Page 71 of Forever Dark
Selena saw it, too.He knew she did because her hand tightened once over the notebook.
“How’s your dad?”he asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
Silence held a second too long.
“I can’t tell,” she said at last.“Better than he was a few weeks ago by the sound of it.But still worse than I thought he’d be.No one told me about the pneumonia.”
Connor nodded.“Yeah, he goes up and down.But he’s a trouper.”
She turned to look at him.“You’ve seen him recently?”
No point sidestepping it.
“Eh… Yeah… I go over once a week.”
He felt her stare before he heard anything from her.
“For what?”
“To check on him.Fix what needs fixing.Sit awhile.”Connor shifted one hand on the wheel.“Gives Diane a break, too.It isn’t easy working and looking after a sick parent.”
Selena said nothing.
He let the quiet stay where it was.The truth did not need dressing up.Robert Raven had gotten older.Diane had too much on her.Connor lived nearby, knew the place, and had never found a good reason not to help.
After another stretch of road, Selena said, “You do thateveryweek?”
“Most weeks.”
“Why?”
Connor almost smiled at that.“Because your dad shouldn’t be on his own that much.Because Diane can’t do everything herself.Because Robert still thinks he can get on a ladder when nobody’s watching.And… we used to be family before the divorce, didn’t we?”
That finally shifted the subtle shock from her expression.
“He always did think he was indestructible.”
“He’s not,” Connor said.“But he still beats me at cards and tells me otherwise.”
She looked down at her notebook then, though he doubted she was reading a word on it.“Diane never told me he’d gotten sick again.”
“Oh.”He tried to sound surprised.“Maybe she felt like it wasn’t something she needed to report.”
Another pause.
“Thank you for keeping an eye on him,” Selena said, and the words sounded as if she had to dig them out.
Connor kept his gaze on the road.“Wasn’t doing it for thanks.”
“I know.But thanks anyway.”
That answer seemed less guarded.
He gave her space after that.A grain truck thundered past in the opposite lane.The radio played low, something old and country neither of them cared enough to touch.Sunlight leaned further west, warmer now as it slanted across the hood.
A few miles later Selena said, “I was actually on my way to see Jessie the other night when I got caught in a detour.”
Connor glanced over.“Were you?”He didn’t know whether it was true or not.But he did think it would be good for them to reconnect while she was in town.
