22. Chapter 22
They pulled into the driveway beside Bril’s truck. When they got out, he waved to the guys in the SUVs on the street. Walking up to the side door that led to the kitchen, holding Melanie’s hand and feeling the ring on her finger, made him feel better about this dinner. Before they could knock Andrea pulled it open with a smile on her face. “Sorry we’re late.”
“It’s fine. I just got Avrie to sleep anyway,” she said and hugged him as he came in the door.
When it was Melanie’s turn, Andrea chuckled and said, “Congratulations,” before pulling her in for a hug too. Andrea wasn’t a hugger, so it made him happy that she was doing it for them. That she was happy for them.
“Thank you. That’s what held us up,” Melanie said, reaching for his hand.
“What held you up?” Valerie asked when she rounded the corner into the kitchen. Instead of answering, she held her hand up. “Yay! Congratulations!” Val hugged Melanie and wiggled back and forth in excitement.
“What are we squealing about?” Allie asked, appearing out of nowhere. He stepped out of the way when Andrea pushed his shoulder because she was trapped by the door.
“They’re engaged!” Valerie answered and came to hug him too while Allie let out her own excited noise. Bril showed up next and shook his hand with a grin on his face. After all the congratulations were done, Val ushered everyone toward the dining room. “Go sit before the food gets cold. I’m going to grab the rolls.”
While everyone piled into the dining room, he lingered in the archway to watch Andrea and Valerie. It was still rare he got to see them interact outside of work. Val pulled the rolls out and put them on the top of the stove then she went to put her hands on Andrea’s shoulders who was leaning back on the counter. “It’s ok, baby. Just like we talked about. Everyone here loves you.”
If he hadn’t known something was wrong before, he knew now. Andrea just kissed Val because it didn’t seem like she could talk. He ducked into the dining room and joined the conversation, but he saw Allie watching him. When she raised a brow, he gave her a half shrug. While he’d been watching them, she was watching him. In the corner sleeping in a motorized swing was Addy. He used it as an opportunity.
“Is she going to sleep through all of us making noise?”
Allie glanced at the baby and then at Valerie who was walking in the room. “She sleeps like ‘Drea,” Val said and put the rolls on the table.
“What she means is that we work hard and sleep hard,” Andrea said, sitting after helping her wife sit.
“Or that you both stay up for a day or two before sleeping, but hey what do I know,” Allie said and gave a fake smile to her sister when she got a glare.
“This looks great, Valerie. I love meatloaf,” Bril said to distract them all.
“Yes, it smells delicious,” Melanie said.
All Levi could do was nod because he was worried. They all passed around the food and filled their plates while making small talk. How things were going at the hospital and what had happened through the week. It didn’t take a lot of concentration to follow along. He was sitting beside Melanie with Bril to his right at the head of the table. Allie was across from Levi. Andrea was at the opposite head of the table with Val to her left. The last time he’d been here the leaf was in the table. This was more intimate and closer. Almost like they’d done it on purpose.
Halfway through eating, Andrea’s phone started going off. She gave them an apologetic look before excusing herself. “Yes?” she said as she walked away.
“It must be Victor,” Val said and gave them a sad look.
“Yeah, I was gonna give her a hard time about breaking the rule but I remembered,” Allie said.
“Rule?” he questioned.
“No phones at the table,” she said after swallowing. “It’s her rule.”
Melanie smiled and leaned into him. “We need that rule.”
“We tried it, but Bril still answers Val and Andrea,” Allie said with a laugh. “So it doesn’t really work.”
“Sorry,” Val said.
“Don’t be,” Bril said and gave Allie an eye roll he didn’t mean.
“So, Melanie, tell us are you the kind of girl who’s always had her wedding planned?” Allie asked after hitting Bril’s shoulder.
“Not at all. My sisters were those girls.” She looked over at Levi and smiled. “I’m more practical than they are.”
He smiled back and nodded because he knew that. Down the table, Andrea slid back into her chair. “Sorry about that. What are we discussing?”
“How cute these two are,” Allie said, making everyone laugh because that was pretty much her tagline.
While they finished eating, he couldn’t help but notice that Andrea had barely touched her food. Addy fussed for a minute before going back to sleep. Allie led the conversation until the plates were empty. There was an easy flow between the girls. Andrea and Bril seemed content to just sit back and let them talk so he followed suit. Before anyone could start clearing the plates or get up to get the cake that Allie had brought, Andrea finally sat forward. Everyone at the table knew when she wanted their attention so the conversation died off.
“I’m just going to rip off the bandaid and say it.” He could tell that under the table Valerie had reached out to hold her hand. Melanie did the same for him. “I’m having surgery tomorrow. Allie assures me it’s a simple procedure and that I’ll be home by the end of the day. But if I’m not, then I at least wanted you to know why, so you aren’t blindsided.”
“Surgery for what?” He couldn’t help but ask. No doubt she wouldn’t give the details if he didn’t press for them.
