AllFreeNovel
Share Us
An unfortunate choice of words.
“Get out of the way, little brother,” Stephanie said with an ungentle shove. “I always made these better than you.” She took the spatula from him and checked the foil-wrapped sandwiches he was grilling—chicken and ham and pickles, replicas of the cubanos Joe always used to get from Diego’s in the old neighborhood when he’d visit.
“Aren’t these bad for him?” Steph asked quietly.
“Yep.”
She nodded, and a tear fell onto the grill with a small hiss. “So how much time has he got?”
“The dialysis can keep him indefinitely,” Lucas answered. “But the cancer’s spreading, and he wants get while the getting’s good. Or at least, before it gets horrific.”
“Can’t blame him, I guess.” Steph swallowed thickly, then added more mustard to the rolls. “How’s Bryce holding up?” she asked, nodding over at their cousin, who was hurling the girls into the water, much to their shrieking delight.
“He’s Bryce. He won’t talk about Joe actually dying, and he won’t let Joe talk about it, either.”
Steph’s mouth wobbled. “I wasn’t as close to Uncle Joe as you were, obviously, but he was—is—so sweet. I wasn’t ready for how old he looked.” She wiped her eyes subtly, then waved to Mercedes, who had eyes like a hawk. “When are we having the talk?”
“A little later.”
For now, Joe could eat a few bites of regular food, take a few sips of beer, and be with his family. There was salad and coleslaw and ribs and watermelon, and chocolate chip cookies from the smiling woman at the bakery, as well as a cooler full of iced teas, soda and beers, and a bottle of wine for Grace; a Blue Heron dry Riesling, sold to him by Colleen’s mother this very morning.
A couple hours later, when they had all eaten and Joe had taken a nap on the lounge chair in the shade, Lucas asked Bryce to take the girls out on one of the tour boats that ran every two hours.
“Don’t you want to come, Uncle Lucas?” Chloe asked.
“I’ll stay here and talk to the grown-ups,” he said.
“Then I want to stay, too.”
“We’re talking about banking. It’s very boring.”
“I love banking.”
“Good,” he said. “It’s high time you had a job. But for now, off you go.”
“Chloe, don’t be a twit,” Mercedes said, taking her little sister by the hand. “We’re being ostracized.”
“Nice word,” Lucas said.
“Thanks. I’m in AP English.”
“Yes. You’ve told me seven or eight times now.” He winked at her, and she smiled as she walked away.
“Come on, girls,” Bryce said, scooping up a twin under each arm. “I hope you don’t fall overboard. You know there’s a monster in this lake, and itloveslittle girls.” They shrieked obligingly, and if Bryce wondered why he was the only adult going out on the lake, he didn’t ask about it.
When they were off, Lucas got Ellen another bottle of water. Didi was asking about Ellen and Steve’s wedding and trying to finagle an invitation in her unsubtle way. “Will you have many guests? Oh, I just love Chicago in September! I haven’t been since that wonderful party your parents had in—”
“Why don’t we get down to business?” he interrupted, sitting between his sister and Ellen. Joe gave him a nod and folded his hands. “Didi, I’ll get right to it. Joe would like a divorce.”
Her sycophantic smile froze, and her head jerked back a fraction. “That’s...that’s...” She shot a nervous glance at Frank and Grace, who stared back impassively. “Very funny, Lucas.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“Of course it is! I wouldn’t divorce my sick husband!”
“I want to divorce you, however,” Joe said.
Didi’s face was white, and for a second, Lucas almost felt bad for her...right up until he remembered that she’d stuck Joe in that dark, windowless room where he used to sleep.
