Always (Spiral of Bliss #5) - Nina Lane Page 0,120

were about to start treatment…” Allie shakes her head again. “I can still barely talk about it when everything is normal. There was no way I could have told you when your world had just shattered. And I know how rough chemo is. You didn’t need to hear about my mother’s fight when you were in the middle of your own. Unfortunately, it was the only explanation I had.”

She reaches for my hand. We wind our fingers together and sit quietly, the only sound that of our breathing and the occasional hiccup.

“But I really wanted to do something for you,” Allie says, squeezing my hand. “And so did so many other people, but a lot of them didn’t know what to do or how to do it. So I came up with Operation Butterfly.”

She gives me a shaky smile. “I tell you, Liv, within a day of putting the poster up, enough people signed up to fill the first five weeks. I started off with three times a week deliveries, but so many people wanted to participate that we had to make it four times a week, with a few weekends thrown in too.”

“I can’t even measure how much the butterflies did for all of us,” I tell her. “Nicholas, Bella, Dean…me. Those gifts have been the brightest spot in a pretty dark time.”

Allie’s eyes are still red from crying, but her expression is more at ease, more like her usual self.

“So you’re…you’re finished with treatment now?” she asks.

“I’m finished with chemo. I still have six weeks of radiation, but I’m expecting to breeze right through it…or sleep through it, given what I’ve read about fatigue.” I decide to spare her the details of chemo and gesture to my scarf. “Can’t wait to have my hair back too.”

She smiles again. “So I have to see how you look bald.”

I sigh dramatically. “Go ahead.”

Allie takes my scarf off and studies me, then reaches up to rub her hand over my scalp. “Wow, it’s smooth. And you have a really well-shaped head.”

I laugh. “That’s what I said to Dean.”

“Is he keeping his head shaved?”

“No, I told him to let his hair start growing back. I have to say, I miss his hair almost as much as I miss mine.” I run my hand over my head. “Almost.”

“Well, you look great. I’m really happy you’re almost done.”

“Me too.”

“When can you come back to work?” Allie asks.

My heart gives a happy little leap. Back to work.

Back to the staff—my second family. Back to young mothers with their chubby babies and rambunctious toddlers, to birthday parties and balloons. Back to raspberry tea, rainbow cake pops, and Home, Heart, and Courage cookies. Back to Allie.

“You’re ready for me to come back?” I ask.

“I never wanted you to leave,” Allie says. “But this whole town is ready for you to come back.”

We reach for each other at the same time. It’s our tightest hug ever.

Chapter 41

Olivia

June 8

Little white lights and colorful paper lanterns hang from the trees in the back garden of the Butterfly House, illuminating the dawning twilight. The sliding glass door is open, the kitchen table laden with kid-friendly foods like pizza and mac and cheese. The sound of laughter drifts in the early evening air, as Archer and Dean engage a dozen children in a game of Red Rover.

I watch them through the picture window, absently rubbing the side of my breast. For the rest of June and into July, I need to have radiation treatments every day but compared to chemo, this treatment is almost easy.

Aside from fatigue, the permanent blue dot tattoos, and a sunburn-like redness on my breast that I treat with various lotions, I don’t experience any difficult side effects. I wear Dean’s T-shirts often, partly because they’re the most comfortable on my burned skin, but also because I like feeling him so close to me all the time.

My hair has finally started to grow back, a soft peachy fuzz that comes in lighter than my original hair. I’m back working part-time at the Wonderland Café, easing into helping the wait staff, working in the kitchen, planning birthday parties, and decorating cakes.

By midsummer, I’ll be finished with treatment. I envision the July days we had last year. Swimming in the lake, hot sun blazing across the water, sticky ice cream cones, evening picnics at Wizard’s Park, rollerblading, trips to the zoo and amusement parks, and a two-week adventure in Italy.

I suspect we won’t make any overseas trips this summer, but