Shiloh leaned a hip against the counter, picking up her own coffee. She blew on it, feeling the heat blow back onto her face.
Cary looked troubled. “It’s hard to say whether they’re taking care of Mom or whether she’s taking care of them. I know they all take advantage of her...” He shook his head. “But if she’s getting her prescriptions and getting to her doctors’ appointments, can I really complain?”
“It sounds like you worry about her a lot.”
He raised his eyebrows, as if that was an understatement. He was taking a sip of coffee. “I tried to get her out to California a few years ago...”
Shiloh watched him.
“She’ll never leave Omaha.”
“Almost no one does,” Shiloh said. “You’re an outlier.”
“I guess so. Even Mikey’s back. Part-time anyway...” Cary looked up at her. “Will you see him? He says you never see anybody.”
“He’s been all over the world,” Shiloh said, like that was her excuse.
“You should get together with Mikey,” Cary said.
She frowned. It wasn’t really Cary’s business. “Okay.”
“You can’t make new old friends...”
“Oh.” Shiloh laughed through her nose. “Well. Okay. Good advice. Thanks.” She drank some coffee. “Do you guys get together? You and Mikey?”
“We try. He came to see me when I was stationed in Tokyo... I think he just wanted an excuse to go to Tokyo.”
“How long were you there?”
“Three years.”
“Where else have you been?”
Cary smiled a small smile. “Virginia. Florida. Canada. San Diego for a little while now.”
“Will you stay in San Diego?”
“They move me around every two or three years. I don’t really get to choose...”
“I guess that’s baked in, huh?”
“Yeah.” He smiled down at his coffee. “Not a whole lot of individual determination in the Navy.”
“But you choose to stay in, right?”
“I’m gonna stick it out until I can retire.”
Shiloh nodded.
Cary leaned back against the counter—in the L-shaped corner of it, so he was facing her. He took another drink of coffee.
Junie peeked her head into the kitchen. “Mommy. I’mso sorry,”she whispered, slapping her forehead. “I forgot your coffee.”
“I was wondering...” Shiloh said.
Junie came in with a teacup. “Black. Just like you like it.”
Shiloh took the cup from her. “Thank you.”
