Page 10 of Shortcake
“She was waiting to tell me what, Liam?”
There was a pregnant pause for the longest second of my life. Then Liam said, “Mom has breast cancer. She was diagnosed today.”
I inhaled a sharp breath. “Mom has breast cancer?” I repeated. “But ...how?”
Liam sounded as weary as I felt. “Jesus, Addy, I don’t know. How does anyone get breast cancer?”
“What stage?” Brawny’s rough whisper behind me startled me and I jumped, spinning to find him standing there outside the restaurant with my jacket in his hands.
I gaped at Brawny, slack-jawed and a little misty-eyed. “Wh-what stage?” I asked Liam.
Brawny didn’t wait for me to hold out my arms or anything, he simply slid my jacket over my shoulders and whispered, “Thought you might be cold.”
“Stage two,” Liam said. “But aggressive and fast-moving.”
Based on the way the rims of Brawny’s eyes tightened, I think he heard Liam’s answer.
My throat felt tight, like a boa constrictor was wrapping its way all around my neck and lungs. “I’m on my way,” I croaked. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“But—”
I didn’t wait for him to respond. Simply hung up. There was nothing more to talk about. Family first. Always. It wasn’t the code my oldest brother, Neil lived by, but Liam, Finn, and I did.
Even as I knew what had to happen, panic over the situation flooded me. I didn’t know where to start. My flight home wasn’t until late tomorrow and I didn’t even know if therewasa flight out tonight.
So I just stood there. Frozen. Phone in hand. Jacket draped over my shoulders.
I’d almost completely forgotten that Brawny was there with me until he said a gentle, “Hey.”
I blinked through the fog of tears clouding my vision. “Hey. I, uh… I think I need to…”
To what? Go sleep at the airport in hopes that they have a random flight to Boston in the next two hours?
“We need to get you home,” Brawny said gently.
I nodded, but my feet were still cemented to the sidewalk. I wasn’t sure if it was the chilly November air or the shock, but a shiver rocked through my body. Thick, warm arms wrapped around my shoulders and guided me back inside.
“Where are we—”
“We’re going to wrap our food to go… because no matter what, you do need to eat. Then, we’re going to find the first flight out of here and get you booked. Go back to your hotel and get you packed and to the airport.”
“What if…” I nearly choked on my sob. “What if they can’t change my ticket? Or … or there’s no more flights out tonight?”
“Hey.” He stopped walking and cupped my jaw so tenderly that it made my already aching heart bleed. “I got you. I promise, I’ll take care of you tonight. I’ll get you home one way or another.”
And my God, I believed him.
That’s just what he did.
* * *
An hour and a half later,our cab was pulling up to LaGuardia airport. A man of his word, he truly had taken care of me. He had searched for flights out tonight and found me one into Boston at 10:15.
I called the airline and was able to change my flight with a surprising ease. Then, he came back to the hotel and helped me pack while I scarfed down my burger from Joe Allen’s.
“You didn’t have to ride in the cab with me,” I said. I was already feeling a little embarrassed by how much I’d emotionally shut down in the face of my mom’s diagnosis.
“I wanted to,” he whispered. “Besides. I bought the cheapest flight I could find for tonight, too, so that I could sit with you in the terminal.”
