Learning to Live Again by Taryn Plendl Read Free Book Online Page A

this right now.” He turned and walked back toward the condo.
    “Austin, don’t do this, man!” Trevor hollered, but Austin barely heard him over his own thoughts.

Chapter 8
     
    “What the heck is going on back there?” Talia asked as they watched the guys surround Austin. It appeared they were having a heated discussion, but Rachel couldn’t hear what was being said.
    The girls walked toward the guys , but when Austin looked up at Rachel and then shook his head and said, “I can’t do this right now,” Rachel stopped. It was obvious that it had something to do with her, and she had a feeling she knew what it was about.
    “What happened?” Chelsea asked Nick.
    “I fucked up.” Nick looked at Rachel, and she knew he must have said something. “Rachel, I didn’t mean to say anything. We were just commenting about how great you look, and before I knew it, I said the “C” word, and fuck, Austin just kinda freaked out. I’m so sorry.” Nick wrapped Rachel in his arms.
    “Its okay, Nick. I just didn’t want anyone to treat me differently, you know?” Rachel shrugged her shoulders, holding back the tears that threatened to escape. “I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
    It didn’t matter if Austin would treat her different now. He obviously didn’t want to deal with her at all anymore.
    Rachel shook her head and shrugged. “Come on, we have a mountain waiting for us.” She turned and started walking. She glanced back and saw that everyone else was following. She was determined to make this a fun day.
    The cool wind blew across Rachel’s face as she and Talia rode the lift to the top of the mountain. Her first couple runs on the bunny hill went perfectly, and she could feel her confidence returning. No one else had mentioned what had taken place on the walk over, and she was fine with that. It was hard for Rachel to put it out of her mind, but she refused to let someone bring her down. Like it or not, cancer was as much a part of her life as anything else, and if Austin didn’t like that, well then, he could just screw off.
    “I need to tell you something ,” Talia spoke softly and then turned to look at Rachel. The way she looked slightly unsure was very unusual for Talia. It didn’t sit right with Rachel.
    “Did Austin tell you anything about our families?”
    “No.” Rachel thought about it and realized they hadn’t really talked about much at all.
    “Well, Austin had a younger sister, Angie.” Talia paused. “She was four years younger than him, three years younger than me. When she was a junior in high school, she was diagnosed with leukemia.” Rachel gasped. She didn’t know where Talia was headed with this, but her stomach tightened in preparation for what would come next.
    “ Her cancer was fairly aggressive, and although she put up one hell of a fight, she died nine months after her diagnosis. Austin was in college, and I was still in nursing school. Well, you can imagine that Austin took it pretty hard. He wasn’t a match for a bone marrow transplant, and he felt so hopeless. It hit our families pretty hard when we lost Angie, and Austin retreated into himself a lot. He has always been driven, but now he throws his entire self into things that he can control—like his work. It has been nice to see him these last few days because he has been quite smitten with you, and I think you have felt the same, right?” Talia smiled at Rachel, and Rachel nodded. She had only known Austin for a few days, but she was already pretty tangled up in him.
    “Well, we all tried to respect your wishes by not mentioning your cancer to him, but I think when Nick let it slip, it hit Austin like a punch to the gut. Imagine if he was the first person you had allowed yourself to get close to in years, and then come to find out you might lose him, too.”
    Rachel shook her head. “I get it, but it’s not the same. I’m done with my treatment. Currently, there is no sign of cancer in my body. As of