soon. If any of you need anything, I have my cell.”
“Give your parents our love,” Gigi says and I nod.
Crossing the room to my TV, I nab my keys and leave. It’s not until I’m in my car and halfway to my parents’ house that it sinks in that Sydney, at least for tonight, will be staying at my place. If she leaves tomorrow, I don’t want her sleeping in the spare room. I want her in my bed.
Pressing the button to roll down my window, I let all that goodness stay with me. Life is a series of choices. I made the wrong one when I turned away from Sydney. It’s my choice now to right that wrong.
My dad’s car isn’t in the drive when I pull up. My eyes shift to the time display on my consol. This isn’t normal for him.
That has me getting out of my car with more urgency than I would usually have. My key is in the lock and I’m turning the knob when I hear a car parking behind me. Hand still mid-twist, I look over my shoulder toward the drive and watch my dad rise out of his car.
He holds up a prescription bag as explanation. “I had to run to the pharmacy.”
I open the door but wait for him to get to me before stepping through it. “The prescription for you or Mom?”
He frowns. “Me, they stopped making the blood pressure pill I used to take and I had a reaction to the new one. This one will hopefully work.”
“A reaction? Everything okay?” I was here yesterday and he hadn’t said a word.
He has the grace to look embarrassed. “I got lightheaded on the other stuff. Took a fall but before you jump all over me, I didn’t get hurt.”
“Dad,” I argue.
“Heathcliff,” he returns, lifting his brows.
I move further into the foyer and he closes the door behind us. “When did they stop making your last medication?”
He looks at the ceiling. “It’s not that they stopped making it, it’s that our insurance no longer covers it.”
My parents aren’t hurting for money, even with Mom’s prolonged health issues. “How much is it without insurance?”
He drops the pharmacy bag on a table in the hallway. “Don’t ask, it’ll only get me angry about healthcare in this country and the rackets these insurance and pharmaceutical companies are pulling.”
“Okay, Dad, forget I asked,” I reply.
That gets a laugh out of him and he reaches up to squeeze my shoulder. “Let’s go see Mom.”
My mom is awake and sitting up against the sea of pillows behind her. As we walk in, she presses a button on her tablet, pausing whatever audiobook she is listening to.
She doesn’t wait; she launches right in. “How’d it go? Is Sydney at your place right now?”
While originally my dad had cautioned me against telling my mom about Sydney, that all went out the window after the mudslide. I wasn’t going to lie to her about where I was spending all of my time after work.
That, and racing through the forest that day had left a physical mark on me. Branches whipped my face, my hands were scraped up the couple of times I tripped and fell, and I could not hide the stiffness in my legs from running full out that day.
My mom loves Gigi Fairlane and while she didn’t remember Sydney right away, she eventually did. Her making me pull up Sydney’s online profile helped.
I fight the smile her question brings. “Yes, she’s there with her grandparents right now.”
“And you’ve convinced her to stay while she recuperates?” she presses.
I bend over to kiss her cheek before sinking into the chair next to her bed. “For tonight at least.”
She folds her hands in her lap and studies me. “What does that mean?”
Her expression is too much like the ones I remember from her lectures when I was growing up. I can’t help it. I grin and pull my phone out to snap a physical picture to go along with my mental one.
“Heathcliff,” she snaps.
My mother has an impatient streak.
“She said she’s willing to take it day by day.”
She lifts a hand to press to her chest. “Getting back
“Give your parents our love,” Gigi says and I nod.
Crossing the room to my TV, I nab my keys and leave. It’s not until I’m in my car and halfway to my parents’ house that it sinks in that Sydney, at least for tonight, will be staying at my place. If she leaves tomorrow, I don’t want her sleeping in the spare room. I want her in my bed.
Pressing the button to roll down my window, I let all that goodness stay with me. Life is a series of choices. I made the wrong one when I turned away from Sydney. It’s my choice now to right that wrong.
My dad’s car isn’t in the drive when I pull up. My eyes shift to the time display on my consol. This isn’t normal for him.
That has me getting out of my car with more urgency than I would usually have. My key is in the lock and I’m turning the knob when I hear a car parking behind me. Hand still mid-twist, I look over my shoulder toward the drive and watch my dad rise out of his car.
He holds up a prescription bag as explanation. “I had to run to the pharmacy.”
I open the door but wait for him to get to me before stepping through it. “The prescription for you or Mom?”
He frowns. “Me, they stopped making the blood pressure pill I used to take and I had a reaction to the new one. This one will hopefully work.”
“A reaction? Everything okay?” I was here yesterday and he hadn’t said a word.
He has the grace to look embarrassed. “I got lightheaded on the other stuff. Took a fall but before you jump all over me, I didn’t get hurt.”
“Dad,” I argue.
“Heathcliff,” he returns, lifting his brows.
I move further into the foyer and he closes the door behind us. “When did they stop making your last medication?”
He looks at the ceiling. “It’s not that they stopped making it, it’s that our insurance no longer covers it.”
My parents aren’t hurting for money, even with Mom’s prolonged health issues. “How much is it without insurance?”
He drops the pharmacy bag on a table in the hallway. “Don’t ask, it’ll only get me angry about healthcare in this country and the rackets these insurance and pharmaceutical companies are pulling.”
“Okay, Dad, forget I asked,” I reply.
That gets a laugh out of him and he reaches up to squeeze my shoulder. “Let’s go see Mom.”
My mom is awake and sitting up against the sea of pillows behind her. As we walk in, she presses a button on her tablet, pausing whatever audiobook she is listening to.
She doesn’t wait; she launches right in. “How’d it go? Is Sydney at your place right now?”
While originally my dad had cautioned me against telling my mom about Sydney, that all went out the window after the mudslide. I wasn’t going to lie to her about where I was spending all of my time after work.
That, and racing through the forest that day had left a physical mark on me. Branches whipped my face, my hands were scraped up the couple of times I tripped and fell, and I could not hide the stiffness in my legs from running full out that day.
My mom loves Gigi Fairlane and while she didn’t remember Sydney right away, she eventually did. Her making me pull up Sydney’s online profile helped.
I fight the smile her question brings. “Yes, she’s there with her grandparents right now.”
“And you’ve convinced her to stay while she recuperates?” she presses.
I bend over to kiss her cheek before sinking into the chair next to her bed. “For tonight at least.”
She folds her hands in her lap and studies me. “What does that mean?”
Her expression is too much like the ones I remember from her lectures when I was growing up. I can’t help it. I grin and pull my phone out to snap a physical picture to go along with my mental one.
“Heathcliff,” she snaps.
My mother has an impatient streak.
“She said she’s willing to take it day by day.”
She lifts a hand to press to her chest. “Getting back
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