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Yes, Mama had been sick for a long time. She’d fought really hard. He’d known. They’d all known, but that didn’t make anything going on around him any easier.
The storm in his chest grew and grew until he couldn’t contain it. He broke into a run, ignoring Will as he called after him. He reached the truck first and banged against the hood like he could pound out his frustration and horror at what might happen that day.
Boom, boom, boom!
He got in the truck and started it, anxious to be going. His brothers walked still, and Lee didn’t know how they could be so calm. He knew they weren’t. They just dealt with things differently. Trav would need to yell at some point, and Will would box it all away until he put on his running shorts tomorrow morning.
His phone rang, and Rosalie’s name sat there. Lee didn’t have a spare inch in his mind for her right now, but he swiped on the call. “Hey.” Even he could admit his voice barked at her instead of greeted her.
“Oh, uh, hey,” she said. “What’s going on?”
Lee didn’t know how to adequately explain. Will and Trav neared, and he maybe had ten seconds to talk to Rosalie alone. “I can’t talk right now,” he said, his voice gruff.
“You sound upset.”
“Do I, Rose? I suppose that’s because I am upset.” He shook his head. “I can’t talk.” He’d already said this.
Will reached the passenger door and opened it.
“I have to go.” Lee hung up and tossed his phone up on the dashboard. Will looked at it and slid all the way over so Travis could get in up front too. Lee strangled the steering wheel, wishing they lived closer to town.
“In?” he asked.
“Almost,” Trav said. Finally the door slammed shut, and Lee stomped on the accelerator.
“Lee,” Will said.
“What?” he barked. “We have to go. You two were walkin’ in the park, for crying out loud!”
“We were not,” Travis said. “Pull yourself together.”
“I am pulled together,” Lee yelled. “Don’t tell me to pull myself to together.I’mthe one who holdseverythingtogether! All the time!”
Trav started to argue, but Will held up his hand. Silence poured into the cab, and they all knew Lee wasn’t really mad at Will or Trav. He wasn’t mad at himself. He wasn’t mad at Mama. He was just mad.
They also all knew that it wasn’t Lee who held everything together at Sweet Water Falls Farm.
It was Mama, and without her, they were in very real danger of splintering.
