Page 72 of Cactus Heart
He nodded. “Yep. I know it’s unusual, but I was asked to switch in our chat and didn’t have any work to do this morning, so I agreed to it.”
“Oh.”
Dallas narrowed his eyes on me. “I can see you’re thrilled. What’d I ever do to you?”
“I am thrilled,” I snorted. “Just unexpected, is all.”
“Uh-huh. How come you never bring me lunch like you do for Austin?”
“Hey,” I said, holding up my hands. “He bringsmelunch. Don’t be jealous.”
He shrugged, but held his smile. “Just giving you shit. It’ll be good to catch up, though.”
“It will be. How has everything been going? How’s your mom?”
His gaze darkened and he sighed, pulling his gaze away. “Avery isn’t talking to her now. And family dinners won’t be happening anymore.”
All the alarm bells rang in my mind. Avery hadn’t texted me about it, and that . . .
Hurt? Maybe that wasn’t the right word.
I resisted the urge to pull my phone out and text her. “What happened?” I asked.
“Dinner was bad last night, man,” Dallas said. “We were trying to talk Mom into going to therapy, but she took it out on Avery. And this was all after her grilling Austin and I on having children. And also after her handing me a stack of framed photos of Dad for me to hang up in the stairwell.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, crossing my arms. I leaned back against the railing, frowning as I studied him. “That’s a lot. Are you okay? Is Avery okay?”
“I’m okay. Avery, I don’t know,” he said. “She told me she would be. June and Evie were there for her last night. Has she said anything to you yet?”
My spine stiffened slightly, but I reminded myself that Dallas and Austin knew Avery was close with me.
Just not how close we were now . . .
“Not yet,” I said. “I’ll check in on her, though.”
“Thanks. Yeah, at this point, I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do. Mom’s gotten worse. Not going out, not eating well, not keeping up with her friends. It’s been two years.”
I swallowed hard as silence fell between us. The day his dad had died had been one of the worst days of my life. I’d gotten the call that Mr. Whynot had fallen and was unresponsive. I’d never driven so fucking fast in my life.
I did everything I could to revive him. And I had him. For a moment, I had him.
And then I didn’t.
His death haunted me ever since. Not only because his children were my best friends, but because he’d always been kind to me. He’d made sure I’d felt at home in Whynot, just like he did for everyone here.
“Mateo,” Dallas said softly. “Every time I mention my dad, you get that look on your face as if it’s your fault what happened. And it’s not. He died early. It was a heart attack. None of us saw it coming.”
“It still feels like I failed,” I said grimly. “He’s the only person in Whynot that has ever died in my arms.”
“Good place to go,” he said. “You did everything you could.”
My eyes pricked with tears and I swallowed hard, turning my gaze to the concrete floor and pickingsomething—literallyanythingelse—to focus on. “Maybe I should stop by and talk to your mom. She’s always had a soft spot for me.”
“She sure fucking has,” Dallas snorted, breaking the tension. “Austin and I thought we should have brought you along last night, but Avery vetoed us. Maybe you can come this Sunday.”
I raised a brow. “I said she has a soft spot for me, but I’m not sure that means she’ll listen to me about therapy.”
“Well, she’s gotta do something. I’ve never heard Austin yell at her like that. Hell, I’ve never been that upset by something she’s said.”
