Page 76 of The Curveball
A downer conversation. Now, panic tightens like a vise around my lungs. “Mom, you have to say something now. Seriously, if you don’t, I’ll think about this all night, and I won’t sleep. I’ll be impossible to deal with tomorrow, and Wren will probably break up with me because I’ll be grumpier than Ryder.”
She laughs and shoves my shoulder. “You, my boy, have a way of painting a vivid picture of destruction.” She places one cleaned plate on the counter, tells Marti’s kids they can take a break, then leans her back against the sink once it’s only the two of us. “I don’t want you to freak out, okay?”
“No promises. Chances are since you’ve said that, I’m for sure going to freak out.”
My mom rolls her eyes, but her smile is gone. It’s what I notice most. Her smile isgone.
“I’ve been having some pain in my knees again.”
No. The ringing starts in my head almost immediately. A spiral into unknowns, pain, into panic.
“They aren’t sure if it’s . . . if the cancer is back. I have some scans coming up, but my oncologist thinks it might have something to do with my knee replacement and the integrity of my bones.”
“Mom.” My hands are in my hair; I’m tugging at the ends.
“Griff, listen. There is nothing to panic about yet, okay? Odds are this’ll boil down to weak bones, and I’ll need an injection every now and again to help with pain and strength.”
“And what if it’s something else?” Each word ends cracked and broken. We battled health for the last five years with Giana Marks. Scary health issues. The kind that sometimes end in funerals. She’s too young, too full of life to face death, and I can’t stomach the thought of it.
Not again.
“Griffin.” My mom places a hand on my arm. She gives me a gentle squeeze. “Honey, don’t go to the extreme right now. You like to do that. I’m not dying, I’m getting some scans to get ahead of something if we need to, okay? Like I said, it could simply be some weak bones from the radiation and surgeries.”
I turn back to the sink. A thousand thoughts spin in my head, but I can’t form a word. My mom always called it my shadow self. I’m stuck inside the chaos, but can’t project anything but a shadow of who I am to those on the outside.
Mom closes her eyes for a few breaths, then hugs her arms as best she can around my shoulders. She presses a kiss to my cheek but doesn’t try to get me to talk. It won’t work anyway.
“Don’t worry until there’s something to worry about, Griff. It’s been a good day. Let’s keep it that way.”
I nod, jaw tight, and keep washing dishes.
Her shoulders slump as she steps back. “I’ll go get some more plates.”
“Okay.”
Alone, I squeeze my eyes shut. I let out a loud curse and drop the plate in the sink. Leaning over the edge, I try to keep the doom and gloom from overpowering everything else.
A perfect puzzle piece fit in the big picture today. Now, another one feels like it might be ripped out.
CHAPTER23
WREN
I wonderhow strange Griffin’s family would think I am if I burst into tears. From the first bite at the table, I’ve been battling a squishy warmth in the back of my throat. A swell of emotion I can’t shake because these people are incredible.
They mesh with my weird family like brownies and ice cream.
Marti and her sisters have gone on about my books for the last twenty minutes. Somewhere along the way, Skye came over and sat with us. She’s my anchor between worlds. She knows me through my friendship with Alice, but is part of Griffin’s life through Parker.
“So, how is the family meet-cute?” she whispers.
I blink my stupidly wet eyes her direction. “Is it weird to feel like I’ve always known them?”
She grins. “Nope. That’s how I was with Alexis. We clicked like we’d always known each other.”
True. Parker’s sister and Skye grew close straightaway. The newlyweds even purchased their new home four houses down from the Coles. But that’s her sister-in-law. Herhusband’ssister. Am I really comparing Griffin’s family to Skye’s in-laws? It’s not like Griffin and I will get married.
Except . . .