I hug him back with the same vigor. When I catch my breath, I say, “Hey, Daddy.”
“Hi there, little girl.”
Yes, I’ll always be Daddy’s little girl apparently. Probably even when I have a little girl of my own. In the distant future.
“Where’s Mama?”
“She’s in her room. I was just making her some lunch. Come help me?”
“Okay, sure. I could have brought her something from the restaurant. I knew you were here so I guessed she wasn’t feeling well, but not enough she couldn’t fix herself something to eat. Maybe I should go back there.”
He places a hand on my arm and nods toward the kitchen. Okay, so private talk time.
As soon as we step in the kitchen, I blurt, “What’s wrong?”
“She had a flare almost as soon as she stepped off the plane according to your brother. Fever, lots of swelling and pain in her neck and shoulders, and forgetfulness. She’s exhausted too, no matter how much she’s been sleeping. That’s why we asked her to stay home for a few days.”
“I can’t believe she listened.”
“Well we begged, both me and Wyatt. I think she was touched when she saw how upset your brother was. You know how they are.”
I do indeed. “Is she okay though? Did she see the doctor?”
He takes the whole grain bread he’s toasting out of the oven, and sets in on the table. “Yes, and she adjusted your mother’s medicine and told her to rest. She also wanted her to watch what she’s eating because her blood pressure and cholesterol were elevated.”
There’s carved turkey and avocado on the counter so I wash my hands to help with the sandwich. I also take some Creole mustard out of the fridge. “The competition was too much. It triggered her flare. I tried to spare her from most of the hard work, but it was still too much for her.” I worry my bottom lip, guilt eating me up. I can’t help but feel this is my fault.
Daddy flips his hand in the air and opens a cabinet for a glass. “She’ll be fine.”
“That’s not true,” I insist, worry eating me up from the inside. “She has to take care of herself. She half takes her medicine and she’s usually at the restaurant every day; she doesn’t take a single day off unless she has a flare.” I cut the avocado in half a little aggressively and end up smashing it too much. I’ll just add a little of the mustard to it and turn it into a spread. Maybe a little basil and garlic too.
“Listen, baby. There’s nothing you can make your mother do or stop doing. You understand that, right?”
“Is there tomato?”
He looks in the refrigerator and slides open a couple of drawers before coming back to me with a better boy tomato. It looks fresh from the garden so Wyatt must have brought it over.
I cut a couple of thin slices. “I understand what you mean, but I presented this competition to her. I honestly don’t know what to do. If we don’t get a bigger restaurant, we’re not going to make it.”
“You could always let me invest, and not tell Lillie.”
I bark a sour note of laughter. “You know better than anyone I could never do that.” I get a plate down and put the sandwich on it and take the glass of skim milk from him. “Daddy, you could talk to her. Make her understand that it would just be an investment. Lay it on thick.”
He takes off the apron, hanging it in the pantry, and bringing out a bed tray. “I’ll try, baby. I will try, but you need to be thinking of what happens if she tells me no and the competition doesn’t work out. You have to look out for your future.” He kisses me on top of my head and walks to the front door. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I have to show my face in the office.”
“I’ll stay with her. Thank you, Daddy.”
After assembling everything on her tray, I start toward her bedroom. There won’t be a conversation about what we’ll cook in the competition next time. I won’t bother her with anything today, but soon we’ll need to discuss her dropping out. That’ll likely mean that we all will have to, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
*
“You cannot be serious, Wyatt.”
Can this day get any worse? I’ve only been back for a half hour and we’ve already had a cook call in and a small fire that had to be extinguished in one of the ovens.
“I’m perfectly serious. Mama and Daddy are both fine with it, and you don’t get a say.”
My brother is so close to me, I could poke him in the eye with the tip of my nose. It seems like the more irritated he gets, the closer he comes.
I walk around the counter and stare at him from the other side. Hannah is standing behind although she was at his side before he started his little speech, a new ring sparkling from an important finger.
“I’m not trying to have a say. I’m only asking questions. You just started dating. You’re only twenty-three years old. Why the hurry?” I’ve nearly shredded the inside of my cheek and we’ve only been talking a couple minutes.
Wyatt goes into the back pantry and comes out with a handful of nuts. “We’ve been dating for nearly two years, Rowan.”
Two years? Where have I been? No wonder she’s been acting so entitled when it comes to Wyatt. “I know I’ve asked you seventy ‘leven times not to eat in this kitchen. You can’t even remember that, but you think you’re ready to get married.”
He goes through the door onto the back
