hell, no, he thought.
“What kind of special training?” he asked Adam.
“I’m getting certified in arson investigation. I’ll be up in Albany for twelve to sixteen weeks.”
“Seriously?”
“He’s having girl trouble,” Ivy said. “It’s the geographic cure.”
“Shut up, brat. I am not having girl trouble.”
“Okay, let’s call it lack of girl trouble.”
“What? Come on.” To Mason’s surprise, Adam’s face turned red. “It’s complicated. And speaking of complicated, exactly how many frogs have you kissed this year alone?”
Ivy often bemoaned the state of her love life, and Mason had no idea why. She was gorgeous, a total sweetheart, a little bit nutty, and everyone loved her. Just not the right guy, he supposed.
“You shut up,” she retorted, and Mason heard loud echoes of their childhood years seeping into the exchange.
“Both of you shut up,” he said. “Let’s focus on what to do about Mom.”
“Ivy’s going to Paris to get laid—”
“Hey.” She punched him in the arm.
“And I can’t change the dates of the training course to suit your travel schedule. You’re up, Mason.”
“But—”
“But nothing. It’s your turn to step up.”
Mason scowled at his brother and sister. It was hard to believe the three of them shared the same DNA, they were all so different. “Not a chance in hell. There’s nothing my being there can help. No damn way I’m moving to Willow Lake.”
“I’d kill the fatted calf for you, but I’m a bit indisposed at the moment,” Alice Bellamy said when Mason arrived at the estate on Willow Lake.
“That’s okay. I’m a vegetarian anyway.” Mason wondered if his mother realized that he had not eaten meat since the age of twelve.
Crossing the elegant room to where she sat near a window, he bent down and brushed his lips against her cheek. Soap and lotion, a freshly laundered blouse, the smells he had always associated with her. Except in the past, she’d been able to offer the briefest of hugs, to reach out with her hand and smooth the hair back from his brow, a gesture that had persisted since his childhood.
Concealing a wrenching sense of sorrow, he took a seat across from her. He studied her face, startled at how little she had changed—from the neck up. Shiny blond hair, lovely skin, cornflower blue eyes. He’d always been proud to have such a youthful, good-looking mom. “You broke your collarbone,” he said.
“So I’m told.”
“I thought you’d be in a cast or a sling or something.”
She pursed her lips. “It’s not as if I need to keep my arm immobilized.”
“Uh, yeah.” Since the accident, he didn’t know how to deal with his mother. Who was he kidding? He’d never known how to deal with her. “Are you in... Does it hurt?”
“Darling boy, I can’t feel anything below my chest. Not pain or pleasure. Nothing.”
He let several seconds tick past while he tried to think of a reply that didn’t sound phony or patronizing or flat-out ignorant. “I’m glad you’re all right. You gave us a scare.”
More silence echoed through the room, an open lounge with a massive river-rock fireplace, fine furnishings and floor-to-ceiling shelves crammed with books. Everything was spaced and arranged to accommodate his mother’s chair. There was a corner study with a big post office writing desk and another corner with a powerful brass telescope set on a tripod. The baby grand piano, which had occupied every house the family had ever lived in, was now a resting place for a collection of photos.
The ever-present view of Willow Lake was framed by French doors, which could be operated by a switch. “So anyway,” he said, “we’ll get you fixed up with a new helper right away. My assistant is working with a couple of agencies already.” He checked his watch. “I’ve got plenty to keep us busy for the day. The lawyer is coming in half an hour. Are you up for that?”
“Lawyer?” She frowned, then took a sip through a straw from the coffee mug affixed to the tray on her chair.
“My attorney in the city recommended someone local, from here in Ulster County—”
“Whatever for?”
“To deal with the negligence suit against the caregiver who let you fall down the stairs, and the outfit he works for.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. It was just a stupid accident,” she said. “Nobody’s fault.”
“Mom, you fell down a flight of stairs with a three-hundred-pound motorized chair. It’s a miracle you weren’t crushed. Somebody was negligent—”
“That would be me,” she stated. “I leaned on the control and drove myself off the rails.”
“Then the chair manufacturer is at fault.”
“No lawyers,” she said. “What I— What happened was no one’s fault. There will be no lawsuit. End of story.”
“Mom, you’re entitled to a settlement.” If there was one thing Mason couldn’t stand, it was people failing to take responsibility for their actions.
“Absolutely not,” she said. “I won’t hear another word about it.”
He sent Brenda a text message to cancel the lawyer. “Whatever you say. That gives us more time to meet with potential new caregivers.”
“Lovely.”
“Adam warned me that you were going to be a sourpuss.”
“I bet he didn’t say sourpuss. He’s a firefighter. I’m sure he has a more colorful term for me, like hell-bitch.”
Adam is a saint, thought Mason. St. Adam. He silently cursed the saint for having left already. Adam and Ivy had stuck around until their mom was discharged, then they both had to leave; Adam to his training and Ivy back to Santa Barbara to prepare for her move to Europe.
“I printed out the résumés of the candidates we’re meeting with,” he said. “You want to go over them now, or—”
“I think I’d like to go out into the garden now.”
He gritted his teeth, looking away so she wouldn’t see his annoyance.
“You’re annoyed,” she said. “You can’t wait
