“Caleb and I were just finishing up,” Tara said. “He’s good to go.”
“Tara,” I said softly. She shot me a warning look, but I ignored it. “You need to tell someone.”
“Not now,” Tara hissed, staring at me with a mixture of panic and rage.
Mom looked from Tara’s face to mine. She stared at us nervously until she couldn’t take the standoff any longer.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Ask Tara,” I said.
“Why are you doing this?” Tara demanded.
“Because it’s time,” I said firmly. “You can be mad at me, you can even hate me, I don’t care. You still need to tell someone.”
Tara didn’t say a word. She just glared at me while my mom continued to look back and forth between us.
“Tara,” she said softly. “Tara honey, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”
At the sound of her voice, Tara deflated. She turned away from me and locked eyes with my mom. I watched as her resolve weakened. I had her backed into a corner, and she knew it. She didn’t have a choice anymore.
“Cathy,” she said. “A couple weeks ago, I was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer.”
“Oh my God,” Mom breathed.
“Let her finish, Mom,” I said.
“I was having headaches,” Tara said. “They were getting worse, so Dad insisted I go see someone. I went in for some tests, and that’s when they found it.”
“Does your father know?” Mom asked.
“No,” Tara said. “I haven’t told him, and I don’t want to. Not yet.”
“What?” Mom blinked. “Why?”
“Cathy, he isn’t even speaking to m
e right now,” Tara said, her voice weak. “How the hell am I supposed to tell him something like this?”
“I know he’s upset with you,” Mom said. “And I’m sure you aren’t too happy with him, but he loves you. Honey, he loves you more than anything. You have to know that.”
“What if he won’t even listen?” Tara asked. “What if I try to talk to him, and he turns away.”
“He won’t,” Mom said firmly. “He’ll listen. If you make him, he’ll listen.”
Tara sighed and shook her head. She fell into her chair and sat there for a few minutes, not speaking. I looked at my mom who was staring at Tara with fear in her eyes. I didn’t realize how hard the news would be on my mother until I saw her face. She was scared to death.
In a way, I was glad. Now, I wasn’t alone with the news. Tara’s illness was something we could all face together. My mom knew, and once Darren found out, we could get her the help she needed. We could stand by her and support her through all of it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR - TARA
Cathy swore she would talk to my father. She left the PT building that day, tears in her eyes and a determination I’d never seen. She promised she would make my father see sense.
“Don’t tell him about the cancer,” I said firmly. “Let me do that. Please.”
“I promise,” Cathy said. “I’ll just talk to him. Hopefully, I can make him see how stupid he’s being. You and Caleb aren’t brother and sister. You never were. If you want to be together, he needs to get out of your way.”
“Do you really think that will work?” I asked. “He hates Caleb.”