“Hey, Wes. We got you,” Dennis says.
I sit up straight, sniff, and wipe my eyes. “Thanks for coming, guys.”
“You know we’ll always be here,” Mike says, handing me a bag. “From Dennis’ favorite place. Seafood gumbo and hush puppies.”
“God, you all are fucking saints.”
My stomach starts grumbling at me, realizing it hasn’t eaten since earlier today.
I pry the lid off the container and dip my spoon inside, taking a tentative bite since it’s hot. Fuck. Best gumbo in town.
“How’s your mom?” Dennis asks.
“She’s fine. She’s upset about everything. Who can blame her? As soon as she’s healed, they’re going to have to surgically remove the lesion that’s causing her problems. I’m not sure how we’re going to afford it, but I’ll figure it out.”
“Damn,” Mike breathes. “I can’t even imagine. Will insurance cover it?”
I shrug. “We don’t have the best insurance. It’s expensive as hell. They’ll cover some of it, but we have a pretty high deductible. I’ll cover it somehow. I make more than they do.”
We eat and chat some more about Mom, then Dennis broaches the inevitable subject of my breakup.
“What happened between you and Jett?”
I shrug. “There’s a lot of personal shit I can’t tell you. He’s so private about everything. I just… made a mistake, and he freaked, man. He was so angry.”
“Does he get angry like that a lot?” Mike asks.
“What? No. Never. This was trauma-induced. I’m certain of it. No one freaks out like that without cause.”
Dennis grabs my shoulder and grips it gently. “You’re going to fix it, right? You care about him, so you’ll do what it takes to get him back.”
I give him a curt nod. “Yeah, definitely. I’m not giving up on him, but… right now I have my mom to think about. I just can’tjuggle both at the moment. Before I left Eugene, I sent him a text to tell him how I felt.”
I just hope he… understands.
Chapter 28
Jett
“Soyouthrewhimout?” my sister snaps.
“Janie…” Owen places a cup of steaming coffee in front of me.
“No, I’m just trying to see if I got this right.” My sister sits down on the chair across from me, her eagle eyes piercing right through me. “You threw your boyfriend, whom you clearly love, out on his ass because he saw your pills?”
I nod. I don’t even bother debating Janelle on the ‘love him’ part because she always sees right through me anyway. Owen sits, offering me a sympathetic smile, then sips his coffee.
“Because you still haven’t told him?” Her voice softens a tad, and she reaches for my hand across the table. “Why is it that you still haven’t told him, Jared?”
I shrug, tears stinging my eyes. “I don’t know.”
I spent all morning in bed, replaying everything in my head, hating myself more and more as the hours passed, missing Wes like crazy. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, I threw on a pair of sweats and a hoodie, then drove to Hillsboro.
“Baby brother,” Janelle sighs, squeezing my hand. “Of course you know.”
I brush my fingers along the leaf-patterned tablecloth. “Because I can’t, Janie. I just can’t.”
“Of course you can.”
