not in palliative care.” He takes a drink of his beer.
“A bunch of haters you all are.” Playfully, I shoot narrowed glares around at my family. “You guys are all just jealous ‘cause I’m Ma’s favorite.”
Callie halts her coloring to hit me with a glare. “I’m Nana’s favorite,” the child deadpans, daring me to challenge her.
Walker pauses with the screwdriver in hand. Over his flannel-covered back, he throws me a don’t-you-dare-argue-with-the-four-year-old look. I chuckle. I’m not that much of an asshole.
And the truth is, Mom and Dad would die for that child. They’re the closest thing to parents she has. Her father, Eli, has been in jail for over a year now. Her mother hasn’t been seen or heard from for just as long. Thank god the little girl has the rest of us Kingstons in her corner.
I’m grateful to have them, too. I don’t know how I would have managed this injury without my family’s support. The minute I got hurt, Cannon was ringing down every phone in the league to get information about my injury. Walker stayed with Callie so my parents could jump in their car and drive all the way up to Iowa to be with me. And after Mom and Dad returned home, not a day went by without them video-calling to make sure I was taking care of myself. I’m lucky to be a part of this tribe.
Ma squeezes herself onto the arm of Dad’s chair. He takes a second to smile up at her and affectionately stroke her lower back. She drapes an arm around his shoulder.
“Have you been getting enough sleep?” she asks me.
“Been sleeping great, Ma.”
“And eating?”
“Eating great,” I tell her. “Lots of veggies,” I throw in snarkily.
She gives me a doubtful look. She knows me too well.
“Iris has a vegetable patch.” I laugh.“The USDA would be so proud of me with how many servings of leafy greens I’ve been eating every day.”
Ma settles in her own seat. She picks up a clean plate and serves herself a slice. “So, Iris Merlini, huh?”
Here we go…
“I heard she’s single.” My mother keeps her eyes on her pie, trying to adopt a casual tone. But I’m not falling for the innocent act.
“She’s the ex-wife of my best friend from college.” My parents have met Kirk and they know he married Iris.
Ma hops a little in her seat, instantly dropping the oblivious stuff. “Oh, the divorce is final? Good! That’s good!”
All of a sudden, I’m starting to remember why I opted for a rental over staying here at the family bed and breakfast when I came to town.
I tilt my head to the side and give her a look. “I can’t just go after my best friend’s ex-wife.”
She looks downright offended by my words. “Says who? The woman isn’t a piece of property. She’s her own person…A single person.”
Dad takes another drink of his beer. “Are you and Kirk in touch? Have you seen him since you got back to town?”
I left Kirk a few more voice messages over the past few days. I’m still waiting to hear back from him. I don’t know what his deal is. Did he change his number or something? Anyway, the idea of him finding out about my living arrangements through the small town gossip mill makes me uneasy. I want to be the one to tell him. Man to man. Sort of hard to do that when he won’t return my calls, though.
“We’ll meet up soon enough,” I say nonchalantly. “We’ve both been busy.”
“Busy?” My mother lifts a brow, silently telling me she’s not convinced. “Sweetie, you have maybe two hours of physio in the morning. Then, you spend the rest of your time cooped up in that house. I worry about you.”
“Of course you do, Ma.” I hawk in my throat.
“I’m serious, Jude. You’re lonely and I’m guessing Iris is lonely, too…”
“And she’s a good woman,” my father adds. “Life dealt her a difficult hand these past few months but she’s handled it all with grace.”
From what Cannon tells me, Iris used to be a tenant of my family’s realty holdings business back when Dad was running it. She operated a little sandwich shop. As soon as Cannon stepped into the picture and took over from Dad, my brother had her evicted for being late on the rent. It was a whole, entire shitshow. Eventually, Iris and my asshole brother were able to patch things up and become friends. And that’s just further testament to how