Free The Rose Ransom (Girls Wearing Black: Book Three) by Spencer Baum

Jill thought she had months to make her mother well.
Now she had hours. Now she needed to get her mother out of the house and in
front of a hypnotist before dark, and hope for a miracle.
    She parked the car in the driveway,
ran through the front door, up the stairs, and knocked on the door to her
mother’s study.
    “Come in,” her mother called
from the other side.
    Carolyn didn’t turn to greet
Jill as she entered.
    “Hi Mom,” Jill said.
    “What do you need?” Carolyn
asked, her fingers clattering on the keyboard.
    “I’ve come to take you
somewhere. I need you to close up what you’re working on.”
    Carolyn continued typing. Jill
waited.
    And waited.
    “Mom?”
    “Almost done,” Carolyn said.
“I’ll stop when I’ve finished this block.”
    Ten minutes passed before
Carolyn stopped typing and turned around.
    “Tell me again why you’re here,”
Carolyn said.
    Jill felt an old resentment
build up at the words. Her mother spoke in a direct, almost rude tone of voice.
It was so easy for Jill to get irked at the woman. She had years of practice.
    But now you know better ,
Jill told herself. The proper emotion here is pity, not anger.
    “I am taking you to see
someone,” Jill said.
    Already, Carolyn was turning
back to the computer.
    “Dad asked me to take you to a hypnotist,”
Jill said.
    Carolyn stopped moving.
    “When did you speak with your
father?”
    Just as Jill expected. She
didn’t know or understand the particulars of the mind control that governed her
mother, but it had something to do with being an obedient wife. Carolyn worked
at the computer all day because it was what her husband wanted. But if he
wanted her to knit sweaters instead, that’s what she’d do.
    “Dad and I talked on the phone
yesterday,” Jill said.
    Carolyn turned all the way
around. For the first time since the conversation began, Jill had her mother’s
full attention.
    “You never speak on the phone
with your father,” she said.
    “I did yesterday,” said Jill.
“He called me. He’s all worked up about this idea of having you see a
hypnotist.”
    “A hypnotist?”
    Carolyn made no effort to hide
her skepticism. Jill was ready for this. She’d started rehearsing this scene in
her mind as soon as she left Arlington.
    “Dad’s been reading books about
how the brain works,” Jill said. “He thinks you’ll be better at your job if you
take time to relax your mind.”
    “I get enough sleep every
night,” Carolyn said.
    “It’s more than sleep,” said
Jill. “Dad’s excited about the power of hypnosis for high performers like you.
He wants you to try it.”
    Carolyn sighed. “He thinks he
wants me to try it,” she muttered.
    “What was that?” Jill said.
    “I just got started on my work
for the day. Can we do this some other time?”
    “Dad was very clear,” said Jill.
“He found the best hypnotist in the area and the appointment is this morning.”
    “Appointment? No, there will be
no appointment. This hypnotist’s time is not more valuable than mine.
Reschedule it. Put him on retainer. If I’m going to do this, we’ll do it when
I’ve reached a lull in my work.”
    “Mom. This guy is the best in
the world. And all the businesses are doing this now. Dad will be angry with me
if I don’t get you to this appointment.”
    Carolyn sat still for a moment.
Jill could see the conflict brewing behind her eyes.
    On the one hand, Carolyn thought
this all sounded like a distraction from the work she was doing. On the other
hand, Jill was telling her that Walter wanted it. Jill braced herself, hoping
her mother was going to say something she wanted to hear.
    “I will bring my laptop and work
while we drive,” Carolyn said. “And if I don’t notice any improvement after the
session, we won’t do this again. I want nothing more than to please your
father, but sometimes he is confused about what he really wants. I know your
father. He wants me to be productive. He thinks this hypnotist thing will