choice of coming here or staying in bed another few hours, she’d opted for Kaylee detail. Poor thing, I hope she can do the weather on eight hours’ sleep. She laughed softly, thinking Chloe would have appreciated her sarcasm.
As Sara wrote out the few checks needed for the monthly bills, she once again vowed to have a talk with her mother. Most of the bills were on autopay, so there was very little to deal with. Plus, she needed to understand her finances. It shouldn’t be necessary for her to call her son or daughter every time she wanted to make a purchase. Sara had tried to explain how much more privacy she would have if she simply handled this on her own. She was an adult, and it was her money. She didn’t need permission to use it. Yet every time Sara had broached the subject, she was met with a dozen excuses as to why she couldn’t do it. Maybe she should discuss it with Chris first. If they presented a unified front, it might be easier. Plus, it was past time he stopped treating their mother like a child. Sara would never get anywhere without his support. Why couldn’t he see that this would benefit him too?
She loved her brother, but he tended to bury his head in the sand to avoid confrontation of any type with the women in his family. He let Nicole have her way, even though she knew at times he didn’t agree with her decisions. And he did the same with their mother. It was easier to him than risking tears or anger. Sara was the only one he didn’t seem to mind pissing off. That’s because you always let it go, and he knows it. As she was processing that unpleasant thought, her mother wandered into the kitchen dressed neatly in blue jeans and a sweater. She knew from the bank statements that she had an appointment with her hair stylist every six weeks like clockwork. Which was obviously money well spent because her short bob was neat and sassy, and Sara couldn’t detect a hint of gray among the dark strands. Even though she was proud to have such an attractive mother, it made her pat her own sloppy ponytail self-consciously. She’d also thrown on a pair of yoga pants and an oversized shirt when she’d been abruptly woken earlier, a fact that her mother’s sharp glance didn’t miss. You’d think a woman who needed help as much as her mother did would be a little less critical of the daughter supplying it.
She leaned in to drop a kiss on the top of Sara’s head before saying, “I’m exhausted. The darned alarm going off in the middle of the night took years off my life. Have you any idea how startling it is to be jarred from a sound sleep by something such as that?”
Gee, I have no clue, Sara thought wryly, not bothering to point out that she’d done the same thing to her. “Maybe you can catch a nap later,” she added dryly. That certainly wouldn’t be happening for her, as she’d be leaving straight from there to pick up Kaylee.
Her mother looked pointedly at her clothing again. “Were you going to the gym this morning, dear? You know there are much more . . . figure-flattering choices out there. Those types of knits don’t look good on anyone, unless you’re a tiny thing like Nicole.” Wow, an insult and a comparison to Nicole. She is cranky today. Even though her mother wasn’t what you’d call close to her daughter-in-law, they had a sort of mutual admiration thing going on. They were both very appearance conscious and worried far too much about what others thought of them. Don’t forget self-centered.
As irritating as it could be at times, she also felt sorry for her mother. She knew that she focused on silly stuff because she was lonely. The adjustment to her new life had been hard for her. Their father had lavished compliments on her, and she still dressed as if the man who’d been dead for five years now would walk through the door any moment. Every time Sara came close to losing her patience, she tried to put herself in her mother’s place. What must it be like to unexpectedly lose the man you’d been in love with most of your adult life? How do you go from that to living alone? To feeling as if you’re