Page 26 of An Engagement for Erica

“Are you worried about it?” her father asked.

“I like not having to grab my head suddenly and feel as if I’m going to pass out or throw up,” she said.

“If you can manage it without medication,” Theo said, “why would you want to continue to take it?”

“I suppose it’s better than worrying about having brain cancer. I mean I could go back on it, right?”

“You can,” her father said. “And you’re not going to argue if they need to run more MRIs either.”

She growled. “I don’t like lying in there still for so long.”

“There are worse things in life,” Theo said. “It’s just a test and you get to close your eyes and chill out. My sister isn’t afraid of those things.”

“Yes, she is,” she said, laughing. “It’s one thing to have another body part in there, but having your head in a device keeping you completely still is pretty daunting.”

Her father came over and touched her hand. A gentleness he rarely showed when they were growing up.

They’d heard it enough from their mother.

Maybe there were times in her life when she worried she might be more like him.

She was glad to know that wasn’t the case.

“It is,” her father said. “But you’ll get through it. You’re healthy now and we’d like to keep you that way. There are a lotof people who suffer from migraines their entire lives and very little can keep them at bay. So far, everything is working.”

“Could just have been the hormone imbalance,” she said. “I read everything you gave me.”

“That’s right,” her father said. “And until we know for sure what medication is working, you’re going to have to accept these tests. And we can be done talking about it now and enjoy the Labor Day holiday. No work on this weekend.”

“It’s not Labor Day yet,” she said. She remembered it was a joke her father used to say. That he didn’t like to work on Labor Day.

“No more work,” Daisy said. “Unless it’s helping me in the kitchen.”

“Dad and I are grilling,” Theo said. “You women can go down by the dock and have your girl talk. Something tells me it’s not done and I don’t want to know.”

Erica cringed. She wanted it to be done, but Harmony grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the water with Daisy.

“I want to stay with the guys,” she argued.

“Nope,” Daisy said. “We want to know more about what Tucker looks like.”

“Urgh,” she said. “It’s not professional.”

“We aren’t at work,” Harmony said. “And it’s only in good fun. Join us. There isn’t anything wrong with talking about a hot guy. It’s not as if you’re dating him or anything.”

“Even if she wants to,” Daisy said.

“I’m going to jump off the dock in a minute,” she said.

“We’ll only go in with you,” Harmony said. “Or better yet, here you go, cool off because you’re flush again.”

She didn’t have a chance to do anything more than hold her breath as her baby sister went to push her in, but she was smart enough to hang on and pull Harmony in with her at the same time.

They both came up laughing and looking like wet dogs.

Where the hell had this been her whole life?

10

---