“Take him back to his room. I’ll gather what I need to fix his feet.”
Sadie grabbed a large metal bowl out of the cupboard and ran the water in the sink until it warmed. She filled the bowl, grabbed some paper towels, and took both down the hall to her father’s room.
She stopped short and took in her father’s soft words.
“She needs someone like you.”
“I need someone like her, sir. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.”
Sadie remained stuck in place outside the room out of their sight. She didn’t know if Rory was only trying to appease her father, or if he meant those seemingly sincere words.
“It won’t be long now,” her father said, tearing another hole in her broken heart.
“She won’t be alone.”
As much as Sadie relished these moments when her father was lucid and alert, Sadie couldn’t take much more. She stepped into the room, trying her best to put on a brave face and not cry out all her sorrow and anger that her father was dying, that he was going to leave her. Stupid. Unreasonable. But that’s how she felt and it made her mad, because she didn’t want to feel this way. She wanted her father to be okay, but it was long past wishing.
Rory sat beside her father, a look of sorrow drawing his features into lines on his forehead and around his mouth. The grim look made the smiles and laughs they shared earlier seem so far away.
Rory stood and came to her. He placed his hand on the side of her head and tilted it toward him. He kissed her on top of the head and left the room without a word.
Sadie mustered up her resolve and got down to business. She didn’t want to dwell on their exchange or the rioting feelings inside her.
She set the bowl of warm water on the floor and placed one of her father’s feet inside. She gently washed away the grime, then dried it with the paper towels. Rory walked back in with the first aid kit he must have found in the bathroom next to her bedroom.
“Thanks.”
He left again in his quiet, intense way without saying anything. She washed and dried her father’s other foot and helped him scoot back on the bed. She dropped a pillow behind his back at the headboard and set his feet on the mattress.
She stared into his familiar eyes, so filled with pain and regret now her heart ached. “Dad, what’s really going on with you?”
“You know what’s happening. Is the why and how so important when the outcome is still the same?”
“Maybe a doctor could . . .”
Her father shook his head, his eyes filled with a deep resignation that nothing could or would change the inevitable.
“I like Rory. He’s a family man, the kind who works hard and sticks.”
Knowing time was running out, she thought of all her father would miss in her life, and it made her heart ache even more. “He’s a good man.”
“Do you love him?”
“We’ve only just started seeing each other, but what I feel for him is so deep and overwhelming.”
“I’m happy for you, Sadie. I’m glad I got to meet him.”
“Dad . . .” She didn’t know what to say.
“You can’t change what is, honey. Not with me. Not with life. Not with love. Accept. It makes things a lot easier.”
“Are you scared?” she asked, because her fear for him grew each and every time something like tonight happened.
“Sometimes. But not for you. I know you’ll be okay. You’re strong.”
“I don’t feel that way sometimes.”
“But you always pull through. We can’t always be at our best. Sometimes we need to lean on those closest to us. I lean on you. You lean on me. If you truly care about Rory, let him in. Lean on him when you need him. Relationships are built on the good times and the bad. Working through the bad draws you closer together and makes the good times you share so much richer and better.”
If she and Rory could get through her brother stealing him blind, maybe they had a chance of having something more.
She quickly spread ointment on the small nicks and put bandages on the deeper cuts.
“My feet look a little like you did when you came home. We’re a pair, aren’t we, honey?”
Choked up, she whispered, “Yes, we are.”
His mouth tipped down into a regretful frown. “Connor’s in trouble, isn’t he?”
“Yes. He stole from the Kendricks. He’s working with some really bad people.”
Her father laid his hand on her scarred wrist. “I’m sorry he hurt you.”
“Dad, I’m okay.”
“Unless Connor changes his ways, I fear his life will be fraught with pain and unhappiness. Don’t let his life, his choices ruin yours. You are not responsible for his happiness. Don’t give up what you want, trying to help him. You cannot make him see things your way because he doesn’t have your kindness, your thoughtfulness, your heart.” Her father placed his hand on her cheek. She leaned into his comfort and warmth. “Please, honey, promise me you’ll choose happiness, you’ll choose you before him. If you always put others first, you’ll always come in last.”