“Yes, it’s fine,” June said, even though her fingers were already growing stiff with the cold. Her breath plumed in front of her in big clouds. “What can I help you with?”
“This is just a courtesy call to let you know that we have a bill that is overdue,” Donna said in kind, patient tones thatnevertheless suggested that she knew she was the bearer of bad news. Even though June herself had braced as though for impact at the words, she had enough wherewithal to spare a sympathetic thought for a woman whose entire job was probably giving people information that they absolutely did not want to hear.
“I see,” June said, closing her eyes briefly. “I’m not at home right now. Can I see the bill and pay it through the online portal?”
“Absolutely,” Donna said. “I’m just alerting you to the fact that you are two weeks away from a late fee being applied to your account. Since nobody wants that, I wanted to give you a heads up.”
“I appreciate it,” June said with a humorless little chuckle. “I’ll get right on paying it.”
I wonder how? The question, fortunately, did not make it past her lips.
Donna bid her a polite goodbye, sounding relieved that June hadn’t tried to argue with her or shout at her.
Despite the cold, June took a grounding breath before going back inside. With fingers that were more than halfway to numb, she navigated to the app for her insurance company on her phone, andboy, did she dislike that she wasalsoa person who had downloaded and regularly consulted the app for her health insurance.
She felt a lot worse, however, when she went to the billings tab and found that she owed…
“Oh, boy,” she breathed. That was… substantial.
She couldn’t stand out in the cold any longer, so she went back inside, even though she knew that Cadence would immediately detect her decline in mood.
Indeed, Cadence’s bright look of greeting descended into a frown as soon as she looked closely at June.
“Is everything okay, honey?” she asked.
June put on a brave smile. She knew that any one of her friends would offer to help her out financially if she needed it. But, while June wasn’t too proud to accept help if she truly needed it, especially if it was for something that improved Benjamin’s life, she didn’t think that things werequiteat that level yet.
“It’s just always something, you know?” she said vaguely.
Cadence offered her a sympathetic look that suggested she did not think that June was telling the whole truth, but that she also understood that June didn’t want to talk more about it.
“I’ll let you get away with that one,” she said, “as long as you let me remind you that I and the rest of the book club are here for you if you need us. Any time. Any place.”
June smiled, because that did genuinely make her feel a bit better.
“I know,” she said. “And it really will be okay. It’s just… all this medical stuff is an added strain on the budget. I’ve always made ends meet, and I still will, but…”
“It’s hard,” Cadence filled in for her.
“It’s really hard,” June agreed.
“But you’re not alone,” Cadence added, her tone suggesting that she was slipping something in sneakily.
Her friend’s efforts at guerilla kindness made June laugh. Yes, things were hard. Yes, Benjamin’s diagnosis was scary. And yes, muddling through without Keith made it all harder and scarier.
But she wasn’t alone. That part was true. And the friends that she had were the best friends in the whole wide world… in June’s totally unbiased opinion.
“Okay, let’s talk about something better,” June said, because moping wasn’t going to change the numbers after the dollar sign on that bill, but it would make a difference in the way herday went. “Which of the love interests do you think the heroine should end up with?”
She waved the book they were both reading in illustration.
“Oh, Derek, obviously,” Cadence said, referring to the protagonist’s ex-boyfriend who had suddenly reappeared in town.
“What?” June asked. “Are you nuts? It should be Jared!” This was the handsome town doctor.
Cadence made a sound of shocked disbelief, and the two of them debated for a cheerful quarter of an hour, during which June felt her troubles fade into the background far enough that, for a little while, she could forget that they even existed.
CHAPTER FOUR
