Free Take a Gamble by Rachael Brownell Page B

over the shock of Mac’s news things started to move much quicker. Apparently Alexa has gone through this with Mac before. She broke down right in the middle of baggage claim, sitting on the floor and crying for almost ten minutes.
    The ride was silent and now that we are here the silence is deafening. Alexa hasn’t said a word to either of us since she composed herself and we followed her to her car. I sat in the front seat and watched as the miles flew by. Mac sat in back and had her nose in her phone the entire trip.
    We shuffle into the house and I drop both of our bags in the foyer. I don’t really know where else to put them. I don’t know where I should stand or sit or be at the moment. Things are tense or as my best friend Rylie would say, “Shit just got real.” Honestly, that’s how it feels suddenly. Being here makes it all a little more real.
    “Roe. I’m going to talk to Alexa for a few minutes before she leaves. Make yourself at home,” Mac says before walking up the stairs and leaving me standing there, looking and feeling more lost than I ever have.
    T he living room is to my right and the kitchen looks to be up ahead. I wonder if her parents left any food in the house. I’m starving. It still amazes me that they don’t feed you on planes anymore yet the price of the flight is more expensive.
    I rummage through the pantry and pull out some noodles and sauce to make spaghetti. Mac has to be hungry. I can’t imagine they fed her on her flight either. I’m looking for a pot to boil water when I hear the front door close. Alexa must have gone home.
    I turn around and Mac’s leaning against the door frame, watching me with sad eyes. It looks like she’s been crying and I’m not surprised. From the few things she’s told me about Alexa I know how important she is to Mac. If Mac told her what she told me on the beach the other day, I can only image how devastated Alexa must be which means Mac is devastated, too.
    “ Come here, babe.” She slowly pushes off the door frame and walks towards me, shuffling her feet, and right into my waiting arms. I pull her in tight and kiss her on the top of her head. “She’ll be alright and so will you. Everything is going to be fine. You’ll see.”
    I know I might have just lied to her but it looked like she needed to hear something positive. There really is no upside to all of this. I can’t promise her that she’s going to be fine. I can’t promise her that I can fix it for her. I can’t even promise her that she’s going to survive it again, if the cancer is back. The only thing I can promise her is to love her until the day I –
    I can’t even think that word.
    “I know she’ll be okay. She needs time to let it sink in. I should have told her before I came home. She needs time to decompress everything.” She pauses and lets out a little sigh. It’s sexy as hell. I have to remember now is not the time to let my body be turned on by her amazingly sexy noises. “As for me… well, I guess we will find out tomorrow.”
    I kiss her hair again because I have no words. There is nothing I can do or say which will reassure her right now.
    “I’m making spaghetti, or at least I was going to. Are you hungry?”
    “Starving. Want some help?”
    “I would love your help. I have no idea where anything is.”
    After dinner we curl up on the couch and watch some made-for-TV movie that I could have cared less about. Mac is curled up next to me, though, so it doesn’t really matter what’s on the TV.
    “Maybe w e should go to bed?” Mac sounds nervous all of the sudden. It takes me a minute to realize why. It’s only a little after eight and she’s suggesting that we head upstairs.
    I hadn’t left the first floor of the house yet. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be sleeping in her room with her or in one of her brothers’ rooms. I didn’t want to ask either. I figured she would let me know what she wanted. The fact that she was suggesting “we”