The Escape Collection: (The Escape Collection) (36 page)

“I’ll be fine,” her mom said, trying for bravado. Then seeming to change her mind, she added, “No, Patty, I won’t be okay. I don’t know how it happened so fast.” She tried for a deep breath. “I thought there might be more time.”
 

“There could be, Mom.” Patty held up the paper. “What is this?” The anger she felt early had transformed into a deep sadness, knowing exactly what it was and why she held it in her hand.
 

“It’s a medical order. I didn’t want to say anything to Whitney.” A coughing fit wracked her body. “She won’t understand.”

“I don’t understand, Mom,” Patty whispered. She blinked hard to keep the tears from coming. “I don’t understand any of this. Why didn’t you get treatment? Why this…this order?” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Why didn’t you tell me?” A tear slid down her cheek but she didn’t bother to wipe it away. “You should have told me, Mom.”

To Patty’s surprise, her mother’s own eyes filled with tears. “I know,” she said. “I was wrong.” Patty nodded, but let her mom speak. “I was wrong about a lot of things, Patricia.” She took a deep breath, or what should have been a deep breath. “But I can’t change it now, and I’m so sorry.” She put her free hand over Patty’s and looked in her eyes. “It’s too late now, but—”

“No, Mom. It’s not too late now.” Patty sat up and swiped at the tears. “We can call Dr. Abbott. You can have surgery. Treatment. Whatever you need.”

“No, Patricia.” Her voice was soft but firm and Patty settled back into the chair. “I won’t prolong it.” And when Patty moved to speak again, her mother cut her off. “Please. It’s what I want.”

Reluctantly, Patty nodded.
 

Her mom tried to smile but was overtaken by more coughing. Doing her best to distract herself, Patty poured her mom a glass of water and held the straw to her lips when the coughs subsided.
 

“Patricia,” her mom said after a moment. “About what I said before. I was wrong. And I don’t mean about my cancer. I mean…about you. I was wrong.”
 

A deep ache started in Patty’s chest. With every breath, every word she heard, the ache grew.
 

“It’s too late to go back,” her mom continued. “But it’s not too late for you to be the mother she needs.”

“Mom—”

Her mother lifted her hand, weakly trying to protest. “Don’t argue. I haven’t the strength.” Patty sat back, the aching growing deeper, as if her heart was being squished. But she did as she was asked, and held her tongue. “She’s a good girl,” her mother said. “And she needs you to be the mother you and I both know you can be.” She closed her eyes and Patty squeezed her hand tighter, waiting for her to open them again.
 

After a moment, her mom’s eyelids fluttered and opened. “I love you, Patricia. I never stopped loving you.”

“Oh, Mom.” Patty leaned forward and laid her head on her mother’s chest. More tears leaked from her eyes, but she let them flow unchecked. “I love you too,” she whispered. “So much.”

Chapter 15

“Are you sure this is okay?” Lizzy hesitated before she walked in the door and Reid almost ran into the back of her. “You could have told me you didn’t have a place to live, Reid.”

Carrying her bags, Reid squeezed around her and through the front door. “I do have a place to live, Lizzy. And so do you. Now get in here.”
 

He’d waited until the last possible moment to tell Lizzy the truth about where they’d be living. Well, almost the truth. He didn’t bother her with the small detail that he’d given up his apartment so he’d have enough money to pay for her rehab. Some things didn’t need to be said.
 

Lizzy took a few tentative steps inside and looked around. “It’s a beautiful house,” she said. “But, are you—”

“For the six hundredth time.” Reid tried not to roll his eyes. “It’s fine. Whitney said you could stay here. And I will find us a more long-term solution. But for now, it’s not a problem.” At least he hoped it wasn’t. He couldn’t be totally sure, but he was pretty sure Whitney had been avoiding him since his declaration of love that fell flat. If he could, he would take it back. Not because he didn’t mean it. No, he knew without question he meant it. But he was pretty sure he couldn’t have picked a worse time to tell her how he felt and the more time that went by without talking to her only made him feel more like everything between them was screwed up beyond repair.

“When do I get to meet this incredible person who’s not only willing to put up with you but is actually letting your druggie sister move in?”
 

