Page 2 of Edge of Heaven

“Hey, Taryn.” Dusty Rhimes, the bassist for Callum’s band, is coming out of his room just as the door closes behind me.

“Hey.” I manage a shaky smile.

“Need some help?”

“Thank you, yes.”

We walk to the elevator in silence.

“You’re leaving for good?” he asks once we’re inside.

“Yeah.” I nod. “It’s time.”

“Good for you.”

Dusty’s the only guy in the band I like. The others are all jerks—much like Callum. Dusty is no angel, but he’s always been nice to me, and I don’t see him abusing the crew or groupies like the other guys do either.

My phone rings just as we step out of the elevator.

“Thanks, Dusty,” I say as I answer. “Hi, Mom.”

“Taryn!” She sounds out of breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“The treatment,” she says. “The funding fell through.”

My heart sinks.

Toby has leukemia, and the standard treatments haven’t been working for him. There’s a new experimental clinical trial going on, and I managed to get him in, but insurance won’t pay for it. We thought we found funding, but now…

“What can we do?” I ask quickly. “What do they say?”

“I spoke to the woman in billing. She says he can join the trial, but it’s more than ten grand a month.Cash, Taryn.”

The air leaves my lungs in a rush, and I stumble to the nearest chair. “Oh shit.”

“I don’t have it,” she says. “I can pay for this month, but after that, I don’t know what we’ll do, and for the treatment to work, they’re saying he needs a year.”

A year.

That’s more than a hundred grand.

I have a little over fifteen thousand in the bank.

But no jobs scheduled, no way to make more short-term.

As a model, I do okay, but I’m no Kendall Jenner or Cheyenne.

And that’s one of many things Callum and I fought about—me leaving to find work. He always whined and complained until I just gave in.

Now I want to kick myself.

“I have about fifteen,” I tell my mother. “That buys us another two months or so. By then, I’ll hopefully find work.”

“They’re going to make me sign a document agreeing to pay them. If we fall short one month, they can take the house, Taryn. And that’s all we have.”

I groan and close my eyes.

---