The Potter's Daughter - A chapter each week - Complete Novel Available on Amazon

Chapter 17

Caroline made her way to the sofa and let herself sink back into the soft white pillows.  The children had been fed and sent off to school, the first wave of office calls were already finished, and Brian was out on errands.  Now came the time she had been anticipating.  Caroline dialed the Bellen house.  As the phone rang, she kicked off her slippers and put her feet up.

Abby picked up the phone, “Hello.”

“Hi, Dear.”

“Hi, good morning.  You’re up early enough.”

“Early, half the day has gone by already.  Wait until you have kids,” said Caroline.

“I’m sure,” said Abby, “I was up quite early myself.”

“Will?”

“Him and the universe.”

“Oh, so how was your day yesterday?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?  Don’t be coy.  I already talked to Mitch this morning,” said Caroline.

Abby was on the cordless phone, relaxing with a tea, and still gazing out onto the lake as she had been since early this morning.  Upon hearing Mitch’s name, Abby’s voice went up a pitch and she curled her legs up under her.

“Really?  So, what did he have to say?” asked Abby.

“Well, he said that he was happy you came by, and that he enjoyed showing you the house, and that you two had an interesting conversation.”

“What else did he say?”

“Not much, except that he would like to see you again.”

“He did not,” Abby straightened her neck from the current angled position.

“Well, not directly, but when I said the kids and I were going to go watch Mitch and Brian’s hockey game later he asked if you were coming.”

“He did, eh?” asked Abby.

“He sure did,” said Caroline.

“What’s this hockey game all about?”

“A bunch of the guys get together every week and play hockey, it’s just an excuse for them to drink beer.  A lot of us go and cheer them on.  It’s a lot of fun.  You’ll enjoy it.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“Well I already told him your coming.”

“Sure, when?”

“This afternoon, after family skate, after the kids get out of school.  You can go to that too.”

Though Caroline and Abby made plans to meet later in the day Caroline could not wait to hear every detail of Abby’s visit to the Johansson house.  Abby repeatedly complimented Caroline on the work underway and Caroline in turn repeatedly shifted the conversation back to Mitch.

“There is something else I wanted to talk about,” said Abby.

“Uncle Will,” asked Caroline.

“I told him I am bringing someone in to take care of him and he went cold.”

“Well I can’t say that I’m surprised.”

“Me neither, actually the whole thing went better than I thought.  I backed down before I got too much of a rise,” said Abby.

“With the way Uncle Will’s been recently there was a real risk that he may have gone on a bender,” said Caroline.

“I may have reeled him in when I asked what mother would think of his self destruction.  He was definitely contemplative this morning.”

Caroline got up from the sofa, “What do you intend to do next?  You certainly can’t go back to the city so soon.  Will needs help on a daily basis.  This is obvious to everybody except Will.  I’m concerned that if you leave so soon there would be no helping Will adjust.  There needs to be some transition time between family and a caregiver.”

Abby’s chest tightened and she began to speak at an accelerated pace, “Whether I am here or not does not make a difference.  He does not listen to me. He does not want me here.”  Abby paused. “I’m afraid I’m coming off as though I am trying to dump my father on you.”

“I don’t think like that,” said Caroline.

The more Abby talked through Will’s predicament the more she convinced herself that he needed family around to help him.  The more Abby was convinced Will needed family to help him the more she was convinced that she wanted, needed, to get back to the city.  By the time Abby was finished making her case the only thing she had convinced herself of was that she needed to get somebody into Will’s house so that she could get out.

Caroline had heard something very different, “It sounds like you might need to stay longer.  As much for your sake as for his.”

“I just told you I need to get back to the city,” said Abby.  She stood up and began to pace.  Abby thought she had made a riveting case for her exit.  A case that convinced her, at least, that she could get out of this.

“You need to calm down dear.  My god, listen to yourself, and not just your words but also your heart,” said Caroline.

“What is it your trying to tell me?”

“You shouldn’t be running from your father, you should be running to him.”

“Run to him?  I ran all the way from the city for him.”

“It’s a metaphor,” said Caroline.  “You haven’t caught him yet.”

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