Page 5 of Rescuing Mary

“Because they make you feel good in bed?” Mary offered.

The other woman laughed. “Yeah, there is that.” She turned to Mary and held out her hand. “I’m Rayne. Rayne Jackson.”

Mary shook her hand and said, “Mary Weston.”

“I think I like you, Mary Weston,” Rayne said.

“Likewise.”

They grinned at each other, and Mary held up her bottle of beer in a toast. “Here’s to men sucking.”

“I’ll drink to that,” Rayne said, and clinked her glass with Mary’s bottle.

* * *

4 Years Ago, Age 26

* * *

Mary closed her eyes as another bout of nausea overtook her. She felt Rayne’s hand on her back as she leaned over the toilet and dry heaved.

“Easy, Mare,” Rayne said as she tried to soothe her. “When you’re ready, let me know and I’ll help you back to bed.”

It took ten more minutes before Mary felt like the nausea had passed. Rayne helped her limp back to her bed and she fell onto it with a sigh. “I hate this,” Mary said.

“I know,” Rayne agreed.

“Not the cancer,” Mary argued. “That asshole said he’d be here tonight.”

“Men suck,” Rayne murmured.

“I know. I can’t believe I fell for his bullshit. Why didn’t you kick me in the ass, Raynie?”

“Because I really thought he was going to be the one,” Rayne answered, wiping Mary’s brow with a damp cloth.

“My mama told me a long time ago that if a man says he loves you, he’s full of shit. That I should never get attached and only use them for a good time.”

“That’s not true,” Rayne protested. “I mean, yes, some men suck, but there’s got to be some good ones out there.”

“I don’t think so. I mean, who tells a woman dying of cancer that he’ll be there every step of the way and after the first sign she’s struggling, he bails?”

“Reggie Milsap,” was Rayne’s dry response.

Mary chuckled, even though that made her head hurt even more. “Yeah. Him.”

“Remember that promise we made to each other a few years ago?” Rayne asked.

“Which one?”

“That we’d wait to walk down the aisle until we both had men who had proven they were reliable, loved us for real, and we could do it together?”

“Yeah.”

“I meant that,” Rayne said, her eyes piercing in their intensity.

“I know.”

“I’m not letting you use cancer as an excuse to get out of it either.”