AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My dad shook his head. “I was head over heels the day I met your mother.” He stroked my hair. “You’ve made some pretty tough choices and expected everyone to honor them. But you’re not allowing this Beck to make his choice. You’re making it for him.”
***
The following night, my phone rang at eight o’clock. I smiled at the name flashing on the screen.
“Hey, Louise. How are you?”
“My ticker is still ticking. So I suppose it’s a good day.” She had her usual spunk in her voice, but there was something else off. Louise sounded almost out of breath.
“Are you wheezing?”
“Just my allergies,” she said. “Maddie and I worked on her garden badge today. The pollen count must’ve been high.”
“Oh.” I sighed. “How is Maddie?”
“Well, today she came home from school with a drawing. She’d drawn a bunch of people but only labeled herself, Princess Maddie. The teacher told her that for homework, she needed to label the rest of the people. So I was helping her. I pointed to the person standing next to her in the photo. The figure was twice the size she’d drawn herself, so I assumed it was her father. I said, ‘If you’re a princess, who might this be?’ She said it was her daddy. So I asked her what his title was if she’s a princess? Does that make him a king? She thought about it for a long time. And then answered with a dead-serious face. ‘That makes him a servant.’”
“Oh my God.”
“I laughed so hard, I nearly peed. Then I helped her spellservantso we could label him properly.”
I chuckled. “Of course, you did.” I was quiet for a few heartbeats. “And how is Beck?”
“He’s hanging in there,” Louise said. “Back to working too much. When he’s not at the office or on his laptop, he’s usually moping. I think he misses you more than he’ll say.”
The feeling was mutual. “I’m sorry he’s hurting, Louise.”
“No apologies necessary, sweetheart. I understand.” She started to cough, a dry hack that went on for quite a while.
“That doesn’t sound good, Louise.”
“It’s just allergies.”
“Maybe. But if it doesn’t get better by morning, I think you should go get it checked.”
She changed the subject without agreeing with me. “I got an email from Frieda, our Bahamian friend. She was checking in, but she also gave me a recipe for the sweet biscuits we liked when we were down there. They’re called Johnny cakes. You have to try them. I’ll email you over the recipe.”
I smiled. “Alright, I will.”
We talked for another half hour, but by the time the call was ending, it sounded like Louise had run a marathon.
“I really think you might need to get that wheeze checked,” I told her.
“We’ll see. I do have lung cancer, you know.”
“You might need something simple, like a steroid again.”
It was hard to push someone to go to the doctor when you weren’t getting treatments yourself. But I did my best. After we said goodbye, I was about to swipe to end the call, but I heard Louise yell my name.
“Eleanor!”
I brought the phone back to my ear. “Yes?”
“Neither of us knows when it might be the last time we talk, so I just wanted to tell you I love you.”
I swallowed. “I love you, too, Louise.”
The next morning, I decided to take a walk on the beach. I couldn’t shake the melancholy feeling I’d had since I left New York, so I hoped a little sunshine and ocean might help. I walked a few miles before coming upon a jetty of rocks. It was time I turned back, but I thought I’d sit for a while first.
