Page 24 of Just Like This
Garrett watched me carefully, inspecting every inch of my face for signs I was lying. He reached up and brushed a thumb across my cheek before sighing softly. “Thank you for coming tonight. I had an amazing time.”
“Me too,” I murmured before backing away from him into my room. We stared at each other for a moment. Honestly, I expected Garrett to be more forceful, but with a final nod, he walked down the hall. I stayed frozen in place until I heard the front door open and close. Then I returned to my bed and buried myself under the blankets. Opening my heart had been a big mistake.
* * *
In the morning,I still felt unbelievably hurt. I wanted to think that maybe what I saw wasn’t an ugly truth but a simple misunderstanding. But then I remembered Nikki’s words and the implication that she knew Garrett intimately. Why wasn’t he honest with me about that? That was what hurt. He’d brushed aside my concern, telling me she was a friend when she had previously been something more.
I got up and went through my daily routines. Valerie was home, and we planned on going to the hospital together. When I ventured into the kitchen, she didn’t look much happier than I did, so I didn’t ask questions because that was an invitation for questions of her own. And I didn’t want to have to explain my own foolishness.
We drove in silence to St. Anthony Hospital where my dad was a patient and put on brave, smiling faces for him. If he knew we were each hiding something, he didn’t say.
“I brought you a treat, but I left it in the car,” I announced. I had spent part of my morning baking away my blues. My father’s one vice was chocolate chip cookies, and I’d hoped to tempt his appetite with one or two. I leaned across his bed and kissed his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”
I hurried down to the car and grabbed the pink pastry box with the cookies before heading back to his room. As I walked down the hall, I noticed the door to his room was partially shut, which usually signaled the doctor or nurse was in his room. I slowed my pace because I didn’t want to interrupt.
“What does this mean?” I heard Valerie say, which made me stop.
“The cancer is far more advanced than we thought.” The other voice was unfamiliar but most likely his oncologist.
“Does this mean more surgery? Another round of chemotherapy?” My sister’s voice sounded uncharacteristically hysterical.
“It means we do nothing. They’ve done everything, Val. I want to go home,” my father’s calm voice said. “And we don’t tell Cami.”
I pushed the door open, angry that he wanted to keep something like this from me. “Cami knows,” I cried before slamming the box of cookies down on the ground and storming out of his room.
Blind with tears, I ran out of the hospital. I stopped in the front to catch my breath and figure out where to go. There wasn’t anywhere I could easily walk, so I pulled my cell phone from my purse and opened a new text message.
ME: Can you come and pick me up?
GARRETT: Where are you?
ME: Saint Anthony’s Hospital.
GARRETT: Be there soon.
I hated myself a little for reaching out to him, but he was the only person I wanted to see, despite last night’s disastrous events. Maybe I’d let him explain in order to distract me from my grief. I found a nearby bench and sat down, hoping to process what I’d heard. Dad’s surgery hadn’t worked, and his cancer had spread. But he didn’t want to fight anymore. That was what broke my heart; he was giving up.
I hardly noticed the car pull up to the curb until a large, familiar hand landed on my knee. Garrett knelt in front of me, his hands resting on his knees, his face serious with concern.
“Tell me,” he asked quietly.
“He’s really dying,” I managed before breaking out in a round of fresh sobs. Garrett moved swiftly next to me and wrapped his arms around me. I buried my face in his chest and fisted his shirt tightly in my hands. Slowly, his hands traced soothing paths up and down my back as he let me cry. When I felt calmer, I turned my face to the side and told him the rest of what I heard.
“I’m so sorry you heard that. I know what you’re going through, but please don’t make the mistake I did. Don’t run away from death. Celebrate your dad’s life with him while he’s still here,” Garrett said softly. We sat silently on the bench for a while. He stroked my hair while my body relaxed. “Do you want to get something to eat?”
I nodded my head, and he lifted me gently before we stood and walked to the car. As we left the hospital grounds, I directed him to one of my favorite local spots, and we drove in silence until we got to the restaurant.
When we were seated, Garrett seemed to want to say something. He kept shifting uncomfortably in his chair and looking around until I finally said, “Just tell me.”
“What happened last night?” His question was more of a plea, and I decided to let him. “I know you said you were tired, but I felt like there was something more, something else.”
Nervously, I looked around the restaurant, hoping to find the courage I needed to confront Garrett over what I saw in the guest house. “I walked in on you and Nikki. She was sitting on the couch, getting ready to blow you.”
He nodded his head. “Okay. Well, that didn’t happen.”
“I also heard her say that she couldn’t wait to have your cock in her mouth.Again.” All of the hurt and anger I’d felt overhearing the conversation in my father’s hospital room now shifted to what happened last night. “You told me she was just a friend. I guess what you really meant was friends with benefits.”
He splayed his hands out on the table in front of him and looked embarrassed as if I had caught him in a lie. “I apologize if I oversimplified the nature of our relationship.”
