She sobbed, missing him with all she was, then she heard someone calling her. Gia. Gia. Wake up. Her eyes flew open; thankful it was only a dream. He was there. Roger was in front of her.
But as her foggy brain cleared, it wasn’t him. Gary had returned. She couldn’t lie to herself; she was disappointed it wasn’t Roger, yet shocked Gary came back. “I thought you could use some coffee.”
Gia sat up, taking the paper cup from him. She appreciated the thought, but it only showed once again how little they knew about each other. She never drank coffee. Actually she hated the taste. But she didn’t want to return the tension that was between them yesterday. So she took a sip and smiled.
“Thank you. I thought you were going to be at work all day.”
“I was, but I couldn’t focus. My boss sent me home.”
She could relate. Gia slid over, making space for him to sit. “Have you talked to Mom yet?”
“No. I wanted to check on you first. You look tired. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep?”
“Boston is not next door.”
Gary said, “I meant Maplesville. You know your room is still there. Hell, so is mine. Nothing in that house is ever going to change.”
“From what the doctor said, they aren’t going to have a choice. The place needs too much work, and there are too many stairs. Mom and Dad are in their seventies. They shouldn’t be living alone.” She worried about them, even though she didn’t want to give up her independent life and move home. She had worked so hard to get where she was, only to walk away from it all now.
“Mom isn’t going to like it, but I think you and I should sit down and have a serious talk with her.”
“Gary, she’s not going to listen to me.” They had never seen eye to eye on small things. Talking about giving up the family home and relocating wasn’t going to go well.
“There’s things you don’t know.”
That didn’t surprise her. For years she’d been out of the loop. Both intentional and because of distance. “Would you like to fill me in?”
He nodded. “This wasn’t Dad’s first heart attack.”
Her eyes widened in shock. There was no way. Someone would’ve told her. “You’re not serious.” He nodded. “Why am I just hearing about that now?”
Gary reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “Because even though none of us ever told you, we’re all very proud of what you’ve accomplished. You said you were going to make it, and you did. Hell, if I had half of your perseverance, I might have been able to make my marriage work.”
It seemed unreal. Was the wedge there all this time because she put it there? That didn’t make sense, yet there was no reason for Gary to lie about such a thing. What they had thought or done in the past didn’t matter. This was about her parents. She knew this day would come, but somehow, it felt like it was too soon.
“Gary, tell me what you want me to say to Mom and I will.”
He laughed. “You’re the brains of the bunch. One thing I know about you: when you want something, you don’t stop until you get it.”
For years she wanted to hear these words, but she never wanted to use them on her mother. “She’s going to be . . . resistant.”
“That’s putting it lightly.”
Gia ran several options through her mind, but none seemed to end well. Most would become a shouting match, which definitely wouldn’t accomplish anything. When she was about to give up and tell Gary he needed to be the one, she noticed Roger standing in the doorway.
“How long have you been standing there?” From the look on his face, he hadn’t just arrived.
“Long enough. Your brother is right; you can do this.”
All their confidence in her abilities was way overstated. “Roger, she is going to want me to be there to help. How can I make that promise when my job is in Boston?”
“Parents don’t want you to give up your life. They want to know you’re there if they need you.”
“Isn’t that the same thing? I can’t commit to working for the Hendersons, knowing I might need to drop everything and rush back here.”
“True, but you can help them without physically being here. You’re a very resourceful woman. Use that now.”
He was right. Gia was thinking with her emotions instead of her head. If this was a business she needed to put into compliance, what would be her first course of action? Get the doctors all on the same page and in our corner.