She pressed the answer button and drew in a steadying breath. “Hi, Mom.”
“Bre, I need you to come home right now,” her voice was shrill and cold as always when talking to Bre. She reserved her compassionate, breezy voice for people she wanted to impress and Bre had long ceased to be one of those people. Bre couldn’t remember a time when her mother viewed her as anything other than an inconvenience.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s your grandmother. I think you drove. Can you leave tonight or early tomorrow?”
“Is she okay?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I’m listening,” Bre said in response to her mom’s wavering voice.
“Fine. Your grandmother had a stroke.”
Bre sucked in a breath, but it was difficult to swallow. “Is she going to be okay?”
“I don’t know,” she replied gravely. “I’m on my way to the airport and I don’t have time to stop at the hospital, but when I talked to the doctor, he made it sound as if she only had a few days left.”
“You’re not going home to see her?”
Her mother sighed. “Bre, I’m going on vacation. I can’t cancel my plans. I already have plane tickets and hotel reservations.”
“Right, and it isn’t impractical for me to cancel my visit and drive across the country,” Bre responded sarcastically.
“What are you saying? Are you refusing to go home to be with your grandmother after everything she’s done for you.”
“No, Mom,” Bre said, running her hand through her hair with her free hand. “I would never do that, but apparently you can’t say the same. I’ll leave tomorrow morning. I should be home in two days.”
“Bre, don’t be condescending. This vacation is really important. Charles would be devastated if I cancelled. He really likes me.”
It was on the tip of Bre’s tongue to respond that Charles must not know her, but she didn’t. “Who’s Charles?”
“My new boyfriend. I don’t want to disappoint him. He’s really successful, and he loves my art.”
“What happened to Edward?”
“Oh, you know.”
“No, I don’t know.”
“He was boring. Besides, Charles is so much better.”
“I’m sure he is,” Bre responded, rolling her eyes.
“Well, I have to go. I’m on my way to the airport. I’ll text you the hospital information. I should be home in a week.”
Bre dropped her phone on the kitchen counter and bent over, bracing her head in her hands.
“Hey, babe, are you okay?” Cam asked as he placed his hands on her shoulders.
Bre cringed. She hated when he called her that. “No, I need to pack. I have to go home. My grandma’s dying.”
“What? When are you leaving?”
Pushing away from the kitchen counter. “In the morning.”
Cam pulled her into a tight hug. “Bre, I’m so sorry. Based on what I could pick up from the conversation, your mom is leaving you to sort out this mess alone.”
“Doesn’t she always?” Bre let her cheek rest against his chest. Breathing in his spicy familiar scent, she felt like they were kids again, when she would run to his house every time her life became so suffocating that she didn’t think she could take it for one more moment.
“Cam,” she mumbled into his worn cotton shirt, now damp from her silent tears. “Can you come with me? I’m scared.”
Cam didn’t answer for a few minutes while his hand absently rubbed her back. “Babe, I wish I could, but I can’t do it right now. It isn’t a good time. I’m so busy with the band and my job.”
Hearing his answer, Bre tensed under his ministrations. With nothing more than a few careless words, the magic comfort she remembered from her childhood died. Pushing away from his chest, she rubbed her tear-stained face with the back of her hand. Her life felt out of control. She was losing her grandmother, Cam seemed emotionally detached, and her mother was as disappointing as ever. At least some things never changed.
“Bre,” Cam said as she reached the entrance to the bedroom. “You know I would go with you if I could, right?”
Bre studied Cam’s sincere blue eyes that had been the source of her comfort for more years than she could remember, and she wanted to feel anger or sadness, but the only feeling she could muster was disillusionment. “Cam, life isn’t about what you can or can’t do, it about what you want to do.”
“What do you mean by that?” Cam questioned, his voice harsh.
“Nothing. I need to pack. Can you bring my luggage to the car when I’m done so I’ll be ready to leave early in the morning?”