“Sorry, no. Come on. We have to get to the car. We’re almost to the dock.” He tugged lightly on her elbow, but she didn’t budge. She was still carrying on a conversation with Cindy. His eyes went wide when they exchanged numbers, and this woman handed his mom a piece of paper. When they finally said goodbye, and she was out of earshot, he asked his mom what that was all about.
“Oh, nothing, really. We got to talking.”
“You exchanged numbers?”
“I’m going to go to her book club. It’s in Skagit Valley.”
He opened the door for his mom and waited for her to get situated before closing it and rushing over to the other side. “And on the piece of paper?”
“Oh, that’s for you. It’s Lacey’s number. You should call and ask her out.”
“Sweet heavens, Johanna, what did you do?”
She turned in her seat and looked at her husband. “I’ve done nothing wrong, George. A mother is supposed to help her children out every now and again.”
“Not when it comes to dating. Graham’s a big boy. He can find his own dates.”
He couldn’t, but that was because he hadn’t really tried. He told Krista he was going to, though. He was going to start dating and living his life.
Johanna turned back around and said, “She’s twenty-seven, never married, and, according to her mother, ready to settle down.”
“She’s a little too young, but what could one phone call hurt?” Usually, age didn’t bother him. Lacey was ten years younger, depending on when her birthday was, but that wasn’t what made his jaw tic. His mother was trying to set him up with a stranger . . . Graham took a deep breath. Something like a setup could work well in his favor.
Graham held his hand out and waited for his overly eager mother to put the slip of paper in his hand. She did, and he pocketed it without looking. The least he could do was call her, explain the situation, and offer to show her around town, although if she’d moved over from Skagit Valley, there was a good chance she knew her way around Cape Harbor. His mother’s intentions were good, if heavy handed. There were things she wanted out of life, and lately, it was to become a grandmother. And unless Grady had a child they were unaware of, the future responsibility fell onto him. Nothing out of the ordinary—it seemed every substantial burden rested on his shoulders.
“Boy, you’re giving your mother a complex. Be prepared for your phone to ring off the hook with all her friends’ single daughters and granddaughters.” George chuckled from the back seat.
“You hush, George Chamberlain,” Johanna fired back.
The part of Washington they were in was lush and green and bordered the Olympic National Park. However, most of the drive until they reached Port Angeles was nothing more than small towns. Some run down. George was lively during the ride, telling his companions random facts about the towns they drove through, most of which were probably tall tales he had learned from a friend or two. Most of the towns had been forgotten, left alone after people moved to the mainland or down south for work. The economy was based mostly on tourism, which, when you were trying to have a family, didn’t necessarily pay the bills.
Graham pulled into the parking lot of the rehab facility; the tension in the car became palpable. For three hours, as a family, they were able to forget the reason they had taken the road trip to begin with and just feel normal. The Chamberlains were back to reality, with a family therapy session waiting for them. He parked, turned off his car, and waited for his parents to meet him around front. His mother had an expression on her face, one he hadn’t seen since she sat down by Grady’s side while he was in the ICU.
“It’s going to be okay, Mom.”
Graham held the front door of the center for his parents and was shocked to hear his father speaking into the intercom. He thought for sure his dad would do everything in his power to make this trip miserable, but George kept surprising his son. The second set of doors clicked, and the three of them made their way inside and to the reception desk, where they were told to wait.
George’s leg bounced up and down, and Johanna placed her hand over her husband’s knee to keep it still. “You’re making me nervous, Georgie,” she said.
“I am nervous,” he told her.
“Me too,” Graham said to his parents.
A young woman came out to get them. They followed her through a set of double doors that only opened after she punched in a code and swiped a key card. She showed them to a room that was colorful, like the rainbow. It had a couch, beanbags on the floor, pillows scattered everywhere, and somewhat comfortable-looking chairs. The room had a view of the outside, and there were posters on the walls, all displaying messages with positive reinforcements.
Johanna sat down and encouraged her two men to do the same. “This room feels nice,” she said. “I really hope Grady is embracing the help.”
“Me too,” Graham stated.
“He better. This is his last chance,” George blurted. Johanna and Graham looked at him askance. He shrugged. “Doc said, right?” They both nodded. “All right, then. He better figure it out, because I’d like to have my son back.”
Graham wanted to jump up and down. He wanted to fall to his knees and thank whoever showed his father the light, because if they could show Grady a united family front, maybe, just maybe, they could all heal together.
The door opened, and Grady and his therapist walked in. Grady sat in the chair closest to their mother. Compared to the last time Graham saw his brother, Grady looked a bit healthier but still had sunken eyes and hollowed cheekbones. He was clean shaven, his hair combed, and he wore hospital-issued clothing. Grady didn’t say hi or offer anyone a hug. Instead, he looked down at the ground and let his therapist do all the talking.
“I’m Sonny Andrews.” He shook hands with everyone before sitting down. “I want to thank you for coming, as it is imperative for Grady’s recovery to know his family supports him.”
Dr. Andrews relaxed in his chair and looked at each of them. “I want to go over what Grady and I have been working on. When you’re an addict, you have many wars within yourself. Not only is your body fighting against your decision to get clean, but the war also makes you second-guess yourself and the people surrounding you. Grady is slowly working through events and has accepted that his road to recovery is going to be harder than anticipated. He has some anger issues to work on, self-deprecation and esteem issues, and the overall feeling that he doesn’t belong on earth.
“I ask that you listen, answer his questions, and tell him your fears and how we can work together to make Grady’s time in rehab more meaningful. Grady, you indicated earlier that you’d like to start.”
He nodded, moved his hospital-issued shoes around, and cleared his throat. “My family thinks I’m a failure, and I believe they wish I would’ve died that night.”
That night. The one that haunted everyone.
“Oh, Grady,” Johanna choked out. She reached for his hand, but he pulled it away. Graham saw how his brother was breaking their mom’s heart.
“Why do you feel this way, Grady?”
“I can see it in their eyes. I can sense it when I’m around them. They don’t want me anymore.”