Chapter 7
seven
Blowing out a deep breath, I open the door.
“Come on in,” I tell him quietly as I step inside.
My eyes instantly find my dad, who’s leaned back in his chair, staring at the TV.
“Hi, Dad,” I say softly.
He looks over at me and smiles as the front door clicks shut. “There’s my girl,” he says, making tears come to my eyes.
Of course he has a moment of clarity when Wyatt is here. While I’m thankful, it’s a little bittersweet. I almost wish I could have this moment to myself.
“I want to introduce you to someone.” I look over my shoulder and wave Wyatt over.
“Dad, this is my boyfriend, Wyatt. Wyatt, this is my dad,” I tell him, not bothering to hide the shakiness in my voice.
I move and sit down on the couch, as close to his chair as I can.
“It’s nice to meet you, sir, I’ve heard a lot about you,” Wyatt tells him as he holds out his hand.
It’s a lie. I never talk about my dad to others. They don’t understand what it’s like to watch a man you love and admire wither away in front of your eyes.
“Nice to meet you as well. How long have you two been together?” Dad asks.
“Not long,” I tell him, saving Wyatt from having to figure out what to say.
“Tell me about yourself, Wyatt,” he demands, much like the authority figure I remember from my teens.
Wyatt sits down on the couch next to me and turns his body toward my dad. “Well, I’m a senior like Lyla, and I’m a goalie on our college hockey team.”
Dad’s eyebrows wing up. “You’re an athlete.”
“Yes, sir,” Wyatt confirms.
Then, in the blink of an eye, everything changes. I see the moment Dad starts to slip. It happens more than I like to admit these days.
Dad looks over at me with confusion. “Agatha, when did you get home?”
“A little while ago.”
Dad’s eyes dart to Wyatt and then back to me. “You need to get your boyfriend out of here before Daddy finds him. Otherwise, he will chase you with his belt. You know better than to bring your suitors home unless it’s serious.”
“Of course. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I choke out as I stand. “He’s leaving now. I’m just going to walk him out, okay?”
“Okay, but hurry,” Dad urges.
I grab Wyatt’s hand and pull him toward the kitchen. When I turn to face him, I find that he’s looking over his shoulder with a crease between his eyebrows.
“Lyla…what was that?” he asks hesitantly.
“My dad has dementia. Will and I are his primary caregivers. That’s why I can’t just do whatever I want at the drop of a hat. I have to plan everything ahead of time so that way I don’t have to worry about him.”
He rubs his hand over his jaw. “I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry.”
I run my hand through my hair. “Look, Wyatt, if you want to walk away and pretend like you don’t know me on campus, I get it.
My life is really complicated, and it doesn’t just affect me.
It affects those around me. It wears on all the relationships in my life, so if you want to cut your losses and walk, do it. Hell, I won’t blame you.”
Wyatt’s eyes soften, and he steps forward and pulls me into his arms.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he murmurs against my hair.
I close my eyes and sink into his hold, wrapping my arms around his waist.
As fucked up as it sounds, it’s nice being held with no ulterior motives. I don’t remember the last time that someone other than Will hugged me just because we both needed it.
“Hello? Anyone home?” Dad calls out.
I rest my forehead over Wyatt’s heart and take a deep breath.
“He’s reset,” I murmur against his chest.
Wyatt runs his hand over the back of my hair. “Do you want me to leave? Will that make this easier?” he asks quietly.
“You can stay, but only if you want to.”
“I’d like to stay.”
Stay. He wants to stay.
While it wouldn’t be much to most people, it means everything to me. Kyle never hung around. He wanted nothing to do with my home life. He didn’t want to get to know my dad before and especially not after.
“If you’re not careful, you’re going to make me fall in love with you,” I tease as I pull back.
“Maybe that’s the plan.” He winks, shooting me a smile.
“Oh, there you are, Agatha. Who’s this?” Dad asks as he walks into the kitchen.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were home. This is my boyfriend, Wyatt, and before you ask, Daddy knows he’s here,” I lie.
“Oh.” My dad frowns.
“But your father said that if I was going to be here, we needed a chaperone,” Wyatt cuts in.
Dad rolls his shoulders back and puffs out his chest. “That’s right. Tell me, Wyatt, do you like cards?”
“I do.”
“I can grab the deck,” I tell them as I move to do just that.
Dad and Wyatt chat quietly as they head to the table and sit down. When I grab the cards and turn, I just stop and stare at them for a minute.
I might have been teasing him earlier when I told him that I could fall in love with him, but it’s not a lie. If Wyatt keeps doing things like this, I’m sure it’s going to happen.
I just need to protect myself.
“What are you two whispering about over here?” I tease as I step forward and move toward them.
“I told him about that diner you like over on Third Street,” Dad says.
“Their food is delicious.”
Or so I’ve heard. They closed long before I was born.
I hand the deck over to my dad. “Here. You know I’m not any good at shuffling.”
Wyatt leans over and whispers, “Is this okay?”
“Yeah, and Wyatt? Thank you.”
His eyes soften. “You’re welcome.”
“Now, the secret to a good shuffle is you have to hold your hands just right. Pay attention, Agatha. I won’t always be here to shuffle the deck for you,” Dad cuts in.
Tears fill my eyes at his words. He won’t always be here, and I don’t know what I am going to do when the day comes that he’s not.
“I’m watching,” I tell him as I look his way.
Then, for the first time in a long time, I have fun with my dad, and I have Wyatt to thank for that.
