Page 102 of Nothing But It All
“You’re going to be eighteen soon,” Jack says. “Youbetter watchyourself.”
“Yeah, because I totally don’t know people that will be underage after my birthday.”
“Can we not do this?” I ask, blowing out a breath. “It’s ...” I glance at the clock. “Eight in the morning. I haven’t had coffee. Can we not start a war until I’ve at least peed?”
Jack gets to his feet. “Speaking of peeing, I probably need to let Snaps out before he pees on the floor.”
Michael comes back into the room. “Give him to me, and I’ll put him out before I go.”
Maddie hands her brother the dog. Michael takes the puppy but doesn’t move.
“I’m not trying to be a dick or make this harder for you,” he tells his sister. “But it pisses me off to think that that kid thinks he can just be mean to you for no reason. You’re nothing but a sweetheart to him.”
Maddie grins softly. “Thank you.”
He backs away. “But I do know people.”
“Get out of here,” Jack says, laughing.
Michael disappears down the hallway.
Maddie scoots up beside me and buries herself under the blankets. “Can I lie in here with you for a while, Mom?”
I look at Jack.
“I’ll start a pot of coffee and then go check on Dad,” he says, slipping on a pair of shorts and a shirt. “Does that work?”
“Make it strong.”
He darts into the bathroom and brushes his teeth before heading out. Once he’s gone, I lie next to Maddie.
The pillow is wet with her tears, but the hysteria of the breakup seems to have eased. Little does she know it, but the crack in my heart from seeing her hurt will remain much longer than hers.
What a way to start the day.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
JACK
Why are you here so damn early?” Dad rocks back and forth in his recliner, a cup of coffee in his hand. “Did you roll out of bed and come straight here?”
I scrub a hand down my face. “Do you have any more coffee?”
“You know where the pot is.”
I make my way into his small kitchen. I find a white mug with orange-and-brown mushrooms on it and fill it with liquid energy.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he says.
“I was woken up this morning by my daughter screaming bloody murder.”
Dad stops rocking. “Maddie? Why?”
“Daniel broke up with her.” I sit on the sofa next to him. “By text.”
“That little prick.”
I grin and take a sip of coffee.
