“Honey, I promised you I’d look out for him, and I have been.” Layna’s voice was soft. Now I was confused. Honey? Who was she talking to? Layna chuckled. “You’re supposed to worry about him, you’re his mother.”
I froze. Dalton’s mother. This wasn’t about us. Relief rushed through me. Thank fucking God.
“I know, I understand. I would be, too. What age did Derek start showing symptoms?” Silence. “Uh-huh.” More silence.
Who the hell was Derek? And what did they mean ‘symptoms?’ Of what?
“You’re worrying about something that might never happen. If Dalton does turn out to have this disease, you’ll deal with it, and you won’t be alone. You’ll have Dan and me. I have no idea if it’s better for him to have the test or not. It’s his personal choice whether he wants to know or not.”
My heart raced as I tried to process what I was hearing. He might be sick. Dalton might be sick. My brain ached as I ran through all the possible worst-case scenarios in my head. Why hadn’t he told me? What was wrong with him?
Oh God, I couldn’t handle this.
My legs buckled under me. I lost my balance, crashing into an oversized, poorly positioned vase. My toe throbbed as I hopped around.
“Mary, I have to go.” I heard the phone click, and then Layna appeared around the corner. She grabbed my arm to steady me, and helped me over to the sofa.
“Wrenn, what are you doing?” she exclaimed, furrowing her brows.
I shook my head, not sure of what to say. “I was walking down and I heard you on the phone. It sounded like something I shouldn’t interrupt, so I waited . . . ”
“You eavesdropped?” she clarified, shaking her head in annoyance.
I blushed, not used to being chastised by Layna.
“Honestly Wrenn, that was a private conversation.”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have been having it in the middle of the living room?” I shot back.
She narrowed her eyes and frowned at me.
“So, Dal—Mr. Reid is sick?” I asked, trying to keep the emotion from my voice. Inside, I was a wreck.
Layna sighed and sat down next to me. “He might be. He might be fine. We don’t know.”
“What ‘might be’ wrong with him? Is it serious?” I asked. At this point I couldn’t care less if my concern sounded misplaced. My heart was racing, a million thoughts flying through my head about what could be wrong with him.
Layna nodded, and then sighed loudly. “I can’t talk to you about this, Wrenn. I’m sorry. Try not to worry.”
Try not to worry? I was past worrying. In my head, I was already planning his freaking funeral. I jumped up. I have to get out of here. If I stayed any longer, everything would come tumbling out. Heading for the door, I grabbed my bag and my keys.
“I’m going to see Kass. I’ll speak to you later.” I forced myself to sound natural and even managed a smile.
“All right. And Wrenn? Keep this to yourself, okay?”
***
I pulled up outside the river, my hands shaking. It was raining, but I opened my door and stepped out anyway. I needed to feel something, anything, to distract me from the thoughts racing through my head at a million miles an hour. The rain fell down on me, huge, cold drops of water splashing against my face, but I barely noticed. I was soaking wet and I didn’t care. The cold air hit me, barely even registering.
He can’t be sick. I can’t lose him too.
I walked over to the river’s edge, kicking at the rocks that lined the path. I dropped down to my knees, sitting in the cold, wet mud as the rain continued to fall around me.
It wasn’t fucking fair. Hadn’t I been through enough already? Was my life some kind of joke? If there was a God, he was probably up there laughing at poor Wrenn and all her tragedies. It was one thing after another, and I wasn’t sure how much more I could handle. I tried so hard to keep myself together and to not dwell on the past, but you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. This was too much.
And then it hit me, what a horrible person I was.
I’d made all this about me. I couldn’t even imagine maybe having some disease that might take hold of me at any moment. Poor Dalton. And his mom. How awful it must be for her, losing her husband and then wondering if the same disease was going to rob her of her son.
For the next hour I sat alone on the bank of the river, sopping wet and freezing cold. My mood changed from feeling sorry for myself to feeling sorry for Dalton, and back again. In the distance, thunder rang through the sky and lightning flashed. I sat there, oblivious. I didn’t care about anything.
Except for him.
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Chapter Twenty-Five
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Dalton
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From the comfort of my sofa, I listened to the sound of the storm coming. With the heater on high and my laptop on my knee, I was glad to be inside. The only thing missing was Wrenn—beautiful, sweet Wrenn.
I closed my eyes and imagined her face. Those piercing eyes could stare right into my soul. Her lips, with one kiss, could make all my problems seem pointless and comical. She was perfect. And she was mine.