Page 76 of Dancing in the Rain

The way to handle this was to be there for Chloe and Peyton. And Sara.

He texted Peyton back and asked what he could do.

Could you go to the house and be there when Chloe gets home from school?

Of course. Should I bring her there to you?

I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.

He sensed the despair in her message and hit the link to call her. “Hey.”

“Hi. You okay?”

“Not really. This is hard.”

“I know. But you’re looking after Sara, making sure she’s cared for and comfortable.”

“Yes. They’re wonderful here, and it’s a lovely place.”

“Does she know what’s going on?”

“I think so.” She paused. “I’m so scared, Drew.”

“I know. I’ll head over to the house now. Should I ask Chloe if she wants to see her mom?”

“Yes…that’s a good idea. I don’t want her to be upset, but she probably wants to be with her.”

Dread tightened his gut, but he could handle this.

“I’ll let you know. Call or text if you need anything else.”

“Thank you.”

Later that afternoon Chloe walked in the front door of her house and dropped her heavy backpack onto the foyer floor. Her eyes widened when she saw him. “Hi! What are you doing here?”

“Peyton’s with your mom. They’ve moved her to the hospice.”

She nodded, her eyes shadowing. “She told me last night they might do that today.”

“Do you want to go see her?”

Chloe’s lower lip trembled, but she raised her chin. “Yeah.”

He nodded. “I’ll take you. Just have to text Peyton and find out the address.”

Chloe traipsed into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He watched her stand and stare into it, her small shoulders slumped.

He and Peyton exchanged brief messages while Chloe poured herself a glass of juice and drank it listlessly. “Okay, we’re set.”

In the car Chloe looked out the side window and said, “I don’t want to go to school anymore.”

Drew pursed his lips. “No?”

“No. I should be with Mom.”

“I understand that.” Should he try to talk her out of that idea? Or wait for Peyton to do it? Or hell, maybe it was better if shewasn’tgoing to school this week. She was probably distracted. How was she supposed to focus on schoolwork? Her mom was dying and schoolwork didn’t seem like a huge priority right then. On the other hand, maybe it was better for her to have a somewhat normal routine. “We can talk to your aunt about it.”

He vaguely felt like he was passing the buck, but his position here was weird and he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries.

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