“I’m sorry. This isn’t your problem.” She inhaled deeply, herbody still singing with adrenaline. “If you don’t mind, I’ll let him stay heretonight. But tomorrow morning, he and I are having a come-to-Jesus. He’s goingto start cooperating or—”
“Or what?” Casey’s quick smile didn’t help Jacqueline’s mood.“He’s not an employee that you can explain an action plan to and expect him tofall in line. He’s your father.”
“He’s got to listen to reason. Don’t worry. I’ll figure it out.”
“I hate when you get like this,” Casey said.
The familiarity in her tone irritated Jacqueline. “Like what?”When she started to surge to her feet, Casey touched her forearm, urging herback down.
“Closed off. Like you don’t need anything from anyone. Everyoneneeds help sometimes.”
“This is my responsibility.”
“I care about him, too. He’s Sean’s grandfather, and—”
“He worked two jobs.” Jacqueline cleared her throat in an attemptto remove the edge of desperation from her voice. “From the time I was a babyuntil I graduated high school, he worked two jobs so my mother wouldn’t haveto.”
“Jacq—”
“I never went to day care. I had family around. He doesn’t wantthe aides in his house, so I’ll have to figure something else out.”
“Okay.” Casey’s quiet acceptance took some of the fight out ofher. “Then let me be family again.”
She barely held back a whimper as Casey’s words ripped her open.She touched her thumb and two fingers against her eyes, willing the burningbehind her lids not to turn into tears.
“Let me help you.” Casey grasped her wrist and guided her handdown. “Please. He’s not just the most important man in our son’s life. He’sbeen there for me, too—these past eight years.”
She didn’t want to need Casey. Not to help with her father. Notto help hold herself together. And when Casey wrapped an arm around hershoulders, she didn’t want to collapse against her and give in to the sobs thatthreatened to push past her lips. But her body betrayed her brain and slumpedinto the comfort of Casey’s arms. She closed her eyes and soaked in Casey’sstrong embrace and the way she shushed gently while she stroked her hair. Shelet herself feel protected for just a moment longer before she eased back andcomposed herself.
She sniffed and swiped her fingers under her eyes. “Wow. I’msorry. It’s been a long week already and I—um—”
“It’s okay.” Casey released her and shuffled to the side, puttinga few more inches of couch cushion between them. She laced her fingers togetherin her lap. “You had the aides coming to the house a couple of times a day tocheck on him, right?”
She nodded, appreciating Casey’s smooth shift into business mode.“And to help with meals, laundry, and anything else he needed.”
“Okay. No problem. I should be able to look in on him atlunchtime so you don’t have to leave the office. If you’ll send me yourschedule for the next couple of weeks, I’ll compare it to mine. When you’re outof town, or if you’re busy in the evening, I can go over for a bit each night,then come home once he’s settled in.”
Jacqueline shook her head. It sounded like a lot of extra work onCasey. “You don’t have to—”
“Let’s not go over that again.” Casey stood and said, “We’redoing this together.”
She recognized the tone Casey had used when she was managingtheir lives and the complex schedules that involved Jacqueline’s job, Sean’sactivities, and Casey’s own burgeoning career. She’d made it all work, foryears, and Jacqueline wasn’t sure she’d ever fully stopped to appreciate thatfact.
*
Thursday, just before noon, Casey knocked on Teddy’s door. Whenshe heard him summon her inside, she turned the knob and found it unlocked.After she closed the door, she flipped the dead bolt.
“Do I need to tell Jacqueline to start locking the door behindher when she leaves in the morning?” she called as she walked through thehouse. She paused at the threshold of the dining room.
He glanced up from the checkerboard he’d been setting up andwaved a hand in her direction. “Maybe. Apparently any riff-raff off the streetcan just walk in here.”
She laughed.
“If you two are going to keep ganging up on me, I’ll put anotherchain on the door to keep you both out.”
“Seriously, Teddy. This neighborhood isn’t like it used to be.”
He grunted, and she chose to take that as a positiveacknowledgement. “Do you have time for a quick game while we eat lunch?”
“Sure.” After Jacqueline left the night before, she’d sent overher schedule, and Casey had spent an hour that morning making sure, for theforeseeable future, she had a little extra time each day around lunchtime tostop by Teddy’s between appointments.
Jacqueline planned to stay in town for the remainder of thisweek. In the next two weeks, she’d managed to limit her travel to a couple ofovernight trips.
Casey raided Teddy’s fridge and pantry for lunch supplies,putting together a couple of ham sandwiches on bakery rolls with a side ofleftover pasta salad. She set his plate in front of him and took her spotacross the table.
“Did you and Jacqueline make up?” she asked before taking a biteof her sandwich.
“I suppose.”
“She’s worried about you.”
“She’s afraid I’m going to keel over while she’s out of town onbusiness.”
Just the idea of losing Teddy was like a rope squeezing herheart. When she thought about Jacqueline being away when that happened, a sickfeeling spread to her stomach, and she set her sandwich back on her plate. “Idon’t know how she would live with that.”
“She would do what she always does. She’d bury herself deeper inher work, like she did when her mother died. Only this time, I won’t be herefor Sean, so that will fall on you.” He smiled at her despite the sadnessshining in his eyes. “You hold this family together.”
“I used to. I’m not—I can’t be that person for Jacquelineanymore.”
“She’ll need you.”
Casey remembered how Jacqueline had broken down the nightbefore—how good it had felt to be able to offer her a moment of comfort. Shewould do whatever she could to help out with Teddy—with logistics andschedules, but she couldn’t allow either of them to depend too much on thatkind
