Home Tears

“No. The settlement. Jenny’s become friends with your sister. She told her. You led me to believe you left home with nothing. That’s not true.” He tilted his head to the side. “Right?”

“What settlement?”

“Oh, hell.”

She twisted around. Mae was in the doorway behind her, another box in her hands. She had the door propped open with her leg, like she caught the tail end of their conversation and stopped abruptly. Blinking a couple times, her shoulders lifted up and she dragged in a deep breath of air. “Okay. Um.” She came out, placing the box on the bar beside Dani. The door swung shut behind her. She raked a hand through her hair. “Hello, I’m Mae O’Hara. I’m the owner of this place.” She waved a distracted hand around the bar, then resting on Dani’s arm. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to have a word with my niece.”

Boone nodded, giving both of them a second appraisal before leaving.

Both waited until the door closed behind him. They spoke at the same time.

Dani: “What settlement?”

Mae: “You and that man have history.”

Dani pressed her hands to her forehead. A migraine was coming, but she couldn’t ignore Mae’s words. “What?”

“You and that man.” Mae waved a finger in her face. “I came around before, but it looked too intense. I snuck off to the side to watch.”

“You were watching?” Dani had to laugh. Of course her aunt would watch. Why wouldn’t she? “Did you have a snack? Popcorn, perhaps?”

Mae ignored that. “Who is he?”

Dani had another retort to deliver, but swallowed it. She closed her mouth. “He’s no one.”

“Danielle O’Hara.”

“He’s…no one important.”

Mae spoke again, her voice patient and calm, “Who is he, Dani?” There was a grave expression in her eyes. “You need to tell me.”

“He—” It was painful to say these words. It was different with Jonah. He listened. He didn’t judge. He didn’t have questions afterwards. She knew there’d be questions now, and answers she didn’t want to give. They would be pulled from the depths of her, and she would feel split open when she gave them.

“Dani.” Another low warning.

“He was my fiancé.”

She closed her eyes. She waited. The barrage was about to happen.

Nothing.

She opened her eyes again. Mae was staring at her. There was no judgment, no anger. She lifted her chin up, slightly. “Did you love him?” There was nothing in her voice that Dani expected. It was kindness, and compassion.

Tears pricked at her eyes. Dani swore under her breath. Why would she start crying now? She flicked a hand over her eyes. “I did, but the timing was wrong. And…” She’d been a mess. An absolute, complete mess, and she still was.

“When did this happen?”

“Before I came here.”

“That’s why you came back.” There was new understanding in her aunt’s voice. “You came back to heal. Didn’t you?”

There was no holding the tears now. They fell, but she kept her eyes closed. She could try and slow them down.

“Oh, honey.” Mae drew her into her arms. She tucked her head into the crook of Dani’s neck and shoulder. Her voice came out muffled. “If I’d known, I—” She let out a shaky laugh. “I have no idea. We would’ve gotten drunk more often?”

Dani laughed. It split through some of her pain. She felt the pressure behind her forehead lessening, and she stepped back. “I’m fine, Aunt Mae. I am.” She used both palms to wipe the rest of her tears away. Mae knew part of the reason she came back. She didn’t know about the storm, or the children. Dani wasn’t ready to share those ghosts, not yet. “What settlement was he talking about?”

“Oh.” Mae cursed to herself. “Erica won a big settlement with the hospital a long time ago.”

“What settlement?” Her voice hitched on a high note. How many times did she have to ask?

Mae bit down on her lip, looking around the room. She was looking anywhere, but at Dani, then she stopped. Her eyes found Dani’s again. She dropped the bomb. “The hospital screwed up some of her lab results. They told her she was pregnant, and Erica stopped the chemotherapy. It was a mistake. She found out later there was no baby.”

The ground shifted under her.

Dani asked, her voice a hoarse rasp, “How much later?”

“She was sick a lot. She thought she lost the baby. Julia asked them to retest the blood from before. It wasn’t until after…”

She knew, but Dani wanted to hear the words. “After what?”

“After she was already gone. She never was pregnant.”

Her stomach dropped. It was her sister, hearing about an unborn child she never had, but Dani was back in that building. The first child died. The second. They just kept dying. She couldn’t stop them.

Mae continued, her voice sounding from a distance, “Julia pushed for the lawsuit. I think if Erica had chemo during that time, she’d be alive.” Mae paused a beat. “They settled for two million.”

Julia was rich. Good for her.

Erica thought she’d been pregnant…Dani ached inside. There were no words. It was her child’s life, or her own. She chose her child, and in the end it’d been for nothing, but Dani knew that Erica would’ve made the same choice if the same lie had been told to her. She knew, because it was the same choice Dani would’ve made, as well.