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Andrew broke the silence. “Hi.”
His voice seemed to break the pharmacist out of her trance, and she sat on a stool, introducing herself as Lauren. “You must be Andrew?”
“That’s me.” He introduced the rest of the family.
Lauren spent the next half-hour explaining what he could expect from the chemotherapy. Jeni didn’t miss the way Lauren’s cheeks flushed every time she glanced in his direction.
Again, interesting.
When Lauren finished and asked their family if they had any questions, everyone jumped right in. They asked several, from when he could expect his hair to fall out to whether he had to wear a mask in public, but it all went to hell when their mother asked if it was safe for him to have sex while he was on chemo.
Jeni covered her mouth to hide her laugh. Andrew’s face was suddenly a shade of dark red. He made several attempts to move the conversation along, but their mother wouldn’t be deterred, insisting it was important to him to know.
“Caroline and I broke up, okay?” he finally announced, tone laced with frustration.
An echo of gasps reverberated throughout the small room, and Jeni’s head snapped up. Now that she thought about it, he hadn’t mentioned Caroline since his diagnosis. She was pleased by the news, but she’d be damned if she would allow a woman to get away with dumping her brother because he’d gotten sick.
“If she dumped you because of this, I’m gonna punch her in the ovaries,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Can we talk about this later?” Andrew bit out.
Jeni and the rest of the family grudgingly kept quiet while Lauren finished up, and they left the oncologist’s office. Jeni somehow wormed her way into Andrew’s car, sending the other three back to her house in hers.
“Is Mom’s car almost fixed?” he asked as he approached the parking garage exit.
“Supposed to be ready tomorrow.”
“Thank God.”
“You know they won’t leave until after you start chemo.”
“I know. I’ll take the first appointment they offer me.” He rolled down his window to hand the parking attendant his validated ticket and thanked her when the gate lifted.
Jeni waited several minutes to give him the opportunity to bring up Caroline, but he didn’t. “So, what happened?”
Andrew sighed. “We broke up.”
“I got that part. When?”
“Does it matter?”
She ground her teeth. “I’m gonna key her car.”
He laughed. “No, you won’t. It was a mutual decision. We weren’t right for each other, and you know it.”
“Well. I’m glad you finally came to your senses.” She glanced over at him. “But I’m sorry, all the same. Break-ups suck, no matter what.”
“They do,” he agreed but didn’t look too torn up about it. “Do you ever miss Jackson?”
She put her elbow on the narrow ledge by the window and rested her palm against her hair. “I don’t miss him. I kind of miss the companionship sometimes.”
“I know you were texting a guy earlier. Are you considering going out with someone again?”
“I told you before. I’m never dating again.”
He looked at her with wide eyes. “I didn’t think you were serious.”
“As a heart attack.”
“Jeni, you’re twenty-six. You can’t throw in the towel after one bad relationship.”
“It wasn’t just a relationship. It was a failed marriage. One that crashed and burned in such spectacular fashion that I’ll never do it again.” She looked out the window as she spoke. “What’s the point?”
“I just worry you’ll wake up at fifty and regret never trying again.”
Jeni turned her head and gave her brother a sad smile. “I won’t.”
The only thing she regretted was getting married in the first place.
