Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Julia pressed the doorbell of Dean’s house and took a step back, smiling to herself. Early morning sunlight spilled across the front steps of Dean’s house, dappled in the shadows cast by a crabapple tree in the front yard. Around her, birds chirped and leaves rustled in a cool, sweet-smelling wind.
A few moments later, Dean pulled open the front door of his house. “Julia!” He gave her a big hug, looking surprised. There was a bandage on his hand where he had been cut by the tool. “What’s the occasion?”
“I’m here to check on you.” She grinned at him. “I want to make sure you’re doing okay. I also wanted to give you this cup of coffee from Ocean Breeze Café, and this cherry crumble that I baked for you. I know it’s your favorite.”
Dean’s mouth popped open in surprise, and then he grinned. “That’s so sweet of you. Wow. Thank you.”
“How are you doing? How’s your cut?”
He shook his head, chuckling. “I’m fine. I’m a mechanic. We get injured sometimes, it’s part of the job description.”
She shook her head. “I’m worried it’s more than that. Besides, you still look pale.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“Well, I still want to check up on you. Come on, aren’t you going to let me inside?”
He laughed. “Okay, come on in.”
He held open the door for her and she stepped inside. Dean’s house was cool and reasonably clean for a bachelor, she thought. There was some mail stacked at the end of the kitchen table, and a hall table with various tools and work gloves scattered on it, but the house smelled fresh and clean and was clearly well cared for. She thought to herself what a catch her brother was, and she hoped that he would settle down with some nice girl soon. She found herself understanding why Alexis had been so set on matchmaking Dean with some of the girls in town.
It would be really nice to see him settle down with someone, she thought. I know he’s happy, but I’m sure he’d be even happier if he had someone to come home to.
She followed him into the kitchen, where he sat down at the table and she placed the cup of coffee down in front of him. Then she went over to the cupboard and took down a couple of small plates and got a large spoon out of the cutlery drawer, since Dean didn’t have any kind of pie server.
“You need a wife,” she teased. “This kitchen needs to be more cobbler-friendly.”
He groaned, laughing. “Not you too! Just buy me a pie server. Or bake me more pies and I’ll buy myself one.” He leaned back in his chair, looking pleased with that idea.
“Mmm, I will seriously consider that. I have been wanting to bake more pies.” She worked briskly as she spoke, dishing out generous helpings of the cherry cobbler onto the plates. “There.” She set a plate and a fork down in front of Dean with a pleased sigh. “Try that. It’s amazing.”
He grinned at her and tasted a bite of the dessert. “Oh, wow. You’re not kidding. Good job, Julia.”
“Thank you!” she sang out, feeling pleased. She picked up her own plate and was just sitting down across from her brother when she noticed him wince a little. “What’s the matter?” she asked, immediately concerned.
“I’m okay. Just a little tired.”
She shook her head. “I’m starting to get the impression that you’re hiding something from me, Dean,” she said gently. “I’m worried about you. You dropped that tool, and that isn’t like you. Now you’re looking pale, and you just winced. People don’t wince just because they’re a little tired.”
“Well, my hand hurts a little too, but I’m starting to get used to it. I guess I winced because of that.”
Julia frowned skeptically. “But it isn’t just that. I’ve also noticed that you’ve seemed low-energy lately, and Alexis said that she noticed the same thing. And when we talked to your employees at the auto shop, they said that you’ve been needing to take frequent breaks. That doesn’t sound like you at all, and that shows me that there’s more going on here than you cutting your hand one time.”
“I’ve been a little tired, and that day I was extra tired. It’s nothing, Julia.”
She shook her head, having none of his protestations. “Dean. Something is going on. I can tell. So stop hiding it from me and tell me what it is.”
Dean looked at her for a few seconds, and a sadness came over his eyes. She’d never seen that look in his eyes before, and for the first time, she got scared instead of just worried.
“What is it?” she asked, almost in a whisper.
“I went to the doctor a while back.” He swallowed, turning to look out the window. “I have been feeling stiff and sore lately, and I wanted to get myself checked out. They did a bunch of tests, and they came back with a diagnosis.” He paused for a moment, and Julia could hear her heart thumping in her ears. She clasped her hands in her lap, wondering what he was going to say next. “I have the early symptoms of osteoarthritis.”
Julia felt as though something had punched her in the heart. Her jaw dropped and she stared at her brother in disbelief. “Osteoarthritis? But that’s impossible. You’re too young to get something like that, aren’t you?” She shook her head, feeling stunned. “There must be some kind of mistake.”
Dean smiled sadly. “Well, it turns out I’m not too young. They’re the professionals and that’s what they discovered. Trust me, I like it even less than you do. But in some ways, I’m glad that I know what’s causing my symptoms and how to try to deal with it. And I’m glad it isn’t something worse, like a terminal illness.”
“I mean, that’s true.” She inhaled shakily, feeling a wave of sadness for her brother. “For a second there, I got really scared. I still don’t want this to be true, but I was imagining much worse things for a moment.”
He nodded. “I was too, when I was sitting there in that doctor’s office waiting for the test results.”
For a few heartbeats, neither of them said a word.
“And, Julia?”
“Yeah?” She looked up, thinking to herself how much she loved her funny, kind-hearted, brave brother.
“I know you all love me, and that I need to tell the rest of the family soon. But… for now, I want to keep living as normally as possible for a while. I don’t want to tell everyone else yet. I won’t be able to… well, everyone will start to treat me differently after they know.”
She nodded, understanding what he was saying. She had to admit that she herself might feel similarly under his circumstances. “I understand.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’ll keep things quiet until you’re ready to tell the others.”
“Thank you.” He smiled at her sadly. “I don’t want to put any kind of a burden on you, but?—”
She shook her head. “Don’t you worry about that. Not at all. I’m here for you, to support you however you need. And whenever you do feel ready to tell the rest of the family, you know they’re going to swoop in and take care of you so hard.”
He nodded, and she thought she saw some tears glistening in his eyes. He blinked rapidly, and then laughed breathlessly. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to eat the rest of this cherry cobbler. You’re really good at baking, you know that?”
“Aw, shucks.” She took a bite of her slice of cobbler and felt comforted by the tangy, homey taste of it. She felt grateful that Dean was going to be okay, although she felt sad that he had to deal with pain and weakness in a way that the rest of them didn’t.
For the rest of the conversation, they talked about general things, such as the way Alexis was remodeling Hazel’s kitchen, and the way Vivian couldn’t seem to stay away from the pub even though she had been instructed to rest. Julia felt her heart lift as she continued to spend time with her brother, thinking to herself that his resilient, joyful spirit could handle that kind of diagnosis better than anyone else she knew.