Chapter Twenty-One

Savvy was feeling anxious by the time she and Tyler returned to the house. What if things hadn’t gone well between Lexi and Derek? What if Lexi had run away again? She scanned the street for any sign of her sister. But she saw only trees, cars, houses, and two children playing ball in a front yard.

Tyler put his hand on hers. “Relax, okay? It’ll be all right.”

“You know, I don’t think Lexi would run away because her dad told her she couldn’t date a boy or because she doesn’t want to move. I mean, she’d understand if he had to move for his job. So what’s the deal?”

He shrugged. “We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

“We have to help her. I promised.” Savvy felt warmth at his support, yet at the same time she was leery. Tyler liked to solve problems. He liked to research things and discover secrets. But what happened when there were no more secrets?

Savvy pulled her hand out from under his. There was a question in his eyes, but she ignored it. She would have to deal with Tyler later. Now was for Lexi and their father. Father. The word didn’t fit him–at least for herself. He would never really be her father. But maybe they could be friends.

Unless he ordered her to leave again.

Savvy sighed and tried not to think about it. Better to focus on the positive things she’d learned. “Come on,” she said, exiting the Jeep.

Lexi answered their knock. “What took you so long?” she asked. “Dad and I loaded the dishwasher already and washed some plates.” She wrinkled her nose. “He let things pile up while I was gone.”

“You do dishes?” Tyler faked surprise. “I’ll have to remember that.”

“Of course I do dishes.” Lexi grabbed the two large take-out bags from his hands. “Yum! I love Mexican.”

Savvy arched a brow. “You’re looking rather happy all of a sudden. Did your father decide not to move to Minnesota?”

Lexi’s expression froze and her body slumped, as though a tremendous weight had dropped back onto her shoulders. Savvy felt immediately guilty. Why hadn’t she left well enough alone?

“I’m glad to be home,” Lexi said in a small voice. “That’s all.”

Savvy glanced past Lexi to be sure they couldn’t be overheard. “So everything you said about your father–is it true? Or was it all to delay us from coming here?”

“It’s not true,” Lexi whispered. “Well, he won’t let me hang out with Zeke and some of the others, and he doesn’t really take care of the house . . . or me anymore. But that’s not really his fault. He doesn’t . . . you know . . . hurt me.” Her shoulder ticked twice.

Frustration built inside Savvy’s chest. “Then why say he did, Lexi? And what made you run away in the first place? Was it because you didn’t want to move?” Savvy tried to hide her disappointment, but she knew Lexi could feel it by the way the girl avoided her gaze.

Lexi backed away from them, stumbling on the rug, and would have lost her balance if Tyler hadn’t grabbed her arms. “Whoa. Are you okay, Lexi?”

She nodded, though she clutched the food bags to her chest as if she were in pain. “I’m sorry I lied about Daddy,” she said with a sob. “But I do have a reason. I mean . . . if only . . . I . . . oh!” She jerked from Tyler’s grasp and darted away from them. They followed her to the kitchen where she tossed the food onto the table and flew into her father’s arms, her tears bursting into full-fledged sobs.

“Lexi?” Savvy asked, approaching them. She reached out a hand, longing to touch her sister’s hair and soothe her as Derek was doing. “I’m sorry if I upset you. I know you had a reason. Can’t you tell me?”

Lexi’s response was to bury her face into her father’s chest. “Daddy,” she whimpered.

Derek held onto Lexi as though she were the only thing keeping him standing. He looked firmly at Savvy, and for a moment she was sure he was going to shout at her to leave. Her heart pounded in her chest like a drum in a funeral march, each beat painfully slow and filled with torment.

Instead, he sighed, loud and long. “I need to tell you something, Savvy. I didn’t want to, but it looks like I have no choice. There’s no easy way to do it, so I guess I’ll say it straight out.” Derek swallowed hard, and in his arms Lexi gave another whimper. “I’m dying.”

