* * *
Jay stood staring out the window of his small cabin, watching the snow pile up. He was supposed to leave for Fairbanks first thing in the morning, but there was no way, with as much snow as they were getting. He looked at the phone in his hand with no signal, wishing he could at least text Sally to let her know, but he couldn’t.
He’d done as promised and sent her a letter every day he was gone, but would she think he wasn’t coming if he wasn’t back on Sunday as promised? Would she even think to check the weather and realize he was stuck? Or would she assume the worst?
He reached down and patted his old dog, Chester. Chester had stayed with his buddy, Ben, who was now sleeping and ready to go back to work the next day, finally feeling better. He didn’t think a dog used to the Alaskan weather, and used to really working, would be happy in Texas.
He sighed, walking over to sleep on Ben’s couch. If he could sleep, worrying about Sally. Surely she’d understand if he was a day or two late.
* * *
The snow didn’t let up until Tuesday afternoon, and it took until Thursday evening to dig them out. Friday morning, Jay was on his way to the airport in Fairbanks, itching to see Sally.
As soon as he got to a place where his phone worked, he called her. She sounded out of breath when she answered, and he realized that it was just after lunchtime in Texas. “I’m sorry to pull you from class!”
“Not in class. It was a half day today, so I have my oncologist appointment.”
He felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach. “Oncologist? What?” She had cancer? No one had said anything to him about it!
“Gotta run! They’re calling me!”
He looked at his phone. It was dead. Why is she seeing an oncologist?
* * *
Sally finished her appointment and headed home. Everything was good, and the doctor was changing her schedule so she only had to go in once a year if everything was still good in February, which was the one-year mark of her diagnosis. She’d had thyroid cancer, which was usually an easy one to treat, and hers had been exceptionally easy. She’d had a thyroidectomy, and that was it. She hadn’t even needed radiation, as most thyroid cancer patients did.
It was while she was driving that she realized she’d never talked to Jay about the cancer, and she’d announced on the phone to him that she was at her oncologist’s office. She cringed, activating the speaker phone in her car. “Call Jay.”
The computerized voice announced that it was calling Jay, and she waited. He answered, sounding like he’d been running. “Sally?”
“Hi!”
“What oncologist? You have cancer?” His voice was panicked.
She sighed heavily. “I’m sorry, Jay. I didn’t even think to tell you. Do you have a minute?” He needed to hear enough that he wouldn’t worry about her until he arrived home. No one should have to hear that evil word about someone they loved without full details.
“Yeah. I have about ten till we board.”
“You’re on your way, then? Really?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there tonight.”
“I’m so glad.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, here’s the deal. I found out in January that I had thyroid cancer. It’s a super easy cancer to treat, and they removed my thyroid. I didn’t need chemo or radiation or anything because it hadn’t spread to my lymph nodes.”
“So you’re okay?”
“I’m fine. I take a tiny pill every morning, but nothing else about my life is really any different. I didn’t even think to tell you about it, I’m so fine. I’ve been seeing my oncologist every three months, though I’m not sure why because she never does anything. We just talk and she tells me to come back. I have to see her in January, but after that, I won’t see her again for another year.”
“Will it come back?”
“I have no thyroid now. It won’t come back. There’s always a chance I’ll get another kind of cancer, but not this one.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice sounded hurt.
“It wasn’t a matter of deciding not to tell you. I just didn’t think of it while we were together. I had an amazing surgeon, but if you look closely, you can see the scar on my neck. I’ll point it out when I see you.”
“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you tonight. It’ll probably be late.”
Sally frowned, feeling like she’d lost his trust now too. “I’ll be up waiting for you.”
When she got home, she found Alison lying on the couch with her feet on the arm, and she was on the phone. “Do you really think he likes me? He’s so hot!”
Sally grinned as she walked into the kitchen, starting supper for the two of them. She remembered when the most important thing about a relationship was physical attraction. Well, she and Jay had physical attraction down. Now they just needed to learn to communicate.
Ten minutes later, Alison appeared in the kitchen with a letter. “Guess who got another letter today?”
Sally took the letter with a smile. Jay’s “love letters” had gotten worse and worse as time had gone on. She’d always taught her students, and honestly always believed, that every time you wrote something, you became a better writer. She thought that every letter, every essay, every chapter helped you improve. And then she read Jay’s love letters. They proved everything she’d believed about writing wrong because they got progressively worse.
Of course, his inadequacy just made her love him more. She was sure if he’d written as well as Cyrano, it wouldn’t have helped his cause at all. But his letters were perfect, and each one made her heart sing.
She opened the letter and read it, smiling to herself. She’d learned not to laugh the way she had with the second letter because Alison didn’t need to realize just how inept her uncle was on paper, although she seemed to know instinctively.
After reading the letter, Sally folded it and tucked it into her pocket. “Who’s the boy?” she asked.
Alison shrugged. “I don’t want to say in case it doesn’t work out.”
