Page 106 of His Heart

She took it and smiled. “Thanks.”

“You bet,” I said. “Gotta take care of my girl.”

“You shouldn’t stay, though,” she said. “I’d feel awful if you got sick because of me. You know you can’t mess around with that.”

“I know. Do you have a cold or something?” I asked. She didn’t sound congested.

“Something like that.” She blew on a spoonful of soup and took a sip.

I watched her for a moment. She was a little pale, but still so goddamn beautiful. Even with her dark hair in a messy bun, disheveled clothes, wrapped up in a blanket. But she was fading, the light in her eyes growing dim.

“You know you can talk to me, right?” I said. “About anything.”

“Yeah, of course,” she said.

“Are you going to tell me what else is going on?” I asked.

She looked up. “What do you mean?”

“You’re not just sick,” I said. “Do you think I can’t tell when something is bothering you?”

“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m just feeling a little under the weather. It’s that time of year; it happens. I’ve got people sneezing all over shit in the store. I’m surprised I didn’t catch something sooner.”

“Okay,” I said. “But I still feel like you’re not telling me something.”

“Do you think I’m lying to you?” she asked. “What are you implying?”

“Nothing,” I said. “It’s just that ever since you went to Phoenix, you’ve seemed… off. Like there’s a lot going on in your head that you aren’t talking about.”

“I told you what happened in Phoenix,” she said. “My mom died. Her boyfriend told me she’d been sober for a while, but relapsed. It was really sad, and I felt bad for him too. That’s about it.”

“Did you open the box of stuff he gave you?” I asked.

She hesitated, looking down at her soup. “No. Not yet.”

“Are you afraid of what you’ll find?” I asked, my voice gentle.

“I think so,” she said, and for a second, I thought her protective barrier was coming down. “But, honestly, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s probably just a bunch of useless crap anyway. She kept weird stuff sometimes.”

God, why wouldn’t she just talk to me?

“What has your therapist said about all this?” I asked. “Has she been helping?”

“I haven’t really been to see her in a while,” she said.

“What?” I asked. “I thought you went every week.”

“Well, I was going every week, but I had to cancel when I went to Phoenix. And you know, stuff gets in the way. I just haven’t rescheduled.”

“Brooke, don’t you think you should?”

“I will,” she said. Her flippant tone was pissing me off. “It’s just hard to fit in with work and everything.”

“Yeah, but you need to make that a priority,” I said. “Especially now.”

“What do you mean, especially now?”

“I mean, you lost your mom. And then the holidays and everything. Those can be hard for anyone. I can see it in your eyes. There’s something there, and you’re not talking about it. If you won’t talk to me, at least go talk to her.”

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