Page 35 of Every Chance After

“Gorgeous until the cats nibble on them and throw up everywhere. Please, help yourself and share with the other patients, too.”

“You’re so dang sweet, Marnie,” Ivy says. “I’ll roll them around the floor and see if there are any takers. I’ll be back with a wheelchair to wheel you outta here.”

“I’ll be ready.”

She disappears again.

Marina’s eyes circle up to mine, her smile faltering. “Ivy’s dad studies carnivorous plants. Her sister, Vee, hasn’t been home to visit in over a year. She’s somewhere exotic, doing environmental research. Can you imagine? Gosh, what an adventure, huh?”

“I don’t care about any of that. Where’s Ashe?” I try again.

She takes a deep breath, firming her smile. “Jamaica. He and his best man are enjoying our honeymoon. Iencouragedit. I’m doing so well and didn’t want him missing out.”

Anger rages inside me, but I try holding it back. I take a deep breath, and with my gentlest voice, I say, “He left you here, like this, in pain, in the care of his tyrannical mother so that he could have his fucking me-time?”

“I wouldn’t call her tyrannical. Don’t be hard on Ashe. He’s… he needs time.”

Her big, round eyes circumvent mine, dropping to the suitcase, the floor, the window. She doesn’t want to discuss what he needs time for, and shouldn’t have to defend him anyway. Not to me. He needs time to mourn what I’ve stolen, their chance to have children together.

Only I’m not supposed to know that.

“Time,” I repeat. “It’s generous of you to be okay with that.”

Her shoulders bounce softly. “All I’m going to do is lounge on my couch with my cats and watch British TV all day. There’s aDownton Abbeymarathon waiting for me. I don’t need Ashe or Cora for that. Leaving today is easier on everyone.”

Marina is either the most foolish and naive woman I’ve ever met or the most stubbornly pragmatic, solving a problem before it becomes one. I wouldn’t want Cora’s icy brand of mothering or Ashe’s moping, either. Could she be a clone of Cora—fiercely independent and happy to keep her man in the background of her life like an accessory she wears on occasion? Not that my opinion matters.

“Fine. How can I help?” I say.

“You aren’t responsible for me, either. I don’t need any help, but thanks for?—”

“How are you getting home?”

She waves her phone. “Lyft. I’ll request a ride as soon as I’m on the elevator. We’ll pitstop for my prescriptions. I’ll have dinner delivered. I’ve thought of everything.”

Her lips edge upwards in a triumphant smirk.

“Not everything. You forgot one important detail about our irritating small town.”

“What?”

“It’s Sunday. Seagrove Pharmacy is closed.”

Her entire demeanor shifts with an anguished expression that still comes off as mildly adorable. “Oh, no, dang it! You’re right. I’ll have Ivy?—”

“Stop. I’ll get your meds if you let me drive you home.”

Her thin brows cock in a challenge. “If you think I’m letting you drag your mom into work on a Sunday?—”

“It’s that or Cora, unless you want to spend your evening in unbearable pain.”

Her lips pout in a sigh.

“Mom sends me on a hundred errands a week. She’ll jump at the chance for me to send her on one. Besides, you’re going to need more help than you think. Please, Marina. Let me do this.”

Her arms fold in dramatic protest, pressing against her stomach and causing her to grimace. She hesitates to answer, as if debating whether she can trust me.

“Marina, you’ll be safe with me. I promise. I’ll even be… nice.”

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