“Hey, Jessie.”
“Oh, God… I’ve been so worried. The news is showing… oh hell, I don’t have to tell you. How are you? Is it awful?”
Monica listened to her sister ramble and understood her concerns. “I’m fine,” she lied. “And it’s worse than awful. These poor people have lost nearly everything. They’re filling the streets and sleeping next to the ruins of their homes. It’s chaos.”
“I can’t believe you’re there.”
“Someone has to be.”
There was an audible sigh on the other end of the line. “I’m proud of you, Mo.”
“Oh, stop.”
“No, really. You’ve done something with your life and really made a difference. I don’t tell you enough how proud I am of you.”
Monica stared at her feet and felt her cheeks heat. “Thanks, Jessie. So, how is everything there? How’s Danny?”
Jessie bent her ear for several minutes about a mother-and-son dance Danny had taken her to. Complete with cowboy hats and boots. His attire of choice since Jessie married.
Monica attempted to laugh at her sister’s antics with her son, but as much as she loved hearing her sister, Monica was having a hard time concentrating. She kept wondering where Trent was. Was he thinking about her? Would she see him again?
“Mo?”
Was he flying? Was he sitting on his porch watching the waves with Ginger?
“Monica?”
“Yeah?”
Jessie paused. “Are you OK? You don’t sound yourself.”
“I’m fine. A little tired, but fine.”
Maybe it was the distance, or maybe Monica was a better actress than she gave herself credit, but Jessie accepted her excuse and continued for a little while.
“… oh, and Jack should be there tomorrow. Do you have any idea how much longer you’ll be there?”
“Wait? What? Jack’s coming?”
“Haven’t you heard a thing I’ve said? There is a Morrison on the island. He’ll only be there overnight, to show support and offer the hotel’s help to those affected.”
Monica didn’t even consider that Jack and his family would own one of the hotels on the island. But they were the Morrisons, for God’s sake. Of course they owned a hotel on the island.
“I don’t know how much longer we’ll be here. It seems like there’s more than enough work to keep me busy for a month.”
“You’re not staying that long, are you?”
“I wouldn’t have a job to go back to if I did that. But we haven’t even discussed when we’re pulling out yet.” It would be a few more days at least. Even Monica knew that a relief effort was exactly that… an effort. She couldn’t stay on permanently. Already the locals were coming in asking her what she could do about their homeless status. As if Monica could help with that.
“You can always fly home with Jack if you wanted to.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll pull out when the team pulls out.”
Jessie sighed again. “Be careful, Mo.”
“Aren’t I always?” In fact, Monica had always been the most careful person in their collective lives. Oh, she would advocate a reckless act, but she never once truly jumped off any metaphoric cliff.
Sensible Monica. She set her mind on a goal and achieved it.
Always.
Like making sure Trent knew he wasn’t needed.
Done.
And now… where was he?
“I love you, Monica.”
“Love you too, Jessie.”
After she hung up, Monica sat staring at two birds building a nest. Numbness seeped into her veins and made her back teeth grind.
Maybe the Ice Queen was starting to live up to her reputation. Maybe she didn’t care if she ever built a nest… or had someone to build it with.
Tauni called her from inside the clinic, ending Monica’s thoughts.
“You need to find her, Jack.” Jessie pointed a finger at her husband as if he’d told her no already. Not that he denied her anything. “I could hear it in her voice. She’s not OK. I don’t care what she said.”
“Darlin’, I’m sure she’s just stressed—”
“Oh, it’s more than stress. I know Monica, and she’s not OK. Something’s going on.”
Jack shook his head. His brown hair, wet from his shower, shook rivulets of water down his chest. “There’s a huge disaster over there, Jessie. Of course something is going on.”
It wasn’t often that Jessie argued with her husband but she was ready to take him by the shoulder and shake him. “It’s more than that. She’s… off. Really off. I only remember one time she sounded like this. It was right before I moved out of Mom’s. She moved in with me a few months later.”
“Wasn’t Monica still in high school?”
Jessie had Danny at that point and needed to get out from under her mother’s roof. When Monica had shown up with a suitcase Jessie couldn’t turn her away. It wasn’t that Renee had kicked her out, it was simply that Monica couldn’t live with the uncertainty of their mother’s life. With the men, the instability. Today both Monica and Jessie had a relationship with their mother. Not the best of relationships, but something they could build on so long as they didn’t live together.
“And she was desperate to move in with me. That’s how she sounded… desperate.”