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A llison drove to her mother’s. She hadn’t heard from her for over a week and was more than a little worried. She hadn’t even come to dinner Thursday night and hadn’t phoned with a reason. The previous Thursday she’d phoned to say she had a migraine and couldn’t come over. Something wasn’t right.

Allison thought Christmas Day would make her mother see sense, but instead she seemed locked inside herself. It had shocked Allison to see how her mother looked. She’d lost weight, her hair drab and oily. Lucy had been so strange lately, as if she’d given up on life.

No, that was wrong. She’d been different since the afternoon of the twins’ birthday party six weeks ago.

She knew Geoffrey thought she was wrong to make her mother choose between her grandchildren and those two men.

He’d made no secret of his disapproval, but Allison didn’t want the kids growing up thinking it was fine to have two partners.

She and Geoffrey had fought over it non-stop until Geoffrey told her that Lucy had begged him to stop and he would respect her wishes.

But still it was a sore point between them and beginning to damage their relationship.

Allison loved Geoffrey dearly and it hurt her to have this coming between them. She kept thinking back to before the birthday party, remembering how happy her mother had been.

Her mother was really no longer the same woman.

It wasn’t that she was just unhappy. It was as if a switch had been turned off deep inside her.

Even when she was with the grandkids, she seemed to force her laughter.

Her face was drawn. Allison thought she’d stopped caring about herself.

And Allison struggled with the change in her mother.

On top of all that, she absolutely hated that her mother ignored her the few times Lucy had come for dinner.

It was as if Allison didn’t exist for her.

Now she hadn’t seen Lucy for over two weeks, hadn’t heard from her since she phoned with that headache excuse the week earlier.

Before everything had gone wrong, she and her mother would talk a few times a week and see each other at least once. Now—nothing.

This morning when Allison had gotten up something went off inside her head. Maybe all along she’d been trying to pretend she was right. But this morning it was as if someone forced her to look at herself in a mirror.

It shocked her to suddenly face the ugly truth—she alone had wrecked her mother’s chance of happiness because she’d only been thinking of herself.

It was as if someone had hit her with a hammer.

She’d seen the whole awful truth of what she had done and howled.

She’d destroyed her mother’s chance of happiness because she was too selfish to accept that her mother had every right to live whatever life she chose.

At last, she realized she had no right to expect people to conform to her desires.

She’d held her mother to ransom using the grandchildren.

But all she’d achieved was her mother’s unhappiness, and their horrid estrangement.

As she faced the truth, she also knew that her mother and the two men had done nothing to ever hurt anyone.

Her children loved both men, and the two men had treated her children as if they were their own grandchildren.

Now, determined to apologize, she made a decision. It was probably too late to repair her relationship with her mother, but it was the least Allison could do.

Somehow, she would try to repair the terrible rift between them that she’d caused. She just prayed her mother would give her the chance. Racing to her next-door neighbor, she asked her to mind the three children because of an emergency. Geoffrey was on day shift at the station.

Driving to her mother’s house, she planned what she would say, how she would apologize. As she pulled up near the front door it was just after eleven in the morning, then she walked around the side toward the conservatory door. Extremely loud music blared out.

Hell, that’s not like Mum. She liked music but not so loud that she couldn’t hear herself think.

Allison opened the door and went inside. She walked through into the kitchen then into each room looking for Lucy. The music resounded through the house, and Allison wanted to block her ears. It came from the parlor, and Allison turned the deafening sound all the way down to low as she passed.

She found her mother in the front living room.

Drunk!

As Allison walked in, her mother took a swig from a wine bottle. She saw Allison and waved the bottle. “Ooh, look who’s here! It’s Ms. Goody-two-shoes!”

“Mum! You’re drunk!”

Lucy tried putting a finger to her lips but missed. “Ssh. If you don’t tell, I won’t.”

Allison grabbed the bottle and tore it from her mother’s hands. It was practically empty and she put it on the cabinet behind her.

Lucy looked at her with anger. “That’s right, take something else from me. My fucking daughter wants everything her way,” Lucy yelled. “Why not take my house? My fucking clothes?”

With that, she went to pull off the dirty t-shirt she wore.

Allison grabbed it and pulled it back down. “Mum, what on earth are you doing?”

