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“Then what is it?” Sophie asked.
“Jagger’s mom had a stroke last night. She died before the ambulance got there, Mom. I didn’t want to leave him alone when he doesn’t have anyone else. When I finally couldn’t stay awake anymore, he put me in his bed and he slept on the couch.”
Sophie glanced at Josh. “I’ll call him later.”
“How is he, Ally?” Sophie asked.
“Crushed,” she explained. “I’m going to go to bed for a while if you don’t need anything.”
“Go on,” Josh replied.
Sophie leaned into Josh and he put his arms around her. He kissed her head and held onto her. “I’m okay Josh.”
“I know,” he replied. “I’m just grateful that you are.”
Chapter 17
Sophie
Thanksgiving was a nightmare.
Joshua was cranky, and no one knew why. They thought maybe he was getting his one-year molars. Ally was home because Brian didn’t want her on campus before the biggest game of his college career and she was worse than Joshua.
Since she was home, she invited Jagger to dinner which Sophie and Josh agreed was a great idea otherwise he would have been alone, but he did nothing to improve her mood.
Ally and Sophie got into an argument which Josh had to break up. Jagger thought he should leave, and Ally wanted to go with him. Her father, forbade anyone to leave when they hadn’t even eaten yet.
Finally, they sat at the table. Josh’s father carved the turkey for Sophie’s dad because her mother thought he had torn his rotator cuff again.
“What about my appointment tomorrow? Maybe Josh should take me after all,” Sophie informed her dad.
“I can drive,” he snapped at her. “If you need help getting in the house, Heath is perfectly capable of doing that.”
“Where’s that sunny disposition Daddy?” She teased him.
“You can kiss my sunny disposition, Sophie Louise.” Her dad was as irritable as the rest of the grumpy ones.
She just laughed at her father.
“I can go too, if you think you’ll need me,” Josh’s dad offered.
“Look, you guys. I appreciate this, but it won’t take all three of you to get me to chemo and back home but thank you,”
she replied.
“Still not working?” Her father asked her, changing the subject. Sophie looked at Josh. He shrugged.
“Dad, I’m not going back to Russack. I don’t know what I want to do but something creative sounds really, good right now. If Josh needs me, of course I’ll help him, but I want to focus on me now. This cancer taught me that I have some talents I’ve been ignoring. I’d like to use them.”
“Drawing?” Her mother asked. She had some of her artwork hanging in her house.
“Yes, I’ve been doing that for the past week.”
“That’s wonderful,” Daisy was excited about Sophie’s renewed interest in the arts she used to be consumed by.
“We’ve even talked about a pottery wheel for the garage when I’m better.”
“I know how you loved that,” Maria replied. “I still have that vase you made me at Christmas when you were in high school.”
