"Well, I am going to have to take her to a meeting," Abby said as she turned off her cell phone and shook her head. "Why don't the three of you head down to the pier, have some lunch and I will meet you at the aquarium. The meeting should only take an hour or so."
"Are you going to be able to find a meeting to go to? Just like that?" Maggie was slipping a light jacket onto Joe. Abby shrugged.
"This is AA, Mom," she sighed. "There is always a meeting somewhere. You know that."
"I have some snacks for Joe." Ruthie came from the kitchen with a small brown sack in her hand. "AA? You mean like in Alcoholics Anonymous?" Abby nodded and opened the purse that was sitting on the back of the couch.
"Here's some cash…." she said as she rummaged through it looking for a wallet.
"Oh Abby, that's not necessary," Maggie scolded.
"So you're taking care of this person because you are a doctor, right? So you can help her?"
"Well, technically I'm her sponsor right now because her real sponsor is out of town for a while." Abby handed some money to Maggie. "Today was supposed to be my treat, remember?" Maggie rolled her eyes and took the money.
"You paid for everything you did with them last week while I was working," Abby argued.
"We went to the park a few times," Maggie shook her head as she hugged a squirming Joe.
"Yeah…and to the zoo, the playground at Castle Island and shopping and on the trolley tour…." Abby grimaced as she slipped into her jacket and picked up the purse. "I mean, what did you leave for me to do with you?"
"The aquarium?" She and Maggie said at the same time. Abby chuckled.
"Ruthie," she said lightly. "You can get some lunch on the pier or maybe at Quincy Market. It's just a block or two from the aquarium stop……" Abby's voice trailed off and her brows puckered as she glanced toward the girl. Ruthie was studying her intently with a frown on her face, her hands tightly gripping the bag she held.
"You can only be a sponsor if you are an……." her voice trailed off in disbelief.
"Alcoholic," Abby finished slowly. "I know. I am."
"Have you ever been drunk? Have you ever driven a car while you were drunk?" Ruthie's eyes never left her face and Abby took a deep breath.
"Yes……and yes," she said as their gazes locked. Ruthie's eyes widened a bit and she crumbled the sack in her hands.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as anger began to roil inside her.
"I don't know," Abby shrugged slowly. "I guess I thought you knew. I haven't been secretive about going to meetings……"
"I thought they were…hospital meetings," Ruthie spit angrily.
"Ruthie….." Maggie stood up, beginning to be alarmed by the girl's white face.
"I….I…have to go," the girl said quietly and then moved toward the front door. Abby reached out to catch her arm and Ruthie jerked it free.
"No!" she cried angrily. "Don't touch me!" Abby watched the girl hurry through the front door and slam it behind her.
"What just happened?" Maggie asked.
"I'm not sure," Abby said slowly. Concern began to build on her face.
"Where will she go?" she said. Maggie made her way around the edge of the couch.
"Abby," she said as she grasped her daughter's shoulders. "She'll be fine. She's just gone for a walk or something. She has her metro pass. She has friends…" Abby dragged her eyes from the door to her mother. "Honey, god knows she knows her way around this city. She's taken me everywhere. She'll be fine." Maggie shook her and smiled a little.
"You take your friend to her meeting and come back home," she said decidedly. "Ruthie will be back by then and we can talk to her about it. After she has had a chance to calm down. She's a good kid, Abby. Everything will be fine."
"But did you see her face? She hates me…." Maggie drew Abby close and hugged her.
"She doesn't hate you," she sighed. "She's fifteen. Now go. Your friend is waiting for you. She needs you. Go take care of that and come home." Abby pulled away and wiped the moisture from her eyes. She nodded and forced a smile. Maggie watched with a worried frown as Abby circled the end of the couch and picked Joe up in her arms. She hugged the little boy close and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Be good for Grandma…" she said as she set him back down, grabbed her bag from the couch and headed out the door. Joe was close behind her.
"Wanna go wit you, Mommy!" he cried. Abby gently moved him away and closed the door. Maggie swooped him up in her arms as he screamed in protest.
"It's okay, baby," she crooned as she kissed his cheek. "Shall we make some cookies, Joe? Let's make mommy some cookies, huh?"
"Roosie too?" he hiccupped. Maggie chuckled and jostled him in her arms.
"Yeah, Roosie too," she sighed as she kissed his wet cheeks and headed for the kitchen.
In Boston's Public Garden, Will watched from his perch on a cement bench as Ruthie maneuvered the edge of the sidewalk as if she were walking a tightrope. It was late evening and the sky was pink from the setting sun.
"You know you have to go home some time, Roo," he said. "The park closes pretty soon."
"Stop calling me that," Ruthie protested as she teetered on the edge of the cement. "I'd call you Piglet if you hadn't already assigned that one to Joe." Will snickered.
