My Lost and Found Life by Melodie Bowsher Read Free Book Online

thrilled if my mother disappeared,” she said.
    â€œYeah, well, I’m almost out of money, and I don’t know when my mother is going to show up.”
    â€œYou need some money? No sweat, just have a garage sale and sell some of this stuff.” She waved her hands, gesturing at all the stuff in the room.
    I was taken aback. “What do you mean? Sell our furniture and clothes? I can’t do that. What would my mother think when she came home and found I had sold all her things?”
    â€œHey, that’s what she deserves for leaving you busted. Anyway, if she comes back, she’s going to understand you had to sell the stuff. If she doesn’t come back, it won’t matter.”
    â€œMy mother will be back,” I barked at her.
    â€œOkay, relax, don’t freak out. She’ll be back,” Tattie said, backing off. “Then take some clothes down to one of thosesecondhand clothing stores. I hear Couture Closet will give you cash on the spot if you have really good stuff.”
    I looked inside my mother’s bulging closet and thought that maybe Tattie was on to something. Maybe I could even sell a few outfits I didn’t wear anymore.
    After taking a shower, I drove Tattie home. I came back determined to choose some stuff to sell. But once I stepped inside my mother’s closet, I was immediately overwhelmed by the familiar scent of her White Shoulders perfume. Standing there, she seemed so close that I expected to turn around and find her behind me. I stroked the soft cashmere of her favorite navy blazer, the one she wore to work on so many mornings. Her silky blouses with those ridiculous bows at the neck were hanging there too. If she would just come back, I would never make fun of them again. If she’d just come back, I’d be a perfect daughter. I would. I really would.
    I grabbed her satiny blue bathrobe and slipped it on over my clothes. It was as close to having her arms around me as I could get. Tears, the same tears I had been fighting to hold back for days, began to trickle down my cheeks and then turned into a flood. My heart hurt so much I didn’t think I could bear it. I sank down on the carpet and bawled like a baby—a baby who wanted her mother and couldn’t find her.
    Finally, I pulled myself together and escaped to the bathroom. I had barely managed to wash away the evidence of my tears when the doorbell rang. It was Nicole.
    â€œWhere have you been?” she said in an exasperated tone, plopping down on the sofa. “I must have called you a dozen times.”
    â€œOops, sorry. I was going to come say good-bye. I thought you’d be busy packing. The plane leaves in just a few hours.”
    â€œI’m not going,” she replied.
    â€œWhat?” I was stunned. “Have you lost your mind?”
    â€œI don’t want you to be alone when everything is so weird right now.”
    â€œThat’s insane. Why should you skip a great trip to Hawaii just so we can both be miserable? I’ll be fine. There’s nothing you can do, believe me. There’s nothing anyone can do right now.”
    â€œHawaii won’t be any fun without you. Anyway, you wouldn’t go without me,” she insisted.
    â€œYes, I would,” I said, and it was true. I wouldn’t want to go without her but I would. “Listen to your big sister. There’s absolutely no point in you staying here.”
    While I always called myself her big sister, in reality I was only four months older than Nicole. Sometimes, though, it seemed like four years.
    â€œI can’t believe this is happening. It isn’t fair,” she said.
    Inside my head, I could hear my mother’s voice telling me over and over that life isn’t fair. I hadn’t ever believed her until now.
    Seeing that Nic was on the verge of tears, I tried to make a joke. “Hey, I know without me you won’t be able to enjoy the sun and sand and waves, not