Her heart clenched at the pain in his voice. “To what?”
Ean paced the length of her kitchen, past the table and back. The hurt in his voice hinted at the torment in his eyes. “Why didn’t my mother call me as soon as my parents found out my father had cancer?”
Megan didn’t want to betray a friend. At the same time, she didn’t want her friend to be blamed for something that wasn’t her idea.
She wandered to her blond wood table and lowered herself into the closest chair. “Your father didn’t want her to.”
His shock slammed into her from across the room like a body blow. “How do you know that?”
Megan looked up at him. Ean was so still. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Your mother would have told you about your father’s illness—unless he specifically asked her not to.”
He started his uneasy pacing again. “You’re speculating. When I asked her why she hadn’t told me about Dad’s cancer right away, she said there wasn’t anything I could do but worry.”
Megan tilted her head. “Doesn’t that sound more like something your father would say?”
Ean stopped, staring at the faux-stone flooring. “Why wouldn’t she just tell me Dad didn’t want me to know?”
“Doreen wouldn’t want you to be angry with your father, but I don’t want you to be angry with her.”
“It doesn’t matter that he didn’t want me to know. If the situation had been reversed, I would’ve told her.”
Megan’s voice softened. “You don’t know that. Until you’ve walked in her shoes, you don’t know what you would have done. And I hope you never find out.”
Ean turned away. Silence stretched between them. Megan considered his back. What could she do to ease the tightness in those broad shoulders? She wanted to touch him, but would he rather have some space?
He rubbed the back of his neck. “What do I do now?”
“Talk with her. As you said, this is all just speculation. If you confront her with it, she won’t lie to you.”
Ean faced her. “It won’t be easy. The last time we talked about Dad, it didn’t go well.”
“You said you came back for answers. This is your chance.”
Ean nodded, staring into the middle distance. A soul-deep sigh lifted his chest. He exhaled before pinning her with his olive gaze. “What about us?”
Her heart tripped, then continued a steady beat. “We’ll talk after you speak with Doreen.”
The next day, Ean slowed to a walk when he reached his mother’s house at the end of his morning run. He strode to the corner as part of his cooldown. Megan hadn’t been on the jogging trail this morning. Was she avoiding him?
“Ean, how was your run?”
He looked up at Ms. Helen’s house. She’d stepped out onto her porch. The older woman was nearly lost in the oversized purple winter coat. Whose coat was it?
“It was fine, thank you, Ms. Helen. How’s your magazine?” Ean crossed the street. He nodded toward the women’s magazine she held against her chest.
“I just got to the column on personal revelations. This young actress is talking about her big reveal.”
“Sounds interesting.” Ean glanced at Ms. Helen’s sesquicentennial banner.
“When are you going to have your big reveal, Ean?” Ms. Helen held the door open so he could join her inside.
“Excuse me?” He shed his jogging shoes before crossing her threshold.
Ms. Helen smoothed her graying hair back toward the thick bun at the nape of her thin neck. “Now, I don’t mean to pry into other folks’ business.”
It was a struggle not to laugh. “I know, Ms. Helen.”
“But you’ve been back more than a month now. When are you going to start looking for work, son? I know you didn’t come home to live off your mama.”