“A minor procedure,” her mom corrected her, missing the point by a mile.
Reese had always felt like an outsider in her own family, but this really took the cake.
She shook her head, pushing the thoughts away. Whatever feelings she had about the situation, she needed to be here for her mom, who was obviously scared about whatever was happening.
“You’re worried, though.”
The words hung between them, and she watched her mom’s shoulders deflate. “I probably shouldn’t be, but I’ve just had weeks to worry at this point. I think I got a little carried away. But I promise,” she said, squeezing Reese’s hand, “that no matter what, it’s going to be fine. Even if I’d have to do radiation or something, they really did catch itsoearly.”
“Who took you to your appointment yesterday?” Reese asked, the guilt continuing to gnaw at her.
Suddenly, she wanted to know every piece of information related to her mom’s health, from how she’d discovered something was wrong to this current moment, where a literal piece of her mother was off in some petri dish, probably, awaiting a litany of tests that would hopefully come back with clear and conclusive results.
For whatever issues she and her mom had, Sharon Devereux had been there for every scraped knee, every school project, and every milestone in Reese’s life. In adulthood, it had been Reese’schoice to keep her mom at arm’s length. She’d taken her mom’s unwillingness to stand up to her dad on her behalf as her tacit approval of his behavior, and when she’d realized that, stepping away from her family as a whole had become much easier.
But she’d known, on some level, that her parents’ relationship wasn’t as simple as that.
It was just easier tobelieveit was that simple.
“I drove myself. I’m not an invalid, you know.” Her mom smiled then, chiding Reese like she’d done when Reese was a little girl.
“That’s not the point! Why didn’t Grant or Dad take you? Do they know what’s going on? You were obviously worried. You needed support.”
“Yes, your dad and brother are aware of what’s going on,” her mom admitted before adding, “It was a routine check-up, even if I was nervous about it. I drove myself, and everything was fine.”
Reese looked at her skeptically, frustration blooming hotly in her chest. Guilt warred with anger so that neither had a place to dissipate.
“I want to know when you get the results. Please.”
“Yes, honey. I promise I’ll keep you updated. Are you going to be around for a while?”
Reese nodded emphatically. “Yes, I’m moving back to Stoneport. I’vemovedback to Stoneport already, actually.”
In her mom’s defense, it seemed like there was a lot they didn’t tell one another, and Reese was just as culpable.
“Reese, that makes me so happy.” Her mom’s voice choked up with sincerity, and a rogue tear streamed out from under her sunglasses.
Outward emotion wasn’t especially common in their family, but Reese attributed it to the health scare her mother was reaching the tail end of, hopefully with a positive (or negative, as the case may be) conclusion.
But the way her mom said it, the way she let out a deep exhalewhen Reese told her, made her feel like she’d made the right decision to come home.
“Apologies that we’re a few minutes late,” Stan said as he, Tripp, and Grant approached the table, paying no attention to the fact that they were the first ones there besides Reese and Sharon.
The Devereux men did not have the same apologetic nature. Tripp took the seat right next to Stan when he sat down, and Grant sat on the other side of Tripp.
As Reese looked across the table at Grant and Tripp, she felt like she was at a middle school dance, where the boys and girls flocked to separate sides of the school gymnasium. Did her dad and brother think she had cooties or something?
The hot, overwhelming feeling that had been simmering below the surface reared up again.
Her dad hadn’t even talked to her mom yet, hadn’t evenseenher since her appointment yesterday. He’d spent the night in Boston, Margie had mentioned, choosing to stay in the city instead of comforting his wife.
Disgust, she finally identified, was the feeling welling up inside of her by the time Margie, Brynn, and Sydney approached the table.
Sydney clocked the look on her face immediately, mouthing a ‘you okay?’ as she sat down in the open seat between Reese and Stan.
Reese nodded but clenched her fists under the table.
She felt Sydney’s hand enveloping her own, and it allayed the roiling in her stomach until her father spoke.