Savvy blinked several times, thinking at first she must have heard wrong. Dying? Well, so what?–everyone in the world was slowly heading toward the grave. But that wasn’t what he meant, of course. Derek was dying. She saw it clearly now, as she had perhaps seen it all along.

“Of what?” she finally managed to ask, her stomach twisting. She reached out to the wall for support but instead found Tyler there. He held her fingers, rubbing them with his own.

“I have cardiomyopathy,” Derek said. Savvy blinked again and waited for him to continue. “Basically, my heart is enlarged, and its ability to pump has diminished. The valves don’t close properly, either, which causes leaks and other problems.”

“When did you–how did you find out?” Tyler asked. He put an arm around Savvy, and she leaned back into him, afraid her knees would give out.

“I had a small stroke last year. Blood from my heart leaked and caused a clot. I was having other symptoms, too–couldn’t catch my breath, tiring easily. I got over the stroke pretty well, but the rest . . .” He shrugged and his hand on Lexi’s hair stopped moving.

“What about surgery?” Savvy asked.

Derek shook his head. “There’s really nothing they can do for me. I have a pacemaker, I’m on the list for a heart transplant, but my liver’s sort of wasted, so I’m not a great candidate for that. I’ve been having other symptoms that show I’m deteriorating more quickly than I’d hoped.”

Lexi lifted her face and turned toward them, tears glistening on her cheeks and in her eyes. “Most people with this disease die within five years. Five years! And who knows how long it’s been bad. He doesn’t take care of himself.”

“I do,” Derek protested. “I’m trying, honey. I’m doing the diet, and I’m getting the rest. I stopped drinking.”

Lexi shook her head and sniffed hard. “You say that, but you’re sending me away to Minnesota so you can die. You’re giving me away so you can die here all alone.”

“Lexi!” Derek’s voice was sharp but tinged by something else Savvy didn’t recognize. Was it fear?

“It’s true. You’re giving me away, just like you did Savvy. I bet you wouldn’t do that if I was Brenton. You’re still mad at me–aren’t you?–for making him die!”

“You didn’t make him die!” Derek pulled her back toward him. “And as for Minnesota. I only want you to be taken care of.”

“I want to be with you! I keep telling you, but you never listen!” Lexi’s words were muffled as she again sobbed into her father’s chest. Derek stood there, confusion on his face. Savvy didn’t blame him. How could any of them comfort her? She’d already lost so much.

“Do they know what caused it?” Tyler asked.

Always the researcher, Savvy thought. Yet she found herself straining to hear the answer.

Relieved at the distraction, Derek looked at Tyler. “No. It can be hereditary, but mine’s not. Drinking can be a factor, but it would have to be heavier drinking than I’ve done. My doctor thinks my condition was caused by a virus of some kind. No idea when.”

“I wish it was hereditary,” Lexi muttered. “Then I could get it.”

“Aw, Pumpkin, you don’t mean that.” Derek rubbed a hand over her back. “Please, Lexi. What about your plan? I thought you were feeling better about everything.”

Lexi sniffed again and didn’t reply.

Derek sighed. “Look, the food is getting cold, and I’m starved.”

“You can’t have it.” Lexi lifted her head and glared at him, eyes rimmed with red. “Remember? It’s not low fat.”

“I’ll have something else, then. I was making some cracked wheat earlier. It might still be edible.” He made a face as he glanced at a pot on one of the stove’s back burners.

“I did get a low-fat order,” Savvy offered. She’d bought it for herself, a vision of Tyler’s skinny girlfriends in her mind, but she wouldn’t mind sacrificing it for Derek. In fact, she’d lost her appetite altogether.

“See, Pumpkin? Come on.” Derek led Lexi to the table. He sank into a seat wearily. Savvy noticed how gray he appeared and how his chest rose with effort for each breath.

He was dying. Even as she looked at him, he was dying.

It explained a lot–his reaction when he first saw her that evening, why he planned to take Lexi to Minnesota, and most of all why Lexi ran away.

Poor, Lexi, she thought. I want to run away, too.

Of course, she didn’t. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the table and sat down.