Page 109 of Someone to Watch Over Me

“It’s like this… You know I do a lot of social service work in my practice, helping people with housing issues, health concerns, child care, mental health. You name it, I’ve done it.”

“You’re a rock-star lawyer with a heart of gold.”

“I couldn’t imagine not using the gifts the good Lord gave me to help people when I can. Not that your Mama Joy doesn’t like making her some money, cuz she does.”

“That’s a given.”

“Indeed. Anyway, through one of my clients and her case, I learned about a nonprofit that exists solely to assist people like you and my client who’ve seen a family member through a devastating illness and are left with equally devastating debt.”

My mind goes completely blank as she names the foundation, talks about the founders and how they saw their parents through multiple illnesses that would’ve devastated them financially had they not been wealthy. “That led the siblings to ask what regular people do when it happens to them. They began a foundation in memory of their parents with that sole cause in mind, and well, I applied to them on your behalf—with your mother’s assistance—and, well…”

She’s positively giddy as she puts three pieces of paper on the table in front of me, all of them bearing familiar logos of local health organizations that are enough on their own to spark an instant wave of trauma. Except…

She points to my name and Jim’s at the top of the pages and to the balances on each of them.

Zero.

Zero.

Zero.

“Joy…” I go mute with shock, and then I’m sobbing when it becomes clear she’s eliminated a problem so massive that I long ago accepted it would outlive me.

“I’m sorry I was sneaky about it, but I didn’t want to get your hopes up until I was sure it was going to happen, and then?—”

I launch myself at her, nearly upending both cups of coffee on the table as I land against her full breasts, howling now with joy and relief and heartbreak and gratitude. More than anything else is gratitude to have such a friend.

Tom comes into the room. “Lexi, oh my God, what’s wrong, honey? Is everyone all right?”

I’m so overcome, I couldn’t speak if the house were on fire.

“I brought her some good news,” Joy says.

He looks over her shoulder at the papers on the table and gasps when he sees the zeros. “Oh my God, Joy…How?”

She repeats the story of the foundation and how she asked for my mother’s assistance to apply for relief from my medical debt. “Came through late last night, and it was all I could do not to march over here and wake y’all up.”

I don’t remind her that we weren’t sleeping…

By the time I pull back from Joy, her gorgeous silk blouse has tearstains on it. I’m not sure if they’re from my tears or hers, because she’s crying almost as hard as I am.

She grasps my chin and looks at me with fierce love. “I see a lot of crazy-ass shit in my line of work, so many hard cases that don’t end the way they should. I want you to know that doing this for you brought me as much happiness as it brings you, so thank you for letting me lie, cheat and pretend to be your lawyer to get this done.”

Every part of me is trembling. “I’ll never have the words.”

“No words are needed. I love you. I wanted you out from under this burden, and now you are.”

I hug her again, and at some point, Tom wraps his arms around both of us. I’m pretty sure he’s in tears, too.

Joy has to go to work, so I walk her to the door.

“In my whole life,” I tell her, “no one has ever done anything bigger than this for me, Joy. I’ll never forget it.”

“It made my year to pull this off for you—and for your Jim, who would’ve hated being the cause of such distress for you.”

“It ate him up that I was going to be left with so much debt. That was his greatest fear about dying.”

“I hope now he can rest more peacefully.”

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