Page 5 of At His Beck & Call

Bethany pauses. I didn’t mean to make that one word sound so heavy, but it comes out hollow and raw.

She slowly lowers the spoon. “Okay,” she whispers. “So what did they find?”

The tears I have been fighting since the doctor gave me the news surge back, and I’m powerless to prevent them. My friend’sworried stare is enough to open the floodgates, and saying it aloud makes it even worse.

“Oh my God, Liss, what is it?” Bethany asks, grabbing my hand.

“He has a tumor.” Bethany sucks in a sharp, horrified breath. “But they’ve caught it early. He has to have his kidney removed.”

“It’s… It’s cancer?” Bethany asks, her eyes glassy and her cheeks flushed.

I nod, unable to speak, and then Bethany is moving, sliding along the booth and taking me into her arms, hugging me so tightly I can barely breathe. It still isn’t tight enough.

“Babe, I’m so sorry. Oh my God, I can’t fucking believe this.”

Eventually, she lets me go, meeting my eyes with her dark brown, earnest gaze. “Listen to me, this is going to be okay.”

“I can’t afford the surgery,” I say breathlessly.

“But you have health insurance,” she says, frowning at me.

I shake my head. “It’s tied to James’s work; it’s all in his name. I even considered calling him to tell him what’s going on?—”

“Fuck that. I’ll pay for it,” she snaps, her tone dark and angry.

“No.”

Bethany blinks at me. “What? Of course I’ll help you.”

“Beth, you can’t afford it. Not right now. Not with how things are with your parents. You still don’t know how that’s going to play out, and I won’t be the reason you don’t have enough to cover it. I’ve relied on others to support me my whole life. I won’t do it again.”

Bethany shakes her head. “But it’sHen,”she says, her voice cracking. “I’d die for that kid.”

“I know that. But I have to start standing on my own two feet.”

“You arenotcalling James,” she spits, her mouth a firm, angry line as she swallows.

Then, her eyes close, one hand falling away from my shoulder as she rubs at her chin. With a supreme effort, she manages to school her features into a blank expression and looks back at me.

“I mean… You can obviously do whatever you think is best, butplease, I would do anything to stop you from having to see him. Anything. I know circumstances are tough right now, but?—”

“I’m not going to call James, Beth.”

She huffs loudly, sitting back against the booth, looking bewildered. “Thank God. Then what are you going to do, apply for a loan?” Bethany asks incredulously. “That’ll take a lifetime to pay back.”

“And I don’t have a credit history,” I remind her gently. “All our accounts were in James’s name.”

“That fucker.” She snarls, stabbing at her plate. “Then what? How are you going to manage it?”

I take a deep breath, steeling myself as I look her in the eye, determinedly. “I want you to get me an interview at Sterling House.”

Bethany goes still, red lips parting before she sets her jaw.

“No,” she says firmly. “Absolutely not.”

“Why?” I demand, trying to keep my tone even. “We both know I would be able to earn enough in a year to pay for the care Henry needs. And where else am I going to get that kind of money?”

“We’ll find another way.”