Chapter 14 - A Different Kind of Rescue
The notice was from the equipment lender.
It said the account was under review and the company had to contact its representative about the disputed guarantee.
Mom had stopped answering the phone.
For one awful hour, I wanted to race over, open the kitchen, handle the orders, and make everybody's problems disappear.
I knew exactly how.
That was the trap.
Instead, Renee called Mom's accountant, a woman named Sheila who had already offered to help restructure the business.
"She won't listen to me," Sheila said.
"She thinks asking for help means admitting she failed."
"It doesn't," Renee answered.
"But using her daughter does."
That afternoon, I picked up Lila and Jo from summer day camp with written permission from Mom.
We sat on a bench outside the library and ate popsicles that melted faster than we could keep up.
"Are we going to lose our house?" Lila asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"The adults are working on it."
"You're an adult now," she said.
"I am," I answered.
"But I'm not your parent."
Jo stared at me with cherry juice on her chin.
"Can you be our sister forever?"
"That part doesn't expire."
We made a plan for reading calls, birthday visits, and where to meet if they needed help.
Then Lila said something that broke my heart.
"Mom told me I'll have to learn to cook once you leave."
"You can learn because it's fun," I said.
"Not because someone expects you to replace me."
That night, I wrote the same thing in an email to Mom: Please don't put my responsibilities on Lila.
May you like
Her reply came at midnight.
You want honesty? Come tomorrow. I'll tell you exactly what I did.
