Page 112 of Love, Lies, and Whiskey

He took her hand, drawing her into his arms, and she closed her eyes, soaking in his comfort and praying her fears were unfounded.

“It’s been a hell of a night.” He kissed the top of her head. “Let’s sit on the porch where we can talk.”

They went outside and sat on the top step. “I miss the porch swing,” she said. “We had one in California at the farm where Lucas grew up. We used to sit on it, and I’d tell him stories or sing to him. In the evenings, he’d lay down with his head on my lap and fall asleep.” Her throat thickened. “I would sit there for hours before carrying him to bed.”

Seeley put his arm around her, pulling her closer. “I’ll build you a swing, darlin’.”

She rested her head on his shoulder, avoiding the inevitable. She didn’t want to voice her worries for fear of making them real. She was well aware that her reasoning made no sense. Her clients had played the avoidance game plenty of times about their ailing animals. But she didn’t care if it made sense or not, her mama’s mind wasn’t ready to go there. “Lucas did great today, didn’t he? It meant the world to him that everyone showed up to cheer him on.”

“It meant the world to them, too.” He kissed her temple. “Talk to me, darlin’.”

“I am talking to you. Did you see how big Lucas’s smile was when they called him up to the stage? He strutted up there like a proud peacock, and when he looked at Layla, I swear I could see her swoon.”

“He’s going to be okay, darlin’,” he said softly, and held her a little tighter.

“Of course he is,” she said too cheerily. “He has to be.”

“I know this is hard to talk about, but we need to. I checked him out after a fall at practice last week, and I didn’t feel anything unusual on his neck. That means this popped up quick. What did his lymph node feel like?”

The words stuck in her throat.

“It’s okay, baby. Take your time,” he said.

“It was hard,” she said quietly, as if that would somehow make it less real. “It didn’t move when I pressed on it. You know that’s not good.”

He was quiet for a beat. “We’re not going to jump to any conclusions, but she referred us to pediatric oncologists.”

Gutted, Juliette sank back, and her face went cold. “Seeley” fell shakily from her lips, eyes stinging with tears.

He cradled her face in his hands. “Listen to me, darlin’. We don’t know anything yet. His blood work was normal. She checked his other lymph nodes, and they weren’t swollen. We are not going to assume the worst. Do you understand?”

She nodded, struggling to keep her tears at bay.

“My cousin Bones—Wayne—is an oncologist in Maryland. I’m going to call him and see what he can tell us.”

“Okay. Can you call him first thing tomorrow?”

“No. This is our boy. I’m going to call him now.”

“You can’t call him this late,” she said.

“He’s family. He’d expect nothing less.” He kissed her and hugged her, then pushed to his feet, pulled out his phone, and made the call. “Hey, Bones. Sorry to call so late.” He paused, listening. “I need some advice…” He walked away as he explained what was going on.

Juliette pulled her phone from her pocket, her heart racing as she opened the browser and typed, What does a hard, painless, enlarged lymph node in the neck mean? Her thumb hovered over the search button. She knew what she’d find, but she hoped to be surprised by something less terrifying. She glanced at Seeley. His back was turned, the phone still pressed to his ear, his other hand balling into a fist.

She glanced at her phone again, debating the search, and her grandmother’s voice whispered through her mind. There’s nothing you can’t do, Juliegirl. Get ahead of the devil so he can’t sneak up on you. Get your ducks in a row, then cut them off. That was the advice she’d given Juliette when she’d told her she was leaving with Lucas and stopping all communication with her parents. She’d taken her advice and had gotten her and Lucas squared away before severing the toxic relationship with her parents.

She needed to get ahead of this devil, too.

She tapped the search icon and held her breath as the results popped up. She scanned the page, phrases hitting her like knives to the heart. Possible cancer or lymphoma…Lymphoma or another type of cancer should be investigated…It became harder to breathe with every line she read.

But she knew the internet was loaded with misinformation, so she went to the Mayo Clinic website, a reference she trusted. She read about healthy swollen lymph nodes being tender, the size of a pea or a kidney bean, sometimes larger, but usually painful. Lucas’s lymph node was the size of a walnut and painless.

She continued reading about all the usual symptoms she knew she’d find, like how they’re associated with runny noses, sore throats, and fever. She read about general swelling of lymph nodes throughout the body, which could be indicative of an infection or an immune system disorder.

But the doctor had only found one swollen node.

She read a list of bulleted symptoms and stopped cold at hard, fixed, rapidly growing nodes, indicating a possible cancer or lymphoma.