Page 17 of Fighting a Riot

God. I actually needed her in the weeks ahead.

What the hell was I going to do?

The first thing I had to do was call Mom. I should have done it earlier today… but very few things that had happened since my bachelorette party had been in my control. I curled up under my covers (I had made my bed before putting on my swimsuit) and grabbed my phone.

“Hello, my beautiful daughter. I’m mid-way through packing.”

I tipped my head back, trying not to sigh.

The wedding was scheduled in two weeks and six days. Mom started packing for any trip as far in advance as possible though. Didn’t matter how long the trip or how far she would travel. Deep down I suspected, Mom just liked to pack.

“About that, Mom. You don’t need to.”

“I beg your pardon? You know the drill. I pack early so I don’t have to scramble later.”

I nodded. “Right. I misspoke. You don’t need to pack such fancy duds because Destin called off the wedding.”

I yanked the phone away from my ear in the nick of time. “He what?” Mom yelled.

“Calm down, Mom. But, you heard me. He called it off.”

“When? Before or after your bachelorette party?”

I snorted with a humorless chuckle. “During the party.”

“You can’t be serious! What a low-down dirty—”

“Mom, you need to sit down.”

I could almost hear her shaking her head, her attitude was so palpable over the phone. “Oh no, I do not. I’m pacing up a storm. You know it’s the only way to soothe what ails me.”

I sighed. “Right. Then I’ll call back.”

“Call back? Nora, there can’t possibly be more to this… was he cheating on you?”

I grimaced. “Yeah, but that isn’t why I want you to sit down.”

Her tone pitched even higher. “Why would he propose marriage if he was cheating on you? This is crazy, Nora!”

“I don’t know when he started cheating on me, Mom, but that isn’t the main reason he called things off.”

There was a long pause before I heard Mom exhale hard. “He cheated on you? And I actually liked Destin.”

“Yeah,” I whispered.

The fire had gone out of her tone. “Oh, honey. I’m so sorry this happened… though, better than finding yourself in divorce court later.”

I sat up straighter. “You’re sitting down now, right?”

“Yes, dear. But wait. You said cheating wasn’t the main reason he jilted you. What was the main reason?”

Dammit! My mom was too smart sometimes… okay, no, all the time. “The main reason was because I found a lump a few weeks ago. The biopsy results came back this past Friday and it’s cancerous. I have a consultation appointment later this week.”

“Fuck,” Mom bit out.

Laughter threatened at the back of my throat. Mom so rarely cursed, it always struck me funny when she did. But on top of that, she could deliver a single curse word with so much force and inflection it practically gave the word another meaning.

She exhaled again. “Well, I’m flying down much earlier.”

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