Heart of Stone

Episode

Eloise was on her way back to Field & Florals when her music went silent, signaling an incoming call. It rang a moment later and announced the caller out loud.

"Mom."

Eloise frowned slightly but decided to answer. They spoke regularly, but she didn't like to dodge her mother's calls. Somehow, it still made her feel guilty even if she was busy. She pressed the button on her steering wheel.

"Hello?"

"Eloise." Eleanor spoke urgently, her voice like steel.

"Uh, hi, mom. Are you alright?" She asked, her brows furrowing in concern.

"Please come home, Eloise. Please." She begged, her tone switching to one of fear.

Eloise's body immediately tensed up. She recognized what was going on right away, all too familiar with her mother's episodes. She took a deep breath in and blew it out slowly through her nose.

"Mom, where is dad? Are you by yourself?" She asked, her voice a little firmer.

"I just need you here, please. Please... just trust me. Come home." She insisted, her voice dropping as if she were afraid for someone to hear her.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." Eloise sighed, feeling annoyed while simultaneously finding a pit of anxiety yawning open inside her. "If dad isn't home, please call him."

Her mother hung up the phone without saying goodbye, and Eloise ran her fingers through her hair. She wished she had a mother who would call her over for casual lunch visits and to chat about what she did with her day, instead of a mother who called to beg her to come home because she was afraid to be alone. Hopefully everything was alright, but she knew deep down inside that it wasn't. She drove past her shop and didn't stop, although she did think about grabbing Luna quickly and decided against it. Time was not on her side right now, and she wasn't sure if her mother was truly home alone or not.

As she tried to focus on the road in front of her, she battled all the horrific scenarios threatening to take over her thoughts, telling herself that her mother would be fine. This was another one of her episodes and she would be able to easily handle it.

When she arrived at her familiar childhood home, she parked in the driveway with a small note of anxiety gripping her. Coming here always flooded her with so many memories, unfortunately more unpleasant ones than pleasant, and it only served to worsen her nerves. She was accustomed to the nature of her mother's episodes, but it had been quite a while since she'd had one. She sighed heavily and exited the vehicle, wishing badly that she could just get back in her car and pretend she'd never been here.

As she stepped through the front door, she already felt the atmosphere in the house was off. Her father peeked his head out into the foyer from the kitchen, gave her a little wave, then disappeared back around the archway. She followed him and saw her mother sat at the kitchen island, staring out the windows ahead of her, her eyes darting back and forth.

"Hey, mom." Eloise said, her tone quiet.

Her eyes jumped to Eloise, her body turning to face her.

"Oh, Eloise." She gave a big sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're here."

"You know I'll always come by if you need me to. Are you alright?" She asked, stepping tentatively further into the room, glancing at her father for any clue as to what this was about but his face was unreadable.

"I'm fine." She said, smoothing the skirt of her dress with trembling fingers.

Eloise slid onto the bar stool beside her mother, facing her.