Out of all the things that Lyla could have been hiding, I wasn’t expecting it to be that her dad was sick, and make no mistake, Jerry was sick in the worst possible way.
Until tonight I have never been around someone whose mind is betraying them, and it’s fucking hard to watch. It hurt watching moments of clarity come in a flash and then be gone in the blink of an eye, and I’m not even his kid. I don’t have any skin in the game.
The porch swing creaks under me as I sit down to wait for her.
About twenty minutes ago it became evident that her dad was tired and it was time to get him to bed. Again, she tried to give me an out, but I think I surprised her by staying. Not only that, but I helped get him to his room.
When I bid him good night, she had this soft look on her face, almost as if she wanted to kiss me. Hell, I want her to kiss me, just not because I did the bare minimum by staying and helping.
The door creaks open, and she slips outside with a blanket wrapped around her.
“You stayed.”
“I told you I would,” I tell her as I pat the swing next to me.
Lyla comes over, and I hold the swing still until she’s seated next to me with her legs tucked up underneath her.
“He go down okay?” I ask as I begin to swing us.
“Yeah, thank you for helping. You didn’t have to.”
“It was nothing.” I shrug.
“Trust me, it was something.” She sighs heavily. “So I bet you have questions.”
“Of course I do, but if you don’t want to answer them, I won’t make you.” I stretch my arm out so it is across the back of the swing behind her.
“Really?” She sounds surprised, and I hate that for her.
“Really. It’s your life and you can tell me as much or as little as you want and when you want.”
She chews on her bottom lip and I fight the urge to reach over and free it.
She doesn’t need to know that I want to be the only one who nibbles on it.
Jesus fuck, nibble? What the hell is wrong with me?
I shake my head as she begins to talk quietly.
“He got sick late in my freshman year. I convinced him to go to the doctor because he was being really forgetful, which wasn’t like him,” she says.
For the next few minutes she tells me how Will and her dad moved here so she could help and still go to school.
How for a minute she thought she would have to drop out, but Will wouldn’t let her.
Then last but not least, she tells me how fast she’s watched her father slide down the hill, being unaware more than she would like to admit.
The entire time she talks, my heart breaks for her. When I lost my parents, it was instant. There was no long-term suffering. Not like this. No, Jerry doesn’t even remember who his kids are, and that has to be one of the seven layers of hell. I can’t imagine. Hell, I don’t want to imagine.
And to think she hides her pain every day and pastes on a smile.
I knew a long time ago that Kyle didn’t deserve someone like her, and this just proves it.
Lyla Wayne is one of those women who will stand by you when the going gets tough, and he fucked up.
Then again, that worked out in my benefit. It got me what I wanted: her. Even if I don’t truly have her. Not yet, at least.
“And you guys have no help?”
She shakes her head. “No, it’s just Will and me. There are some programs out there, but last time I checked, we either don’t qualify or we can’t afford them. So we make do. Will works nights so I can go to class. We are a two-man show.”
“I’m sorry, Lyla. That’s fucking rough.”
“It is what it is.” She shrugs as if it’s not a big deal.
It’s not fair that it all comes down to money. The health care system is a fucking joke and a greedy motherfucker. It’s all about the bottom line, and they don’t care about the people who really need the assistance.
Just thinking about it pisses me off.
“So is that why you had to take off tonight and be home at a specific time?”
“Yeah, Will was able to pick up a couple extra hours tonight, so I had to make sure I was home in time to trade off with him. When he’s not at work, though, he tries to convince me to go out and be a normal college kid and do shit, but sometimes I force him to go out and do the same. We both need a break sometimes.”
I shake my head.
This is wild. They both had to grow up faster than they should have.
“Enough about me, are you ready for hockey season to officially start?” she asks, changing the subject.
The last thing I want to do is talk about hockey, but I’ll indulge her.
“I am. It’s about to get crazy, but I love it. There’s nothing like being on the ice and the adrenaline of being in the middle of a game.”
“And having pucks flying at your pretty face,” she teases as she bumps her leg into me.
“You think my face is pretty?” I smile at her.
Lyla smiles as she rolls her eyes. “Please, we both know you’re attractive. You don’t need me to stroke your ego by telling you.”
“I don’t know…” I quip, making her chuckle.
“Is it going to be a problem if I can’t come to a lot of the games?” she asks hesitantly.
I reach over and squeeze her leg, just above her knee.
“Lyla, seriously, don’t feel pressured to come.
Will I want you there? Sure, it would be nice, but don’t stress yourself out about it.
You have a lot going on, and unlike some people, I understand that.
I’m not a selfish prick. I want you to take care of yourself first before you even think of me.
If you can come to a game, cool. If not, that’s okay too.
It won’t bother me none. I mean, it’s not like I have people come just for me as it is. ”
“Really?” she asks hesitantly.
“Really.”
I look at the time on my watch and sigh. “It’s getting late.”
“Yeah, and I have homework I still need to do,” she mumbles.
Standing, I pull her off the swing. “Come on, you better head inside before you turn into a pumpkin then.”
Lyla smiles as I pull her into my arms and hug her tight.
“Good night,” I mumble against her hair.
“Good night.”
Reluctantly, I pull away and head down the steps. As I go to turn the corner, I look over my shoulder and see that she’s still standing on her porch, watching me.
Maybe this isn’t as one-sided as I thought it was.
Shaking my head, my thoughts turn to how I can help her. Because one thing is for sure, I’m not going to sit by and watch her kill herself trying to juggle everything all at once. Not if I can do something about it.