“I can understand that.” Though she really wanted to know, Sally didn’t press the girl because it could be weird if her teacher knew who she had a crush on. “Your uncle’s going to be home tonight. I talked to him today.”
“Oh, good. I’ve kind of missed him.”
“He’s missed you too! He mentioned you in every single letter.”
“Really? That’s cool!” Alison hoisted herself onto the counter. “How was the doc’s appointment?”
“Really good. I have to go back in January, and then I’ll go down to once a year.”
“Awesome! That’s for your cancer, right?”
Sally nodded. “You knew about my cancer?”
“Yeah, all the kids talk about it. Some of them say you’re superhuman because you only missed a week of work.”
“I’m not superhuman.” Sally dug into the fridge to find garlic cloves.
“Well, they say you are. I’m glad you didn’t die.”
“Thanks, I think!”
“Hey, I’ve always had this idea that if someone lives through a bad car wreck or cancer or something, they should get a ‘glad you didn’t die’ cake. May I bake you one?”
Sally shrugged. “Sure. Why not? You can make it as one of our Thanksgiving desserts.”
“You’re doing Thanksgiving with me and Uncle Jay?”
Sally grinned. “We haven’t talked about it yet, but it’s coming up fast. Can you see your uncle fixing an entire Thanksgiving meal?”
“I figured he’d just take us out somewhere and we’d have restaurant food.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound very Thanksgiving-like to me!”
“Being together sounds great!” Alison walked over to peer out the window. “How long before he gets here?”
“I’m not sure. He said it would probably be really late, but I’m going to wait up.”
“Really?” Alison asked. “Can I wait up with you?”
Sally wanted to say no because she
wanted to see Jay alone. She wanted to be able to fly into his arms and hug him, but she knew she’d feel uncomfortable with his niece there. “Yeah, sure.”
“Oh, good. Let’s have a pajama party and watch sappy movies while we wait. I know! We can watch Lazy Love! We’ll have a marathon, starting with the first episode.”
“After dinner.” Sally could sit through the show… again. She’d watched everything once so she could talk to May about it, but watching once more wouldn’t kill her. She liked the show, but she wasn’t obsessed with it like certain people she knew and loved.
After they’d finished their meal, they changed into their pajamas and snuggled under lap quilts on the couch to watch the show. After each episode, Alison would need to discuss what she thought of Bob’s role, and they would take a break for fresh drinks, popcorn, or the bathroom.
It was close to three in the morning when there was a very soft knock on the door, as if the person knocking was trying to not wake them. Alison paused the show and looked at Sally. “I think I’ll go to the bathroom.” Before Sally was even at the door, the girl had disappeared.
Sally hurried to the door and opened it wide, a little embarrassed by her Minnie Mouse pajamas, but not enough to hold off on throwing herself at Jay. “I missed you!”
His arms closed around her, and he held her tight. “I missed you too.” He lifted her off her feet.
She sighed. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the cancer. It’s really such a non-issue at this point that I didn’t think about it. We had so much we were dealing with. I don’t want you to think I was hiding anything.”
He set her on her feet and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He looked at the two quilts on the couch and both drinks. “This looks like a party for two.”
“Alison went to the bathroom to give us some privacy.”
He grinned, sitting down on the couch and pulling her down beside him. “She’s a good niece sometimes.”
“Are you mad at me?”
He shook his head. “No, not at all. I can understand that it slipped your mind. I didn’t mention that I almost got eaten by a bear once either, and I don’t want you to hold that against me.”
She blinked a couple of times, looking at him. “You almost got eaten by a bear?”
He nodded. “Most of the bears in Denali are herbivores. There just isn’t enough meat there for them, so when they run across prey, they tend to really go after it. I ran into a bear while I was out on patrol, but I was able to hold my ground and stare him down. I lived to tell about it.”
“Please don’t ever almost get eaten by a bear again.”
“I won’t if you don’t get cancer again.”
“I’ll do my best,” she promised.
Jay frowned. “I’ll do my best, then. You can’t expect me to promise when you’re not going to.”
“I liked your letters,” she said softly, thinking about the last one she’d read just that afternoon.
“Really? How many have you received?”
“Seven. They started coming last Friday, and I got two one day.”
“You really liked them? You didn’t think they were terrible?”
Sally grinned. “They were absolutely dreadful! But they made me smile, and they made me laugh, and they made me feel connected to you, even though you were a million miles away.”
“It’s actually about four thousand miles.”
“I was speaking in hyperbole, and that’s okay, because I know what hyperbole is.”
He sighed. “I’m glad you liked the letters, and they made you feel close to me, but I’m sorry they were dreadful. Maybe I didn’t watch enough Cyrano after all.”
“I’m sure you watched it enough. You can quote it to me, after all. I loved your letters because I knew they were coming from your heart. They just weren’t … well, they were a bit odd for love letters.”
“I couldn’t get out to mail any after Saturday, so I brought you the ones I wrote this week.”
“I can’t wait to read them.”
