When Family Became a Place I Couldn’t Return To novel Chapter 21

The call ended abruptly. Nelly tried calling back right away, but it went straight to voicemail. She let out a small, helpless laugh. It was noisy on the other end, so Carrie was probably still at preschool. And if she wasn’t mistaken, the lady’s voice she heard was Sheila’s. Looks like Sheila had stepped right into her shoes as Carrie’s mother, while Nelly herself had become nothing but a bystander.

A heavy ache settled in her chest. She could hate Brody as much as she wanted, but when it came to Carrie, she just couldn’t. All her anger just circled around inside her, eating her up from the inside out.

A few minutes later, her phone buzzed with a message from Carrie.

[I’m really mad at you. I don’t want to talk to you anymore!]

Carrie had always been headstrong. Whenever Nelly tried to set some boundaries, Carrie would sulk for days. After losing her son, Nelly had lost any sense of boundaries with her daughter. If Carrie so much as pouted, Nelly would give in immediately.

She started typing out a reply, deleting and retyping the words over and over until finally, she just erased everything. Sometimes, when disappointment ran that deep, words just dried up.

Carrie, meanwhile, was glued to her phone, watching the screen. At first, she saw the little typing bubble and figured her mom must be scrambling to find the right thing to say. But then the bubble disappeared. Nothing came through.

“What are you looking at?” Sheila asked, glancing over at Carrie sitting next to her. Sheila was back to her usual self after a night hooked up to an IV, and she’d come just to take Carrie to her favorite restaurant for lunch. She’d already called Brody, who barely had time to say yes before hanging up.

“It’s nothing,” Carrie said quickly, putting her phone away.

Sheila reached over and touched her cheek. “What’s with the long face, princess? You’ve been so down lately.”

Carrie just shook her head.

“Don’t be sad, okay? You can come sleep over at my place again tonight. We can do anything you want. I’ll get you cake, and presents...” Sheila’s voice was soft and comforting, the way it always was when she was trying to cheer Carrie up. But before she could finish, Carrie interrupted.

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