“Is it about the smoking?” Ella leaned forward and whispered. “Well, I’ll tell you a little secret, young lady.” She held up her arthritic pointer finger to Eileen. “I already know about it.” She sat back in her seat and nodded sagely. “I don’t approve, and you shouldn’t make it a habit. It’s very hard to quit. And I shouldn’t have to tell you how addiction runs rampant through your father’s side of the family.”

Stunned, Eileen watched the cognitive train wreck derail before her. In less than half a second, her mother had jumped track and traveled back over twenty years. “No,” Eileen said. “It’s not about the smoking.” She leaned in, uncertain if pushing ahead with her news was really the best decision, but also feeling pressed for time; maybe she could coax her mother back into the present day. “It’s about Clare, Mom. She…there’s been…an accident.”

Ella’s gaze hardened. “What would you know about that?” She narrowed her eyes at Eileen, as if she’d suddenly become suspicious of a stranger. “Who?” She raised her voice. “Who have you been talking to? What did they tell you?”

“Mom.” Eileen tried to reach for her mother’s hand, but Ella snatched it away quicker than Eileen would have thought her capable. “I’m sorry, but I need to tell you something about Clare. There’s been an accident, and I’m so sorry, but… Clare is dead, Mom.”

Ella wrinkled her brow and let out a loud scoff while shaking her head. “You don’t know anything.” She pointed to the center of her chest. “I was there. I know perfectly well what happened. My daughter is not dead, and whoever is telling you that is wrong. It was that boy, that…” She looked away, out the window, as if the pieces of her mind that were missing might be floating out in the sun beyond the window.

“Mom, please, you’re confused. I need you to try to be here with me now. I need you to understand that Clare is gone.”

“Adam.” She suddenly found what she was looking for and turned her attention back to Eileen with a triumph. “Not my Clare. It was the Adam boy that died in the accident. You’re the one who’s confused.”

Eileen’s shoulders sagged as understanding overtook her. The car wreck. Her mother thought she was talking about the wreck. “I’m not talking about that accident.”

“And you shouldn’t.” Ella’s face contorted with a sudden rage. “You don’t know… I was there! I was there! My daughter—I would do anything for my children. Anything!” Ella shouted at her.

Eileen sat back in her seat. This was a mistake. She should have listened to the woman at the front desk and requested the therapist.

“You don’t know!” her mother screamed. “You don’t know anything!”