Reid dropped the bags. “Lizzy!”
 

“What? I’m just telling the truth. They’re big on the truth in therapy,” she said. Reid watched her walk through the room, examining everything. She picked up a framed picture of Whitney and Hazel. It was taken at Whitney’s college graduation and was one of his favorite pictures of her because of the look of complete happiness on her face. He hadn’t seen that much lately. “She’s pretty,” Lizzy said. She pointed to the photo, and asked, “Who’s this?”
 

“That’s Grams.” They both spun around as Whitney came down the stairs. She was smiling, but the weight of sadness sat heavy on her shoulders. “And you must be Lizzy,” Whitney said as she crossed the room. “I’m so happy to finally meet you.” Whitney pulled Lizzy in for a hug and if it was possible, Reid fell a little more in love with her in that moment.
 

It took a second, but Lizzy relaxed and hugged Whitney back. “Thank you,” Lizzy said when they parted. “For letting me stay here. I promise I won’t be a bother or anything.”

“Forget about it,” Whitney said with a wave of her hand. “Make yourself totally at home here. Besides, Reid does all the cooking, so it’s no bother for me.”
 

For a moment they laughed like old friends and Reid crossed his arms and watched with a smile on his face. When Whitney turned and their eyes met, the smile fell away. She was trying to hide it, but the pain in her eyes was real, and instinctively Reid crossed the room to close the gap between them. He stopped short of pulling her into his arms, settling instead for a light touch on the arm.
 

“Is it Grams?” he asked.
 

Whitney nodded, and ducked her head.

“Lizzy, why don’t you take your bags upstairs and get settled in your room? It’s the last door on the left.” It wasn’t a question and Lizzy looked between them briefly before shrugging and picking up her bags.
 

“Might as well,” she said. “It was nice to meet you, Whitney, and thanks again.”
 

Whitney raised her head and forced a smile in acknowledgement. When Lizzy was out of earshot, Reid led her gently to the couch and sat next to her. “Do you want to talk about it?”
 

She shook her head and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Can we just sit here for a minute?”
 

“Of course.” There were a million questions he wanted to ask her. A million things he wanted to tell her. But he pushed it all aside. Opting instead to give her what she needed the most, Reid put his arm around her shoulder, pulled her close and simply sat.
 

After a few minutes, Reid felt Whitney’s body relax. He turned and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Whitney.” He made sure to speak quickly so she couldn’t interrupt. “I know that everything…it’s a lot right now. But yesterday, when I got home, I read your journal. I hope it was okay, I mean, I think you left it out for me to read, right?” She nodded but looked away. “About what you wrote…” He hesitated, unsure of what he should say. “Things shouldn’t be so complicated,” he continued. “And about what I said the other night. I’m sorry. Just forget it, okay? It’d been a long night and with everything going on, I don’t even know why I said it. Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I was sorry, and if you just wanted to forget I said anything at all, that would probably be best.”
 

When she lifted her head from his shoulder and pulled away, Reid felt a piece of him go with her. She looked at him, her eyes clouded and confused. For the second time in only a few days, he wanted to rewind time and take it all back. Saying completely stupid things was starting to become a very disturbing trend for him.

Whitney tilted her head and despite the strange look in her eyes, she looked like she might smile. “Reid,” she started. “You don’t have to apologize. You’re right, it was a long day—hell, it’s been a long week. And things are so confused right now, and well…that’s why I wrote—”

“Oh, good, you’re home.” The front door swung open and Whitney jumped to her feet as Kat flew through the door. “And you’re both here.” Kat kept talking, completely oblivious of the moment she’d just ruined.
 

Reid didn’t take his eyes off Whitney, hoping to see some hint of what she was going to say on her face.
 

“What’s going on?” Whitney crossed the room and closed the door behind her friend.

“What’s going on?” Kat repeated. She dropped her purse on the couch and stood, legs spread, much like a preacher getting ready to deliver his sermon. “Only the biggest thing to ever happen to you. That’s what’s going on.”
 

Whitney laughed and for Reid it didn’t matter what Kat had to say after that, just as long as it kept Whitney laughing. “Well, don’t keep us waiting,” Whitney said. “What is the biggest thing to ever happen to me?”
 

