Free Best Friends Forever by Kimberla Lawson Roby

sure I did.”
    “And what did he say?”
    “Not a lot, and yesterday all he did was apologize for the timing.”
    “That bastard! He’s going to leave you while you’re sick? Who does that? I oughta jump on a plane and come tear that clown apart.”
    “Jack, please.”
    “Please, what? Did that fool even go with you to your appointments?”
    “Jack, listen to me,” she said. “I’m fine. Really.”
    “Did he or didn’t he?”
    “No, but what does that matter now?”
    “It matters a lot, and the only way a man acts like this is when he’s laying up with some skank. Period.”
    “I can’t worry about that,” she said. “I have to worry about Kassie and my surgery.”
    Jackson sighed loudly. “You’re right. I’m sorry if I upset you, but I don’t like what Keith is doing to you. I don’t like it at all.”
    “I know, but you can’t make someone be with you if they don’t want to. Am I hurt? Of course I am. Do I wish he’d change his mind? Absolutely. Will staying mad and losing sleep change anything? Definitely not. So I’ve got to focus on me right now.”
    “I agree. I’m just stunned. I had no idea things were bad between you and Keith.”
    “Neither did I. At least not this bad, anyway.”
    “I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with all of this, and like I said, please let me know as soon as you find out your surgery date. That way, I can let my manager know I need some time off.”
    Jackson was a senior systems analyst for a pharmaceutical company, and Celine was proud of all that her brother had accomplished. Especially since it had taken him eight years of being an undergrad to find himself. He’d always been a straight-A student, but changing his major three different times had extended his graduation date. Now, though, he had not only a bachelor’s but a master’s, too. Jackson was just a year younger than Celine, but she still saw him as her baby brother—and whether he liked it or not, that would never change. Although now the tables would need to turn a little. Because of her illness, she was counting on him to be her protector. She no longer had her parents to turn to, but she knew Jackson would be there for her in every way possible. He and Lauren would never let her down. Not even if their lives depended on it.
      
    Lauren had arrived about a half hour ago, and Celine had told her that Keith was moving out.
    “Surely you must be making this up,” she said.
    “I wish I were, but I’m not. He’s having an affair, and he wants out.”
    “How long has this been going on?”
    “I don’t know. He just started staying out late, and two Sundays ago was the first time he was gone past midnight. He didn’t come home until five a.m.”
    “Wow.”
    “I was just as shocked as you are. Keith has never done anything like this before.”
    “And he just started this for no reason? You didn’t notice anything was wrong?”
    “Not really. He says I haven’t been paying him any attention.”
    “Please. That’s just an excuse. I mean, work and everything else can sometimes get in the way of any relationship, but he couldn’t come to you like a man? He couldn’t express what he was feeling?”
    “Those are my thoughts exactly.”
    “So he just went out and found some tramp?”
    “I guess so. At first he wouldn’t admit it, but he also never denied it. Then, yesterday, I asked him if he loved her, and he said he didn’t know.”
    “This is crazy, and it just goes to show that you can’t trust anyone.”
    “Tell me about it. But if he wants out, he wants out.”
    “I just think it’s pretty awful, though, that Keith is leaving right before you have surgery. It just doesn’t get more low-down than that, and I’m really disappointed in him. And what about Kassie?”
    “I know, I’ve already told him all that, but he doesn’t seem to care. All he’s thinking about is being with his woman,” Celine said, starting to feel sad again, and Lauren must have