Page 94 of Well Aware

“Rich bitch?” I joked.

“Richer than rich,” he said solemnly. “Guy was driving over the speed limit, then took a turn too fast on the slick turn right as you start coming back downhill. They found him at the bottom of the pass. Every bone that could be broken was broken. They don’t expect him to make it through the rest of the day.”

“That sucks,” I said.

It happened every year the moment that we got enough snow that the ski resort in Bear Pass opened up. People came up here, expected things to be perfectly fine and found out differently. Whether it was getting buried in an avalanche, breaking themselves on the slopes, or rolling their cars down the mountain.

Never failed that the search and rescue team had to go searching for them if they went on hikes, either.

“Is what it is,” he said. “According to the hospital director, they’ve called in experts to give them second opinions. As if our conclusion of the obvious wasn’t enough of an answer for them.”

That wasn’t a surprise, either. With the rich came the pomp, and they always felt like their doctors were better than ours. I’d been hearing stories for years from Lysander about the people that came to visit and their antics.

Lysander hated when ski season started.

“Slopes aren’t even open yet. Wonder why they’re here so early?” I gestured toward the kitchen. “What do y’all want to eat?”

“Pancakes,” my nephew ordered.

“I don’t have the stuff for pancakes,” I admitted. “Biscuits?”

“Is there apple jelly?” he asked.

“Always,” I confirmed. “Iris, did you meet my nephew?”

She nodded but didn’t answer, clamming up again with new people around.

“Lysander, this is Iris, Magnolia’s daughter. Iris, meet my brother, Lysander.”

Lysander nodded but didn’t walk forward or do anything more intimidating.

Lysander knew all about Iris.

I’d talked a lot about two of my favorite people for the last eight months, and he knew Iris didn’t like to be too close to people, loud noises, or adventurous food.

“What’s that?”

Iris’s question had us both turning toward her. “What’s what?”

She tapped her ear where Lysander’s hearing aid sat.

“That’s the device I use to hear,” he explained. “It’s called a cochlear implant.”

He spent the next ten minutes explaining what, why and how.

By the time he was done, I had biscuits on the pan ready to go into the oven.

“Eggs and bacon?”

“Only if they’re scrambled.” My nephew batted his eyes at me.

I rolled my eyes. “No adventure at all.”

I had bacon, eggs, and biscuits all warm and ready by the time my little sleepyhead shuffled out of the bedroom, her hair escaping her braid and wearing only my t-shirt.

She froze when she saw my brother and nephew.

“Hi!” Lysander grinned.