Page 34

34

“You’re writing Noah’s what?”

“Don’t laugh, Dad. It’s not funny.” Plus Gracie never liked how her dad’s laughter often turned into wheezy coughing fits that led to increased oxygen requirements. She gave her scrambled eggs another stir in the frying pan just as her toast popped up warm and brown from the toaster. “C’mon, Dad. Take a breath. You okay?”

His coughing subsided enough on the other end of the phone that she could hear the gentle hiss of the oxygen flowing from his nasal cannula. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Oh, but that’s rich. You of all people.”

“Tell me about it.” Gracie added a little cheese to her eggs.

He coughed a few more times. “So he’s sticking around then? Noah?”

“Has to. For now. We’re supposed to get started on it immediately.”

“Well then, I better not keep you.”

“You’re fine. Noah’s not even here. Apparently Matt needed to talk to him about something important, so they’re meeting up for breakfast.” She snapped off the burner. “Here we go again. Same old tune. I remember the lyrics to this song. Hey Noah, I need you. Sorry, babe, gotta go. Yeah, this project is going to work out oh so great.”

“Aw c’mon. Cut him a little slack.”

“You do remember that Noah is my ex-husband, right?”

“Trust me, honey. I remember exactly who Noah is.” His tone sounded way too forgiving to be talking about the man who broke her heart. “Uh-oh. Looks like they’re bringing my breakfast tray in. Better go.”

“Why are you eating breakfast in your room? Why aren’t you going out to the dining hall?”

“You mean depressing hall,” he muttered.

“Well...” Okay. It wasn’t the cheeriest of places. But still. He shouldn’t be eating his meals locked up in his room. “They’re still getting you up into your wheelchair throughout the day, right? Do I need to come up there and talk to someone?”

“Honey, I’m fine. Sometimes Shorty and I just prefer keeping our own company in the morning.”

“All right. But remember you’ve still got to get out and about. You can’t just stare at those same four walls all day, every day.”

“I know, I know. Don’t you worry about me. You just focus on Noah for now. I’ll talk to you later.” He hung up before she could respond.

Focus on Noah. Right. She turned off the burner and stared at her eggs. This new project stole her appetite worse than her previous deadline.