Page 85 of I’m Already Gone

I quickly divert the topic. “So, how are things holding up at the office?”

“Still standing, man. It’s busy, but I got this,” he reassures me.

“I know you do. I wouldn’t have handed you the keys if I didn’t have faith in you.”

“Temporarily,” he stresses. “You’ll be back when Lily is one hundred percent. And when she is, we’re shutting the place down for a day and throwing a proper celebration. She is going to beat this thing.”

I nod, a familiar lump in my throat. “Yeah,” I mutter.

“Ethan?”

I turn around to see Lily standing in the archway, eyes and nose red from crying, holding something in her hands.

“I have to go, Marcus.”

“Alright. Talk later,” he says.

Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I make my toward Lily. “What’s going on? Have you been crying?”

Her lips quiver, and I follow her gaze down to her hands. And that’s when I see it.

Nestled in her palms are clumps of her beautiful golden locks.

“It’s already starting,” she whispers.

“Oh, Sunshine. Come here.” I pull her into my arms, and she melts against me, her body shaking with the weight of what she’s facing.

As her sobs begin to quiet, she pulls back a little, resting her chin against my chest.

She looks up at me with tear-filled eyes that hold a glimmer of determination. “I want you to cut my hair. It’s time,” she says, her voice hoarse, followed by a soft sniffle.

I cup her face in my hands, my thumbs wiping away the lingering tears. My own eyes burn. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she affirms, her gaze unwavering.

I scan her eyes for a long minute, searching, hoping for a sign of hesitation. But there is none. Only the heartbreaking truth. This is her way of accepting her reality. But it doesn’t mean she has to face it alone.

“Okay. Why don’t you pull yourself together, and I’ll have everything ready,” I suggest.

She nods, and I press a soft kiss to her forehead.

As she disappears around the corner and up the stairs, the patio doors slide open. The kids rush inside, laughing and chattering.

“I am soooooo hungry,” Maddy groans, wrapped in her beach towel, her hair still damp from the pool. Jake and Ollie, cocooned in matching towels, trail behind her.

“Can I have a moment with you guys?” I ask, motioning for them to sit at the table. I pull out a chair and settle in.

“What’s going on?” Jake asks, taking his place across from me.

Maddy and Ollie sit opposite each other.

I lean in, my hands interlaced on the table. “Your mom’s hair is starting to fall out, and she’s understandably struggling with it. She’s asked me to cut it all off.”

Jake’s face drops, his eyes focused on the table. Maddy’s lips tremble slightly, and I catch a glimpse of tears shimmering in her eyes.

Ollie lowers his head, resting it on his folded arms atop the table, quietly absorbing everything. “That makes Mom sad.”

“Yes, it does, buddy. Very sad.”