Page 27 of Serious Cowboy
“I’m sorry, honey, but maybe you shouldn’t give up on him just yet. Maybe he needs some time.”
“He’s had four weeks, though.” Four interminable, never-ending weeks. And not a peep. Not a single attempt at communication.
“Oh,” responded her mother softly, and the glum tone broadcasted a clear enough indication of what she thought.
Regardless, her mom was an expert comforter, and after downing more of Amanda’s chocolate chip cookies—Callie had already indulged in five—she did feel the teensiest bit better. Callie distracted herself by catching up with what had been going on back in Washington with her parents and by watching the kids play.
Their lives were so simple, and they seemed to need so little to be happy. A video game for Brian; he was like his dad in that way, Tim had often been glued to a gaming console when he was younger. A coloring book for Sallie. Something sweet for Kimmie. Seemed Kimmie was a girl following in Callie’s sweet-toothed footsteps.
She also had to give her brother credit for improving his relations with his nursing staff. When overwhelmingly busy sometimes he forgot, but for the most part, he’d been going out of his way to be a better listener and to not dismiss whatever either Erika or Julie was trying to tell him in the moment.
In fact, he’d done such a solid job of it that both nurses had attended the festivities. Julie had plans for later so had only come for lunch, but Erika was still here. And while Callie had been extra friendly with her to make up for Tim’s gruffness, she hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know Erika on a deeper level.
“Hey, Callie,” the RN had greeted her. “Seems your brother and sister-in-law know how to throw a party.”
“They do,” she said. “Though most of the credit has to go to Amanda.”
“I’m surprised that Zeke isn’t here. Isn’t he Tim’s best friend?”
Callie gaped at her. “Do…” She had to clear her throat. “Do you know Zeke?”
“Sure. We went to Rocky Ridge High together.” Callie forced herself not to ask more of Erika. Butting into his business is what led to her being without him in the first place. Then, the nurse continued anyway. “He was always such a nice guy.”
“Yeah?” Callie couldn’t hold that much back.
“Yeah. Smart. Inquisitive. I thought he’d go on to be a scientist or engineer somewhere. I guess feed manager on a ranch works, but he always talked about trying his fortune elsewhere. And maybe he would’ve if his senior year hadn’t happened like it did. So tragic. So awful.”
Tragic? Awful? Callie’s breath froze in her lungs.
“Had a rough childhood, too,” Erika continued. “I mean, I know a lot of us are children of divorce. It’s never fun. But his folks didn’t treat him fairly. Some of the stuff I saw out of them…”
“What did you see?” Callie inquired when she trailed off.
“Well, I used to be one of the student volunteers for the PTA, and both his mom and dad were on it. That sounds nice, like they were keen to help the school by participating, but turned out it was only to wield their son against one another like a weapon.
“His mom would be all like, ‘The Science and Math Club needs more funding,’ and his dad would argue, ‘No, it needs to go to the library. That’s where the most intelligent kids spend their time.’ They were really talking about Zeke and his preferences. Or more likely their preferencesforhim. It was a nightmare.”
“His parents had it out in front of the PTA board?”
“Oh, yeah. They didn’t care how severely they dragged each other—or Zeke—through the mud. They didn’t care how much of their dirty laundry they aired in public, either. That was back when we were sophomores or maybe freshmen, I think. They each got thrown out of the association for disorderly conduct, and they divorced the next year. Never knew a couple who needed to separate more than those two. Poor Zeke.”
Callie blinked, having no clue what to say to that.
“Then all that stuff with Maria. The early marriage and pregnancy. They were so young, too. Hadn’t even graduated yet. He’s never been the same, you know, but I doubt I would be either if I lost my significant other and newborn baby. It’s a wonder he survived such a loss at all.”
“Mariadied?” Callie choked out.
Erika nodded. “Had pre-eclampsia and both her and the baby were in distress. Neither of them made it.”
Being the sister of a doctor meant Callie had more than average knowledge about health matters, particularly since Tim had considered going into obstetrics previous to going into pediatric care. She knew that pre-eclampsia, or a condition that caused dangerously high blood pressure along with some other complications had a certain mortality rate. One that could be high if it went untreated.
But for Zeke to be a teenager with so much responsibility on his shoulders only to suffer the deaths of the two people he probably loved most in the world was incomprehensible.
Callie spent the rest of the celebration in a daze. Everything continued around her, but she barely took note of any of it. Only distantly did she register the simple dinner Amanda later served or the string of patio lights being lit above her. Conversations occurred between the parties nearby her, but she couldn’t absorb much of anything going on.
She was too caught up in the turmoil roiling inside her own head.
To imagine Zeke enduring so much pain during such a formative time in his life staggered her. No wonder he rarely smiled or laughed. No wonder his disposition tended to be stoic and detached. He’d been attempting to protect himself. He must’ve been.