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“I wasn’t looking for anything new, but I guess I got it anyway,” I said. “I should have been by to see you. These last few weeks—”
She put her hand over mine, effectively shutting me up. “You’ve had a lot to take care of, and you’ve done more than enough for me.” I couldn’t do the one thing I wanted more than anything—cure her of this vicious disease. Going with her to her chemo treatments and running errands for her when she wasn’t up to it seemed inadequate. “We’re not going there tonight. It’s Christmas.”
“Think you could make it to New York for a visit? Maybe New Year’s?” The Carters were my family in Houston. I spent the most time with Mr. Carter, but they had me over for dinner once a week, and Mrs. Carter and I lunched regularly. I admired her, and she was my friend. “Bring Grandma Carter too.”
Hope bloomed in her eyes. The haunting thought that this could be her last trip to New York seemed to cross both our minds, and I hated it. I couldn’t think like that. No place for negativity in the fight for her life, but sometimes those poisonous little fuckers took shape in my mind before I could stop them.
“I’ll talk to Harris about it. That’s actually not a bad idea. It will give me an excuse to check on my sons—”
“You’re moving to New York, Mulaney?” Daddy’s voice boomed across the table, his stare accusatory.
“So much for perfect timing,” I said under my breath.
“Now you don’t have to figure out a way to tell them,” Stone said oh-so-helpfully.
Daddy pointed at Stone. “You knew about this?”
“For all of five minutes. She’s scared to stay at a hotel by herself, so she’s going to live with Muriella and me.”
I shot Stone a murderous look. He grinned at me.
“She is not,” Muriella argued, coming to my defense.
Mitch leaned toward her. “Best not to interfere between those two.” He pointed between Stone and me.
Muriella leveled him with a look. “I’m not going to let Stone give her a hard time about this.”
Everyone looked at me. I usually came to my own defense, and now that I had backup from an unlikely source, it threw me off.
“It’s bad enough you being in Houston away from the family, but New York? I’ll be damned if I let you go there by yourself,” Daddy said like I was a teenager making a stupid decision.
“Easton will be there with her,” Mrs. Carter volunteered, and a silence enveloped the table as everyone looked at him.
“She doesn’t need me,” he said easily, his cool gaze focused on me. I returned it, though something about the way he was looking at me set me on edge even though I knew the reason why.
“Hello? I said she was moving in with Muriella and me, so unless we suddenly don’t count, then Mulaney won’t be by herself,” Stone said.
“And we’ll be there too,” Vivian said, her husband Daniel nodding. They were Stone and Muriella’s best friends and lived in the same building. I hadn’t figured out what exactly Daniel did for a living, but I’d gathered from my brother if there was information to be found about anything, he was the man to do it.
“Now that the Mulaney’s ‘going to New York bomb’ has dropped, I’m going to get a beer. Anybody else want one?” Mitch asked, getting to his feet.
“I’ll go with you,” I said, practically jumping out of my seat. “I’m leaving my horse here with y’all too.” I walked away before anyone could respond.
“They already hate how far away you are,” Mitch said as we headed to the bar. “They’re proud of you, but you know how they are. If it were up to Mama and Daddy, we’d all live on the ranch as one big happy family.”
“We are one big happy family, aren’t we?”
“Yeah. They just miss you. You’re only eight hours away in Houston, but we rarely see you.”
“I don’t need a lecture right now,” I snapped, signaling for the bartender to bring us another round.
“Not trying to. Just telling you the truth. I know you’re doing the best you can. That’s why I never say anything about it, but it would mean a lot to them if they saw your face in person instead of hearing your voice most of the time.”
Mitch might as well have punched me in the gut, to the point I wanted to double over. I’d let down the people I never wanted to disappoint by not getting home as often as I should. I was busy. Hell, I barely had time for myself. But what was I sacrificing in return? Precious time I’d never get back. I swallowed hard. Ruby and Granddaddy were in their eighties. They wouldn’t be around forever, though I couldn’t imagine either of them being gone. I couldn’t handle it if they thought I didn’t want to be here.
I loved my career—it was part of me—but I loved my family something fierce. Maybe I hadn’t shown them that.
“What do you propose I do?” I asked curtly, taking out my frustration on him.
