Page 71 of Off Season

I notice her fidgeting before she finally mentions that Tanner invited her to go skiing in Colorado for the holiday.

Well, that kind of worked out well. I tell her about whatCheetah asked and how torn I am about it since we’ve never been apart like this before.

She pulls me close. “You should definitely go, and so should I. This could be good for us, Kam. We’re too old to have never spent time apart. We’re eventually going to have to learn how to do that.”

My eyes fill with tears. “You’re my soulmate, Bails. You jump, I jump.” The thought of being on a plane without her swirls around in my head. “I’m sweating just thinking about it.”

She squeezes me back. “I know. You’re my soulmate too, and I’m equally nervous, but we need this. We both know it’s time. It’s probably way past time.”

We’re both sobbing when Bailey’s phone pings with a notification of a FaceTime call.

She looks at it and pinches her eyebrows together. “It’s Daddy.”

Weird. We talked to him for a long time last night before we left for dinner.

I wiggle my eyebrows. “Which daddy?”

She rolls her eyes at me and accepts the call. “Hey, Daddy. Is everything okay?”

I hear his shakier-than-normal voice respond, “Is your sister with you?”

I move until he can see me on the small screen. “Your favorite daughter is here, Daddy.” I smile but he doesn’t return it like he usually does. My face immediately falls. “What’s wrong?”

Tears fill his eyes. “Girls, I’ve run your mother back and forth to the doctors a bunch over the past few months.” He pinches his lips together. “We just received some news. It’s not good. Her liver is beyond repair. It’s failing her, and we can’t do anything about it.”

Without any expression, I ask, “How long does she have?”

His shoulders fall. He’s starting to look so much older than his fifty years. I suddenly realize just how much his dark hair is graying. The wrinkles around his eyes are deepening.

He answers, “About a year.”

Bailey starts sobbing. “We…we…we should come down. Right away.”

I’m about to interrupt to say that there’s no fucking chance of me going when he sadly admits, “She…umm…doesn’t want to see you. She said you never cared about her in life, and it would be disingenuous if you came to her now.”

Once a piece of shit, always a piece of shit.

He continues, “She’ll change her mind. I know she will. Give it a little time. I think she’s in shock about her prognosis.”

Bailey is crying. I swore I’d never allow another tear to drop for that woman and I won’t. Wrapping my arm around Bailey, I say, “Thanks for letting us know. Why don’t we talk later after we’ve had the chance to digest this?”

He nods with a solemn expression on his once-handsome face. “I’m sorry, girls.”

We end the call, and Bailey cries into my chest. I simply stroke her hair. Part of me needs to get out of here to get some fresh air, and part of me wants to be here for my sister.

“It’s not like anything changes for us, Bails. She’s not in our life.”

She looks up at me with her tear-stained face. “Didn’t you always think we’d eventually reconcile one day?”

I shake my head. “No. I didn’t.”

Suddenly I’m feeling light-headed. I need to stand.

I do, but it doesn’t help. My mind is racing. I can’t let her see me like this. I can’t be here while she mourns a woman who doesn’t deserve it, a woman who was prepared to throw her to the wolves.

“Bails, I’ve got plans. I need to go.”

Her face scrunches. “What? Where are you going?”

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