Alex is right…I’ve signed myself up for a tough road. I don’t have any hesitation, because Olivia is worth it. But he’s definitely got a point that this will be much easier with the support of friends than without. On top of that, I really don’t have room inside me to hang on to my anger at him and Sutton. I have too much other shit boiling inside right now.

“All right, man,” I say as the anger and resentment drains out of me. “Apology really accepted. You’re right…now is the time for friends.”

Leaning in, Alex surprises the shit out of me by giving me a hug. I roughly clap him on the back and we pull away with matching grins.

“So, what’s on your agenda for the weekend?” Alex asks with a punch to my shoulder. “I assume you’ll be spending it with the lovely Miss Case.”

“Yup. I’m going to take her to the beach. Stevie won’t let her back into the shop until at least Monday, so I figure that might be a relaxing place for her to hang out.”

“How is she feeling? And doesn’t she have another test today?”

“Still a little queasy when she got up. And, yeah…she had her PET scan this morning.”

“Sutton told me they’re treating this as if she has stage four,” Alex says, his voice concerned and sad.

Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly. “Yeah…all the results from the testing should be in early next week, but I guess something showed up on her CT scan that leads her doctor to believe it’s at the worst stage.”

“But it’s treatable,” Alex says confidently, and the smile attached to his face tells me he believes that Olivia will win.

But I’ve been sitting on something that has been gnawing at my insides. “Listen…I talked to an oncologist that’s friends with Mark Godson. He gave me the rundown on this type of cancer. And while it’s treatable, it’s generally not curable.”

“That’s what Sutton told me,” Alex says with a nod. “I assume they just treat it again, right?”

“I guess. I really don’t know, but this doctor told me…the median survival rate for this is about twenty years.”

“What does that mean?” Alex says, his voice now tinged with the same fear that has been flowing through my veins.

“You know what it means,” I tell him tiredly.

“No, I really don’t,” Alex says. “She could live a lot longer, right?”

“Sure,” I tell him with a smile. “And that’s the attitude we need to stick with. I just don’t think Olivia’s been told that yet, or if she has, she hasn’t really said anything. I don’t know if I should talk about this with her…it’s all so new what we have going on, and let’s face it…I’ve never really been in a relationship. I’m sort of out of my league here.”

Alex’s gaze hits the asphalt and he shuffles on his feet. Looking back up to me, he blows out a quick breath and says, “Okay…I’ve got to say this. You really think you should get involved with Olivia?”

“What the fuck?” I ask in exasperation. “I thought you questioning my commitment was over.”

Shaking his head quickly, Alex says, “I don’t say it for that reason. I’m asking you to consider the consequences to you…of getting involved with someone that could die very young. I say that because I’m worried about you.”

My chest constricts hard as I take in what Alex is saying, but the thought of cutting Olivia loose causes an even greater stab of pain to hit me. I’m willing to take the risk at this point and I have to believe that Olivia will defy the odds.

—
“Oh, wow,” Olivia gasps as we reach the apex of the high-rise bridge that separates Topsail Island from the mainland. “It’s stunning.”

I turn briefly to glance at her, and I find her face to be far more stunning than the Atlantic Ocean that she’s currently looking at with dreamy eyes. Olivia slept most of the way here, which tells me her body needs the rest.

Which was fine. Gave me time to ponder and mull over how radically my life has just changed. There isn’t one single ounce of regret inside me for making the choice to continue seeing Olivia. I was going to do it before I found out she was sick, and I still wanted to see her after I found out she was sick. The craving with which I want to get to know her better didn’t increase or subside one way or the other, but there is a whole lot of uncertainty now in the mix. It’s a lot to process.

Olivia was beside herself when I told her I was taking her to the beach for a long weekend. Ordinarily, she would have worked Saturday at Fleurish, but because Stevie banned her from the shop until Monday, she was all too happy to have the chance for a small getaway.

And I couldn’t wait to spend some time with her.

At the end of the bridge, I take a left onto Highway 210 to head north up the beach road. “You grew up in North Carolina, right?” I ask.

Looking out her window at the ocean, she says, “Until I was thirteen. Then Mom moved us out west. We lived in California and then eventually Oregon. I came back here for college and stayed.”

“Why did your mom move out west?”

“Free spirit and all that, meaning she followed a guy. Henry…he grew herbal teas, and I’m pretty sure pot too. But he’s a nice guy.”

“Is your mom still with him?”

“Nah…they lasted a few years, then she met Chuck. He was a musician…which meant he didn’t have any money, but he played the guitar beautifully. He was also a pretty nice guy. She’s in between bums right now.”