Page 80 of Must Love Flowers
“Al,” she cried. “You were supposed to make sure Dad didn’t drink.”
Al raised both arms in defeat. “I couldn’t stop him.”
Her father’s look was stubborn. “Told you earlier, I’m not giving up beer.”
“Yes, you are.” Maggie said, so angry tears filled her eyes. “I just forked over nearly seven hundred dollars for this prescription. That was my entire paycheck and now I have nothing. I worked hard for that money, and I refuse to let you waste it.”
“How much?” His eyes revealed his shock.
“You heard me the first time.”
His face crumpled and tears filled his eyes. “Why would you do that?”
“Why?” she cried. “Because you’re my father.”
He blinked several times and seemed to close in on himself. “I…I don’t know that I can give it up.”
“You can; you have to. There are places and people who can help you. If you promise to do your best, I’ll try to get you into a rehab center. You can’t do this on your own, Dad; you’re going to need help. I’ll do everything I can to help you, too.”
“I’m not an alcoholic,” her father insisted.
Maggie shook her head. “Deny it all you want, but your liver says otherwise.”
He lowered his gaze to the beer can he was holding. “I…Ican’t, Maggie, especially without your mother and now you…”
He didn’t finish what he was going to say. He didn’t need to; Maggie already knew. “I’ll move back home,” she said, knowingthat was the only thing she could offer that would convince him to give up drinking.
His head shot up. “You will?”
More than anything, Maggie hated the thought of leaving Joan, but she couldn’t see any other option.
A tear leaked down his cheek. “If you do that…move back, I mean, then…then I’ll consider it.”
“I’ll help, too,” Al claimed.
“How you going to help me?” Roy demanded.
Al stood up from the sofa, removed his tattered ballcap, and spoke as if stating a solemn vow. “I promise I won’t drink in front of you.”
Her father snorted. “A lot of good that’ll do.”
“Dad,” Maggie said, chastising him. “Al is your friend, and if I understood you right, you told me he’s your only friend.”
“I never said that,” her father lied.
Maggie looked to Al and whispered, “Yeah, he did.”
Roy shook his head. “And I haven’t decided if giving up my one joy in life is worth you moving home. You’re too much like your mother.”
“I consider that a compliment.”
“You should,” he snapped back, mulling over the decision.
Al grinned, and Maggie noticed he had a gold tooth in front. “Thank you for being a friend to my dad. He’s going to need one if he keeps to his promise.”
“Cry me a river,” her father barked. “Both of you leave me be. I need to think this through.” Al started out the front door, but Roy stopped Maggie. “You serious about moving back home?”
“If you agree to go into rehab. After your body has adjustedto going without, if I smell or see you with a beer or any other alcoholic beverage, I’m gone.”
