Olivia smiled sadly. “He does like his lattes.”
They sat a moment in silence, sipping their drinks and watching Luci sleep. “Any updates on him?” Phoebe asked warily. She didn’t know Olivia that well, and she couldn’t imagine what it was like to be in the hospital with the two people you loved best.
“I was in with him, earlier,” she said. “He didn’t get much sleep either. I think they’re hoping to move him to a rehab center, possibly as early as tomorrow.” Her brow furrowed. “I don’t think he’ll be out on his beloved lake any time soon.”
Phoebe sipped her Frappuccino, eyes trained on Luci’s peaceful face. There seemed to be no ire in Olivia’s tone. Phoebe wondered if she knew any more than the rest of them did about the accident.
“How are you doing?” Phoebe asked.
Olivia seemed about to answer, but instead, she began to cry. “Luci won’t talk. Not even to me.”
Phoebe leaned forward and put a hand on Olivia’s back.
“I don’t want to push her, but this is not good. And then there’s Jake. They don’t know what kind of mobility he’s going to have. Last night the doctors told him that he may have trouble walking again, that they won’t know anything for sure until the bones have a chance to set and he gets into rehabilitation.” She covered her face in her hands. “Of all the people this could happen to. He can’t sit still for a second. This will do him in.”
Phoebe scooted closer. “Listen, if there’s one thing I know about my little brother, he defies the odds. Always has.” She forced a smile. “Did he ever tell you how he got on the football team in high school?”
Olivia shook her head.
“When he was a freshman, he decided to go out for football. Which was ridiculous because he was a track star, and he was short at the time. The coach told him exactly that.
“But Jake showed up, every day. And every day the coach would ignore him. He’d tell him, ‘Go home, Goodwin.’ But Jake wouldn’t. He’d shadow the guys during practice. He’d do every drill they were doing. And after a while the coach couldn’t ignore him.”
Olivia was listening. “He never told me that story.”
“He wouldn’t. He’s too modest. Eventually the coach let him on, but he never played him. That whole season, Jake sat on the bench. Until one of the last games. One of the running backs pulled a hamstring, and Jake begged to be played. My dad jokes that the coach was so sick of Jake, he was probably hoping to throw him in there, watch him get sacked, and they could all be done with it.”
“What happened?”
“The quarterback threw him the ball. And he ran with it.”
Olivia beamed.
“I was afraid to watch, to be honest. Jake was a string bean compared to the other players. There’s no way he would’ve survived a tackle. But he was fast, and he got yardage.”
“Did he score?”
Phoebe smiled at the memory. “Yeah. He made a touchdown. It was epic.” She shrugged. “It was Jake.”
Olivia laughed, softly. “I bet he was hard to live with after that.”
“Nah. I would’ve been. Perry certainly would’ve been. The two of us would’ve lorded that kind of thing over everyone in the family. But Jake wasn’t after that. He usually doesn’t care what anyone else thinks. I guess he just wanted to prove it to himself.”
Olivia twisted the ring on her finger and stared out the window. “He’s so sure of himself. I wish I was.”
“Which is why we need to be, too. He won’t be down for long. Not with you two girls to come home to.”
Olivia smiled and turned her gaze back to Luci. “I just hope the same for her.”
“She’s had a bad scare,” Phoebe said. “Give it some time.” Phoebe glanced at her watch. “Speaking of which, I should be going.”
“Are you going to visit Jake?” Olivia asked.
When Phoebe nodded, she saw the pull in Olivia’s eyes. “Please tell him I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
Phoebe held up another chai latte. “I’ll tell him this is from both of us,” she promised.
She took the elevator up to the surgical floor. “I’m looking for Jake Goodwin,” she said at the reception desk.
