Page 46 of When You're Gone
“Now get out of here. Tori and I have work to do, and Mom’s coming down to help us any minute.”
Tori bristled at the realization that Dempsey didn’t know the details about their plans for the day. Yes, they were working on the fundraiser together. But more specifically, she was there because she needed their mom’s help. Gloria Haas had helped Fielding secure an event planner, pick the ballroom at the ritziest hotel in Cleveland, and get all the event details in order. She had contributed to the guest list and had even connected them with a few big-ticket items for the auction.
But now they were working on the flow of the actual event, and Tori wanted to talk to her herself. Fielding agreed without hesitation, but Tori wasn’t sure how Dempsey would react to her making the acquaintance of Gloria Haas. She knew he was protective of their mother, and rightfully so. Fielding should have run their plans past him before she arrived.
Dempsey backed out of the kitchen, a thoughtful expression on his face. He nodded once to his brother, then looked her way. “Keep him in line, Wendybird.”
Relief washed over her with Dempsey’s easy acceptance.
“Are you ready for this?” Fielding asked, interlacing his fingers and cracking his knuckles in front of his face.
She rolled her eyes and smiled, grateful for his carefree Fielding-ness that shined a light on everything that felt so cold and dark and heavy. She didn’t know if she was actually ready—it felt like an extremely personal step—but she didn’t take it lightly that Fielding trusted her enough to let her meet their mom, and that Dempsey approved.
If she didn’t know Gloria Haas was a spiraling, toxic addict, she never would have guessed she was an alcoholic. The woman was effervescent and magnetic. She was all the light and playfulness of Fielding mixed with the determination and thoughtfulness of Dempsey.
“You two make a good team,” Gloria praised as she closed the manilla folder in front of her. They were just about done for the day, and the sun was starting to set outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows. “You have a real knack for this, Victoria. You’d give the ladies at the club a run for their husbands’ money.”
Tori smiled affectionately at Gloria. If she had been feeling good about the event plans before, she was giddy about them now. Early RSVPs were already coming in, which they could view on the portal their event planner had set up. To her utter shock, almost everyone who was unable to attend still sent in a donation. They had raised more than $100,000 in a few days from those donations alone. The event itself would bring in additional funds, and Fielding and Gloria kept assuring her that the auction and the in-person donations would make them even more. She knew none of this would be possible without their expertise and connections—she would be forever grateful for their involvement.
Fielding stretched his arms over his head and leaned back in his chair, letting out a little grunt as he stretched. “I’m starving. Are we having dinner together, Victoria Thompson?” He jutted his chin toward her and gave her one of his megawatt smiles. She checked the time on her phone and saw that it was almost six. Now that he mentioned it, she was hungry, too.
“Yeah, I could eat. Do you want to go to Clinton’s?” She started to gather up all the notes and lists spread out along the table. She was eager to call Jill in the morning and give her the latest updates.
$100,000. It was almost too good to be true.
“Uh, well, I was thinking maybe we could order in.”
Something about the hesitation in his voice made her look up to meet his eyes. Fielding glanced over to his mom, then shifted his gaze back to her.
Oh. Shoot. She had thrown out the Clinton’s idea without even thinking. Dempsey had already left for work and said he was closing at The Oak tonight. Fielding was probably on “babysitting duty,” as he so often referred to it.
The Haas brothers technically lived at the Valet House, but she knew they had some sort of arrangement where they took turns keeping an eye on their mom. If Fielding wanted to order in, that meant it was his turn to hang out at home.
“Oh no. No, no, no,” Gloria declared, hands raised in objection. “You’re not staying home or ordering in on my account, young man. If this girl wants to go out, you take her out.”
Fielding pursed his lips in contemplation.
Shit. She hadn’t meant to put him in this situation. It had been too easy to forget about the turmoil that haunted this family after spending all afternoon with them.
“Go,” his mom insisted through pearly-white gritted teeth. She reached out to place her hand on top of his.
Fielding assessed his mom up and down, then nodded once. He shoved away from the table with more force than was necessary, then turned back in Tori’s direction. “I’m going to change and grab a jacket. We’ll leave in five minutes.”
Gloria watched after him, sighing as he disappeared down a long hallway. She turned to Tori and smiled sadly. “Both my boys worry after me. With good reason, of course. I’ve given them a lot of reasons to over the years, between the drinking and the pills and all the highs and lows.” She clucked her tongue a few times, her eyes downcast with shame. “Even though I’m the cause of it, I still hate that they worry.”
Tori was shocked silent by the woman’s self-awareness. Field always made it sound like his mom wasn’t aware of the destruction her choices left in their wake. To have her sit right there at the kitchen table and call a spade a spade…
Her mind immediately went to her husband. Rhett was hyper-aware of his drinking problem, too. She’d watched for months as he struggled, as he coped, as he used every resource and channeled every ounce of determination into not drinking. He’d been sober for almost nine months now.
She had falsely assumed that being hyper-aware of a problem was the same as being committed to it. How could someone bear witness to the pain they caused and not at least try to quit? She hadn’t realized until that very moment that there was an in-between: A place where a person could know damn well what they were doing but not be able to course correct.
The realization caught in her throat. Her heart ached for her golden boy, who worked so damn hard to be everything for her. She hadn’t even asked him how he was handling things when they’d talked on the phone earlier that day… she’d just given him a “pep talk” like he accused, letting his pleas for her company dissipate before he even finished making the request. She’d call him after dinner—she needed to figure out a way to make sure he felt supported and seen.
She blew out a long breath as she settled in to her resolve. Sometimes Rhett made everything look so effortless that it was easy to gloss over his accomplishments. But his struggles were real, his needs and requests for help valid.
Gloria eventually broke the silence between them. “My blue-eyed angel boy has been smiling a lot more lately. He has a lightness to him that I haven’t seen since they both moved home.”
Tori nodded thoughtfully. She knew exactly what Gloria was talking about. It was that innate Fielding-ness that made everything feel lighter and brighter when he was around. But she hadn’t realized that was new. She’d thought that was who he had always been.
