Page 79 of Clean Sweep
I held out an arm. “Your chariot awaits, Miss Starla.”
While escorting her weakened steps down the creaky metal stairs, my mind drifted back to Leslie. Despite all the thrills and excitement she normally stirred up in me, right now, the only thing I conjured was dread.
Leslie Hill was going to be hurt, and that was on me.
17
LESLIE
My heart raced the entire time I drove up the canyon to Jackson City.
Landon’s voice rang in my ears, bleak around the edges and hollow. He’d called while I was away from my phone and left a voicemail. An hour later, I finally listened. Another hour passed while I extricated myself from appointments at work, stopped at home, and headed on my way up.
“Everything is fine, Mom,” Landon’s voicemail said, “but I need some help with taking care of Starla. Tanner is with her now, so she’s fine. I just . . . I think it’s time we explain everything. Get here as soon as you can safely do so?”
Whatever that meant, it felt as if all the burning questions I’d had for weeks had just settled into something calm. Something that waited.
Maybe now we’d get some answers.
Wherehereended up being was an apartment building on the south side of Jackson City, not far from the canyon. I hurried up three flights of stairs to the top floor, as Landon had directed. My mother’s instinct told me that both of them lived here now.
My entire body felt like I’d flushed it with ice water as I lifted my hand and knocked on the door. Three seconds later, Tanner opened it. An unreadable expression filled his face when he saw me, hesitated, then pulled the door open and indicated I should step inside. I obeyed, eyes darting around.
“Come in,” he said quietly. “We just returned.”
A mostly-empty space greeted me. One rug lay on the floor between a brown carpet in the living room and a white-tiled kitchen. Three large pillows cluttered the ground, an old grayish sofa with a single drape of garland over it, and a half-ripped picture of an old Santa Claus with rosy cheeks filled the room.
The smell of window cleaner lingered in the air, and I recognized Tanner’s signature of a clean house.
“Where’s Landon?” I asked when the door closed. “Starla?”
“Starla is laying down. The trip to the doctor and back really tired her out.”
I studied him, more concerned about the tense way he held his shoulders than the cryptic call Landon had given me.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Tanner nodded toward the couch. “This shouldn’t come from me, but Landon’s gotten himself into a situation he can’t get out of on his own. I’ve been . . . helping him, to use a loose term. Today, I insisted we get you involved.”
My arms tensed, which made my neck rigid. Whatever came next wouldn’t be good. I licked my lips and steadied myself mentally.
“Okay,” I said.
Tanner hesitated, then let out a long breath. “I don’t know many details, but this is what I do know: Starla was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a few weeks ago, right after the time they officially began to date. They’ve been diagnosing her exact stage and the aggressiveness of the cancer for the last few weeks. She’s had to go in and out of different doctors to make it happen. They’ve figured it out and plan to start chemo on January 3rd.”
He stopped talking, studying me as the puzzle pieces finally slotted into place. The abrupt change in wedding date. Her pale appearance. The hesitant way she interacted with me at first, and her fear of me thinking she was pregnant.
Chemotherapy, okay. That wouldn’t be fun, but why get married so quickly? It dawned on me.
“Insurance?” I whispered.
“Yes, but no.” Tanner ran a hand through his hair. “That’s what I thought at first too. I . . . from what he’s told me, they fell in love at first sight. She’d started to not feel well before they met. As they dated he encouraged her to see a doctor and this whole thing began. Yes, she needs his insurance but . . . I really believe it’s more than that for them.”
“So he quit medical school.” I lowered to the folding chair just behind me. “And now he’s working?”
Tanner nodded.
“They moved into this apartment a few weeks ago. Before that, they were in a different one, on the other side of town. My friend, Mrs. Donovan, lives next door. She’s been able to help Starla.”
