The Country Duet(81)

Mom and Quinn head out to find some coffee, leaving Dave and me alone.

“You feeling okay?” I ask him with genuine concern.

“Having a good day, son.” He smiles up at me. “Thank you for introducing me to your family, Hunter. It means a lot to me.”

I rest on the side of his bed. “They’ve heard a lot about you, Dave, and wanted to meet you.”

Our touchy-feely moment is over within seconds. “So, they have a commode in this joint.”

“Oh, yeah.” Both of my eyebrows rise with the sudden subject change.

“Gonna need to buy one for when I go home. It’s pretty damn handy. I’m just about able to get up and sit on it.”

“Mmmmm.” I rub my chin. “I remember some handsome fox trying to convince you to buy one. Pretty sure he harassed you about it for a while.”

He ignores the jab, never owning up to be wrong. “Need you to find one for me and get the best deal on it.”

“Okay, Dave.” I smirk at him. “I can do that for you.”

“Has the basement flooded yet?”

“Not enough snow melt yet.”

I’m not sure how the foundation of his house is still standing up. It floods every winter, and before me, Dave couldn’t do anything about it, but last winter I got all the water pumped out.

Mom and Quinn eventually come back, and we all say our goodbyes.

***

“Bubba, you’ve barely eaten anything on your plate.” Mom leans her elbows on the table, staring at me. “I’ve never seen you not inhale a bacon burger before.”

“Yeah, Hunter, why aren’t you eating?” Teale chirps in.

“Not hungry,” I reply.

“Bullshit.” Teale slaps her hand down on the restaurant table.

The girls are too involved taking SnapChat pictures, using some damn puppy dog face to be involved in the conversation.

“He’s been in pain for a long time now and throws up if he eats too much or too fast or certain foods.”

I crane my neck to give Teale a, ‘you’ve gotta be kidding,’ stare. I thought I’d been doing a damn good job masking the gut ache. I was dead wrong.

“Hunter.” Mom raises one of her perfectly manicured eyebrows. “What is going on?”

“Just a gut ache. Nothing big.”

“Doesn’t sound like it?” she counters.

“Tell us the symptoms,” Teale demands.

I throw my arm around her shoulder, tugging her to me. “Babe, it’s nothing. Let it go.”

Shit, I’d throw that diamond ring on her finger right now to change the subject of the conversation, but Teale deserves so much more. I see it coming before it happens. It’s the way Teale taps her chin and the devious look gleaming in her eyes.

“I wonder if there is internal damage from your motorcycle wreck?”

“Motorcycle wreck.” It’s Mom who is now slapping her palm down on the tabletop.

I shake my head, knowing this is going nowhere good. I never told Mom or Dad about the accident because they’d chew my ass for riding alone, but I know damn well Teale talked to Mom when we were on our way to the hospital. It was one of the stupidest things I’ve ever done. I was damn lucky I was able to get hold of Teale on the phone and that she jumped into action.

“Oh, you don’t know that Hunter here, went riding alone and suffered a severe concussion that left him sore for a few good weeks?” The sarcasm is thick, coating each word.

I know she’s worried about me, but this little stunt isn’t going to help her.

“Teale,” I warn her.

The steam rolling out of Mom’s ears scares me just like when I was a little boy and in trouble.

“You’re going to the doctor before I leave. No questions.” She points her finger at me in warning. “And you can bet your sweet ass I’ll be informing your dad about all of this.”

Baker pops up on her knees, leaning in on the table. “Bair, you ain’t supposed to say ass. It’s a word for ugly ladies, not pretty ones like you.”

We all erupt in a roar of laughter. The interpretation of our conversation with her about bad words was twisted a bit, but I’ve never been more thankful for her little spirit breaking up an awkward situation.





Chapter 20


Hunter


“Blame it all on my roots.” –Garth Brooks


“You’re going to end up in a hospital bed right next to me.” Dave pops a piece of black licorice into his mouth. “What do you kids call it now? Roomies.”

“Pretty sure the hospital couldn’t handle us.” I gnaw on the red licorice rope.

Dave insisted I start bringing red licorice, so we could sit and talk while enjoying candy. He’s still in the nursing home, not showing much improvement. Last night when I walked into his room, he was in his rocking chair staring out of the window. It was similar to several scenes I’ve walked in on before. He’d had an accident again. His skin was bleeding from sitting in it. I was livid, but knew my temper would do no good. I cleaned him up, just like if we were at his house.

“You better get that shit taken care of. Can’t lose my boy.”

“The doctors suspect it’s my gallbladder. Mom is hassling with the damn insurance. I’m going to wait until I go home this summer and get it taken care of.”