Page 2 of All Roads Lead to You

“Yeah, well, you can read mine, too, so we’re even.”

He took another drag and exhaled the smoke without looking at me. “I swear we were brothers in a past life.”

“Twins.”

A snort escaped him. “Fraternal, no doubt.”

“No doubt.”

Despite our banter, there was a sense of heaviness and regret in his words. I took a drag of my smoke and bumped my shoulder against his to prod him along.

Hunter picked at his black-painted thumbnail, chipping it off even more than it already was. “Shit, how do I tell you this?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, sensing what was coming. “Just out with it.”

“I, ah, can’t go on our trip.”

There it is—the sound of the other shoe dropping.

My stomach twisted as the beer turned acidic. Hunter and I had been planning this road trip since we were in middle school, right after my mom died. We’d scrimped and saved every penny we earned from our allowances, mowing yards, working jobs, and birthday money for seven years. It was the very reason I chose such a shitty truck, not wanting to blow everything I’d saved.

The plan had been to leave the last week of July and drive across the entire country to California in three weeks while touring the states in between. By the end of the trip, we’d go to college and start on a new path that would define the rest of our lives, but always together.

It was early June, and I didn’t think I’d be able to find anyone to replace him on time. The trip wouldn’t be cheap, and I couldn’t afford to do it without Hunter, not that Dad would let me go alone. I couldn’t do this trip without him. I wouldn’t do this trip without him.

I washed down my disappointment with the rest of my beer, settling heavily in my gut. “I’m assuming you have a good reason for ditching me.”

“Logan, you know I wouldn’t leave you hanging like this if I had a choice.”

I nodded and flicked the ashes of my cigarette, the glowing embers quickly cooling before they hit the ground. He was right. Hunter had never let me down without good reason.

“It’s a secret. No one knows but the family. Regardless, I’m going to tell you because we’re practically brothers. My parents said it was okay to tell you since they love you, too, and they think you should know.”

Fuck, this was going to be bad. I looked over at my friend, whose denim-blue eyes were black in the darkness, shimmering as they filled with water.

I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and pulled him against me. These reactions were generally frowned upon for guys, always told to suck it up and ‘be a man’ with our pain, but I didn’t give a shit. Hunter needed me. “What’s happened?”

He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and sniffed. “Mom’s dying. I need to be here for her to help Dad and Julia. My sister won’t understand. She’s too young for this.”

I pulled my best friend into a fierce hug, turning myself into a protective shield, as his sobs rang out through the surrounding woods, clinging to me. My eyes watered, not only from Hunter’s loss, but from my own. I tried to hold them back, but it was useless. I loved Mrs. McKnight. She became my second mother after mine had been taken from me when I was twelve. My mother’s death was the very reason for this trip we’d planned. I wanted to visit all the places she’d dreamed about, but never got the chance to.

Mom had been in a hit-and-run accident. She hadn’t been wearing her seatbelt and slammed headfirst into the windshield. Seatbelts weren’t a big thing at the time. Hell, Mom used to hold me in the front seat when I was an infant. But ever since her death, Dad made me wear one every time I got into a car.

He wiped his tears on my shirt as he settled down.

“Fuck, Hunt… I’m so damn sorry.”

“Me, too. You lost your mom so fast. At least we’ll be prepared for losing mine.”

“Screw that, man. Like it’s any different losing a parent, no matter how fast or slow. Tell me what’s going on.”

Hunter sat up, wiped his face with his sleeve, and took a sip of beer. “She’s got breast cancer, man. They’re going to do chemo and shit, remove her breasts, but… it doesn’t look good. The cancer’s spread. Her chances of survival are low, but she wants to try because she’s fucking strong. They caught it too late, said she was too young for breast cancer. Assholes. Anyway, we don’t know how long she’s got, so I need to be there as much as I can before I leave for college.”

“I just saw your parents. Your mom didn’t look sick at all.”

“Yeah, she hides it. They haven’t started treatment yet either… She’s going in for surgery next week.” He lit another smoke and blew it out as his face morphed into anger. “I don’t fucking get it! She’s only thirty-nine! It’s not fair!”

It wasn’t fucking fair. It hadn’t been fair when my mother was taken from me so young, either. I’d been angry about the loss for a long time, left to deal with it alone while Dad grieved, too. We’d leaned on each other periodically, but sometimes he withdrew so much that I had to suffer on my own. That was when Hunter and his parents stepped in. They took up the emotional slack that I needed. I wouldn’t have survived it without them. I never blamed Dad. He did his best in a horrible situation.

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