“Trying to have some fun before I die. You know what fun is, don’t you? Oops, I forgot, I’m not supposed to. I’m only supposed to do what my strait-laced daughter tells me.”

“Stop it, Mum. You’re being stupid. I don’t understand you. You don’t drink!”

“Well, now I do. You know what? It isn’t so bad after the first bottle.” Lucy swayed on her feet and peered through bloodshot eyes at her daughter.

Allison was completely confused. This wasn’t like her mother one iota.

Lucy took a stumbling step toward her and almost fell. Allison grabbed her with both hands, but Lucy shook her off.

She grunted at Allison, “Why are you here?”

“I came to apologize. I was so wrong to make you choose between the kids and your partners.”

“Fucking right you were!”

“Mum!”

“You made me break my heart. You took away two men who loved me and who I loved so much.” She gave a loud sob. “I still love them. I...”

Lucy began crying, and Allison reached out to touch her arm but her mother shrugged her off again. It was as if she couldn’t bear to have Allison touch her.

Lucy’s heartbreak almost tore Allison in two as her voice quivered with pain. “I love them still and you took them away! You ruined my one chance at happiness because you couldn’t see the love we had.”

“Mum, I’m so sorry! I really am!” Tears ran down Allison’s cheeks, dripping onto the floor. It was horrible watching her mother. She seemed to be trying to self-destruct.

“Fuck off, Allison!”

Allison flinched at the pain, the agony in her mother’s voice. “Why don’t you ring them?” she suggested.

Lucy laughed. It wasn’t a nice sound. It was filled with regret and sarcasm as well as so much misery. “Too late for that, chicky. Too late!”

“Oh, Mum, I’m so sorry.”

“Too late for that, too.” She waved a finger in Allison’s general direction. “You fucked it all up!” She swayed as she peered at Allison. “I’m ready to jump off the mountain and solve it all.”

“Mum! Please don’t talk like that! I love you! We all love you.”

Lucy sounded almost sober as she clearly said, “Go away, Allison, before I say something else I might regret. Don’t want our last words to be so bad.”

She turned away and Allison watched as she took a huge breath, her shoulders rising. Then she turned back to her daughter. “Goodbye, Allison. Say goodbye to Geoff for me and kiss the kids, tell them I really love them so much. You won’t have to worry about me anymore.”

“What are you saying?” Allison screamed in horror.

“If you don’t understand, that’s your problem. The house is yours and so is any money in the bank. Goodbye. Now leave me.”

“Mum!” Allison screeched, trying to understand, trying to get through to her mother.

“Get out now, Allison.” Her words were no longer slurred. It was only the back-and-forth, unsteady motion that gave her away. “I don’t want to see you anymore and soon I won’t have to.”

Allison stood staring at her for a moment in shock.

“Get out now!” Lucy screamed. She looked at Allison with contempt. “And turn the music back up as you leave! Let me hear it for my last few hours.”

Allison was torn. She didn’t want to leave her mother in this state, but if she stayed, she really might hear something more she didn’t want to.

Lucy might do something really stupid. She was in a panic.

If she’d understood her mother correctly, she intended to do something bad.

Allison knew if she stayed Lucy would probably act immediately.

She needed help. She’d go outside and call Geoffrey. He’d get through to Lucy.

Her mother’s infuriated yell echoed through the room. “Get the fuck out!”

Sadly, Allison said goodbye and, crying softly, walked from the room, taking the wine with her.

When she reached the kitchen, she looked around and saw another two wine bottles—one empty and one full.

She grabbed the full one and left the house with the two wine bottles, dumping them in the garbage bin.

Reaching her car, Allison’s dread flooded her. Her mother was right. She had broken her mother’s heart. Allison got in the car and rested her head on the steering wheel. What could she do? Her mother seemed determined to kill herself. Lucy was so drunk Allison knew anything could happen.

Somehow, she needed to stop her. She just hoped Geoffrey would know what to do. She’d call him and stay here to make sure her mother didn’t leave the house. Allison wished she’d picked up Lucy’s car keys.

“Maybe I can sneak back inside and find them after I call Geoff.”

Sniffing, she rummaged in her handbag for a tissue.

She found one down the bottom alongside a crumpled business card.

