the brutal heart of it

 

There were some strange things going on. Or so Dan thought. He spent a good portion of Thanksgiving with Ivy on facetime with Jay and his mother who was in the hospital. He knew it was the least he could do. At least, Jay knew Ivy and the baby were OK and Ivy knew Jay was OK too. 

Maybe he'd smiled more than he knew. It was just the beginning of a very long day on Thanksgiving. Why was Dan even thinking about it now?

Bom came with food. He felt bad that somebody with a newborn was capable of creating such a great dinner. How in the world did she do it, with her hands full with not just the infant, but Ivy's son, too. And they were dressed so properly and no one made a mess. 

They invited Rachel and Jory over.

Jory was quite himself. He didn't say a word to anyone. Rachel went on to visit with the women as if they were all good friends. She'd brought huge chocolate chip cookies and left a batch for each of them. 

"What's making you miserable now?" Dan had done his duty to call Valentina on Thanksgiving. They were going to drop by, but they never did. He felt he and Jory were in the same boat. He guessed Jory and his sister Lynsey were not getting along.

"Oh, I'm not miserable." His hands were shoved in his cargo shorts and he was ever so solemn. Didn't Dan know this was normal?

"If you say so," Dan wished Jory would talk to him. "Is everything OK with you and Rach?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Jory looked at him as if there were no problems, but not once did she address him. It was as if he were invisible, but she was full of laughter and her voice carried.

"You don't know when to quit, do  you?" Dan winced thinking they should take a walk, maybe get in a shoving match, but they'd probably just shoot hoops in the cold. "Let's get something to drink."

Naturally, it was too cold to wear shorts, but they were natives to Nebraska and that's what Nebraskans did.

 "What's that supposed to mean?" Jory followed.

"You hate to see people happy," Dan told him as they walked the empty street to the nearby convenience store.

"Is that a crime?"

"Possibly." Dan was straight-lipped. "I don't know who you've hurt, but don't take it out on Rachel. She's been good to you. She deserves to be happy."

Of course, Jory was sulking and Dan reached for the king-sized beers. One for each of them and some mile-long sausage sticks.

"I used to think you were just about perfect," Dan said on the way back.

"Well, weren't you that way?" Jory shrugged as he opened his can of beer while Dan snacked on a sausage stick.

He shook his head, no. "I worked hard being a good son. But I don't know if I ever loved them. I went to mass. I cleaned the parish. I knew my place....but I never knew what it was to have a real family. Sure, I was good. Maybe too good at times, but I still felt empty." He teared up. "And even now, it's hard to go forward. Like this really isn't my place to be..with Ivy. Maybe she and Jay can work it out."

"What the hell are you trying to tell me?" Jory grabbed the sleeve of Dan's hoodie as he took a sip of beer. "But she's made her choice. It's you. Not Jay."

Dan nodded. He tried to smile. Really, he knew he'd said too much. Damn, if this conversation wasn't going the way he planned.