Page 62 of Shameless
“We’ve come to lend a hand with whatever you need,” Mom stated.
“No, please. Don’t worry about me.”
“It’s not a bother,” Dad assured him. “Let us help while we’re here.”
“Yeah,” I interjected. “Dad and I can go to the store and get food for Mom to cook.” I grinned at my mother because I hadn’t asked her if that would be okay.
“Yes, let’s do that,” my mom agreed.
Sarah said nothing, and that was okay. She was in her own world and I was going to give her time to process what had happened in the last few hours and try my best to help in any way I could.
* * *
Mom wroteout a grocery list and Dad and I hopped in my truck. I vaguely remembered where the store was and headed in that direction.
“You’re different with her,” Dad said.
I turned my head and questioned, “Who?”
“Sarah.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not quite sure, but something is different. I see it on your face and how you act toward her.”
Something was definitely different. I’d felt it when we first spent time together in Mexico. “She’s different.”
“I have to be honest, son. After that shitshow at your wedding—or what would have been your wedding—I thought you’d spiral. Start drinking heavily again. Maybe even get on a plane and leave without a goodbye like you did when you went to San Francisco.”
I lifted a shoulder and turned onto the main road that led into town. “I could have, but I think there was a reason I ran into Sarah in Cabo.”
“Because she’s the one?”
I glanced at him and nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
* * *
Besides the stuffon the list, Dad and I got the ingredients for him to make a big pot of chili. Just like the delicacies he cooked on the grill, my father’s chili was the bomb. It would also freeze well, and that was what Roger needed.
When we returned to the house, Roger and my mom were sitting at the dining room table with coffee cups in front of them. Sarah and Skye were nowhere in sight.
“Where’s Sarah?” I asked as I set a brown bag of groceries onto the island.
“She’s inourroom …” Roger swallowed, and closed his eyes briefly. “She insisted on picking out the perfect outfit for Deb.”
“You already planned her service?” Dad asked.
Mom shook her head. “No, but Sarah wanted something to do while y’all were gone.”
“I’ll go check on her.” I walked down the hall toward the bedroom I knew was Deb’s. It was right across the hall from the one I had stayed in that summer. I peeked into the small room and saw it had been converted into an office. Maybe Roger worked from home or Deb needed it for her apple business. When I walked in, I saw the closet door open. Stepping inside, I noticed Sarah sitting on the floor cross-legged and sniffling as she stared down at a book. “Hey—”
She looked up at me with a tear-stained face. “How could you?”
I balked. “How could I what?”
“Sleep with my aunt!” She stood and thrust the book at me.
I grabbed it and started skimming over the handwritten text and finally realizing it was a diary entry addressed to her late husband a month after I’d left the farm …
