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Brianna nods. “I hate that this is happening to him. He’s so strong.”
“I know.” I lean in and lower my voice. “I watched my father cry over him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my father cry.”
“They’re very close,” Brianna agrees. “And I’m sure there are things we don’t even know.”
“God, can there be anything else we don’t know?”
She bites her lip. “I’m afraid there might be. Things seem to crawl out of the woodwork in our family. But all we can do right now is hope and pray that Uncle Joe can get through this.”
“One percent chance, Bree.”
She sighs. “I know. But at least it’s a chance.”
I nod and grab my phone, ready to call Maddie.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Maddie
My heart jumps when I see Dave’s phone call.
Damn it. Why do I have to be so happy to see that it’s him? I can’t believe he blew me off today.
I’m trying to be understanding. His family is going through turmoil, and that’s what I should be focused on. I should do my best to sympathize with what he’s going through.
Still, though, an explanation isn’t an excuse, and the fact remains that he didn’t come through on our lunch plans.
“Hi,” I say into the phone.
“Hey, Maddie.”
“What do you want, Dave?”
“I’m so sorry…”
“About what?” I ask.
I want to hear him say it. See if he’s actually sorry.
“You know what. We were supposed to have lunch, and I forgot.”
I pause a moment, trying to formulate a smart-ass comment, but I come up with nothing.
Eventually, I simply say, “Oh.”
“I don’t really have an excuse, except that I was working with Brianna in the orchards. I felt like I needed a day in the outdoors, you know? A day of hard manual labor. The kind I haven’t had since I was a kid. I just sort of fell into it, I guess. I completely lost track of time, and it wasn’t until the sun was setting that I even realized how long we’d been at it.”
“I see.”
“Do you? I can hear from your tone that you’re not pleased, and I can’t blame you.”
I sigh. “Dave, what’s going on with your family is just shitty. I wish I could do something about it. I truly do. I hate that you’re hurting. I hate that Brianna’s hurting. I hate that my sisters and Jesse are hurting because their fiancés are hurting. It all just sucks, Dave, and I’m so sorry. Especially about Joe.”
“That’s kind of you.”
I scoff. “Kind of me? Well, here’s some news for you. I’m a kind person, Dave.”
“Never said you weren’t.”
