Page 116 of Burn With Me

The sound of his coughing drifts from the kitchen, and I make my way there, calling out so that he knows I’m here. “Hey, you okay in there, old man?”

He laughs and turns as I walk in. He’s wearing a pair of red flannel pajama pants and a plain black t-shirt. It’s been years since I’ve seen him so dressed down.

“As good as every other morning. Areyouokay? How did things go with Ginny?” He sets his coffee on the Calacatta marble countertop and moves to make me a cup.

“Here, you sit. I can do it myself.”

“You ignored my question.”

“I don’t know how to answer your question,” I say as I prepare myself a cup. He’s still drinking my aunt’s favorite brand and blend—Blue Mountain Panama Catuai.

“She heard me in Carmela’s office using my accent,” I tell him as I join him at the dining table.

He looks at me with a confused frown and a shrug of his shoulders.

“That’s how I spoke to her at Désirer.”

His eyes widen in understanding before he lets out a deep breath. “I told you, you should have told her sooner.”

“Doesn’t really matter. When I tried to end things at the club Friday night, she begged me not to. She needshimmore than she needs me.” I glance over to see him watching me with pity in his eyes.

I try to change the subject. “Why don’t you want to tell Aunt Sadie? I get why you didn’t then, but why not now?”

“What difference would it make? Knowing your aunt, she’d want to come up to knock some sense into me. I highly doubt herhusbandwould appreciate that.” He rolls his eyes as he speaks the title he once held.

I can’t blame him because the man she married, Tyler, is younger than I am. I know they had some sort of incident that involved my uncle having the shit beat out of the guy. He admitted he put his hands on Aunt Sadie the same night, which helped fuel his decision to grant her the divorce she’d asked for.

As much as Aunt Sadie loves her new husband, I hate him. His overly positive attitude grates on my nerves, and I’ve only met the man once.

“I still think you should tell her. And I think you should at leasttrysome sort of treatment.”

“Jackson, don’t start.”

“Why are you being so difficult?”

“Why don’t you understand that I don’t want to live out my last years with someone having to help me wipe my ass?”

Clenching my jaw, I fall silent. I see where he’s coming from, but it still doesn’t stop me from wanting to do everything in my power to make sure he doesn’t die.

“Look, I want you to know something, okay? This isn’t…I’m not your father, Jackson. I’m not dying by choice.”

“Aren’t you, though?”

“No, because treatment or no treatment, Iamgoing to die. So, I’m choosing how I want to go out.”

He gets up to put his cup in the sink before pulling open the freezer to take out one of the elderberry shots Claudia makes for him.

“You know, you have your own place, so I’m leaving this one to Sadie.”

“Does Claudia know?” The woman has worked for them for so long, but she’s too young to retire. Regardless of my uncle’s answer, I make a mental note to have Stacey draw up a new contract for the housekeeper to come to work for me, whenever that may be.

“Yeah, she’s the first one I told. She’s been with us for so long—I’m leaving her a sizable amount as well. If you want to discuss her working for you, you can. But I’m leaving her enough so that if she doesn’t want to work anymore, she won’t have to.”

No one could ever accuse Tailors of not being generous. We take care of the people who are loyal to us. And Claudia is one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met. Whatever my uncle is leaving her, it’s well deserved.

“Are you going to try to talk to Ginny?” he asks, dumping the shot into a glass and breaking it up with a spoon.

His question reminds me that Ginny knew his secret before I did. “Why did you tell her?”

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