I came home from work the same as any other day, went into my bathroom, and stripped down for my shower.While I was waiting for the water to get nice and steamy, I caught sight of something on my arm that ruined the whole night.
Hell, maybe the entire summer.
I’ve tried keeping my panic at bay until after the first bottle of wine is empty, but I’m only two glasses in and the whole world feels as if it’s imploding.
When I can’t take it anymore, I thrust my arm toward Willow and Lola, showing them my worst fear.
“Does this mole look funny to you?”I blurt, my heart racing too fast.
Lola leans over her box of lo mein, a bunch of noodles hanging from her mouth as she chews like a heathen.“No.”
Why am I asking her?She won’t know.
I swivel right, showing the suspicious spot to Willow.She has an intuition about these things—a sort of sixth sense.Another point in the “witch” column.
Her lips purse.“I don’t think so.But if you’re worried, you should get it checked out.”
I swallow hard.Here’s the thing about surviving cancer: you never know if it’s well and truly gone, or if one day you’re going to walk into the doctor’s office for a routine checkup and find out your entire body is silently plotting to murder you.
“I am,” I say.“Tomorrow.”My next skin check wasn’t supposed to be for another three months, but Dr.Rhea told me to get in touch if anything looked unusual.I called his office the moment I found it, and his secretary moved some things around so I could come in first thing in the morning.
The weird part is, I need to know if the mole is cancerous so I can deal with it in a timely manner, but I also don’t want to know.Part of me would rather stay blissfully unaware, in case the cancer is back and untreatable.To pretend everything is okay, even if it might not be.
“I can go with you,” Willow offers with a gentle squeeze of my shoulder.
“Thanks, but there’s no need.I’m sure it’s probably nothing.”Fingers crossed.“But if you wouldn’t mind opening Mugs, I’d be grateful.Tilly is supposed to be there, but you know how nervous she gets.”
“Of course.”
Conversation ebbs and flows over the next hour.Lola tells us about a new pair of designer shoes she ordered for her birthday.Willow points out that her birthday isn’t until August, which Lola claims is irrelevant.
I have to agree.You need to do all the things while you’re able.You never know if your life is going to be cut short.
“Clo?”
Willow and Lola blink at me from the couch, their brows furrowing.
I give my head a little flick, realizing I missed what they just said.Nothing like getting depressed in the middle of girls’ night.
Willow’s eyes soften behind her round glasses.I secretly love it when she doesn’t wear her contacts.“We were just asking when your neighbor is heading back to Philadelphia,” she says with a small smile, setting her empty wine glass beside the equally empty bottle.
That’s the last thing I want to think about at a time like this.“I don’t know.”If Ethan set a date, he hasn’t mentioned it.“Why?”
“No reason.”Lola drops her chopsticks into the box of cashew chicken.“The house next door looks perfect, so I assumed he was finished with all the work he was doing.”
He can’t be finished already… can he?No.He would’ve told me if he was ready to head home.Right?
“At least you have Steve to look forward to,” she adds, unaware of my internal panic spiral.
“Who?”
“New York Steve,” Willow says with a laugh.
“You know, the guy you hook up with every July,” Lola chimes in.
Oh, yeah.I completely forgot New York Steve.
Usually, I’m counting down the days until his family arrives, but since Ethan and I became a thing, I forgot he even existed.“That’s right.Definitely looking forward to Steve.”Except that’s a big fat lie.I wouldn’t care if his family never came to the island again.
