Page 160 of Two-Step
I roll my eyes.
“Don’t do what I did, Beau. You look at Iris the same way I look at Lorraine. Don’t waste years denying what you feel,” he warns. “I let years get in between us, being stubborn and not yielding over stupid shit. Yield, for God’s sake. Figure out now that you can’t have everything, so you gotta choose the most important things.”
I scowl at him. “And you’re saying family isn’t the most important thing?”
“I’m saying you don’t have to choose family over your one and only.”Noncshakes his head like he’s disappointed in me. “You know what makes family worth havin’?”
I cock a sarcastic brow at him. “What’s that? Please enlighten me.”
He narrows his eyes at my sass. “If you weren’t too big to put over my knee, I swear...” he mutters. “Family means you don’t have to do it all by yourself. Family means you don’t have to give up what matters most just to fulfill some filial duty. It means you have people who canhelp you.Just let us.”
I blink at him. “What do you mean?”
If exasperation were steam, it’d be coming out of his ears right about now. “I mean I can look after Gina. Lorraine and I both can,” he says, almost pleading. “We can take her to lunch on Sundays. I can go see her twice a week, and Lorraine can go see her twice a week. She won’t lack for company.”
Guilt stabs me because what he’s offering would mean I’d get to go after Iris. But I can’t accept this. She’s my mother.
“She’s only going to get worse,” I say, shaking my head. “I can’t leave her to that.”
Noncexhales a heavy breath. “You’re right. She’s only going to get worse,” he says grimly. “But it doesn’t mean you have to physically be here for the day-to-day.”
I shake my head. “She wouldn’t understand.”
He cocks a brow. “You underestimate her. We could take advantage of her favorite hobby.”
“What do you mean?”
“She loves watching her movies. Can’t you set up her TV so she can—you know—FaceTime or whatever with you?”
I blink.
“FaceTime...I don’t think that would work, but—” Would Skype? Would Zoom? With a Firestick? “She’d need a camera on her TV…”
Nonc’seyes blaze. “So. Get. Her. One.”
I shake my head. “Even if I did—even if I got her everything and installed it just right, she wouldn’t remember how to turn it on and connect a video conference. Even now, sometimes she needs help putting on a movie.”
His disappointed look is back. “Do you thinkIcould remember how? Hell, do you think we could ask the staff to help her?”
“I-I don’t know.” It’s a thought. It’s the kind of thought that makes my heart start pounding. Would it be enough for Mom? Would it be enough for her to see me on a screen? If so, I’d call her every day.
We couldn’t eat lunch or dinner together, but maybe we could have coffee every morning instead?
We wouldn’t be able to take walks.
But I’d be able to have Iris.
My lungs empty, and I squeeze my eyes shut.
Is it too selfish to want this?
“Beau—” My uncle rests a strong hand on my shoulder, his voice softening. “Lorraine and I don’t have kids. You and Val are the closest we’ve got to that. Let us do this for you. Wewantto do it. Let us be the boots on the ground for a while.”
I can’t open my eyes. I’m too close to caving. I’m too close to crying.
“You can come visit whenever you want and stay upstairs.” He grips my shoulder. “You can make this work.”
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