cleaning up your messes.” How tough must tough love get?

“I know, I know.” She stood, went over to the kitchen window above the sink and looked at the frozen world outside. “I wish it would snow again, cover up all that gray slush outside. Snow makes things so fresh and new looking.” Her sigh reminded him of Memé, far older than her forty-six years.

Love covers a multitude of sins—just like snow, covering up all the slush and winter mess outside. God, what do I do?

“I didn’t mean to get drunk last night.” She turned to face him. “I poured everything out of the bottles before I left for the Barncastle. I thought I’d make one effort to get something right.”

“But you brought liquor with you.”

She bowed her head. “I held one bottle back. Then yesterday, after shopping and taking a nap, I felt thirsty.”

But she’d poured everything out here and cleaned house, in a manner of speaking. “Why didn’t you come find me, or find someone else?”

“I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s Christmas. The Goudreaus seem like happy, positive people. I felt like I didn’t belong there, no matter what I tried.”

“Mom, your perception is wrong. They didn’t even know I was coming; Armand didn’t tell them. Sure, they were surprised at first. But they accepted me anyway.” Right now, he missed Marcella so bad, and it hurt worse than a toothache.

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