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“Give me a minute,” Ally declared.
Her daughter leaned back in her chair then she hopped up and left Sophie sitting in front of her screen all alone. Sophie nibbled nervously on her thumbnail while she stared at her daughter’s empty chair. She couldn’t really tell where Ally had gone. She couldn’t do anything but stare at the blank screen until Ally returned.
Ally sat down in front of her laptop.
“Okay, first when will you get your results?” Ally had been crying, Sophie could tell. That is why she had stepped away. Her voice was soft now and she wouldn’t look at the screen because she was afraid she would cry again.
“Sometime in the next three days,” Sophie responded.
Ally inhaled. “What do you need me to do?”
Sophie gazed at her kid. Her baby girl and tried not to cry. “Practice. Play hard. Study. Go to classes. Be a college freshman and enjoy your life. That’s all. This does not affect you.”
Ally’s eyes flew to the screen. “Like hell it doesn’t,” she snapped at Sophie.
“Ally, I need for you to stay focused and Dad, Heath, Hannah, Kai and everyone here will take care of me.”
Her daughter’s eyes watered with unshed tears. She chewed on her fingernail. Sophie knew that by morning that nail would be gone and maybe all the others. “That isn’t fair, Mom.”
Sophie laughed at her. “What isn’t fair is that I have cancer. What you can do for me and will mean more to me than you know is to keep your behind at school and stay focused.”
“Mom,” she started to complain.
“Ally, I mean it. You are doing something with your life. Your dad and I fought hard for everything that we have. We want you and Heath to not have to fight so hard. To not have to worry so much,” she added. “Stay in school.” She frowned at her daughter hoping she could see how serious she was.
Ally scowled at her. “You know Mom, if I didn’t know better, I might think you had a shitty life the way you preach at me and Heath. I’m going to hang up now.”
Then she was gone. Ally didn’t hear the gasp that escaped Sophie. She closed the laptop lid. Slowly, she got out of Josh’s big, leather chair that engulfed her. Sophie went to his office door and turned off the light. She walked down the hall to her bedroom, Josh was already in bed. He glanced up when she shut the door behind her.
“How did it go with Ally?”
“Not so good,” Sophie responded.
He patted the bed beside him. She gazed at her husband. Twenty-three years of marriage. They had been together longer as a couple. Known each other since they were young kids. She still loved looking at him. He made her heart skip a beat.
His chest was bare. He hadn’t changed much. Sure, he had wrinkles like she did at the corners of his eyes. His hair had no silver yet, neither did hers but his beard of all things was showing it on his jawline. She liked it too.
Sophie climbed into bed beside Josh and leaned against him. “What did she say?”
“What can I do?”
“That sounds reasonable,” he replied.
“Maybe I didn’t handle it right,” Sophie told him. “Have I made you feel like I didn’t love every minute of our life together?”
“Uh oh.” Sophie gazed at Josh over her shoulder. He kissed her forehead. “No, you didn’t. I understood where you were coming from with the lectures to the kids because we lived this life together, Soph. They didn’t know what we went through because we hid the struggles. They only knew it was good because that is what we wanted them to know.”
She nodded. “Ally told me that if she didn’t know better, she might think I had a shitty life the way I preached at her and Heath. Then she hung up on me without saying goodbye or I love you.”
Josh squeezed her a little tighter because he knew how Ally’s reaction had hurt Sophie. “Give her time,” Josh told her. “You know Ally.”
Sophie sighed. “I know her all right. She’s just like me when she gets something in her head.”
Josh couldn’t contain his laughter. Sophie scowled at him. He stopped when he realized that he was making her angry. Then he kissed her shoulder. “She is Soph. She’s strong, intelligent, kind and caring. She loves with her big heart just like her Momma.”
She shook her head at him. “Nice recovery.”
Sophie settled back in Josh’s arms. “You sleepy?” He asked her.
