I chuckled. “Yeah, I’m always spoiled when I come here. Winston makes a killer hot chocolate.”
“Why isn’t Lukas joining us?” Ben wondered as he scooped up mashed potatoes, that I swore were whipped by angels themselves.
“He wanted to give the three of us a chance to talk.”
Natalie wiped her mouth and sighed. “Okay, get on with it then, let’s rip this Band-Aid off. You’re wining and dining us, so whatever you have to say, just do it.”
I relaxed and took a deep breath. They were watching me, Ben with a slight smile and Natalie a grin. When I didn’t say anything for a minute, their faces fell. Would I even have to tell them?
“Sam,” Natalie whispered and was out of her seat in a heartbeat and practically in my lap, hugging me.
“It’s back?” Ben asked, and all I could do was nod.
Of course they’d figured it out. We were best friends, the power of three, so in sync that we used to drive our parents crazy because we could look at each other and just know what we were thinking.
“I kept trying to figure out how to tell you, but I should have known you’d figure it out.” I snickered, my throat dry and my eyes wet.
Natalie pushed off and kneeled by my chair. “It’s going to be okay, right? What did the doctor say?”
I went through everything with them like I had with Lukas. They’d seen me at my worst through the years and knew how serious things were. I hadn’t just come out of remission, I’d exploded out and decided I’d only get one more encore until final curtain. I’d done the math. Even with chemo, radiation, and meds, my cancer was making a last hoorah.
“Okay, so what’s first? Biopsies, right, see what these masses are like seriousness wise, yeah?” Natalie urged.
“Dr. Marin doesn’t want me to wait longer than two weeks before starting chemo. I think he wants me to just jump right into that and the radiation. His hope is that the radiation and chemo will shrink or I dunno, the tumor in my spine by my brain. Maybe even the masses.”
“Sam.” Ben reached his hand out and I took it. “We will be with you every step of the way.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell Lukas?” Nat bit her lip and winced.
“Yeah, he’s riding the hopeful wave, thinks he can save me, has ideas.”
“Oh, like what?” Natalie’s eyes widened.
“He said we’ll talk about it tonight or something, maybe tomorrow. It’s just, you both know he’s grasping at the same straws we all did.”
“Yeah, but then you had the transplant and had five amazing years. So wait and see what he has to say.” Ben squeezed my hand.
“Of course, I’ll hear him out. The fact that he didn’t run away screaming shocked me.”
“Why does that surprise you?” Natalie asked, but before I could answer she continued. “I didn’t think there was any hope for him. He was such an asshole to everyone, even you. But you wouldn’t give up on him; you were determined to be his friend. Now it’s his turn not to give up on you. You’re one of the best people I know, Sam.”
Sniffing, I leaned down and hugged her as tightly as I could, inhaling her scent of cinnamon and lemon. “I love you, Nat.”
“I love you too, Sammy.”
“And I love both of you.” Ben scooted closer, and then the three of us were in some awkward embrace.
“Just one more thing.’ Natalie stood and slammed her hand on the table. When we stared at her she quirked a brow. “Come on, boys.”
With a sigh, Ben put his hand on top of hers, and I placed mine on Ben’s.
“Together now,” Natalie said.
On the count of three we all shouted, “The power of three!”
Sam and Natalie stayed for dessert because “there was no way they were missing that.” Nat’s words. We sat in the living room with Lukas for a while, where Ben pummeled Lukas with questions about where he’d acquired all this art, art he’d claimed was supposed to be in museums. Lukas only smiled and sipped his wine.
