Every Time (Brush of Love 3)

“As often this morning, I’m cancer free,” I said, smiling.

She hugged my neck tightly and we stood there for a while, simply basking in the information I’d just given her. I could never have imagined saying that phrase two months ago, with my ribcage protruding in the mirror and my body sleeping thirteen hours a day. I breathed a sigh of relief in her ear before she let me go. Then she pulled out her recorder and held it to my face.

“What’s all this?” I asked.

“Not gonna lie, Hailey, this story of cancer recovery and coming back to your gallery is another great story angle. Would you mind if I did another story on you?”

I smiled at her before I nodded my head.

“Whatcha wanna know?” I asked.

“Hailey Ryan, artist extraordinaire, what type of cancer did you have?” she asked.

“Renal cell carcinoma that metastasized to my brain.”

“How much of a chance did the doctor give you of surviving?” she asked.

“A ten percent chance, even with immunotherapy and chemo shots. The chances of living went up to forty with surgery, but they were still against me.”

“What was your reaction to the idea of surgery?”

I sighed and looked over my shoulder, watching as my parents regaled Drew and Bryan about stories of Anna’s and my youth. They were standing at a painting that showcased our home, with its white paint and its eerily black shutters. My mother was pointing at a figure in the background, so faint that no one had ever noticed it until before. But it was there, and it was prominent to my mother.

Mostly because it was a scene from my childhood I’d never forget.

“At first, I didn’t want to have the surgery,” I said as I turned back to Jennifer. “Wait, you didn’t want it?” she asked. “Nope. I wanted to live out what life I did have without the idea of poison running through my body and breaking me down. My parents tried to talk me out of it. My sister tried to talk me out of it. But it was Bryan who succeeded.” I turned back toward them while my mother told them the story. It was the moment in my life I realized my father wasn’t impenetrable. I’d driven up to the house after I’d gotten my license. My mother had been begging my father to cut down that damn oak free for years. She thought it was getting too big, and with Anna and me always running around in the yard, she thought it was going to fall with us climbing in it one day. So, she went out there with her four-wheeler and her chainsaw to cut it down herself. “How did Bryan convince you?” she asked. I fingered the engagement ring on my hand as I smiled back at Jennifer. “He proposed,” I said plainly. “But there was a catch. He said that if I was going to marry him, I was going to be the fighter he always knew me to be. If I said yes to him, it meant saying yes to the surgery.” There were tears in Jennifer’s eyes to match the tears in my mother’s eyes as Bryan wrapped his arm around my mother. That day had been one of the scariest of my life. When I pulled up into the driveway, I saw my father running across the field. I watched him disappear into the shadows of the forest beyond our house, and it wasn’t until I noticed the oak tree wasn’t standing anymore that I ended up driving the car out to where my father had run to. In an attempt to cut down the tree, my mother chipped at it the wrong way. It fell right on top of her, trapping her legs to the ground while she screamed and cried for help.

“How did the surgery go?” Jennifer asked.

“Hm?”

“The surgery. I assume it went well?”

“Better than could be expected,” I said. “They removed the cancerous kidney, set my chemo port, and chopped away over half the tumor in my brain. I’ve still got a lot of recovering to do energy-wise, but I feel healthier than ever.”

“So, what now?” she asked. “Where do you go from here after such an incredible story?”

“Well, Bryan and I have a wedding to plan, and I think I have another showcase brewing for another Saturday night. You’ll be the first to know, by the way,” I said, winking.

“Good. Because I’ll definitely want to feature this story when you’ve got it planned, so get on that,” Jennifer said, grinning.

“Any other questions?” I asked.

“Just one more,” she said.

“What’s up?”

“Who is that handsome man in the tailored suit, and can you introduce me?”

I threw my head back and laughed before I took her hand and dragged her over to Ramon. He turned around with a broad smile on his face, but the look was short-lived once he saw the shapely legs Jennifer Skyles was standing on.

“And who is this breathtaking woman on your arm, Miss Ryan?” Ramon asked.

“This is Jennifer Skyles. One of the biggest—”

“I’m familiar with her name,” he said as he took her hand. “It is wonderful to finally meet you.”

Their eyes connected heavily, and I quickly backed out of the moment.