Saving Toby by Suzanne McKenna Link Read Free Book Online Page A

obvious.
    “Is Julia sleeping?” he asked.
    “Yes,” I answered, but puzzled, I returned, “Do you always
call your mother by her first name?”
    “Saying ‘Mom’ makes it sound like I have a normal family.
And the truth is I never felt much like a kid.” He shrugged and looked away,
into the other room.
    “I got a little family history tonight.”
    “And you haven’t run for the hills yet?” Toby snorted. “What
did my dear mother say about our lovely family?”
    I didn’t want to say too much. “She told me things were kind
of rocky between you, your brother and your father.” We caught each other’s
eye. He looked away again. Poor guy. There was no doubt the topic made him
uncomfortable.
    “Hmm, yeah. Surprising, but we survived,” he said and began
tracing a knot in the wood molding with his finger. “Julia’s had to deal with a
lot more crap than she deserves.”
    “You’ve had it rough, too,” I said. “I didn’t realize until
tonight that this was the second go-round with your mother’s cancer. Dealing
with it can’t be easy for you either.”
    “Nothing about this is easy.” Frazzled, he ran his hand
across the top of his head. “Being home again, watching her wasting away while
she goes through chemotherapy and radiation. It’s hell.”
    I was beginning to soften, almost reached out to touch him.
But didn’t.
    Instead, I said, “If it’s any consolation, it means a lot to
her that you’re home.”
    He shifted his feet restlessly. “I need to be here. I just
wish there was more that I could do. With my aunt, you, and the church women
doing stuff for her, I feel useless.”
    Without his normal confidence and joking banter, this tough
guy looked lost—more like the boy I remembered. Fully acknowledging the
situation of what he was dealing with, there was no way I could continue to be
distant.
    I laid a hand on his shoulder resisting the urge to shake
some sense into him. “You’re not useless. You support her in many ways, and
more importantly, you make her smile,” I told him. “Your mom is an amazing
person and much stronger than you think.”
    “Yeah, she’s a tough one. But I don’t know. This time around
the cancer seems to be kicking her ass.” The last few words came out with a
crushing weight, and blowing out a shaken breath, he turned his face away from
me.
    My need to offer comfort was strong. I thought I should
probably hug him. Although I swayed towards him, I couldn’t bring myself to do
it. For some reason, getting that close to him scared me.
    In the end, he was the one to lean the last few inches into
me. I automatically responded by putting my arms around him. My cheek met his
hard, warm shoulder, and his face rested against the crook of my neck. His
breath fanned my skin, and musky aftershave invaded my nostrils. I tentatively
patted his back in attempt to comfort him, but the intoxicating scent coupled
with our contact made my body respond in a vexing way. I released him from the
embrace and forced myself to look at him while trying to conceal my body’s
muddled reaction.
    “You’ll both get through this.”
    He was quiet for a few moments before he let his eyes meet
mine.
    “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to dump my problems on
you.”
    “It’s fine,” I replied, trying to steady my pulse. “Talking
about things helps you through them.”
    “Thanks, but it’s not my M.O. to be so open about my
troubles.” He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair again.
“Anyway, I should go say goodnight to the old lady. I’ll see you Wednesday?” He
gave me a half-hearted, lopsided grin.
    My stomach fluttered. “Yes. Wednesday.”

7. Toby
     
    On Wednesday, I had to deliver a refrigerator to an older
couple’s house. Hauling out their ancient one, some slimy water spilled on me.
The smell was so foul I nearly hurled.
    Abe Bernbaum just shrugged when he heard.
    “That’s the job. If you want to do something different, use
your