“He has cancer.”
Shit. That word. Thec-word. The one word I swore I would never speak again after hearing it over and over and over from Dad’s doctors. It was the one word in the English language that I hated.
I collapsed against the seat and closed my eyes as memories of watching Dad fade away washed over me. It broke me inside that we were going to have to watch the same thing happen to George.
“What? Really?” I asked.
“Yeah. It’s not looking good either.” She sniffled again. “I just, I wish I could do something, but with it being the middle of the school year, I can’t just leave. Especially when it’s not my immediate family.”
That was ridiculous. George was more family to us than Dad’s actual siblings. I had half a mind to call up Mom’s boss and give her a piece of my mind. If Mom was calling me about this, she was bothered, and letting her be bothered went against my promise to Dad to protect her.
“Do you want me to go?”
Mom cleared her throat. “Can you take the time away?”
If only Mom knew. Right now would be the perfect time to leave. “Things have slowed here in Harmony. If you need me to, I can go.”
Maybe that was what I needed, to leave town for a bit. Readjust and figure out my life away from Harmony—away from Ella. If being there for George helped his family and Mom as well, that’s what I would call a win-win.
“Well…” Mom grew quiet. I knew her tell. She was sifting through her thoughts. “I think George would appreciate that, and I would feel better knowing that he was being looked after.”
I nodded. It was settled. “Then I’ll go.”
“Promise me if you need to get back to Harmony that you’ll leave.”
“Of course.”
She was silent again. I knew she was fighting with herself, so I spoke first.
“Mom, I’ll be fine. I have a few buddies I can reach out to, and I’m sure they’ll let me crash on their couch. I won’t be a burden to the Parks, and if I need to leave, I’ll just head out. Don’t worry about me.”
“Worrying about you is my job as your mother.”
“I love you, too, ma.” I let my lips tip up into a smile. After Dad died, we grew very close. We were the only ones left in our family.
“I love you, Asher.” She paused. “Tell Ella that I say hi, okay?”
Ugh. In one sentence, memories of how I’d ruined everything with my best friend came washing over me again. Mom was going to be so disappointed that I’d screwed things up so royally. She loved Ella like a daughter, and I feared what losing her would do to my mom if Ella and I couldn’t figure out our new normal.
How had I messed everything up so bad? I was an idiot.
“I will,” I lied. I felt bad about not being honest with Mom, but I wasn’t ready to admit to her where my relationship with Ella stood. Especially since I was determined to fix what I’d broken between us. I was going to use this time away to get over my stupid crush and get back to being what Ella needed me to be: her best friend.
“I love you, kiddo, and keep me posted when you get to New York.” She blew out her breath. “I’ll see what I can do about getting a Friday off so I can come for the weekend.”
“Love you, too.”
We said our goodbyes, and I set my phone down on the dash and stared out the windshield. I took in a few deep breaths as the black cloud of Mom’s news hung over me. Why did George have to get sick? Why did cancer suck so much?
Why did I suck at protecting the people around me?
I was spiraling again, so I reached forward to grab my phone and settled back in my seat, where I opened a social media app and started scrolling.
Ten minutes later, I swiped up only to stop at a post made by Carson, my roommate from college.
Just moved into my flat in the largest city in the U S of A! Come visit me if you’re ever in New York!
I stared at the picture of him in the middle of a modestly decorated living room with his arms outstretched and a goofy smile on his face.
