Champagne and Lemon Drops: A Blueberry Springs Chick Lit Contemporary Romance by Jean Oram

a favor?" Angelica asked
quietly.
    "Of course." Beth tried to relax. Angelica
was the first to give, the last to take—making the idea of her
actually asking for something a bit of a nerve-wracking
experience.
    "I'm not sure..." Angelica's grip tightened
on her handbag.
    Oh, crap. It was about Oz. There was no way
she'd be able to help Angelica if it had to do with him. Things
still felt precarious between them and if she did anything more
than leave him messages, which he resolutely refused to
acknowledge, things would get worse. Much, much worse. Assuming
that was possible.
    "Oz won't talk to me anymore," Angelica
said, wringing her handbag's plastic straps. "If it was only for a
day or two I could understand... but it's been too long. I'm afraid
I'm not going to get him back. It's not like it used to be between
us."
    They could start a freaking club.
    Angelica continued, "He's letting the
business go. To see him let it slip through his fingers... Harvey
is so upset I'm afraid he's going to have another episode. He so
desperately wants Oz to settle down and succeed with the business.
Why Oz would do this... I just don't understand."
    They could start a club for that, too.
    "I know you two are having a rough patch,
but he seems so unhappy. So lost. Maybe you don't see it with how
busy you are with your new job, but it's there."
    Beth held back a snort. Busy was almost
funny. After three insane months of getting things in place for her
drop-in outreach one person had shown up: Gran. She said Reggie
would have come too, but his daughter had stopped by at the last
minute. Nash told her this sort of thing always happens and
building an effective outreach takes time. He was full of ideas on
how to recover from the humiliation, from not making it a drop-in
so people would value it more to advertising. Seriously.
Advertising for it like nobody had a clue what she'd been up to for
the past several months. But, he said it provided an air of
legitimacy.
    "The light in his eyes is gone, and that
worries me," Angelica said. "A mother can't sit by and watch that
happen. He needs you."
    Beth blinked back tears. "I need him too,"
she whispered.
    "Maybe you could talk some sense into him.
He's always listened to you."
    Beth bit back a laugh and said bitterly, "He
won't return my calls or answer the door. He's probably assuming
the worst right now. I don't think there's much hope,
Angelica."
    Angelica leaned forward. "He still loves
you."
    Beth flicked a crumb off her chair's
armrest. Everyone kept saying that and it was starting to tick her
off. The Oz who loved her had changed. Her hopes of him taking her
back was waning to the point where she was left with a shred of
flickering hope. One big puff and it was gone.
    "I've been researching a really nice
rehabilitation center on Google. Maybe if you and I talked to him,
he would go?"
    Beth almost stopped
breathing. " Rehab ?"
    Angelica smiled. "Yes! Exactly."
    "Uh... what?" Rehab was for druggies,
alcoholics, and starlets who needed a break from their crazy
realities. Not Oz, who was feeling lost and possibly angry. And
would likely be even angrier if his mother pulled a stunt like
trying to send him to rehab—unless, of course, she was missing
something and he really actually needed that kind of help on top of
finding himself. Oh God. This really wasn't going to end well.
    Angelica sat primly, her face bright. "I
think we need to get together and talk to him. It's what's
best."
    "Wait... like... an intervention ?" What the
hell? "Have you been watching Oprah reruns, Angelica?" She tried to
say it kindly, but she knew how some shows could influence Angelica
and make her see her own world in a way that simply wasn't
accurate.
    "Yes! Exactly! An intervention." Angelica
grinned at Beth. She pulled a folded sheet of paper from her purse.
"Here are some tips I found online."
    Beth cautiously accepted the paper. How
could she explain that an intervention could cause Oz to clam up
like he'd chugged