Page 84 of Somebody's Watching Me
“Josie?” Samuel stirred on the bed, his big brown eyes opening slowly. “Is that you?”
“I’m here.”
God, how she loved him. He might be Ben’s by nature, but he was hers, too. No matter what the universe said.
Crawling on the bed, she carefully laid down on Miranda’s opposite side, taking Samuel’s hand that rested on his mother’s stomach. “She’s okay, you know.”
Samuel’s glasses began to fog from the tears filling his eyes. The spectacles sat lopsided after he’d fallen asleep—yet again—with them on.
“But he said it could come back.” His bottom lip trembled. “The percentages are not in the favor of the patient.”
“Have you been reading those AMA journals again?”
“Kinda.”
“Didn’t your mama tell you not to do that?”
“Yeah, but—”
Josie released his hand to swipe the mop of black hair back from his face. “No buts.”
“Oh, this talk sounds serious,” Miranda rasped, waking slowly. Since the treatment ended, Josie had noticed it took her a little longer than normal to come out of a deep sleep. “And today is not a day to be serious.”
Samuel wiped at the tears, his knuckles scraping the lens of his glasses. He was going to pop them out of the frame again. “Easy there,” Josie said. “Your second pair is all the way on the other side of the house, and I’m not walking that far to get them.”
“Okay.” He sucked in his tears and crawled up to peer into his mother’s face. “How are you feeling? Do you want some tea?”
“No, my little worrier. I don’t want tea.” Miranda grinned bright and beautiful at her son. “It’s Friday, and the doctor said I can do whatever I want.”
“Within reason, Miranda.” Josie would not have her relapsing over something ridiculous like eating too many hamburgers or smoking the occasional cigarette as they did now and then. “Nothing crazy.”
Miranda stuck her bottom lip out. “But it’s Friday.”
“Ugh.” Samuel flopped onto the bed. “Do we have to watch one of those movies?”
“Absolutely.” Ben appeared at the door, juggling a tray holding a blender and various bottles. “We’ll watch it up here, so Mom doesn’t have to trudge all the way downstairs to the living room.”
More times than not, Josie no longer hated Ben Fairweather. She should, but she just couldn’t find it in her anymore. Hurrying over to help, she told Samuel to get Miranda situated for the movie.
“What did the girls say?” she asked Ben, keeping her voice low so Miranda wouldn’t hear.
“They wanted to come over and celebrate, but I said leave it until tomorrow,” he replied, dropping some ice in the blender. “Fridays are for you two.”
Josie paused in her tequila pouring, staring long and hard at him. “You’re alright, Fairweather.” She bumped his arm with her elbow. “I mean it.”
“Thanks, but don’t tell anyone.”
They made the margaritas with sugar instead of salt on the rim just the way Miranda liked and settled about the room. Josie propped herself up on the bed next to Miranda while Ben and Samuel sat on a batch of pillows spread across the floor.
“Ben, aren’t you going to change?” Miranda asked.
Sliding a stack of VHS tapes over to Samuel, he shrugged. “I’m fine.”
“The man was born in a collared shirt and tie, I swear,” Josie murmured to Miranda. “Oh, and Samuel, pick a good movie for tonight.”
With a whoop of excitement, Samuel dug through the options. “Jurassic Park?”
“Mom movies.” Ben leaned back on the foot of the bed, loosening his tie. “Something with kissing.”
