Chapter 2
Two
“ H i, mom” Gunner masked his nerves as he walked into his mother’s room. He wasn’t allowed in his parent’s room as a little boy. Not until his father left them. And even after, it wasn’t some place he wanted to spend a lot of time.
“Hi, baby.”
Gia moved from the side of the bed to a small chair, freeing up the space for Gunner, but he just stayed standing at the edge of the mattress.
“I should have come sooner. I didn’t know it was this bad.”
“None of us did, sweetheart. I don’t blame you for wanting to be off saving the world. Now, come sit down and give me a proper hello.”
He moved closer, placing a kiss on her cheek before sitting on the bed.
“How are you feeling?”
“Oh sweetheart. I’m okay. Gia and Lily have been so good about making sure I don’t miss my medications.”
“I’m glad Lily’s here helping. ”
“Me too. You know, every time I look at her, all I see is the little girl who refused to wear her hair in anything but braided pigtails that summer we moved in here.” The last summer their family was whole. The last summer before his dad walked out on them. “Don’t think about him, Gunner. He has no place here.”
“How—”
“You always have this scowl that takes over when you think about him.”
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
“I know you’ve never enjoyed being here because of the memories. Or maybe because of the lack of memories with him here. I did my best all those years, but I know it wasn’t enough.”
“Mom, you were amazing. Gunner just?—”
“That’s not it at all,” he interrupted Gia. “I hate him for leaving you to raise Gia and me all by yourself. For giving you that burden. The fact that he lives inside of me as a part of who I am scares the shit out of me.”
“Honey, I may be dying, but that’s no excuse to cuss in front of your mother,” she smiled as she scolded him. “You aren’t him. I’ve watched you work every day of your life to be different from the man he was. And you are.”
Her head pressed down into her pillow and Gunner watched as her eyes slipped closed.
“I shouldn’t have talked about him. I’ll let you rest, mom.”
“I love you, Gunner,” she said with her eyes still closed. “I’m glad you came.”
He didn’t know what to say to that because he would have done anything to avoid being there. But he was trying to do the right thing, even as uncomfortable as that was.
A light knock sounded at the door, and Gunner watched as Lily’s head popped in .
“Hey, did she fall back asleep?” Lily asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.
“Just a minute ago,” Gia responded. “But she was so happy to see Gunner. I think she’s going to have a good day tomorrow.”
“I’m sure she will. Do you guys need anything else? I’m going to head out for the day if you’re all set.”
“We’re good, Lil. Thanks for everything.”
“I’m just happy I could help. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
His sister nodded, and Lily slipped back out, closing the door behind her.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d hired Lily to help take care of mom? What were you thinking?” Gunner kept his voice low.
“I thought that my best friend needed the money, seeing as how she’s about to have a baby any day now, and that if she was here, I could make sure she was resting and taking breaks.” Gia stood. “Come on, let’s go make some dinner.”
“She’s wearing an engagement ring.” He didn’t understand why the sight of that ring and her big, pregnant belly made him feel so off kilter.
“Yeah, she got engaged to James Callahan after she found out she was pregnant.”
“Jimbo Callahan knocked her up? Jesus.” Talk about the ultimate asshole. What the hell had she seen in him?
“Yeah, well, I don’t think Lily feels too good about it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, she never talks about him unless someone else brings him up. His parents have always been terrible to her, and the pregnancy just added to it. He isn’t right for her, but she was in a tough spot and did what she thought was right. I’ve all but begged her to get away from him, but she wants to make it work.”
“Why does she need to get away from him? From what I remember, the Callahans are loaded. She should be living the high life with him.”
“You know how it is around here. The rumors about James are terrible. He lost his job a few months back, mommy and daddy stopped supporting him, and then Lily told me he’s been going out every night lately. Apparently, he’s trying to find himself at the bottom of every hard liquor bottle in the county. I didn’t want her to be working this close to having the baby, but when mom needed someone, I knew I should offer the hours to Lil so she wasn’t in a desperate place with money.”
“Let me get this straight. He doesn’t work, and he’s a drunk?”
“I mean, that’s what I’ve heard through the grapevine. I worry about her. She hasn’t said anything specific, but she cries sometimes when I ask her how things are, and it’s not happy tears.”
“Fuck,” Gunner ran his hand down his face.
“I try to keep things pretty light when she’s here. What more could I be doing?” Gia opened the fridge and started putting things on the counter.
“Flat-out ask her, Gia! I want you to make it clear that she’s got a safe place here if she ever needs it. Maybe offer her more hours. Tell her she can spend the night here if that’s something that she would be interested in.”
“I have asked her! I’ve begged her to come stay with us. I even showed her an ad I found for apartments downtown. There isn’t much more I can do until she’s ready to tell me what’s going on. If anything is going on.” Gia slid a knife through a cucumber, chopping aggressively before pointing the knife at Gunner. “Why do you care so much?”
“I won’t sit around while a woman is fucking taken advantage of, G. Especially a pregnant woman who is our childhood friend. ”
“We don’t know what’s actually going on. People can talk shit and ruin marriages with rumors like that. I have to trust that Lily will tell me if something is wrong, or if she needs help.”
“Just tell her she’s got more hours here if she wants them, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll text her while you work on dinner.” A sly smile spread across her face.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve got it.” Gunner waved her away, trying to push the worry for Lily out of his mind.