Love Me: Oakville Series:Book 5 by Kathy-Jo Reinhart Page A

close. He remains silent, knowing there aren’t magic words that will make any of this better.
    I don’t know how long we stand there. When the doorbell sounds, it startles me and I jump. Quickly, I wipe the tears away with the bottom of my shirt as I move toward the door. Angel places his hand on my shoulder, stopping me. “You go clean up. I’ll let them in.” Angel pushes me in the direction of the bathroom. I give him a small smile, thankful for the chance to get myself together and prepare for what’s to come.
    After splashing some water on my face and giving myself a pep talk in the mirror, I make my way into the kitchen. Holly, Amber, and Chelsie are sitting around the island, talking and pouring wine into glasses. God, I love these women. “By the sound of your voice, I was assuming this was the kind of conversation that needed alcohol,” Holly says, handing me a glass. We sit quietly for a few minutes, drinking our wine.
    “Soooo,” Amber says, drawing out the word. “What’s going on? You have us a little scared.” All eyes are on me, waiting for my explanation. I begin to shift in my chair, my eyes looking everywhere except into the eyes of my friends. I don’t want to see the sadness I’m going to cause them. They have all been through their own shit and now I’m going to be bringing them into mine—and just when they’ve all gotten their happy endings. I wish I could not tell them anything. Even though I’m the one with cancer, it affects them too.
    Then, there’s the pity. I hate pity. I’ve already seen that look on the face of the doctor when he delivered the news. Marcus has also had the look in his eyes from time to time over the last couple days. Seeing him look at me with pity breaks my heart and pisses me off at the same time. Pity is not something I want or need. Normal. I want normal. Once this news is out there, every person we know is going to start treating me differently. It’s already started with Marcus. I just want things to be as normal as they can be for as long as possible. The time will come when that will have to change soon enough.
    “I have cancer,” I spit out. They all stare at me, eyes wide and mouths open. Disappointment in myself sags through me as I berate myself for blurting it out like that. It wasn’t how I intended to share the news. I glance around, wary of what I’ll find. Holly leaps off her stool and has me wrapped in a hug within seconds. Amber and Chelsie follow close behind. All the feelings that have been plaguing me for days start boiling over and a sob escapes me. I try to hold back the flood of emotions threatening to break free, but when I feel Holly begin to shake from her tears, the dam breaks. My cries begin soft and contained, but they quickly turn into full on wails as sadness, anger, and fear rip through me. My body quakes from the force of the emotions filling me. Before long, all four of us are sobbing, still huddled together. We hold each other tighter, them trying to comfort me and me attempting to comfort them.
    Amber is the first to let go. “I’m going to make some coffee.” Amber sniffles, then hurries away. My throat is sore and my head aches as I take a seat on one of the stools. Chelsie leaves the kitchen and returns with a box of tissues. She hands me a couple and I give her a small smile in thanks. Returning the smile, she then proceeds to give one to Holly and Amber. I blow my nose with one and use the other to dry my eyes, feeling a little better now that I’ve cried some of this tension out.
    We are all quiet while Amber fixes our coffees. I’m trying to prepare myself for all the questions I know they’ll have for me. I imagine they are all thinking that with some chemo or a surgery everything will be fine, but it won’t. I’ve been given a death sentence. Sometimes I wonder if it’s actually sinking in for Marcus. With him avoiding the topic of all the plans we need to make while I still can, it doesn’t seem