“Fine,” Taylor said. “But just so you know, I’m going to be goneall day tomorrow. I have had enough of dealing with them. It’s your turn.”
“I’m aware—” Winnie started, then cut off as a loud beep filled the car, indicating Taylor had hung up on her.
Winnie stared at the dashboard. Incredulity ran through her in hot, rampant waves. Taylor hadnotbeen alone in taking care of their dad. Brad had been there until Monday morning, when he’d gotten up early and made the long drive back to work. Not only that, he had a wife and a family to take care of, and Taylor had no one but herself.
I don’t know why you’re surprised,Winnie thought, glancing out her side window.Taylor is a narcissist, and everything is about her.
The radio came back on, and Winnie let the country station Ty had introduced her to whisk her cares and worries out the window.
She drove through the barbecue restaurant as planned and arrived at her parents’ house exactly when her map app said she would. She left her bag in the car, hoping to use it as an excuse to escape for a moment later, gathered the plastic sacks of food, and headed inside.
“I’m here,” she called. “And I brought dinner.”
“Praise the heavens,” her momma said from the couch near the front door. She jumped to her feet and approached Winnie, tears streaming down her face. “Oh, it’s so good to see you, my girl.”
Winnie believed her. She knew without a doubt that her momma and daddy loved her, and she let her own powerful feelings of love flow through her as well. “I got the smoked turkey,” she said, her voice a little thick. “And plenty of mashed potatoes. I think you’ll have extras for a week.”
She managed a giggle and then pulled back from her mother. “Where’s Daddy?”
“I already have him set up in bed,” Momma said.
Her father bellowed something from down the hall, but Winnie couldn’t make out the words.
“I’ll fix him up a plate,” Momma said. “You go say hello.”She took the bags and bustled into the kitchen while Winnie took a moment to get her bearings and find her sister.
“Where’s Taylor?” she asked when she didn’t find her in the living room, dining room, or kitchen.
“She ran out to get a soda pop,” Momma said.
Winnie wondered what time she had left, chose not to say anything, and went down the hall to see her father.
Her parents had a bed where the head and foot could both be lifted or lowered, and Daddy sat up on his side closest to the door. A fond smile coursed through her. “Daddy.” She rushed to his side and leaned over gently to hug him. “Tell me if I hurt you.”
“Oh, you’re not going to hurt me,” Daddy said, and he gripped her fiercely, the tight hug telling Winnie she was loved. She thought of Ty and the way he held her on his lap and in his arms and close to his heart.
“Momma’s bringing in dinner,” Winnie said as she stepped back. “What can I get you? When’s the last time you took pills?”
She surveyed the nightstand beside him. It had been cleared of his usual Bible and books; his reading glasses sat on top of an e-reader, and he had a half-drunk bottle of Gatorade, a tall hospital water bottle with a straw, and an array of creams and pill bottles.
“Momma writes everything down,” Daddy said. “She can’t seem to remember what she gave me and when, so we started doing that.”
Alarm tugged through Winnie, but she didn’t let it ring too loudly. She reached for the small notebook on the far corner of the nightstand. Her mother’s familiar handwriting shone back at her, and she found Daddy had taken his pain pills at five-thirty.
“It’s been a little over three hours,” she said. “Are you feeling all right?”
“We time it that way on purpose,” Momma said from the doorway. “So he can take his strong narcotics right before bed. Then he sleeps the best.”
“Okay.” Winnie actually thought that was a smart move.
“I could use some more water,” Daddy said. “And I’m not going to drink that Gatorade.”
Winnie reached for the offending items and cleared them from the nightstand as Momma approached with Daddy’s Styrofoam container of barbecue on a plate.
“She remembered the bacon on the mac and cheese.”
“That’s a good girl,” Daddy said, and he took the plate from Momma.
Winnie noted the color in his face and how well he seemed to be doing. Of course, he lay in bed wearing a back brace, probably in the most comfortable position he’d been in all day. She turned to fill his water bottle and toss the Gatorade and went to do that in the kitchen.
