Today & Tomorrow by Susan Fanetti Read Free Book Online

let their hands fall back to his lap. “Yeah, I will.”
     
     
    ~oOo~
     
     
    Her father was standing near the door when she went in. Since the front of the house was almost as much glass as the rear, Analisa was sure he’d been watching her whole goodbye scene with Nolan. He’d probably been watching them on the beach, too.
     
    Not that there had been much to see—an almost-kiss of her hand, and a hug before he got on the bike.
     
    “Did you have a good day?” He stepped up and gave her a hug.
     
    She hugged him back. He was smothering her a little lately, and he got on her nerves with it, but she loved him with everything she had. “Yeah. It was a great day.”
     
    “Good.” He kissed her head and let her go. “So…since you’re not going to do more lessons, is that the last we’ve seen of Nolan?”
     
    Rolling her eyes, she pushed away and walked into the house. “Subtle, Daddy.”
     
    He followed her. “Sorry. But…well?”
     
    She didn’t answer until she’d gotten to the kitchen and started taking her meds out of their cabinet. She had rejected the chemo and radiation bullshit this time, but she was taking a whole cocktail of drugs to make her parts keep working while her body was trying to break them.
     
    Her father leaned on the island and watched her, his sad eyes lingering on each bottle. The house was dim; only the pendant lights over the island and the spots over the fireplace on the other side of the big space were on, making a deep, brassy glow.
     
    “Analie, talk to me.”
     
    She got a bottle of water out of the fridge. “No, this wasn’t the last we’ve seen of Nolan. I don’t know how much we’ll see him, but I like him, and I think he likes me. So I hope we’ll see lots of him.”
     
    “Sweetheart—I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
     
    “Don’t be a bigot, Daddy. He’s a good guy.”
     
    “I agree. I like him, too. This isn’t about him being a biker. You know what it’s about.”
     
    She took a handful of pills and swallowed them down with her water. “Liking Nolan has nothing to do with being sick.”
     
    “But it should, Analie.” He came around the island and cupped her cheek with his hand. “I love you so much. I want you to have everything you want. More than anything else in this world, I wish you could have a future. I would give you mine if I could. But I don’t want you to find yourself in a place where you’re losing even more than you already are.”
     
    And this was why it was hard to spend time alone with her father, as much as she did love him. Everything they talked about, everything they did, was filtered through the screen of It. Stage four lymphoma.
     
    “I told you I want to live everything I can. I’ve never had a boyfriend. I don’t even know if Nolan could be that, if he even wants it—or if I even do. I just had a good time with him today. He’s nice, and he’s hot, and he wants to see me again. Let me have this, Daddy.”
     
    “I don’t want your heart broken. It’s fragile enough as it is.”
     
    That wouldn’t be so bad, she thought. People had heartbreak. It was part of life. She pulled his hand from her face and walked away. “Please.”
     
    “I love you so much. So very much.”
     
    “I know. I love you, too, Daddy. Let me live, okay?”
     
    He stared at her, his sad eyes growing desolate. “I wish so much that you could, Analie.”
     
    She had no answer for that. Nobody did.
     

FIVE
     
     
    Nolan pressed himself tightly against the decaying stucco wall and closed his eyes, taking a second to breathe and center. Then he opened his eyes and left cover, bringing the AK up to his shoulder and aiming as he moved. He fired a short burst just as the Rat realized he had someone coming up on him and began to turn. The Rat’s shoulder, neck, and half his face evaporated in an arc of blood and bone.
     
    That was Nolan’s fourth kill since he’d come to SoCal, ten months ago. Knowing the Rat was