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

Crazy Glue? An intervention spelled trouble with
a capital T. Beth slid the plate of Bribe Beth Brownies and info
sheet onto the filing cabinet beside her desk and stated
matter-of-factly, "I can't do this."
    "It will be a surprise."
    Beth carefully added, "This seems a tad...
premature." Misguided. Ill-informed. Wrong.
    Whatever she needed to get him to come back
to her, this wasn't it. "I don't think getting up in his grill is a
good idea. We need to give him time to get over last week."
    Angelica stated kindly, "It will be a calm
conversation about his reckless behavior and how he is damaging his
relationships," she paused to let that point hit home, "and that we
know he is hurting and that there is help. He's starting to hurt
himself."
    Beth's pulse sped up. "What do you mean
hurting himself?" she whispered.
    "He's in a self-destructive cycle. He
believes he is protecting you, but his all-about-town rant and
boozing isn't good for him and it isn't cute or harmless." She gave
Beth a hard look that made her want to crawl under her desk for
protection.
    "Action needs to be
taken now ."
Angelica stood banging her fist in the air like she was shaking a
maraca. "An intervention is the answer. It will open him up. Start
the conversation. Ease his troubles."
    "He needs to do this on his own." Beth
studied her hands. "As hard as it is for the rest of us."
    "We have to help."
    "I can't," Beth said in a quiet voice. "I
can't do this to him." Beth shook her head, pushing back in her
chair like Angelica was going to forcibly remove her and make her
confront Oz.
    "How would it look if you
weren't there?" Angelica asked softly. "It would look as though you
don't care." She watched Beth, challenging her. In a low, even
voice she said, "After that weekend, I think it is especially important that
his fiancée be present."
    Beth gazed at Angelica—a small, quiet, but
very determined mother bear. She thought of Oz and all the hurt
piling up between them. If she stepped in what would happen? How
would he react? Her voice shook as she said, "I don't think this is
a good idea."
    "I'll arrange everything for tonight. All
you have to do is show up and be present." Angelica placed a warm
hand firmly over Beth's and gave her a long look that made Beth
lower her eyes in shame. If that was what it was like to have a
mother pissed off and disappointed in you, then she was kind of
glad she'd been raised by her gran and sister for most of her
teenage years.
    Angelica gave Beth one last look before
opening the door. Softly she said, "Timing is everything,
Beth."
    "But what about Katie and Will? They're out
of town for Will's conference. They won't be home until tomorrow
and they should be there." Plus, Katie would totally talk sense
into her mother. She'd tell her exactly how this was a very bad
idea and that Oz would most definitely take it the wrong way. And
even if Katie did agree to go along with it, she would make sure
things went right because nobody messed with Katie. Not even a big
brother with a boatload of problems.
    Angelica shook her head. "Timing is
everything." She stepped through the doorway and turned. "I'll pick
you up at seven. By eight we'll have you back in Oz's arms like
nothing ever happened."
    She closed the door behind her and Beth sat
in the silence of her office, afraid to move, afraid to think what
the consequences might be rather than what Angelica believed them
to be.
    ***
    That evening, instead of relaxing in the
theater's air conditioning watching a romantic comedy like she'd
planned, Beth found herself standing in the day's lingering heat,
banging on Oz's door. Something felt off and it was more than the
group shifting nervously behind her and the small pack of onlookers
tittering on the sidewalk. Something in the heavy summer air was
warning her like a bird's screeching call of danger.
    Basically, she wanted to pee her pants. But
being the one thrust to the front of the intervention's gang of
eight—even though Angelica