“To both of you,” Kat said.
 

“Okay,” Reid said, “to both of us.”

“I sold your song.”
 

She said it so matter-of-factly, it took Reid a moment to process exactly what she’d said. “Sold?” he managed after a moment. “What do you mean, sold?”

“What do you mean, our song?” Whitney asked.

“Can you even believe it?” Kat said, ignoring both of them. “I knew the second I heard it. It’s going to be big. Big. And it’s the perfect song for Wildflower. They’re an up-and-coming duo and they’re going to cut it for their new album. And I know, I know,” she held up her hands and tossed her head back, “it’s totally unheard of to sell a song so quickly. But what can I say,” she flipped her head back, locking eyes with them, “I’m damn good at what I do.”
 

Whitney and Reid both stared dumbly at Kat, who was practically vibrating with excitement. “I don’t understand,” Whitney said when she recovered her voice. “What song are you talking about?”

“‘Cracked,’” Reid said. He watched Whitney for her reaction. He never had the chance to tell her he’d given the demo to Kat and he certainly didn’t think anything would come of it. He’d hoped, but never in a million years did he think it would sell. He turned back to Kat. “They bought it? Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Kat nodded, a satisfied grin on her face. “I’ll get all the paperwork together and have you guys come and sign everything to make it official.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve gotta run. But it looks like you two may have a real future together.”

She grabbed her purse and left so quickly, she didn’t have a chance to realize her words may have had more than one meaning. Whitney stared after her and then turned slowly to Reid. “You gave her my song?”
 

“Our song,” he corrected. “And I wanted it to be a surprise. You’re so talented, Whitney, and you heard it. It’s amazing.” Reid took a step toward her. “Are you mad? I know I should have asked first, but there was so much going—”

“No,” she said. She rubbed her face and looked at him with tired eyes. “It’s just so sudden and I don’t really know what to think of all this right now. I actually think I might need to be alone for a bit.”
 

Reid nodded. “I get it,” he said, although he didn’t. He wanted to celebrate. To take her in his arms and kiss away any doubt or confusion she had. He wanted to tell her to stay with him. Not to hide from everything she was feeling. Instead, he said, “I should probably check on Lizzy. I was going to make pizza for dinner if you’re going to be around.”
 

Whitney nodded, and just like that, they were back to being just roommates.
 

It felt different. I was leaning against the wall, facing the tiny window that looked out onto the now bare branches of the tree, and looking around the small space. The blanket covering my lap wasn’t doing much to keep the chill out. It wouldn’t be much longer before the cold kept me out of the treehouse altogether. I looked from the old blanket to the walls of my sanctuary. Nothing had changed. The walls were still the same rough wood they’d always been, with an old poster of Leonardo DiCaprio curling at the edges and a snapshot of Kat and me at graduation. I stared at the photo until our faces got blurry. But everything felt different. My notebook lay open in my lap. I re-read what I’d just scribbled down.. A continuation of what I’d written earlier. What I’d been trying to explain to Reid.

The room is spinning

Caught up in your spell

This crazy ride we’re taking

Feel locked inside this cell

I tossed the blanket off my lap and looked around again. It wasn’t the treehouse that had changed. It was me. I’d spent far too much of my life hiding out between the same wooden walls. It was time to face everything I’d been hiding from.
 

I folded up the blanket and tucked it away before climbing down and out to the lawn, my notebook in hand. It was time to face my life. But before I could decide where to go first, my cell rang, making the decision for me.
 

***

I’m not sure what I expected to feel when I pulled into the parking lot at Glenmore Academy. Maybe I expected to feel a sense of loss, or longing or something more than what I felt, which was just sad. As I walked through the doors, I stopped for a moment and took in the foyer, the hallways of lockers spreading out like branches to the classrooms. One of which I’d almost been a permanent teacher in. I couldn’t pretend it didn’t bother me that I would no longer have the chance to see the excited and eager faces on the children as I stood in front of them and tried to teach them something that would stick with them. But Reid was right I couldn’t work for people who would never accept who I was and where I came from.