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“It might be a good opportunity for the two of you to get to know each other,” Remy said.
Ismay recalled Bastian’s smirk when he first entered the house and found Bo sleeping on one couch. “Yeah, I’d like that.” It wasn’t remotely true, but if nothing else, she owed Remy and his family for letting her stay.
“Okay. I told him he’d better not be a dick.”
In Ismay’s mind, that was like telling a fish he’d better not breathe through his gills. But she bit her tongue. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
“Good. I’d better get back to studying.”
“Remy?” she said before he could disconnect.
“What?”
“Has Bastian ever used your room?”
“For what?” he asked.
“I mean, was it everhisroom? Or were you both in there together, maybe back in the old days when the cottage was smaller?”
“No. We’ve never shared a room. The cottage has never beenthatsmall. Why?”
She stared off into the distance, at the sun glistening off the water. That last question had been stupid; they would’ve been too young back then. She was just grasping at straws, hoping against hope that she could find an answer that would satisfy the part of her mind that kept screaming something was wrong. “I was just curious,” she said and let him go.
She was turning to make her way—reluctantly—back to the cottage, where she’d have to face Bastian, when a text came in from Bo.
Power’s on.
Thank God she wasn’t going to have to worry about him staying in that water-logged house with a big hole in the roof.
The day dragged on until Jack got up off the couch and went to work. He’d rather be busy. Lying around only made things worse. But as soon as he parked his truck in his parents’ drive, he almost balked. He didn’t want to face his whole family and the sympathy he knew he’d see in their eyes. Thinking he’d beg off again and go to bed, even though it was only three thirty in the afternoon, he almost put his transmission in Reverse. But then his father came to the door of the barn and saw him, so he got out and strode over.
In true Buzz fashion, he didn’t say much. But Hank was there, too. When Hank started to grill him, Buzz barked an order for his brother to go wash down the tractor.
“How’d it go this morning?” his father asked.
Remembering Jessica marching around his house, hauling boxes and taking down the drapes, Jack stretched his neck. “It’s hard to explain,” he said. Saying too much went against the loyalty he still felt toward his wife. He wasn’t sure why he was still hanging on. Maybe he just couldn’t let go.
At this answer, his father nodded once and strode off to the barn where they stored their produce until they could take it to market.
“Dad?” Jack called before he could get too far away.
Buzz turned.
“How do you get through something like this?”
Buzz thought for a moment. Then he said, “You just do, because you don’t have any other choice.”
Jack drew a deep breath, hoping it would help him withstand the crushing pressure on his chest. “Got it.”
“You can’t fold,” his father said. “Where would that get you?”
Nowhere. It would get him nowhere. There really was no way out, and yet, he didn’t see how he could continue to function.
“Your mother and brothers need help harvesting the snap peas. You’d better get out in the field,” he said, then added, “The best way to handle what life throws you is to keep fighting.”
Jack nodded. He could do it. He could be strong like his father, he told himself, and started out to the acreage closest to the highway.
His youngest brother noticed him first, said his name and pointed. When their mother looked up, he saw the pain and worry in her face he’d been expecting to see, but he no longer dreaded being with her and his siblings. They were the ones who loved him. They were the ones who would never leave.
