Free The Secret Diary of Ashley Juergens by Courtney Kelley : Turk Ashley; Turk Juergens

worried Mimsy will take Dad’s side over hers when she finds out they are having marriage problems. Mimsy once joked that if Mom and Dad ever broke up, she would want Dad in the divorce. Mom had probably planned on spending the whole car ride up thinking of ways to get Mimsy on her side.
    I found a piece of paper crumpled up in the trashcan in my mom’s bedroom earlier (yes, I was spying). It was a list of reasons she should or shouldn’t stay with Dad. Her reasons she shouldn’t were: he cheated on me, he makes crude jokes, he belittles me, and cheese nuffs. I have no idea what the cheese nuffs are about but I could see her other points. She had only two reasons listed under the “stay with Dad” column: Amy and Ashley. So much for that. She better think fast now that Mimsy’s here.
    Or not. Mom told her Dad was in North Carolina to buy furniture. He does go there twice a year to buy inventory for his store, but that’s not for a few months, so he’s obviously not there now, but Mimsy bought it.
    Word is he’s sleeping in his store. I tried explaining to people he’s a devoted salesman who wants to show how comfortable his beds are, but I don’t think they bought it.
     
    I get called out all the time when I lie, so I was definitely tempted to do the same when Mom told Mimsy that stuff about North Carolina. I do want Dad home, though, and it would be nice to have someone else like Mimsy on my side. But I’ll go along with Mom’s lie. I just wish she would come up with better ones. My thought is if you’re going to lie, LIE . Like, Dad went to China to research wood stains for some custom pieces he had made or he went antiquing in some old castle in England. Anything but North Carolina.
    Mimsy wants Amy to keep the baby. She said adoption is not an option. I hadn’t even thought about adoption. Amy just decided to have the baby and I hadn’t really thought about what happens next. But Mimsy seems to have given it quite a bit of thought. She was telling Mom that Amy and Ben should get married (See? I told you grandparents always side with the grandkids!) and everyone will help out with the baby, including me. That’s fine, I’ll help out. Since Mimsy doesn’t know Dad moved out, I’m assuming “everyone” also includes him. And then . . .
    Well, Mimsy got confused between a crib and a kitchen drawer and things went downhill again. I should have known something was going on with her because the last time she visited she came into my room and called me “Anne,” then asked why I had dyed my beautiful red hair black. I thought she was joking because Mom and I don’t really look alike. Mimsy always loved to point out how I was so much like Dad and Amy was like Mom. When I told Mimsy my name was Ashley, she looked startled for a minute, then laughed and said it’s no fun getting old. It’s true at her age and it’s true at mine.
    She later admitted to us all that she forgot to take medication for her Alzheimer’s, which we didn’t even know she had. I offered to take care of everyone because, let’s face it: things just continue to get more complicated. Except with me. Mimsy told me to get through this stage of my life and then maybe we’d talk about me taking care of everyone. What Mimsy doesn’t realize is I’m already on the next stage of my life. I started taking care of Amy when I realized she was pregnant, didn’t I? Some nights I don’t even finish my homework and I fall asleep before my head hits the pillow. Taking care of Amy does that to me. I even dream about Amy and what else I can do to help her and her baby.
    I can see why Mimsy decided to move into an assisted living care facility. Life kind of wears you out.

Sept. 28th
     
     
    9:12 A.M.
     
    Amy and I are going to see Dad tonight. I wish we were helping him move back home, but he’s already living somewhere else—like, permanently. Great. The patriarch of our dysfunctional family has moved and we have to go off-site to visit