SEVEN
Mallory
I woke up the next morning to an excessive clanging noise coming from the kitchen. The rattling pots made my head pound even more than it already did. I remembered why I always took ibuprofen before I went out when I lived in Boston. But I hadn’t planned on getting so toasted last night. It was all Luke’s fault.
Images of the night before flashed in my head and I groaned. I didn’t want to remember ruining his relationship with Carrie. He would hold it over my head forever. I had a vague memory of him in the parking lot, but I didn’t remember much else. I couldn’t even remember how I got home. Ugh, I was a mess.
A knock on my bedroom door had me yanking up the covers.
“You don’t have anything I’ve never seen before, girl. Get up. We have to pick up your dad in an hour,” Rainey said matter-of-factly, and then she disappeared down the hall.
“What are you even doing here?” I yelled, slamming my pillow onto my face. “And how are you not hung over?!”
Her face reappeared in the doorway and I lifted my head to look at her smiling face.
“Luke called me. He said he was given specific instructions to leave you alone, but he wanted to make sure you were on time to pick up your dad. It was super sweet of him. And I’m not nursing a hangover because I didn’t exactly drink last night,” she said conspiratorially. She disappeared again and I sat up slowly.
My head ached, but it wasn’t the worst hangover I’d ever had. I could manage. I got out of bed and walked to the kitchen, still clad in my clothes from last night.
Rainey turned to look at me when I entered the kitchen. “It’s too bad you slept here, because wearing those clothes again this morning would make for one hell of a walk of shame.”
“Shut up. Where’s the coffee?” I mumbled.
“No coffee, it’s bad for a hangover. Here.”
She thrust a bottle of water and two ibuprofen in my hands. I wasn’t impressed, but I sat on the barstool at the counter and downed the water and pills.
“How did you end up not drunk last night? I saw you have several drinks,” I said.
“Well, Jimmy and I kind of have a deal. I never drink alcohol, but he makes the drink colorful and pretty so I can act like I’ve been drinking. We established the deal when I was home for Christmas and Gabby demanded we go drinking. I’m not much of a drinker,” she confessed.
“Oh. Good for you, I guess. It wasn’t my intention to have so many, but Gabby kept ordering them and I felt obligated.”
“What are you, sixteen? I’d think you would be above peer pressure at twenty-one years old, Mal,” she lectured.
“I know, I know,” I mumbled again and looked down at my water. “Can I at least have some orange juice?”
“Sure,” she said.
Rainey grabbed a glass and poured me some, setting the glass and a plate of toast and fruit in front of me.
I felt nauseous just looking at the plate. “I don’t think I can eat.”
“Eat it. You’ll feel better,” she promised.
I managed to choke down half a piece of toast and a few grapes. When I pushed the plate away, she sighed.
“You don’t eat enough,” she complained.
I laughed. “I eat plenty, Mom. I’m trying not to throw up after a night of binge drinking.”
Rainey smiled and cleared my plate for me. “Take a shower and we’ll get going. We’ve got to pick up your dad and I want to stop at the store on the way.”
I did as she instructed. Thirty minutes later, I was ready to go. Rainey insisted we take her mother’s minivan, since it would be easier for Dad to get into. I reluctantly agreed, as a trip to town in a minivan wasn’t exactly riding in style.
“Since when do you care about what other people think?” she asked once we were on our way to the hospital.
“I don’t,” I replied a little too defensively.
She laughed. “Well, you didn’t really care about what Luke thought of you last night.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you remember talking to Carrie last night?”
“Luke’s girlfriend, right? I’m pretty sure I ruined their relationship.” I sighed. “Why would we do that? I am an awful person.” I felt lower than dirt for doing it and even worse for not remembering all the details. “I’ll have to apologize to Luke.”
“You did. He drove you home last night,” Rainey said.
“How do you know that? Does the whole town know?” My voice spiked to the point I was nearly shrieking. I couldn’t believe how badly this day was turning out to be.
“No, the whole town doesn’t know. Luke told me when he called me this morning. He said he tucked you in and nothing happened. When I apologized to him about the whole Carrie situation, he told me you had apologized too and he forgave us. I guess he wasn’t really into the relationship, so no harm done,” she said.
So not only had I gotten drunk enough not to remember exactly what occurred, Luke was being extra sweet about the whole thing. Just great, I thought.
“Well, I will apologize to him again, when I’m sober and can actually remember doing so,” I muttered.
I was appalled by my own behavior. No matter how much I was dealing with, I did not want to be the girl who took out all her frustrations when she was drunk. And on innocent people, no less. Ugh. I needed to call Luke as soon as possible.
“So, did anything else happen last night I should be aware of?” I asked in hopes I wouldn’t regret the answer.
“Well, Baker and I talked a bit, since Luke dragged you off and he gave me a ride home.” She smirked. “He’s the most infuriating man. At the bar, when he realized who I was, he kept stammering on about how fat I used to be.”
I protested. “You weren’t fat. You were chunky. Millions of people are when they’re that age.”
“I don’t need the confidence boost, Mal. It was just comical to watch him stand there and make a fool of himself. Then, when I’d had enough, I dismissed him. So he insisted he give me a ride home and I had to agree, since you and Gabby thought I’d been drinking. He went on again about my weight and then talked up the way I look now.” She mimicked Baker’s low voice. “You’re so hot.”
I laughed.
“It was ridiculous. I told him I was only in town for a week and that it didn’t matter how ‘hot’ I’d become, we were not going to get involved. He tried to convince me to be friends with benefits.” She laughed aloud as she pulled into the hospital parking lot.
