Page 124 of Nothing But It All
“You don’t tell me what I can do.”
I snort and get to my feet. I start collecting his buckets. “That’s what you think. No more berry picking alone. No more keeping secrets from us.”
“Jack, you snitch.”
I look at my husband and grin. “Don’t be mad at Jack. He did the right thing.”
Harvey scoffs. “You two were hiding stuff from me too. How’s that any different?”
Good point.“I guess it’s not.”
“Damn right, it’s not. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” Harvey says.
Jack sighs. “Where’s your shoe?”
“The hell if I know.”
“Do you think you can stand?” Jack asks.
“I got two legs, don’t I?”
An idea comes to my mind. It’s pretty wild and big—big enough that I should probably talk to my husband about it before I offer it up to the world. But when I look at Jack, I already see the answer. It’s in his soft smile. It’s in the shine in his eyes. It’s in the tenderness of his touch against the small of my back.
There’s no reason for any of us to do this alone. Harvey battling his health issues by himself is asinine. Jack sorting through his emotions alone breaks my heart. And although I can do life by myself—I’ve proven that—I don’t want to.
Our life might be imperfect, complicated, and frustrating, but it’s better together. There’s no other choice for me. Maybe there never was.
“Harvey, no more doctor’s appointments alone,” I say.
He groans.
“I mean it.” I stack the buckets on the ground and brush the mud off my hands. “Also, you’re going to move in with us.”
I hold my breath as I absorb their reactions. I’m not sure whose jaw drops more—Harvey’s or Jack’s.
“You two can get over it,” I say, putting a hand on my hip. “I’m tired of this. We’re falling apart, boys.”
Surprisingly, neither of them speaks. They don’t argue—but they certainly don’t agree with me either.
“I can’t be going back and forth from your house to the doctor and back to your house before coming home for every appointment,” I say. “And I’ll be damned if you’ll go alone, Harvey.”
A ghost of a smile tickles his lips.
“And who’s supposed to help me around the house if you’re just going to take off to Vegas on a whim?” I ask, winking at Jack. “And, hey—I won’t have to bring Billie along for Labor Day. I can bring Harvey.”
“I’ll be coming on Labor Day, thank you very fucking much,” Jack says, grinning.
My heart warms, flooding my veins with ... happiness.
“I know this sounds out of left field and maybe like I’ve lost my mind,” I say, “but this is the way it needs to be.”
Jack doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to. The look of relief on his face says it all.
“We all need to work together,” I say. “So, Harvey—you can take the bedroom downstairs by the garage. You can have your own little space out there by the sunroom. No one uses it anyway. Besides, Snaps likes you. It’ll keep me from having to mess with him.”
Snaps barks.
“Does the dog understand English?” I ask, making everyone laugh.
