Page 162 of Promising You

A man walks in and stands behind her, wrapping his hand around her shoulder.

“Hi, Jade. I’m Howard. Carson’s dad.”

“Hi,” I say. “Do you guys always eat like this for breakfast?”

They all laugh.

“Judy tends to go overboard when we have guests,” Howard says. “But she always makes a big spread on the weekends.” He kisses her cheek. “She likes to feed her boys, don’t you, honey?”

Judy smiles. “Go ahead, Jade. Grab a plate and get started. We’re pretty casual here, so sit anywhere you want at the table.”

Again, this is so different than Garret’s family. Casual is not a word I would ever use to describe them. Everything at their house is formal. You sit where they tell you to sit and your food is always plated and served, except at breakfast.

“So Jade, Carson tells me you’re thinking about med school,” Howard says once we’re all seated around the table.

“Yeah, I’m considering it.”

“Well, I’ll be honest with you, it’s a challenging field. Treating people is just one part of it. You also have to deal with insurance companies and manage a staff. You’re really running a business.”

“Great, Dad, now she’ll never want to be a doctor,” Carson says.

“It’s important you both know what you’re getting into. That’s all.” He takes a muffin from a basket on the table. “Personally I find the hardest thing about being a physician is that sometimes you try everything and you still can’t make the person better. You’d think with all the technology available they would’ve found some cures by now, or at least some more effective treatments, but it doesn’t seem like they ever do.”

There’s a sadness to his tone and I’m sure it’s because he wished he could’ve done something to save his daughter. If he only knew that there actuallyarebetter treatments available. Ones that regular people aren’t allowed to have. Maybe not a cure for cancer, but Garret did say his grandfather had lung cancer and it just went away. How is that possible?

As grateful as I am to Garret’s dad for hiring Dr. Cunningham to take care of Frank, it makes me sick to know that the private medical group Cunningham’s part of is keeping their cutting-edge treatments reserved only for rich, important people.

“Enough about work, honey,” Judy says to Howard. “Jade, did Carson tell you his grandmother lives in Des Moines?”

“Yes, he mentioned that.” I hear my cell phone ringing from the kitchen where I left my purse. “Sorry, but I have to get that. It might be Ryan.”

“Sure, sweetheart. Go ahead.”

Sweetheart? I don’t even know Judy and she’s calling me sweetheart? Maybe it’s a thing moms do. Obviously not all moms becausemymom never called me that. And Katherine’s never called me that. Just imagining Katherine calling me ‘sweetheart’ makes me laugh as I answer the phone.

“Hey, did you get there yet?” It’s Garret. “And what’s so funny?”

“Nothing. And yes, we’re finally here. I was going to call you, but then we sat down to breakfast.”

“Carson made breakfast?”

“No, his mom made this huge breakfast for us. We just sat down to eat. Can I call you back?”

“Don’t you want to talk now that you don’t have Carson listening in?”

“Yeah, but I don’t really have much to say. I’m so tired from staying up all night I can’t even think straight.”

“How are Carson’s parents? Hopefully better than their son.”

“They’re nice. And they have a great house. It’s in one of those new neighborhoods where every house on the street looks the same. But I really like the inside. It feels comfortable. Lived in.”

“You mean unlike my house?”

“Well, yeah, kind of.”

He laughs. “It’s okay, Jade. I know you don’t like my house. But technically it’s my dad’s and Katherine’s house. I’d never live in a place like that.”

“So our apartment won’t be all white with furniture nobody wants to sit in?”

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