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It was only a matter of time.
Sarah, my father’s other on-call hospice nurse, had helped me walk him out once I’d set up the little picnic spot. Every comfortable pillow I could find in the house was out here, creating a nice little bed where Dad could sit back and relax outside of the hospital bed that made his back ache. Dana had cooked up some snacks, and after Dad’s insistence, decided to join us as well.
“Where’s Hunter today?” Dad asked, his voice barely audible over the wind rustling through the trees.
“Work,” I said simply. I didn’t know if it was true, but it was believable enough if it wasn’t.
“You two should be off on your honeymoon.”
I offered him a soft smile and half of a crab salad sandwich. He wasn’t eating much lately, but I hoped he’d at least try to get something down. “I already told you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’re not having a honeymoon?” Dana asked, her mouth half full of a samosa.
I shook my head. “Nah. I’d rather be here.” I don’t want him to die while I’m away is what I really wanted to say, but the worry I knew Dad would feel over getting in the way of going on a honeymoon stopped me.
“Charlotte!”
I turned toward the house, shielding my eyes from the overhead sun. Sarah stood on the porch, one hand raised.
“Cole Pearson is here. Do you want me to send him down there?”
Cole Pearson. He was one of Dad’s newer clients on the business front. I’m sure he’d heard the news about Dad’s condition, but on the off chance he hadn’t, I pushed myself up onto my feet. “Dana, watch Dad.”
“I don’t think he’s going anywhere…”
I jogged up to the porch in my slippers and nodded my thanks to Sarah before slipping through the sliding glass door. Cole had come around a handful of times before I’d left for Hawaii, but I hadn’t seen him since then. He stood tall in the living room, his eyes glued to Dad’s semi-permanent spot in front of the television, surrounded by monitors and IV drips.
“Hey, Cole,” I said.
“Lottie. Good to see you. Is your dad?— ?”
“He’s still alive. We’re just having a picnic out back.”
“Thank God. Thought I’d missed the memo,” he chuckled. It was unusual to see him dressed in plain clothes, an ordinary shirt and sweater combo over jeans. I was used to seeing him in professional workwear, but it didn’t take away from his looks. “Do you mind if I come say hello?”
I shook my head and gestured toward the open sliding glass door. “Not at all. He’ll be glad to see you. Just don’t, uh, mention the dying thing. He gets a bit weird about it.”
“Got it.”
I led Cole out to the backyard. Dana was laughing at something Dad had said as we stepped through the grass. I made a mental note to get the lawnmower tuned up before spring, the lawn was already getting a little unruly and I wouldn’t have Dad around to mow it.
“Dad, Cole’s here to see you,” I grinned, dropping down beside him on the blanket and picking up one of the sandwiches.
“I’ve got cancer, honey, not hearing loss. I heard Sarah when she announced him earlier.”
Cole offered Dana a small wave before he sat down beside her and in front of my father. “Nice to see you, Brodes. How are you holding up?”
Dana snorted. “You can’t just ask a dying man how he’s holding up.”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Cole, this is Dana, Lottie’s friend. Dana, this is Cole. He runs a brewery downtown.”
“A brewery?” Dana grinned, her eyebrows raising as she looked him up and down. Why did I allow her to stay? “Like, beer?”
Cole nodded. “Craft beer. We just opened up last year.”
“Maybe I should come check it out,” Dana giggled.
Cole’s smile morphed into a smirk as he looked at her. “Maybe you should. I’d be happy to give you a private tour.”
