“Oh yeah. I forgot about that.”
They found her room at the end of a hallway. Stella tapped on the closed door softly. “Come in.” It just felt so good to hear Corinne’s voice. They hadn’t lost her yet.
Misty’s grip tightened when they entered though. Corinne was hooked up to an IV and an oxygen tube draped across her face.
When Stella met Corinne’s gaze she knew. There wouldn’t be any chemotherapy, no radiation. They’d never see Corinne lose all that glorious hair of hers. Corinne’s’ eyes held a sad resignation.
“Hey baby.” Corinne reached one hand toward her daughter. Misty dropped Stella’s hand and moved forward, timidly.
Sitting in an uncomfortable looking chair in the corner, Peyton looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Stella stepped forward with a plastic bag. “We thought you might want a change of clothes.” She hadn’t wanted to go rifling through his drawers, but Misty had insisted he needed something clean. She didn’t want Uncle Pay to be “stinky”.
Dark circles stood out beneath his eyes and his hair looked as though he’d run his hand through it a thousand times. “Thanks.”
They talked about mundane things for a little while and then Corinne addressed Stella and Peyton. “Do you two mind if I have a few minutes alone with my Misty?”
It took all of Stella’s control not to burst into tears right there. “Of course.” Peyton rose from his chair and moved toward the door.
Stella forced a weak smile. “We’ll grab a cup of coffee. You want us to get you anything, kiddo?”
But Misty seemed to sense the mood of what her mother might be going to say. “No, I’m not hungry.”
A few sad smiles all around and then Stella and Peyton stood in the hallway alone.
His eyes looked haunted. She wanted to wrap her arms around him but… she barely knew him.
“I think the cafeteria is this way.” Peyton pointed behind them. “You didn’t have any trouble with the horses, did you?”
“No.” She went on to tell him what chores she’d tackled and hoped it helped ease his mind. By the time they’d bought two coffees and sat down in a scratched up wooden booth, she ran out of words.
Peyton took a deep breath before breaking the silence. “She can come home tomorrow. She wants to be at home, as long as we can keep her pain under control. A hospice nurse will come check on her once we’ve got her settled in.
Stella stirred her coffee, not really interested in drinking it. “How long?”
But he didn’t answer– just stared at his hands unseeing.
Stella placed her hand on top of his. “You okay?” Of course, he wasn’t okay. His fingers curled around hers.
“She talked a lot when we drove over here. It was like she knew.” His voice tore at her heart. Stella rubbed her thumb up and down his. “She talked about you.”
Stella stilled her motions. “About me?”
“She told me that the very first time you met, everybody in your dorm was going out dancing and she didn’t have anything to wear. She told me you took her into your room and loaned her some of your prettiest clothes. And that you helped her with her hair. She told me other stories about you. She said you helped her to be happy again after our parents’ accident.
“Corinne’s the best friend I ever had.”
He still had hold of her hand. “Well, I wanted to thank you for all you’ve done for her. I never realized… I mean, she’s mentioned you on and off, but…” He twisted his mouth into a painful grin and then dislodged his hand from hers. “Hey, I’m gonna go. I need to get back to the ranch. I can’t stand… I just gotta go. Can you get Misty home okay?”
By now he was out of the booth, standing. His face had changed into something hard. “Yeah, I can…” She wanted to tell him to drive careful. She wanted to beg him not to leave her to deal with this alone. “I’ll meet you at home? Er…at the house?”
He didn’t meet her eyes. “Yeah. Yeah. I’ll be there. I just gotta…”
“Oh, yeah, I understand.” Of course, he didn’t want to face Misty in a few minutes. He didn’t want to deal with his niece when she’s just learned that her mother was dying.
Bastard. Did he think all of this was easy for her? “Just go.”
He paused a minute and then dropped some money on the table. “Buy something for Misty in the gift shop, will ya?”
And then he was gone.
