Page 80 of Faking Forever
Her father’s reply came a minute later. Unusual for him. He must be between meetings, or something.
Dad Vader
What’s the point of having a doctor in the family then?
His usual argument.
Not your physician, remember?
Dad Vader
You could be, if you became the company physician. Doc Halliday is retiring this year. Top-tier salary, great benefits.
No. A thousandtimes…no.
Dad Vader
I have to try.
You really don’t.
Dad Vader
Of course I do. I’m rather fond of getting my way. Not to worry, we’ll revisit this. See you in a couple of weeks.
Wait…what?
A couple of weeks?
She racked her brains trying to figure out what her father meant by that. What was happening in a couple of weeks?
She checked the date and then groaned.
With everything going on, she’d completely forgotten about her father’s birthday.
He’d be sixty-six on the ninth of February. For the smaller birthdays, everybody usually just gathered at one of the siblings’ homes. And it was Kenny’s turn to host this year.
Which was a disaster.
She was nowhere near emotionally prepared to be around her family yet. There would be too many probing questions. Too much judgment of Smith.
And then there was the fact that she’d be doing this without his steady presence.
OhGod. Maybe she could cry off. Foist the responsibility onto Fern or Beth.
But she couldn’t do that.
Fern was heavily pregnant and Beth usually hosted every Christmas. And Nox was out of the question. He was God knows where and he’d blown off so many family gatherings over the last couple of years, it was doubtful he’d even attend.
She shoved the problem out of her mind for now, knowingshe’d have to address the issue very soon. This gathering was supposed to happen in just two weeks.
But as was becoming a deplorable habit, she was finding it much easier to bury her head in the sand and deal with the repercussions at a later date.
She swiped her father’s message off-screen. Out of sight, out of mind. For now.
She hoped.
She refocused on her screen.