It was the one Sebastian had thrown at her that awful day she’d made her mother choose.

She’d picked it up off the floor and tossed it in her handbag.

She looked at the card. If anyone could possibly save Lucy, it would be Sebastian and Jack.

Maybe, just maybe, those two would help.

Allison was sure no one else could.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up her mobile phone and dialed the number. It rang twice, then went to the answering machine.

She gave a strangled sob when she heard the message. There were three voices on it, and they were all laughing.

“Hi. This is Lucy, Jack, and Sebastian. We’re not here but leave a message and a number. Then maybe we’ll ring you back. Bye.”

Her mother’s voice sounded so happy, so alive. She wondered why the men had left her voice on the machine. Maybe they still cared enough for her. Allison would leave a message and then ring her husband.

“This is Allison Douglas, Lucy’s daughter.

I want to apologize, I know I was wrong, and I’m so very sorry.

If you still have any feelings for my mother, can you please help her?

” Allison started crying again. “She’s..

. I... She’s at home, but she’s drunk. I’m so scared she might do something to herself, something bad. She—”

“Allison!”

“Oh.”

“It’s Jack.” His voice sounded extremely terse as he continued. “What’s happened to Lucy?”

By now, Allison sobbed. “I went to see her. She’s drunk. My mother never drinks! I’m sorry. I’m so scared.”

“Is she still drinking?”

“No. I took the bottle away. I found another in the kitchen and took that, too.”

“Good.”

“She’s talking strange. She ... I think she’s going to kill herself.”

“What?” Jack shouted. “We’ll be there straight away!”

“I’m so sorry.”

“We can discuss that later.”

Allison could hear the anger in Jack’s voice as he hung up, and she didn’t blame him one bit. She’d interfered in his life and now look what had happened. All she could hope for was that they could get her mother to see reason before it was too late.

Next, she called her husband. Frantically, she said, “Geoff? Oh, Geoff. I’ve ruined everything, and now Mum’s going to kill herself.”

“Calm down, Allison. Tell me what’s happened.”

Allison took another breath, her words tumbling out as she tried explaining to Geoffrey what had happened. “I didn’t know what to do! Geoff, it’s all my fault,” she wailed. “What if they don’t get here in time? What will I do?”

“Jack said they’re on their way?”

“He said they’d come immediately. Should I go back inside and make sure she doesn’t do anything?”

“I don’t think that’s wise. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Stay in the car, but for God’s sake don’t let her leave!”

Allison kept sobbing as Geoffrey tried calming her down.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just let me know when the boys get there.”

Allison hung up and dropped her head back onto the steering wheel. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, maybe fifteen or twenty minutes.

Finally, a red SUV pulled up alongside her car and the two men jumped quickly out.

Allison didn’t know what to do, what to say.

Jack ran to her door as she unwound the window. Brusquely, he asked, “Where is she?”

“In the front living room. The back door’s unlocked, the conservatory one.”

He nodded and the two of them raced around the side of the house.

Sebastian had ignored her completely.

Allison was under no illusion. These men didn’t like her, and she didn’t blame them at all. Resignedly, she rang Geoffrey and told him the men were there. “They’ve just got here, Geoff.”

“I’m leaving the station now. Maybe it’s better you come home, and I’ll meet you there. Seb or Jack can ring me if they need anything.”

“I want to be here.”

“I know you want to, but there’s nothing you can do. The only people who can help are with Lucy now. All we can do is wait and pray.”

“I’ll wait here. I can sit in the kitchen until I know she’s okay.”

“Allison, you can’t do anything and...” She heard him take a deep breath. “I’m sorry, honey, but you’d only make things worse if you went back inside. Just drive home.”

Allison felt wretched at Geoffrey’s words, but what he said was true. It hurt to know, but she had done this. Now she had to face this horrifying consequence. “Okay. I guess you’re right.”

“I’ll meet you at home in about fifteen minutes. It will be all right, honey. Those men love Lucy, and she loves them. I’m really proud of you, Al. You did the right thing apologizing. The guys will take care of her. Come home.”

“I will. Bye, Geoff.”

Allison dried her tears, then started the car and drove off home. As Geoffrey had said, there was nothing more she could do. She just prayed it wasn’t too late to save her mother.