She and Ava rounded the corner into the kitchen and found her parents facing off at the eat-in island. Her momma stood, hands on hips, in front of where her daddy sat, glaring down at him. As for him, he was the picture of ease, totally unperturbed by Momma’s ire.
“Momma? Daddy? What’s goin’ on?”
Her momma’s head snapped up to Mac, her eyes flying to Ava before she closed them on a shuddering sigh. She brought her hand to her forehead and shook her head. “Sunday supper. I completely forgot.” She let her arms drop to her sides. “We’ve been at urgent care all afternoon.”
Mac’s eyes shot to her dad, running over every inch of him, as if she could sleuth out whatever ailment he had. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing, honey.” Daddy waved her off. “Nothing at all.”
Momma glared down at him, her mouth pressed in a firm line. “It’snotnothing, and if you don’t start treatin’ this as the big deal it is, we’re gonna have an issue.”
“Okayyyy.” Mac darted her eyes between her parents, picking up the obvious clues that some real shit was going down. “How about I call Rory and Will and see if they can bring something for supper?”
Momma breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded, before leaning down and whispering to Daddy, her tone low enough that Mac couldn’t hear.
She turned to Ava. “Why don’t you go on upstairs and see if Gran’s awake from her afternoon nap yet.”
Ava’s eyes met Mac’s, worry and uncertainty swarming in them.
“Papa’s fine.” Mac squeezed Ava’s hand and lifted her chin toward her daddy. “See? He’s over there arguin’ with Nana like usual. Go on now.”
Ava bit her lip, but after a brief hesitation, she strode toward the back staircase, and Mac exhaled. She pulled out her phone and sent a group text to Rory and Will.
Either of y’all have anything on hand you can bring over for supper?
Less than a minute passed before a response came in from Rory.I’ve got a casserole in the freezer.
As Mac was typing a reply, Will’s text came in.
Wait…why do we need to bring supper? Is Momma okay?
Mac glanced toward the kitchen where her parents continued bickering, still in hushed tones so she couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Momma’s fine, but something’s up with Daddy. Idk details yet. Hurry up so we can discuss.
Rory:Grabbing the food and heading out right now.
Will:Be there in 5
Mac pocketed her phone, tiptoed toward the kitchen, then stood just out of sight, hoping to glean something from her parents’ conversation.
“Dr. Snyder said a heart healthy diet, Richard, and that doesnotinclude fried chicken,” Momma said, her tone firm and exasperated.
“Well, certainly he doesn’t mean that for the rest of my life! I can’t go without fried chicken forever, Caroline.”
“You’re gonna go without it until I tell you otherwise. And no more of those damn cigars either.”
“You can’t take those away too!”
“I can and I did. I already threw them away.”
“What?” Daddy nearly shouted. “Do you have any idea how much those cost?”
“Do you have any idea how little Icare?”
Mac barely held in her laughter. It wasn’t often her momma got this feisty—that she heard, anyway—but Mac absolutely loved it when she did.
“No more fried food. No more cigars. And tomorrow, you’re gonna start using the country club’s gym and do some light cardio like suggested.”