“To repair a perforation in my small intestine. It’s tiny, but everything we’ve done so far to help it heal hasn’t worked.” She sighed and looked over at Allie. “I’ve been informed that we can’t wait anymore.”
“Why? What does that mean?”
Addy chose that minute to wake up and start crying. Not an ear-piercing scream, just a fussy one. Thankfully.
Val tried to stand but Andrea stopped her. “Let me.” She undid the straps and looked back at the table. “Allie can explain it,” she said.
“It means she has internal bleeding. If we wait, it could get worse.” She looked at her sister, clearly wondering how much to say.
“You can tell them.” She sat down with Addy in her lap but Val stood.
“A bacterial infection caused an ulcer that has been slowly bleeding for two months that we know of. The antibiotics killed the infection, but the ulcer hasn’t healed.” Allie adjusted back and crossed her arms like she was done.
Andrea was staring down at Addy when she spoke again. “So like I said, there’s probably nothing to worry about but all surgery has risks. If I don’t make it, I didn’t want any of you to be angry I said nothing beforehand.”
Levi knew she was the queen of minimizing her own issues. None of this sat right with him.
“What’s the recovery time frame?” Melanie asked when everyone stayed quiet.
Valerie came back with a bottle and handed it over. “A few days. Maybe a week until I’m going to be in the office and working.”
“At least a month before any strenuous activity,” Allie added.
It wasn’t the end of the world like cancer or anything, but it was a big deal. Outside of yearly check ups or if she was injured, Andrea never even went to the doctor. No doubt she had waited longer than she should’ve. Her words in his office yesterday made more sense now. Andrea and Melanie were the only two people he truly cared about. One was having surgery, and the other was battling a trauma she couldn’t let herself believe had been as bad as it was. He needed some air.
“Excuse me,” he said, standing up from the table, heading to the kitchen and out the side door.
Behind him he heard Melanie call after him, but it was Valerie who followed him outside. He stopped at the edge of the back fence where there was a bench under a tree. She sat down beside him. “I’m sorry this is overshadowing your proposal night,” she said quietly.
“Yeah well it’s not like I planned it this time.” He kicked a rock with his foot and looked over at her. “You seem incredibly calm about everything.”
Her shrug was very telling. Maybe they were in the same boat with how they felt. “I’ve had longer to process it than you have.” She sighed hard and adjusted where her hands were under her legs and not working to pick at her pants. “I love her but sometimes I just want to shake her until the stubbornness goes away.”
“Yeah I get that,” he said with a laugh and looked around. “How are you? Not about this but with the kids and everything.”
The way she studied his eyes when he looked back at her made him nervous. “It’s work, but I’ve always wanted a family. A real one with love and laughter. We have that. Every day the girls make me laugh, Andrea goes out of her way to bring happiness to our family. It’s stupid to say, but I love her more now than ever.”
“It’s not stupid. You’re happy. That’s good.”
“Are you?”
He wasn’t expecting that. It made him look away and think. There were things that made him happy, but did that mean he actually was?
“I’m going to say something I shouldn’t.” She pulled her hand out and laid it on his leg for just a second. “Andrea has a lot of fear and regret about bringing you into DeLaney. She doesn’t admit it even to herself most of the time, but she’s worried that she failed you in ways she can’t go back and fix.”
“She shouldn’t. She saved me.” He leaned back on the bench and raked a hand through his hair. Today was too much. He was tired.
“Our minds see what they want, Levi. I’m sure you know that just as well as anyone.” She stood up and straightened her shirt before looking back at him. “Tomorrow will be fine. Allie found the best surgeon she could. You and Melanie need to focus on your lives and relationship. From what I know and see, there are things both of you still need to talk about before you can let yourself be happy all the way.”
What, was she like some fortune teller now?
“Let’s go eat some cake, then I’ll make an excuse about being tired so you can all leave and go do what you need to.” He took her offered hand and stood up. “And you should sleep. Everything feels worse when you’re tired. Trust me.”
He smiled at that. It was true, and he knew it. A few hours of sleep here and there over the past couple of days hadn’t helped anything he was feeling.
By the time they made it back inside, the table was empty and everyone had migrated to the living room with their cake plates. Allie was holding Addy on the couch while leaning against Bril. Melanie was sitting on the loveseat, so he went to sit next to her. “Your cake is right there,” she said, pointing to the coffee table. After grabbing it, he leaned back to watch Val slide into the oversized chair partially in Andrea’s lap and take the untouched cake plate from her.
“One day you’re going to have to give me the recipe,” Val said with a big smile before taking a bite.
“It was my grandma’s recipe. I’ll send it to you.” Allie said, holding Addy up and wiggling her back and forth to make her giggle.
He took a bite, but he wasn’t hungry anymore. Melanie leaned into him more and smiled at him. They were going to be ok. All of them. Surely God wouldn’t make him lose another family.