"I kind of think of myself as more of a…Tigger….kind of guy anyway," he said. Ruthie slid onto the bench next to him.
"Well, Joe refuses to call me anything but 'Roosie', thanks to you….Tigger." She nudged him. Will grinned softly.
"Can I help it if my Mom is an A.A. Milne fan? I cut my teeth on 'Now We Are Six'."
"And that is why you are so smart," she declared. Will chuckled and ran his hands through his short blonde hair.
"Well, you're smart too, Ruthie," he said finally. "Smart enough to know that you need to go home." Her face fell and she slipped her hands between her thighs and the hard bench.
"I don't have a home," she said darkly.
"That's not true." Ruthie was silent.
"I can't stay there any more," she said after a long moment.
"Why?"
"Because…..you know." Will shook his head.
"She didn't kill your parents, Ruthie." Ruthie's eyes narrowed and she shook her head.
"So what are you going to do?" he asked after a long moment of studying her. "Sleep on the trains?"
"Maybe the pier…." she said. "Or the beach." Will laughed.
"Spoken like someone who hasn't dealt with sea breezes at night." He looked up as he saw the tall figure ambling slowly down the sidewalk toward them. Ruthie sensed his anticipation and followed his gaze. Her eyes widened as she looked back at her friend.
"You called them?" she cried angrily.
"You've been gone for hours, Roo" Will said defensively. "They're worried about you."
"I hate you!" she spit. Will sighed and stood up.
"Yeah, well….at least you'll be safe," he said as he strode away from her toward Luka. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"I won't be there!" she called out angrily. Will waved a hand and kept on walking. Ruthie watched stubbornly as he stopped for a moment and spoke with Luka. Then Will turned back and waved again before he headed toward the park's gates.
"He shouldn't have called you," Ruthie said angrily as Luka approached her slowly.
"I should have known you'd be here," he said as he sat next to her on the bench. "You're as goofy as Joe when it comes to those swan boat things." He nudged her shoulder lightly.
"Yeah, well, at least they aren't those stupid duck boats…er…car things." Luka grabbed his chest playfully as if he'd been wounded. Ruthie suppressed a smile and then kicked a stone toward the edge of the pond.
"I can't go home with you," she said with intense finality.
"Okay. I'll take you to a hotel then," he said. Ruthie glanced up at him sideways and frowned.
"You're not going to make me go back?" Luka shook his head and reached down to pick up a pebble.
"Nope." He tossed the pebble into the pond where it landed in the water with a plink. They both watched as the circles of tiny waves widened n in the still water.
"You're not going to give me a 'you can't run away from your problems' speech or anything?" Luka shook his head.
"Nope." He tossed another pebble into the water. Ruthie studied him.
"Why not?' He shrugged.
"Well, you're not going to make a very good parent…." she muttered quietly as she gazed down at her tennis shoes and kicked at the dirt. Luka suppressed a grin.
"I probably should go back," she said suddenly as she lifted her head. 'I mean…..to say good bye to Joe and all. It's not a good thing not to say good bye." He shrugged his shoulders again.
"That's up to you," he said.
"And I don't have to actually talk to her or anything…" Luka was silent. Ruthie looked over at him curiously. Luka's eyes met hers and he shrugged.
"What?" she asked. He shrugged again and reached for another pebble.
"You are just like her…." he said softly as he tossed the pebble. Ruthie stood up angrily with her hands on her hips.
"I am nothing like her!" she cried. Luka leaned back and looked up at her.
"You're stubborn. You think you can handle all of the world's problems on your own with no help. You never say exactly what it is that you want to say. Oh yeah. You are just like her." He shook his head. Ruthie glared at him.
"I made myself miserable for a few weeks by not bringing myself to do something Abby and I had promised ourselves we would always do," he said as he stood up. "We promised that we would talk about everything. That there would be nothing we couldn't say to one another." He started down the sidewalk along the path toward the gate. Ruthie watched him curiously and then began to follow him.
"What didn't you talk to her about?" Luka stopped in his tracks and turned around. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and gazed at her. He took a deep breath.
"I couldn't figure out why my wife was so intent on helping someone who was a basically a stranger to her," he said. "I thought that maybe she was keeping a secret. That the reason she had so much…. love…. and protection…for this stranger was because they were related somehow. Maybe a daughter she had given up for adoption once or something." Ruthie's eyes widened and then she frowned.
"Did you…talk….about it?" Luka nodded. He cocked an eye brow at her and grinned slightly. Ruthie swallowed and shook her head.
"I can't…." she said slowly.
"She'll wait until you can," he said softly. "I promise. She loves you." He watched her for a moment and then started walking back toward the gate. Ruthie watched him and then hurried after him, keeping in step as they ambled side by side in the dusk.