“Itisabout Angel!” the man yelled.
Cary clenched his fist. “Don, I swear to god...”
“You’ve always been so fucking selfish,” Jackie said.
Cary laughed horribly. “I’vealways been selfish?I’vealways been selfish. That’s rich.” He glanced around. He glanced back at Shiloh for a second. His gaze hung on her. He looked gutted.
Shiloh should go in. It was probably humiliating for him, to have her watch this. She walked up the steps onto the enclosed porch but didn’t go inside the house. She still wanted to monitor the situation.
“We either sell the house or Mom has to leave rehab.” Cary kept raising his voice, then reining it in, then raising it. Shiloh had never seen him like this.
“She can come home now!” Jackie shouted. “We’ll take care of her.”
“Youwon’ttake care of her!” Cary shouted back.
“No,youwon’t take care of her!”
The front door flew open, and Shiloh’s mom steamed past her, muttering, “That’s it, that isit.”
She got down the steps and pointed up the street. “You need to move thefuckalong, Jackie!”
“Oh, fuck off, Gloria. This is family business.”
“This is my property—and Iwillcall the cops.”
“And tell them what?”
“I’ll figure that out before they get here.” She turned to Cary. “You move along, too. Get inside—we don’t fight in the yard!”
“Sorry, Gloria.” Cary headed up the steps like he’d been given an order. He walked right past Shiloh, into the house. She followed him.
“Cary!” Junie exclaimed as soon as she saw him. “Are you okay? Was someone yelling at you?”
Cary looked bad. His face was bright red.
“Let’s give Cary a minute,” Shiloh said.
Her mom came in the door and slammed it. “I have kicked those shitheads out of my bar—and I will kick them out of my yard. I have no time for that woman.”
Shiloh took Cary’s hand. “Come on, come with me.” She pulled him upstairs. He followed her.
As soon as they were in the hallway, she touched his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“Shiloh,” Cary said, abject and eyes half-closed, “you’re not wearing your ring.”
Shiloh was taken aback. “Cary,” she breathed out. “Baby...”
She pulled the ring out of her shirt. She’d hung it on a silver chain with his old dog tag. “I just didn’t want to talk to my mom and Junie about it yet.”
Cary wrapped his hand around the ring and metal tag. He pushed Shiloh against the wall and pressed his forehead into hers. She brought a hand up to the back of his head and cradled him there. His eyes were closed. He was breathing hard.
Shiloh stroked his hair. “You’re kind of a wreck, aren’t you?”
Cary laughed through his nose, one wretched exhale. Shiloh thought he might be crying—that this might be what it looked like when Cary cried, like misery and heavy breathing.
She kept rubbing the back of his head. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
After a while, he moved his forehead down to her shoulder. His fistwas still clutched around the ring. “I’m really helping my case here, aren’t I?”
