Free The Fortune Cafe by Heather B. Moore, Melanie Jacobson, Julie Wright Page A

made the broken dishes comment and felt her face grow warm that he thought she had. “Sorry, I was actually referencing my brother. When we were younger, he sometimes broke dishes or threw them away to get out of having to clean them.”
    She heard the smile in Harrison’s voice as he said, “That worked? Man, I wish I’d been more clever as a kid. It never occurred to me to find alternate methods.”
    Emma smiled. “Yeah, that’s my brother all right, always looking for a way out of responsibility.”
    “But not you,” Harrison said, the admiration in his words almost tangible.
    “How do you know not me ? You haven’t seen me in a long time.” She turned into her mom’s driveway.
    “Because you’re going to take care of a sick mom.”
    “That’s different from dishes.”
    “No, not different at all. Responsibility is responsibility. Sure, there are different levels. Some responsibilities weigh more, but at the end of the day, the guy who gets it done is the guy you can label responsible.”
    She turned the key to kill the engine. “Did you just call me a guy?” she asked to deflect her discomfort in his compliment.
    He laughed. “Not a chance. Do you want me to come over and keep you company? Play checkers with your mom? I don’t mind driving.”
    “No really, I’m okay. I got this.” As she exited the car and glanced up at her childhood home, she knew she meant it. Harrison was right about the weight of responsibility. Caring for her mother had the equivalent weight of a mountain. But in the last year she’d come to understand its weight. She knew how to shift it around on her shoulders to make carrying it bearable.
    She walked up the front steps, knowing she should tell Harrison good-bye before entering the house. Her mom’s loud voice carried well enough that he’d be able to hear anything she might say. Emma opened her mouth to tell Harrison that she’d call him when she finished up at her mother’s. He wanted to go out, no matter how late, and in spite of her earlier resolution to stay away from him, she really wanted to see him again. But as she began the sentence, she frowned and really looked at her mom’s house.
    All the windows were open, the curtains moving against the faint breeze. Open windows felt wrong. Her mom grew excessively more paranoid every day. She never left windows open. But more than that strangeness was that not one light glowed from behind them.
    “Mom?” Emma whispered.
    She’d forgotten Harrison in that brief moment of assessment, but his voice coming through the phone reminded her of his presence. “Is everything okay?”
    “I don’t know,” Emma answered. “It looks like no one’s home.”
    “Maybe she felt better and went to the store or something.”
    Emma shook her head, though he couldn’t see the movement. “No. She doesn’t have a car any longer.” A car accident. Her mom had insisted it wasn’t her fault, but Emma never found out the particulars. Sometimes, with her mom, it was better not to know.
    “Okay, Harrison, I’m going to ask you to do something weird.”
    “Okay... what?” He must have understood that something wasn’t right because he dropped the playful tone.
    “I need you to not take it personally when I tell you we can’t meet later. And it’s probably best not to call back tonight. I don’t think I’ll be available.” She did the hasty hang up that she always did with her mom.
    She did it because she had to. Whatever was going on inside that house, she did not want Harrison to be on the other end of the line listening. She slowly walked up the stairs and went to try the knob, but the door was already ajar— waiting for her.
    Just like her mom to make the really hard things easy. It was going to be a long night.
    She entered the house.
    She flipped on lights as she went, trying to illuminate her own thoughts as well as her surroundings so she didn’t trip or anything. A cursory look through all the rooms provided