“Wow, that’s direct,” I replied. “What did you say?”
“I told him we weren’t friends, so being friends with benefits was out of the question.” She explained. She parked in the visitor spot closest to the main entrance and we both got out of the minivan. “He still thinks, after all these years, that girls will just fall at his feet. It’s infuriating,” she growled.
“Well, like you said, you’re here for a week and then you’ll be gone. He’ll forget about you again,” I said, hoping it was true for her sake.
We took the elevator to the second floor and I was surprised to see Luke in my father’s room when we entered. He looked up, his chocolate brown eyes met mine, and I all but melted into a puddle on the floor.
“Can I talk to you?” he asked politely.
I knew better than to think it was going to be a pleasant conversation. But I agreed. Rainey remained in the room, chatting up my dad while Luke and I stepped out into the hallway.
“I’m sorry,” I said immediately.
His look of shock surprised me.
“For what?” he asked.
Was he serious? I thought.
“For what happened last night. I’m still a little foggy, but Rainey filled me in.”
“You were drinking, Mal. Shit happens. Don’t sweat it.”
His easy acceptance made me feel worse, not better.
“That’s not what I wanted to talk to you about,” he said.
“Well, thank you for understanding. So what’s up?”
“I think maybe you should go back to Boston.”
He couldn’t have surprised me more if he’d told me to move to the moon.
“Before you get all upset, hear me out. Your dad is going to need intensive, non-stop care when he goes home. And he’s going home to die, Mal. It’s not like you can just leave him and go to the bar whenever you want,” he murmured.
So is that what this is all about, I asked myself.
“For your information, I’ve made arrangements to have a hospice nurse come to the house to take care of whatever I can’t do, and I was all but forced to go out last night. I don’t need you to tell me what to do with my life. I’m staying with my dad until the end.” I was proud my voice didn’t falter.
“You’re such a spoiled rotten brat, Mallory. If you cared, even once, for someone besides yourself, you would let Joe die in peace,” he barked.
I was floored. Did he really think so little of me? I wondered.
“Why don’t you run back to Boston and your little boyfriend, who you obviously miss so much?”
I demanded an answer. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Jason.”
Oh, I thought. My silence was Luke’s undoing.
“The sooner you leave, the better the whole town will be.”
Wait as second, how did Luke know about Jason? I wondered. Before I had a chance to question him about it, he ducked into Dad’s room to say goodbye, then came back out and rushed down the hall. I stood there, dumbfounded for a full minute before I went back into Dad’s room. I would ponder about how Luke had any idea who Jason was later. For now, I needed to get Dad home.
“Ready to go, Dad?” I asked with forced perkiness.
He was sitting up in bed with his legs swung over the side, his feet resting comfortably on the floor. He looked tired.
“I am more than ready.” He smiled, despite his fatigue.
He looked so ragged and fragile. Luke’s words about Dad’s need for full-time care assaulted me. ‘Your dad is going to need intensive, non-stop care.’ I didn’t want to think about his words no matter how true they might be, but they were implanted in my head and I couldn’t shake them. Dad was going to need a lot of attention. Was I really ready to give him the kind of care he needed?
“So how was the bar last night, Mal?” Dad asked.
His lopsided grin had me smiling in response. “Word gets around fast, huh?” I laughed.
“Luke filled me in,” he admitted.
Luke told my dad about last night? I wondered how much information he divulged.
“He likes to run his mouth,” I muttered.
“Don’t judge him too harshly. He also told me you were seeing someone named Jason?”
So Luke told my dad about Jay. I did not want to have this conversation.
“It’s no big thing, Dad. He’s just a guy I dated a while back,” I explained.
“Well, is it serious?”
I sighed. “No, Dad. It’s over. We broke up.”
Jason wasn’t a bad guy. He was probably a perfect guy for someone, but there just hadn’t been any spark outside of the bedroom. He was a great lover, but there wasn’t much else between us. He wasn’t dumb, but holding any kind of sophisticated conversation seemed to drain him. He had a smokin’ bod, though. We stayed together for several weeks until we both realized it wasn’t going to work. We kept up our booty calls for a few more weeks, but eventually I got tired of mindless sex and no emotions.
I broke it off and we even managed to remain friends. I hooked him up with one of my roommates and the two were very happy together. I still had sex dreams about him occasionally though, which made for an awkward encounter at breakfast when he slept over with my roomie.
“Humph,” Dad grunted. “I’d like to have grandkids, you know.”
I coughed to cover my repulsion. At twenty-one, I wasn’t ready for kids. Hell, I wasn’t even ready for a long-term, committed relationship. I wanted to live a little. There was also the fact that Dad would probably be gone before the end of the summer, which meant even if I got preggo right now, he wouldn’t be able to meet his grandchildren. Maybe he was in denial about going home to die.
Rainey scolded him. “Joe! Don’t mess with her like that.”
When he laughed, I realized he’d been kidding, but the thought still scared the crap out of me. I wasn’t sure I wanted children ever, let alone right now. Good thing it was a joke. I made a sound I hoped sounded like a laugh but didn’t say anything else.
The doctor came in then and gave Dad his discharge paperwork. He was free to go, but I had to call and check-in every other day to track his progress. Or rather, his digress. He was only going to get worse. The doctor didn’t say it, but we all knew he was going home to die and the next time he came into the hospital would be in a heavy black bag. It was a depressing thought.
But I figured I had some time. I wanted to get close to him again, make up for time lost. If he made it until the end of the summer, I would have plenty of time to say my goodbye. And make it count.