Echoes Between Us - McGarry, Katie Page 0,69
her patented charm. They exchange a few pleasantries, and Mom invites him to sit at the kitchen table.
He waves off her offer for something to drink, and the moment Mom and I sit, he’s pinning me with his gaze. “I won’t take much of your time. I wanted to talk to you about my daughter, V.”
If it’s my attention he wants, he has it. “She okay?”
“She’s dealing with a rough headache, but she’s asleep and she typically feels better when she wakes.”
I nod because Veronica mentioned having headaches with her tumor.
“V and I had a long talk, and she told me how you found out about her brain tumor.”
Mom twitches with the news, news I never told her, information she didn’t know, but she recovers quickly. “Sawyer and I are so sorry and have been praying for you and your daughter since finding out.”
“Thank you.” His eyes flicker from Mom to me. “V is private about the tumor. She’d prefer for people to focus on her and not on it. I hate that it was a friend of mine who told you. V said you won’t tell anyone else, and that it appears you’ve kept your promise. But as her father, I need to hear that guarantee myself, especially since I’m part of the reason you found out.”
“I told Veronica I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I won’t.”
Ulysses nails me with a glare as he silently communicates what torture lies ahead for me if I tell anyone Veronica’s secret. Satisfied he’s let my imagination figure out the ways he’ll make me bleed if I upset his daughter, Ulysses leans back in a chair too small for him and strokes his black goatee. “I appreciate your discretion.”
“Of course.” Mom pops into the conversation. “I’ll admit, out of respect for your daughter, Sawyer hasn’t told me much about her tumor.”
He crosses his massive arms over his chest. “The tumor is small, benign, and for now there’s no course of treatment because of the position of the tumor in the brain. Besides migraines, she’s fine, but the doctors keep a close eye on the tumor in case anything changes.”
Mom leans forward on the table like she’s honestly concerned. “What happens if things change?”
Doesn’t take a genius to see that question makes Ulysses uncomfortable. “That depends upon the change, but more than likely surgery followed up with extreme doses of chemo and radiation. At least that’s what my wife went through. The treatment will be tough. My wife was bedridden and sick the last years of her life.”
Something in how he says “tough” makes me think of a living death.
Mom’s head tilts, and there’s a pit in my stomach that this is now gossip for her. As she goes to open her mouth to dig for more, I intervene. “Veronica’s been amazing on our project.”
Ulysses doesn’t smile, yet he beams with pride. “She’s enjoying it. In fact, that’s another reason why I dropped by. V said you two were going to work on your project today, but I’m putting a hold on that. V didn’t go to bed until late last night and she needs to sleep.”
I glance at the clock on the stove. It’s six in the evening. How long can a person sleep? As if reading my mind, he says, “When she gets bad migraines, she’s been known to sleep for close to twenty-four hours. I know it was tough with V’s friends graduating and Nazareth on a different track than her to find a partner for the project. She said you’ve been good to work with, and I appreciate that. There will be times when her migraines will take her down for a day or two. V’s smart, smarter than what she gives herself credit for, and she’ll make sure that this project is perfect.”
It already is. “That’s no problem.”
“I also came to tell you I’m pulling V from school for the week. We’ll leave tomorrow morning. It’s not something I normally do, but it’s been a while since V and I’ve had a vacation. I’ve got a haul down to the Gulf Coast. V loves the ocean and she needs the time.” The sorrow in Ulysses’ voice causes something protective to coil inside me.
“Is Veronica okay?”
Ulysses doesn’t answer, just stares at the table. My mom touches my wrist and shakes her head at me as if I’m an idiot for asking the question. “Ulysses, Sawyer and I will watch over the house while you’re gone, and of course, we know Veronica