“You’re not grading them, are you? I can just picture you taking a red pen to them like you do your students’ essays.”
Sally shook her head. “I promise I’m not grading them.”
“Good.”
“How was your flight?” she asked, wondering why he hadn’t kissed her yet.
He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. “Long. I had a layover in Minneapolis. It’s five hours from Fairbanks to Minneapolis, and then three hours from Minneapolis to DFW. I spent eight hours on planes.”
“You should go home and get some rest. I can deliver Alison in the morning, or you can take her. She’s in her pajamas, though.”
“I’d rather spend a little more time with you, if you don’t mind.”
She grinned, shaking her head as she fought back a yawn. “I’m sleepy, but I’m so glad you’re here, I don’t care!” She leaned toward him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in for a kiss. “I missed you all the time, even when I was at work. Knowing you were a million—or four thousand—miles away made me miss you more. I hated it.”
He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, smiling. “I missed you too. I think I told you that at least six times in every letter.”
She did her best not to laugh at his mention of letters, but she knew her lips twitched. “You did. It was wonderful.”
“Are you still laughing about my letters?”
She shrugged. “I’m sorry. They amused me. I loved them, though.”
He sighed. “I put all that effort into writing you every day, just like I promised, and all I get is amusement.”
“No, you get a lot more than amusement. You get undying love and delight. Those letters felt like a lifeline to you. Yes, they amused me, and I can’t deny that, because they were funny. But they were special as well. I’ll always treasure them.”
He slipped his arm around her and held her close to his side. “I should have given you my address so you could write me love letters too.”
“I … it never occurred to me to write you.”
“That’s not fair.” He frowned at her. “You’re the English teacher. You have a way with words, not me. Why am I writing letters, but you don’t have to?”
“I wrote about you in my journal every day.”
Jay tilted his head to one side. “Do I get to read your journal?”
She frowned, thinking about all she’d written about him in the past. She’d mentioned him at least once a day for as long as he’d been gone. There were boxes and boxes of journals, and his name was on every page. No, he wouldn’t be seeing them. “I can’t let you read my private thoughts.”
He frowned. “Keeping secrets again?”
“Not at all. Some things just aren’t meant to be read.”
He thought about that for a moment before nodding. “I can understand that.”
“Are y’all kissing? I don’t want to see that!” Alison called from the kitchen.
“If we were before, we’ve stopped now!” Sally called back, snuggling closer to Jay’s side. She was not going to be embarrassed to show affection in front of the girl.
Alison came into the room, grinning. “Hi, Uncle Jay. I missed you a little bit.”
Jay laughed. “Only a little bit, huh?”
She nodded. “Yup. And Miss Jackson took me to see my parents’ graves. I want to go more often.”
He blinked a couple of times at the quick change of subject. “Any time you want. You just let me know. Some people get sadder when they’re asked to visit graves, but if it’s something you feel like you want or need to do, we’ll do it as much as you want.”
“Thanks.” She sat down next to Sally. “Let’s watch the next episode!”
Jay looked over at his niece. “What exactly are we watching?”
“Lazy Love, of course. This is the one where someone holds JoAnn and MaryBeth hostage and Dr. Dylan has to come in and save the day. I think they sh
ould have had Bob save the day, but the writers have to be predictable…” Alison started the show.
Jay looked at Sally, who shrugged at him. She didn’t care if they watched the show as long as she got a little more time with him.
He sighed and covered the two of them up with her quilt, reaching over for a handful of popcorn.
Chapter Nine
When Sally woke the following morning, she had a crick in her neck. She groaned, realizing she was sitting up. Why on earth am I sitting up to sleep?
She turned her head to see Jay’s blue eyes flutter open and look into hers. “Did we spend the whole night here?” she asked, sitting up and trying to work the kinks out of her sore muscles.
She looked over and Alison was gone. Obviously, she’d been smart enough to go sleep in May’s old room, which meant Sally had slept on the couch with Jay—alone. She looked at him, eyes wide with alarm.
“We just slept on my couch together all night! What time is it?” She reached across him, practically climbing on top of him to get to her phone to check the time.
“Oh, wow! I didn’t need to see that!” Alison said, covering her eyes. “Get a room!”
Jay looked at Sally, surprised. “This won’t look good.” He knew there was nothing for his niece to be embarrassed about, but could he convince her of that?
“No, it doesn’t! My teacher shouldn’t be on top of my uncle when I’m in the house! Eww!” Alison frowned at them. “I’m going to go pack up my things.” She rushed from the room, peeking through her fingers to ensure she didn’t see anything else she shouldn’t.
Sally pulled away, her face flaming. She glanced down at the time on her phone. “It’s noon. Do you have any idea how many people must have seen your truck in my driveway?” She felt panic overwhelm her. “Teachers in this town have lost jobs for being caught in compromising positions!”
“It’s 2016, not 1890. It’s fine!”
Lost Love (Lazy Love Book 4) Page 9
