Page 33 of Tequila Tuesdays

As we hiked, I wondered again who Damien was spending Thanksgiving with, and I thought about the last time I’d seen him at the gym.

After I got home and had just finished getting ready for the day, Ava came over. I noticed she hadn’t showered or gotten ready yet. She rarely left her house without going through a long makeup and hair routine, and she usually always looked stylish and well put together. This had probably helped her camouflage her addiction when we were growing up.

My stomach clenched, and I prepared myself for either a relapse or a confrontation of some kind.

“What’s up?”

She looked at me, then down at Gary. “May I come in?”

I motioned her inside. “Sure. Have you had coffee yet? I can make some.”

She stared at me. “Thank you. That would be nice.”

We hadn’t talked much since Jonathan’s birthday brunch. I walked over to the kitchen area and started making coffee. She followed me over and sat down on a stool at the bar. She had something to say, so I stayed quiet and let her start the conversation.

“Olivia just called me a few minutes ago. I think she forgets sometimes she’s three hours ahead.”

I glanced over at the clock and noticed it was just after ten. I’d been up for at least three hours. “How’s she doing?”

“Fine. But she told me you two decided she’d take over my accounting.”

“We did. She’s the one who suggested it. She said she could FaceTime you and do everything else over the Internet.”

Ava’s lips tightened, and she clasped her hands in front of her. “You should have talked to me first.” She was upset, but she was trying to be civil and keep her composure. That was something new.

I looked at her. “You’re right. We should have.”

“You… you think I’m right?”

“Yeah. I do. You’ve been stable for over a year now, and we should’ve let you know. Let me get Olivia on the phone.” I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and rang Olivia. Luckily, she picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Har. Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Ava’s over here and said she talked to you this morning. She also said that we should have talked to her about having you help with her accounting. I told her she was right. I’m going to put you on speakerphone, okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

I pressed the speaker button. “Can you hear us?”

“I can hear you. Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, honey. I didn’t mean to cause problems, but I thought Harley should have talked to me first,” Ava answered.

“Actually,Ishould have talked to you first, not Harley. It was my idea,” Olivia told her.

I poured two cups of coffee and pushed one over to Ava.

Ava picked her cup up. “Oh. Well, I think I’d prefer to keep things the way they are.”

“Mom, Harley has enough on her plate right now. Her practice is busy, and honestly, you can be a bit of a handful.”

Ava’s shoulders tightened, and she scoffed. “That’s not true. Everything’s been fine lately.”

“I heard about how you behaved at her friend’s Sunday brunch the other day.”

Ava glanced at me with a hurt look. “She shouldn’t have told you.”

“Youshould have told me. Or better yet, not acted that way,” Olivia retorted.

Ava’s hand tightened around her coffee mug. She didn’t like having her favorite daughter call her out.

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