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Ignoring me, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at the time. “Listen, Claire, honey, I’m sorry. But I should really get back to the lumber yard. We have a big shipment coming in that I need to supervise. Is everything okay here?”
“Mmm-hmm. Everything’s fine,” she nodded, forcing a smile—trying to pretend it really was all fine. But we both knew it wasn’t. Even if she wasn’t ready to admit that to herself yet.
I followed Chris towards the door, hissing, “You can’t stay long enough for me to go get her prescriptions filled?”
“Give them to me, and I’ll get them filled on the way home,” he shot back defensively.
“She’s supposed to take her first pills after lunch.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine here for a few minutes on her own. She’s in a wheelchair, but it’s not like she’s a child. The doctor said we should encourage independence.”
I rolled my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. “Fine, whatever. Just go. We’ll figure it out.”
I was glad to see him go. I liked it better when it was just the two of us anyway. Maybe I was being just a little overprotective. Claire was fine staying home alone while I ran down the street to the pharmacy. When I got back, I made us some sandwiches and served them to her with her afternoon meds.
“Everyone was asking about you at the store,” I told her as I set us up in front of the TV. “They’re all excited to see you around town again. And the kids at school can’t wait for you to come visit, when you’re up for it.”
“At least my face is mostly healed up, so I don’t look like Frankenstein’s monster anymore,” she quipped, pressing her fingers to the faint scars on her cheeks.
“You never looked like a monster,” I argued, flipping on the television. A scary-looking old woman with leathery skin and too much plastic surgery popped up on the screen. “At least you don’t look like that woman! Sheesh!”
We laughed and watched reality TV until the sun started to set. By dinnertime, Claire had fallen asleep in her chair. I nudged her awake and asked if she wanted to wash up before bed.
“No,” she rasped. “I’m too tired.”
“Let me help you to bed then.”
I wheeled her into her room and lifted her from the chair to her bed, leaving room for Chris on the other side for whenever he finally made it home. She was already snoring by the time I tucked the blankets in around her.
I stood there for a moment and watched her sleep, trying not to get emotional. I was overwhelmed with happiness that we hadn’t lost her, but my heart broke because I knew she still had a long way to go in learning to walk again. No one deserved to have this kind of thing happen to them, but especially not Claire. She was the sweetest, kindest human I had ever met. If it had to happen to someone, it could have happened to Chris. Or maybe even me…since Claire was a saint in comparison.
I kissed her forehead and went back to my old bedroom to turn in. I laid in bed and stared at the ceiling for a long time, still in disbelief that I was back here…and for the reasons why. It was a mindblowing feeling that I should have been used to by now. I felt it every day for the past two months and would probably keep feeling that way for a while.
But there was no use wasting time on why I was back or what it all meant. All I cared about was that Claire was alive, and I was going to do everything I could to help her get better.
2
KEITH
Derek and I stood on the dock, surveying the damage of the dilapidated old marina. The main building, which used to serve as a rental office and bait and tackle shop, was slanted from the wood rotting out and the termite infestation. Our grandfather once had one hanging on the front that said “Open” on one side and “Closed” on the other. The one hanging there now only said: CONDEMNED.
“How could you let this happen?” my brother scoffed, kicking a stray shingle from the roof that had fallen down.
“I didn’t realize it was in such bad shape, okay?” I defended. “It was one of those things that I kept saying I’d get to one day, when I had the time. You know how it goes. It’s not like I don’t have a lot on my plate with the construction business.”
“You should have told me you didn’t have time to work on it,” he argued. “I could have helped. We could have put a team of guys together. There are tons of people around town who would have been happy to give us a hand. And now it’s too damn late.”
I grumbled to myself, but couldn’t manage a reply. He was right. I didn’t want to hear it. The last thing I needed right now was to be guilt-tripped by him when I already felt horrible enough as it was.
“Some Christmas present, huh?” I huffed, remembering the day a few months prior when I stood in his house and showed him the letter the town counsel sent to me, warning of their decision to condemn the place. Now, time was officially up. It was set to be torn down the following week, and despite everything we had tried—the whole counsel told us there was nothing more we could do.
We couldn’t afford the repairs, and sure, maybe Derek was right. People in town would want to help. But everyone had enough going on in their own lives. I didn’t like the idea of everyone having to drop everything just to save me from something I should have never let happen in the first place.
“I know you’ve got the contracting business and the shifts you pick up at the fire station,” Derek continued. “That’s not for nothing. But you’ve got to grow up and get your act together, Keith. Maybe if you weren’t spending so much time chasing women around town or wasting your nights away at the bar, this wouldn’t have gotten away from you. All you had to do was tell me, and I could have…”
“Will you stop acting like you could have done anything to help?” I snapped. “You’ve got Em to take care of. You’re busy enough as it is.”
“Melody is around a lot more these days, and she helps out with Em and the house,” he argued. “I only came around to letting her into our lives because you told me it was time for me to move on, remember? You told me what I needed to hear. You showed me tough love, and now I’m just trying to do the same.”
