Page 64 of Reckless Curves
Tom closed his eyes in dismay. “Fuck.”
“Well, I was about to when Marcus called me.”
With a groan, Tom lifted his head from where it lay on the bar top and watched Sully light up a cigarette. “Marcus?”
Sully took a long drag and turned away to exhale. “Yeah. He called me and told me about Kendra. Gosh, who’d have thought she’d get sick just to escape your sorry ass.”
Normally, a crack like that would’ve made Tom laugh, but not tonight. He’d tried to see Kendra when he came out of his meeting with the transplant team, but she still refused to see him. Stella was there, of course, and she told him that Kendra’s fever was still up and more tests were being run. The doctors just wanted to be thorough. Stella agreed she’d try to get Kendra to see him tonight.
“She will be fine. I know it.”
Sully nodded. “Of course she is, so what’s got you sitting at this bar?”
“I was a match for Dad.”
Sully frowned and looked around the little hole-in-the-wall dive known as Pitstop. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It would be, but the doctor said that Dad won’t survive the surgery. I’m too late, Sully. Why didn’t I listen to Sam?”
Sully sighed. “Because you’re pigheaded, just like most men. Me included. Listen, you can’t beat yourself up about this. No one told your old man to drink himself to death. The same goes for me. I lost my family to the bottle because I thought I was handling my drinking just fine. Same as your dad, and same as you.”
Sully paused before saying, “The difference is that you were smart enough to quit earlier than a lot of alcoholics.” He eyed the money Tom had out, sitting on the bar. “What’s picking up that bottle again, going to solve Tommy? Huh? Is it going to change your dad’s condition?”
Tom rubbed his eyes. “No.”
“Will it help Kendra or make this easier to get through?”
“No.”
“Right. Will it screw things up with Kendra and your boy?”
“Yes.” Tom sat straighter and stared wide-eyed at Sully. “Did Marcus tell you about Connor?”
Sully exhaled and laughed. “I can’t believe how stupid everyone else around the shop is. I mean that in a nice way, of course. How did Marcus not see it every time he looked at Connor? The boy is you out-and-out. He has Kendra’s hair color and nose, but that’s about it. How come you’ve told no one?”
“We were going to this weekend when we had you all over, but then Kendra got sick.”
“How is she?”
“I only know what Stella told me today. She still has a temp and they don’t know what it is. Kendra thinks her cancer is back.” Tom looked at the bottles that lined the wall behind the bar and fought back the thirst that had never been quenchable. Hard liquor had always been his weakness. “What if it is? And to top it all off, she’s pushing me away. I don’t deserve that.”
Sully snorted. “She’s scared. I’ve never seen her so happy, so I bet this is hard for her to face. To have such happiness and then maybe she’s going to lose it…”
“But I’m right here now,” Tom said. “I love her and I want to be with her. What if her cancer is back and she only has a short time left? I want to spend every moment with her even if I lose her.”
Sully smiled. “Have you told her that?”
“She won’t let me.”
“Let me give you some advice.”
Tom was curious about Sully’s conspiratorial attitude and leaned closer.
Sully asked, “You know what?”
“What?”
Sully motioned him even closer and Tom complied.
