The Sea Glass Cottage

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“It’s the medication, I’m sure.”

She nodded, though she knew it wasn’t the medication. She was feeling sorry for herself. She couldn’t really think straight, but she did know she didn’t want to be in this hospital bed and didn’t want to be dependent for help on a daughter who already seemed to resent her so much.

“You don’t have to stay,” she said again. “We can…figure something out.”

“It’s done. You don’t have to figure anything out.” Olivia’s voice was gentle. “Your job right now is to focus on healing. Those are the orders from Dr. Adeno. She’s quite fierce.”

She closed her eyes as another tear dripped out. She wasn’t even sad, really, just upset and emotional. “You hate the garden center.”

Surprise widened Olivia’s eyes. “What makes you say that? I don’t hate it.”

“You resent it, anyway. Or at least the time I spent there after your father died.”

What a horrible time that had been. Another tear dripped out. She had loved the man with all her heart, had loved their life and their daughters and taking care of all of them.

Then Steve had run into a burning building and hadn’t come out alive, and she had been left with all of it. The garden center, the house, two troubled girls, then Caitlin just a year later.

Their finances had been a mess. She’d only discovered it after Steve’s death. The business had been deeply in debt, the house heavily mortgaged. She was afraid they would lose everything and she and the girls would be on the streets.

She had been wholly unprepared for the challenge of taking over the family business. Steve had run everything and she had been content to let him. They had divided their family responsibilities down traditional lines. He had been provider, protector, while she had been in charge of the home front, stepping in to help run the cash register during busy times of year, yes, and being involved in some garden design projects, but that was all.

She had loved their life. She had loved preparing healthy, nutritious meals for her family, creating a home they had all wanted to return to. She had taken every opportunity to volunteer in her daughters’ classrooms, from home mother to field trip chaperone, even traveling with Natalie’s choir group on a memorable visit to Washington, DC.

She wanted to think she’d been a good mother. At least a loving one.

Then Steve had died and 100 percent of the responsibilities had fallen on her. In the midst of that, just six months after Steve died, Natalie had come to tell her she was pregnant and keeping the baby.

It had taken everything she had to keep her sanity hanging by the tiniest thread. As a result, she had neglected her youngest child horribly.

She told herself it was all right. Olivia had been the strong one, the one whose report card was always perfect and who had friends around her and who seemed to make good choices all the time.

Juliet had failed her, maybe more than she had failed anyone else in her life. The worst part was, she didn’t know how to fix it. Instead of healing the tiny cracks that had formed in their relationship, she had opted to ignore them, hoping they would fix themselves. Instead, they had grown into huge gaping fissures.

“I’m sorry,” she said now, another tear dripping onto her pillow.

Olivia squeezed her fingers and Juliet wanted to hold on tight and not let go. “You have nothing to be sorry for. It was an accident. You don’t need to worry about this right now. Just do your best to rest. Sleep while you can. Do you need more pain meds?”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll get the nurse.”

“Thank you. I am glad you’re here, Olivia. Thank you for taking care of Caitlin.”

Her granddaughter came into the room just in time to hear that last comment. “I’m fifteen years old. I don’t need a babysitter, Mimi.”

The familiar nickname soothed her. “I know. You’re right.”

The nurse came in and bustled around, checking her IV and taking her vital signs.

“You’re doing great. Everything looks normal,” she said. Then she pushed a syringe full of medicine into the IV line. “This will help take the edge off. Don’t hesitate to call during the night if you need more pain relief. Stay on top of the pain and your body will thank you, trust me.”

Some pain was too big to climb, like trying to scale a steep mountain face alone in a blizzard.

She couldn’t even take the first step right now and decided to sleep instead.

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