He wasn’t the smartest guy at times, but even he knew that now was not the time to be snarky.
“Um…I’m thinking if she’s already agitated, the last thing she needs is a stranger coming in and hanging around,” he replied and hated the disappointment on her face.
“I get it,” she said after a minute. “So…I guess we should go.”
Knox motioned to the bread vendor. “Do you want to grab some bread first? We might not be having it for lunch, but you might want it with dinner.”
Maddie nodded, and they walked silently to the booth. She picked out a couple of rolls and a baguette before thanking the baker and promising to see him soon.
The walk back to the car was equally quiet, and it wasn’t until they were pulling out of the parking lot that Knox knew they couldn’t end the weekend like this.
“So I was thinking about next weekend,” he said with an infusion of cheeriness that he hoped would rub off on Maddie. “Why don’t you come to Raleigh and I’ll set something up with everyone either for lunch on Saturday or maybe brunch on Sunday? I have no idea what the schedule is like for Josie and the girls, but I can certainly put it out there.”
“That would be fine.” There was zero enthusiasm in her voice.
“Maddie, come on,” he gently coaxed. “Talk to me.”
It took her a solid minute to respond. “I’m not upset with you. I’m just disappointed that our time got cut short. It’s not often that Nora calls and needs help, so I know she really needs me.” She looked over at him. “I just get…ugh. It’s like I’m filled with all this…you know…hater-rage. I hate the situation. I hate that my mom is suffering and there’s nothing I can do to help her. It’s not fair.”
All he could do was nod because he honestly had no idea what that felt like, but he imagined he’d hate it too if it were one of his parents in that situation.
“And as for next weekend, of course I’d like to meet your friends. I didn’t mean to sound like a brat.”
Reaching over, he squeezed one of her hands. “You’re not being a brat. You’ve got a lot on your mind and I thought I was distracting you. Now I’m thinking I came off like an insensitive jerk.”
Beside him, she laughed softly. “I wouldn’t say that…”
“It’s okay, Mads. I told you earlier that you need to call me out on my bullshit.”
They drove for several minutes in silence and when they turned into her neighborhood, it fully hit him that this was the last time he’d get to see her for a week.
And he hated it.
But as he looked over and saw how sad she looked, he knew he’d keep his own selfish disappointment to himself.
Back at the house, they unloaded all the bags of food and Knox quickly packed while Maddie called the caregiver to let her know she was on her way. They walked out together and kissed goodbye in the driveway and, without saying a word, he knew they were both thinking the same thing.
This was all way harder than they thought it would be.