Page 6 of Off-Limits to the Grizzly

I know.

“So you’re based in Oakdale now?” I ask.

She sighs. “Yeah. But now I don’t have a job, or a place to live. I was supposed to be making a new life here, but it’s been hard…”

She twists her fingers in her lap, stares out of the side window. “Maybe you could drop me at a motel or something—?”

“I’m taking you back to Twin Falls,” I cut her off, and her breath catches. Crap. That was too loud. But no way in hell am I leaving her in a motel here. She’s under my protection now.

“I can’t. I mean, I don’t have a place to stay there. And… I just can’t go back. I’ll feel like such a failure.” Her chest rises and falls rapidly, and I fight the urge to pull over and take her in my arms.

Instead, I clear my throat. “Blair, listen to me. You’re not a failure. The girl I knew was strong and kind and loyal, and I’ll bet my bottom dollar that hasn’t changed. Come back with me for now. We’ll put an action plan together, and then you can decide on your next move.”

Her eyes flash onto mine, with a flicker of something—hope, I think.

“I’ve got a spare room for you,” I say.

Silence rings out between us.

“You can stay as long as you like,” I add.

She shakes her head. “Why are you helping me?”

“Because you need help.” That’s the truth.

“But, last time I saw you—”

I close my eyes for a beat as the past rushes over me like hot lava. So much shame and confusion. I yelled at her to get out, to stay away from my daughter. The pain and sadness on her face has been seared into my brain for eternity.

“I’m sorry for what happened back then,” I mutter. “It was a difficult time.”

I hear a hitch in her breathing.

“Have you heard from Kayla since she left?” she says.

“Yeah, from time to time.”

“I haven’t,” she says quietly. “She said I’m better off without her.”

Her words twist a knife in my gut. I’m sorry to say it of my own daughter, but I think she was right. I’m so sorry Blair wound up being hurt though.

“You two turned out pretty different,” I say at last.

She exhales heavily. “We used to be so close. We shared everything. But when we got to about thirteen, she changed. She got real wild.”

I nod.Because Kayla is a big cat and she just hit puberty.

“You lost your parents, didn’t you?” I ask, making my voice soft. I heard it on the grapevine right after it happened.

“Yeah. Car crash. They were both drunk.” She says it tonelessly, like any emotion has long been wrung out of her.

“I’m so sorry.”

She shrugs. “They were never real parents. All they cared about was drinking and getting high.”

I knew that. That’s why I used to try and give her some stability, let her stay at our place whenever she wanted.

“Then I went to live with my grandma for a few years. But then she died. Selling her trailer didn’t even cover her debts. So…” She throws her hands out, helplessly.

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