I sighed again and hung my head. “I know you would, Theo. You’ve always paid for anything I needed, but you have to take care of Birgitte, and these tests won’t be cheap.” I turned to Mathias. “Why did you bring me here? My issues are just putting more strain on them when they have enough worries. We shouldn’t even be having this conversation. Birgitte is the one who’s sick.”
Mathias grimaced and that was when I remembered I wasn’t supposed to know about the cancer. I hung my head for a moment before I glanced back up and mouthed, ‘I’m sorry.’ All he did was squeeze my shoulder as he turned me around. Birgitte was standing in the middle of the kitchen, crying silent tears. I ran to her, hugging her tightly. We swayed together while Theo held us up, both hurting for the other.
“I didn’t know he told you,” she cried, burying her face in my neck. “He wasn’t supposed to tell you.”
I gripped her tighter, holding her head in my hands as she trembled in my arms. “I didn’t give him much choice. He was a real jerk, and I called him on it.”
Theo punched his son in the arm, and Mathias responded with a joking “ow” as he rubbed the spot.
“I’m sorry. I thought he told you I knew. You’re going to be okay,” I insisted through my tears. “I won’t have it any other way. I’ll be here for any appointments you need me for, anytime you need someone to sit and hold your hand or just to take you out of the house for coffee or shopping. You’re not going to go through this alone.”
She pulled back and patted my face sweetly. “You’ve always been a daughter to me. You know that, mypigebarn,” she whispered, using the Danish word fordaughter. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I don’t want to see you sick or in pain,” I cried.
Theo took my shoulders and squeezed them. “And we don’t want to see you sick or in pain either. My son will get you on the insurance and pay whatever it doesn’t for the tests.”
“Theo, he already bought me a hou—” I stopped midsentence when I noticed Mathias shake his head slightly.
“He bought you a house?” Birgitte asked, her voice shrill.
“Err, more like he bought a business, and there was a house on the land,” I explained.
I begged Mathias with my eyes to jump in, but he just smiled, crossed his arms over his chest, and let his parents have at me.
♥
The sun was setting when we pulled back into Plentiful. We had shared dinner with his parents but respectfully passed on staying overnight. I’d been quiet on the ride back, but so had he, making it a comfortable silence. Instead of driving me home to my apartment, he went to the new house and parked in the driveway. I didn’t ask questions since I figured he had just forgotten something.
Mathias opened my door and motioned me out. “I thought you might want to look over the business proposals,” he explained, helping me up the steps to the door.
My shoulders slumped from my heavy heart, so I just shook my head. “I don’t think I can tonight, Mathias. My mind is so far away from charts, graphs, numbers, and strategy. I need a solid night’s sleep before I can think about it.”
He pushed the door open and kept his hand to my back as I stepped inside. “I understand. I’m in the same camp, to be honest. Tomorrow is soon enough. Let’s just rest for tonight.” He smiled my favorite smile, and it was nice to see. He had many smiles. Some were pointed, some were pained, but this one was the one he had smiled that first day I met him in the park. It was my Mattie, the little boy I rarely got to see anymore.
“Did you need something here? I can wait in the car.”
He shook his head and took my hand, leading me through the house to the kitchen and then out through the Dutch door. I gasped at the sight before me. “How did this get here?” I stared at the beautiful patio with a fire ring in the middle and chairs spaced around it. The yard had transformed from untamed to intimate.
He lit some tiki torches in each corner of the patio before he answered. “A guy I know came over and set it up for me. You said I could have a bedroom in the house, so since I didn’t need space for a camping trailer, I decided to go for it. Once I get a barbecue grill, there’s room for that too.”
I shook my head as I took in the changes since I was last here. A bricked path ran from the back door to the garage with a large, rounded patio off the side into the backyard. “This is beautiful,” I sighed, kneeling to run my hand over the bricks. “It looks like it belongs to the house. No way could they do this in a day.” I sat in a chair as Mathias started a fire with the wood someone had already placed in the pit.
“Normally, no, but my buddy has a landscaping business and a large crew. He probably had this done in four or five hours. I’m glad you like it.” He joined me in a chair when the fire started to crackle and pop.
I leaned back in mine and gazed at the setting sun. “Look how gorgeous the sunset is.” I sighed with tears in my eyes.
“I love that you can see the lake while it sets too.” He tenderly rubbed my shoulder. “It reminds me that even on the worst of days, the sun will come up tomorrow, and we will be okay.”
I silently watched the sun dip lower and lower in the sky. The giant orange ball glowed as though it were going to explode rather than dip below the horizon and start someone else’s morning. Mathias’s hand remained on my shoulder, and I patted it.
“Mor’s decision shook you up,” he said over the crackle of the fire.
I swiveled my head to glare at him. “You weren’t?”
He nodded with hooded eyes but then tipped his head to the side. “But it’s Mor’s decision, not mine.”
“I think she’s making the best decision, even if it’s the hardest one.”
