Page 68 of Hello Doctor

Just a mile out of town, my phone vibrated with a text message.

Miles: Emailed you the results.

My stomach dropped. A friend of mine had placed priority on Rhett’s biopsy results, but part of me wished he wouldn’t have because now I had the truth. Once I opened that report, there would be no more hoping for the best if my worst fears were confirmed.

“You okay?” Liv asked, glancing my way.

I nodded, forcing a smile I didn’t feel. “I’m fine. Hungry.”

“We’re going to the right place then,” she replied.

I shifted slightly in my seat, tapping through my email to the results. And discovered they had also been sent to Rhett.

Shit.

I read over the report, and time seemed to slow as we drove past the sign to my family farm and underneath the metal arch that read GRIFFEN FARMS. How could I pull Rhett aside to talk about this without making a scene in front of his entire family?

“Do you think Deidre made cookies?” Maya asked from the back seat.

Her question brought memories flooding back. Deidre had brought us chocolate chip cookies when they put my mom on hospice, dying of cancer. They were the only food she would eat at the end...

“You know I can make those cookies, right?” Liv asked her, slowing as we got closer to the white farmhouse.

Both Maya and I stared at her. My mind wasn’t moving fast enough to comprehend this conversation.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US SOONER?” Maya asked, bringing me back to the present. Out of the past.

Liv parked in their gravel drive alongside a white minivan. “I like to keep a few tricks up my sleeve.” She winked and turned the vehicle off before getting out.

The gust of fresh air that blew through her door cleared my head, if only a little. But it did absolutely nothing for the boulder in my stomach.

Being in this driveway felt like coming home in a way. Except all the kids I used to play with? We were the adults now. Back then, the parents seemed to have it all together. I wondered if they were like me—playing it by ear half the time, doing their best.

We walked together into the house and were greeted with a bustle of activity. All of Liv’s family was there. Her oldest brother, Gage, with his new wife and three stepchildren. Then her brother Tyler and his wife Henrietta. And of course, Rhett and their parents, Jack and Diedre.

Everyone said hello, but Rhett merely lifted his chin at us and said, “Want a beer?”

“Sure,” I replied, not quite meeting his eyes.

“Make that two beers,” Liv said. “And get my girl a lemonade.”

Rhett just turned around, saying, “Will do.”

“I’ll come help,” I offered.

Rhett simply said, “Don’t.”

Liv gave me a questioning look, but when I had no explanation, she began introducing Maya to a little girl named Cora and a boy named Andrew who were around Maya’s age. The three kids took off to the backyard, where Deidre said there were three buckets of water balloons to play with.

“I’m going to see if Jack needs help on the grill,” I told Liv.

“I don’t think so,” she replied. “Come with me.” Before we reached the door, she called over her shoulder, “Fletch and I have a bet about the swing in the hayloft. He thinks the rope won’t hold him, but I said it’s sturdy as steel.”

No one seemed too curious about that, but Liv didn’t mind either way as she marched me down to the red barn about a hundred yards from the house.

“We’re not really going to the hayloft, are we?” I asked.

“Yes, but only because we need privacy,” she replied.

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