Jamie nodded as fresh, hot tears pooled in her eyes before falling, rolling over the bridge of her nose, landing on Beth’s sweatshirt. She let herself break in Beth’s arms. Let herself finally fall apart and feel the weight of the voicemail that was waiting for her. This part never got easier—this fear, this panic. It would be a part of her forever.
“I think we should listen to that voicemail.” Beth’s voice was smooth, so incredibly soft and comforting and inviting that Jamie would never say no to her.
She reached for her phone, bending her arm at an awkward angle to retrieve it from her back pocket before handing it over to Beth.
Beth keyed in her passcode before pulling up the voicemail and setting it to speaker.
A tinny voice came through, one that Jamie recognized as Dr. Albright’s receptionist. Her breathing stilled as she listened. “Hi, Jamie, this is Jenna from Dr. Albright’s office.” Jamie dug her thumbs into the fabric of Beth’s sweatshirt as she forced herself to listen. “Dr. Albright had a chance to review your recent scans and would like to set up some time with you to go over them, the sooner the better. We’ve held an appointment for you tomorrow morning at nine. If that works, call us back and leave a message confirming. If not, we’ll get you on the schedule as soon as possible. Enjoy your day.”
The message clicked off, leaving the faint sound of rain to fill the room in the absence of words, both understanding what the message meant.
“I told you I had a bad feeling.” Jamie sniffed, shifting and burying her face in the crook of Beth’s arms.
“I know, love. I know you did.”
Jamie caught it—the slightest, almost undetectable tremor in Beth’s voice, the faint wobble to let her know Beth was scared too.
Nine o’clock the next day came too quickly for Jamie’s liking. She and Beth walked into the oncology office hand in hand, Beth talking about the cookies Jamie had insisted they allow time to get—the lavender earl gray shortbread cookies from their favorite shop, a little treat to soften the news she feared was inevitable. Beth talked about the traffic and a new show opening at the Seattle Art Museum she was interested in seeing, but nothing was on Jamie’s mind except for the news waiting for them beyond the reception desk.
They were led back to a small office at the end of the hall. Beth’s optimistic voice was a constant stream of comfort as she said things like, “We don’t know for sure that it’s bad news,” and “Let’s not even invite the negativity in until we know what we’re working with.” Jamie loved her for it.
She had always adored the way Beth saw the world—like it was bright, inviting, and full of possibility. Beth looked at the world with stars in her eyes and an open mind ready for the endless possibilities of what could be, and it had rubbed off on Jamie a little after all these years. She was a better person for it.
A door opened behind them and a tall woman entered the office where she and Beth sat opposite a large, sturdy wooden desk, their hands clasped.
Dr. Albright took her seat behind the desk and looked first at Beth before moving her eyes to rest on Jamie, and she could already see her answer written across the doctor’s face.
“The cancer is back, isn’t it?” Jamie said, feeling it almost immediately, hearing the defeat in her tone echoing around her mind as her body went numb, trying to process the treatment options Dr. Albright was currently going over. Still, all Jamie felt was her hand in Beth’s, hearing nothing but the wooshing of her own pulse in her ears.
ONE
LILY
ONE YEAR LATER: MAY
Lily Gallagher triumphantly pressed the enter key on her laptop, successfully submitting her last final exam. Just like that, her first year of college was over.
She still needed to pack her things and help Dylan return their dorm room to the state it had been when they moved in, but that would happen later. Right now? Right now, she was late.
The sky was gray, threatening rain, as Lily rode her scooter across campus in the direction of the café where she was supposed to be meeting Wren Parker for breakfast. She had timed it perfectly, knowing she would beat Wren, given her tendency to run seven minutes behind schedule. Lily had no idea why it was seven minutes in particular. Still, Wren had been consistently seven minutes late to nearly everything they’d ever done together, for as long as they had known each other. But Lily didn’t mind. She actually found it kind of amusing.
She splashed through a leftover puddle from overnight rain as the café came into view. She slowed to a stop in front of the unassuming yellow building tucked away in a residential neighborhood. Alongside the other colorful Craftsman houses, the building looked like a quiet home, but Lily, peering in the windows, could see a coffee bar and pastry display case.
“You’re the only person I know who wears a helmet when they ride an electric scooter.” Wren’s familiar voice drifted to her, accompanied by a gentle tapping on the top of the helmet Lily had yet to take off. She whipped around, beaming, her laugh already on its way out.
“Believe it or not, Wren, I actually value my life. Do you know how many deadly electric scooter accidents there are a year?” Lily smirked, unbuckling the strap under her chin and removing the helmet.
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.” Wren crossed her arms, giving Lily that signature lopsided smile.
“I don’t know the exact number, but the injury rate is definitely on the rise.”
“Okay, okay,” Wren said, raising her hands in defeat. “You at least look good in a helmet.”
“Thank you.” Lily rolled her eyes, quickly looking around the street and then into the windows of the café, checking to see if anyone was watching them. She didn’t see any lingering eyes and, deciding that the coast was clear, she reached for the strings of Wren’s Puget Sound Pride hoodie, tugging her closer, pushing up on her tiptoes, and placing a quick kiss on her lips.
“Lily,” Wren whined sheepishly, stepping back and looking around. “What are you doing? We’re in public. What about the rules?”
“What? No one’s looking at us and there’s, like, no one inside.” Lily stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. “I just finished my freshman year of college and I wanted to kiss my girlfriend to celebrate.”
