Page 29 of Let Me

“Me, too.”

“Ah—something else we have in common,” he says.

“What’s the other thing?”she asks, peering over at me, glancing at my lips.

“Our love of nature.”

“Oh.Right.”She takes another bite of the sandwich and says, “I don’t mean to come across as intrusive, and if I am, just tell me and I’ll back off, but how did you find out—you know—that you had brain cancer?”

“It started with these bad headaches.When they first started, I would pop a couple of Tylenol and keep it pushing.The problem was, they were getting to be more frequent.More intense.My mother urged me to go get checked just to make sure nothing was wrong, but I soon discovered that something was wrong.Very wrong.”

“How do you feel now?”

“I feel fine other than the fact that I know I have it.The cancer has been in remission for years.The headaches have stopped.I don’t get dizzy—I feel like I’m living a normal, yet temporary life.”

“Temporary?”

“Yes.My doctor already forewarned me that with the type of cancer I have, I’ll have a slim chance of surviving remission.”

“But you don’t know how long you’ll be in remission?”

“No, I do not.”

She sighs heavily.

I say, “I’m sorry.I shouldn’t be talking about this.”

“No, it’s fine.I’m the one who brought it up.”

“I know, but we don’t have to talk about it.It’s supposed to be a relaxing day.Besides, I hadn’t intended to tell you about my diagnosis.”

“Why did you?”

“I told you why—I trust you—and honestly, I hadn’t meant to do other things with you that I willingly did.”

“Like what?”she asks, turning to me, curiosity piqued.

“Like when we met, I hadn’t intended to see you again.”

“Oh, wow.Talk about a punch to the gut…”

“No, I don’t mean it like that, Autumn.I—”

“So, the only reason you agreed to see me again is because I initiated it.”

“Technically, you didn’t initiate it.Iinvitedyouto the campground with my friends.”

“Yes, but only after I walked over to your car and introduced myself before you were apparently about to drive away only to never lay eyes on me again.You know that sucks, right?”

“My apologies, but like I said, it had nothing to do with you, Autumn.It was just me.”

“Then, why didn’t you stick to your guns and drive away when you saw me approaching?”

“That would be rude.Besides, there’s no way I could drive away from that pretty face of yours.”

She smiles hard, clearly flustered by my compliment.

“Stop,” she says.“All of your female friends are pretty.Do you make it a habit of gathering beautiful women by your side?”

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