Page 34 of One More Time

As if she could read my mind, she asked, “So when will your brother be moving here?”

“I’m scheduled to close on the house next month.” I glanced at my watch. “Which is why it worked out for me to find a short-term rental like I mentioned before. Once I move in, I’ll have to do a few things to make sure it’s set up for him, and then he’ll move here.”

“What do you need to do?”

“Not much. I need for the house to be accessible and so on. He can walk on his own, but he’s pretty weak, so I want to make sure it’s comfortable. It’s a single-story home, so it’s pretty easy to manage.”

McKenna looked worried. Her brow furrowed, and her teeth sank into the bottom corner of her lip. “I want to give you all kinds of suggestions for medical options in Juneau.”

“Trust me, I’m full of suggestions for my brother. He’s already done all the things. He’s had world-class medical care, three rounds of treatment, and then some. He just wants to be comfortable. I’ve already been in touch with the hospital here. His medical team down there is coordinating to ensure he can have palliative care when it’s time.” I paused as my heart thumped with an ache that got sharper as time passed.

“Would you change anything if you could?” she asked, her tone soft.

“Of course. I wish he wasn’t this sick. I wish a lot of things, but that’s where we’re at. It’s his call, not mine. I do understand. I was with him during his last round of treatment, and it was brutal. He was so miserable. I’ve never had cancer, but what I saw is nothing I’d want to experience. The doctors have said the odds aren’t good.”

As McKenna held my gaze, my heart eased a little. While I was caught in the undercurrent of pain and sadness for what my brother was experiencing and the loss I knew was coming, I sensed she understood.

A few moments passed while we ate before she asked, “Do you want to keep talking about this?”

“Of course not. I don’t mean that I mind you asking, but it’s hard. I know it’s coming, and I’m there for him.”

“Okay.”

“Tell me about what it’s like to grow up with so many brothers.”

Her lips pressed together before she let out a muffled snort. “It’s something all right,” she said dryly. “I grew up with seven, lost one, and then we learned we had an older half-brother a few years ago. Fortunately, he’s awesome.” She paused before lifting her hands and letting them fall. “It’s complicated and I’m not even joking.”

I chuckled. “I can imagine. My brother usually feels like he has a say in my life, and there’s just one of him.”

She grinned. “I do the same to them. It’s just a different dynamic. At times, I wished I was an only child and still do. But then, I also wouldn’t trade it for anything. We haven’t always had it easy.”

“It must’ve been hard to lose your older brother,” I offered.

She studied me quietly. “It was, it is. But…” She shrugged. I sensed there were a lot of tangles in that answer.

“And there we go talking about hard things again,” she said softly.

“Should we talk about the weather?” I teased lightly.

She laughed, the throaty sound sending a fiery sizzle through me.

“Well, you moved here smack in the middle of winter. Speaking of weather, I hope you don’t mind the cold and snow.”

“Not at all. I’ve always loved snow. We lived in the foothills of the Cascades, so I’m used to some snow. Maybe not as much as you get here.”

“Do you like to ski? Your family owns that ski lodge in Diamond Creek, right?”

I nodded. “I do like to ski, both downhill and cross-country. What about you?”

Not much later, McKenna was putting away plates and tucking the leftover pizza in the box. She glanced over at me after she closed the refrigerator door.

“Do you want to stay or go?”

Chapter Twenty

McKenna

As soon as I asked the question, I silently cursed to myself. By asking, I put it out there that I wanted him to stay. I did, so very much. But what if he didn’t want to stay? Cue the awkward moment.

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