T-MINUS 3 DAYS.
There was good news and bad news.
The good news was that my mother did not die. Good for my conscience, good for her health, positive all the way around.
The bad news was that I currently sat in a Chiang Mai hospital with a canceled ticket back to the States, waiting for Mom to wake up after a heart attack she’d experienced, courtesy of yours truly.
“I told you not to confront her about Eileen. You almost killed her.” Celeste Ayi paced the small room, wearing Chanel head to toe, online shopping on the phone in her hand. “Aw, I think I just found a pair of Moda Operandi Louboutins. No one will know they’re secondhand, right?”
I sat by Mom’s bed, staring at my phone screen. “The doctors said it was a mini heart attack.”
I’d found Eileen’s location on Mom’s phone a couple hours ago and booked a seat on every flight back for the next week, just in case. Just in case Mom took her time waking up. And in case I couldn’t find a private charter.
There was no way in hell I’d go through the unique experience of economy again.
“Well, yes, but who’s going to stay with her until she gets discharged?” Celeste Ayi stopped in front of the window, still hunting for designer steals. “Me. And I have a busy Christmas season. I was invited to lots of events.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“Fine, I wasn’t. But I was invited as people’s plus one.”
I set my phone on the stand next to the hospital bed, tapping it with my finger. To say I did not care about my aunt’s social commitments was putting it mildly.
The more I thought about it, the harder I found it to regret confronting Mom about marriage. Sure, I didn’t want her here. And sure, it was easy to think that when I knew her life was not in actual danger.
But I’d finally ended the cycle.
We could move on from here. Maybe even return to our old relationship.
Before Dad died.
Celeste Ayi stopped pacing and turned to me. “Zachary?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think I should go bring myself a bag? I’ll be staying here for a long time, after all.”
“That’s a good idea. I expect to leave here in the next five hours.”
I needed to, in fact, if I wanted to catch Farrow.
“Do you want anything from the hotel?” Celeste slid her phone into her Birkin. “Snacks? Toiletries? Manners?”
“I’m good on all fronts.” I waved her off, staring at my screen, waiting for a call back from the private charter company. “Other than manners. But frankly, I simply cannot bring myself to care.”
Celeste Ayi twisted one corner of her mouth, stopping at the door before she walked off.
She gave me a long, hard stare. “You’ve changed.”
“How so?”
“You became…” She contemplated the right word. “Human.”
“Okay.”
She shrugged. “I don’t hate it, you know.”
“I don’t care.”
