Chapter 55
55
I t was Tuesday of the following week before Simon felt like he had his shit together.
Previously, when Darcy had gone missing, they'd found her and put her in the hospital. Sometimes she stayed a few hours and sometimes for days. They re-stabilized her meds, went through a flurry of doctor's visits, and locked her down harder.
Each time she'd eventually slowly wiggled the locks loose, getting Simon and their mom to agree to allow her more freedoms. They loosened the restrictions bit by bit until something went wrong again. Then the process started all over.
But this time, something was different.
When he and his mother tried to lock down Darcy upon her return, she hadn’t complied. She fought back from day one. Told Mom she would walk if she wasn’t allowed to take the car sometimes. Simon insisted on a tracking device and a portable charger.
That seemed to have no effect. His phone rang and Darcy began her check-in by excitedly telling him, “They found my portfolio!”
Two hikers had seen it in the woods. It had been lost long enough that wind had blown some leaves over it. The location was miles away from where Darcy had been found.
Simon tried not to let Darcy know the fear that information put into his heart. Either someone else had taken the portfolio and carried it that far or Darcy had wandered much farther and was in much greater danger than they ever suspected.
But she was thrilled. “They let me give them one of the pieces as a reward!”
That was it? he thought. “One of the prints?”
“No, the pencil drawing of the farm. They've already had it professionally framed and they hung it in their living room.”
She was so excited. He didn’t want to stomp on that, but he didn’t know what to make of it either. He told her congratulations. She deserved that.
Then she added, “Your social media posts with the pictures of my artwork, when you were trying to find the portfolio, they got me some recognition. I'm going to a gallery in Cheyenne next week.”
“Cheyenne?” He tried not to let his alarm bleed through.
“I'm flying. Don't worry.”
“Is mom going with you?” That would be okay, wouldn’t it?
“She's working. We have it all figured out.”
“But what about?—”
“Simon,” Darcy interrupted. “We have it all worked out. They talked to me about their price range. If I can sell even one piece, that will pay for the trip. And I've already paid off two of my bills.”
“Why did you do that?”
Darcy sighed at him, and maybe he deserved it. He was so lost in this conversation. So scared about this Darcy who hopped on a plane and met gallery owners. What if she missed her meds?
“Mom said she told you about using half my money to pay down my bills. I did it. ”
They weren't the ones Simon would have paid, but he didn't want to fault her either. It was two bills he didn't have to pay and holy shit . Had Darcy actually paid her own bills?
She was back and just as adamant as before. “The next time you and Mom talk about my expenses, you do it with me. I'm tired of you making these decisions about me behind my back and enacting them without my input.”
“Darcy you're not always?—”
“ I know! I'm not always in the right frame of mind to have those conversations. So you two can wait a couple fucking days and have them when I am!” He could hear her gearing up. Darcy did not disappoint. “I'm going to get my own place. Nothing expensive. And I'm not going to do it until I've paid down the bills.”
She laid out her plan, explaining how she planned to pay the next bills. She told him Mom had showed her how to set up a payment plan. While Darcy believed she would sell another painting and could pay them off soon, she understood it was better to do the payment plan and not get herself in trouble.
It all sounded very reasonable, and Simon didn’t know what to do with that.
“That's brilliant, Darcy. I love it.” He hadn't expected it to happen, but a weight came off his shoulders.
He realized maybe he'd been a fool. “Can you put Mom on the phone, too. Is she there?”
“Yeah, I'll grab her.” Darcy didn’t even sound mad.
“Mom,” he asked once she said hello. “Are you mad at Carlisle for telling Darcy she should sell her paintings?”
“What?” His mother sounded stunned. “Why would I be mad about that?”
Fuck him. “Because Darcy went off to sell her paintings, then she didn't come back for three days, and I had to take time off of work. And we both thought she died! ”
“Simon, that didn’t happen because of what Carlisle said. It's because Darcy got excited about something.”
“She overshot and she missed her meds because of Carlisle telling her how amazing she was!”
“Because somebody outside the family finally told her how good her art was? Because she rightly believed it? I'm not mad about that. Are you? ”
Damn, because he wanted to say yes. Finally, he could finally let it go and say, “No, not anymore.”
“You shouldn't have ever been mad about it.”
He took a deep breath. In for a penny, in for a pound . “Carlisle also gave me an idea which I wanted to talk to you about. Since Darcy just told me that if I was going to talk about the money and her bills that she needed to be included, let’s do it now.”
“She's right about that,” Mom admitted. “I haven't given her enough credit. You and I have both been at this since Darcy was a teenager and I think we're still operating like she’s fifteen. We’ve never adjusted for the fact that she's not a kid anymore.”
Not even close, Simon thought. “Carlisle said—and we don't have to do this. I'm just throwing it out there—maybe we would do better if we had a plan in place. If I gave you a certain amount of money each month, and then you handled the bills. She said this would save you from having to call me and ask each time something new came up.”
“I hate calling you and asking for that,” his mother said, her tone low. “Because I wish I could cover it myself. I'm the mother, I should be able to do this.”
Carlisle had been right.
Fuck him again.
“You can't do this and stay at home when Darcy needs you.”
“My goal,” Darcy put in, “is to take my medications more regularly. Not be irritated when mom reminds me and keep in mind that my medications set me free. It's what will get me my own apartment. So, hopefully in the future, Mom won't have to take off work as much.”
“It’s important to remember,” Mom added, “that it's okay if you do make a mistake. I think we're all going to but, yeah, I think Carlisle's idea is a good one.”
They talked a little longer, hammered out an amount they thought should work. They talked about Darcy taking responsibility for the payments on some of the bills.
Later, when he hung up, he was once again stunned. How many pendulum swings could he go through in as many days?
He wanted to be done swinging. But he was ready for just one more.
It was time to go apologize to Carlisle.
Without thinking, he pocketed his phone and headed right out the door, walking along the path that they'd almost managed to wear between the two houses. But he was only a few steps away when he turned around and went back.