Family Inheritance by Terri Ann Leidich Page B

the same time, memories from the past were
swirling around her as she sunk into the cruel, raging waters of another man’s control.
She was lost in such a maze of panic that her father’s face flickered in and out
of her memory, merging with Jeff ’s. For a moment, they were both there, looming
over her, with nasty smiles on their faces, and for several moments they felt like
one and the same.
    Deep inside, she trembled with fear. She had nowhere to turn and the vulnerable,
little girl inside of her replaced the woman who was so desperately trying to stay
in charge. Once again, she had been a bad girl, and she couldn’t tell. Nobody could
help her.

Chapter 12
    Atlanta, Georgia
    The shrill ringing of the telephone startled Helene awake. Turning in the bed, she
glanced at Bill buried in the covers. It was nice to see him there; she hadn’t appreciated
that sight for quite some time, but in the predawn hours, it was nice that he was
home.
    Grabbing the insistent phone before it could ring another time, Helene whispered
into the receiver, “Hello?”
    “Hello?” The male voice on the other end seemed unsure. “May I speak with Helene
Miller please?”
    Helene sat up in bed. “With whom?”
    The voice hesitated. “I’m trying to reach the daughter of Anna Theresa Miller. Do
I have the right number?”
    Helene’s tongue ran across her dry lips. “Yes . . . yes, you have the right number.
This is Helene Miller Foster.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. Your mother’s note said Helene Miller.”
    “I’ve been married for many years. My mother knows that.” She paused in frustration.
“But why are you calling about my mother? And how did you know how to reach me?”
    Ignoring the first question, he went right to the second. “Your mother left a note
with your phone number.”
    She has my phone number? was the first thought that popped into Helene’s mind. Then
her hand started to shake and her voice quivered as she answered. “Left a note, what
do you mean, left a note? Where is she? Is she okay?”
    Helene hadn’t been in contact with her mother for over fifteen years. When Thomas
was a baby, Helene had called her mother a couple of times, thinking she would be
excited about being a grandmother, but her mother hadn’t shown much interest at all.
The conversations had been stilted and uncomfortable, so Helene quit calling and
she hadn’t heard from her mother since.
    She hadn’t really thought about her for years, until recently—until these problems
with Thomas and her own visits to the therapist. She used to think that her mother,
or her mother’s life, would never affect her again. She believed that if her mother
died, she would feel no remorse or regret, but now fear was settling around her heart.
Her mother must be dead. Why else would a stranger call so early in the morning?
    The voice on the other end was calm and deliberately spoke slowly. “Mrs. Foster,
your mother is in the hospital. She’s in a coma. I haven’t been able to reach your
sisters yet.”
    “What hospital is she in?” Her hand flew to her chest as if to stop its rapid pounding.
    “The Virginia Regional Medical Center,” the voice replied.
    At first her mind couldn’t grasp the name of the hospital until she remembered that
her mother still lived in Minnesota, and Virginia was the small town not far from
the farm where Helene had grown up. Still trying to get her bearings and take in
the information she had just received, she quietly answered, “I’ll be there as soon
as I can,” and hung up the phone without giving the man on the other end of the line
a chance to say anything more. After hanging up she realized that she didn’t even
know who he was. Where was Alice? Why wasn’t she with Mom?
    Helene hadn’t been back home since she left right after she graduated from high school,
and a few weeks ago, Helene wouldn’t have given a second thought to going back home
because it was a part of her life that she had cast aside and