What Is Mine: A Thriller by Lyn Liao Butler

Author:Lyn Liao Butler [Butler, Lyn Liao]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2024-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

21

Two weeks earlier

The screen on the back door banged behind me as I jumped out of its way, mindful of my heels. That stupid screen had cut me so many times. I had a scar thick as a rope from the worst of them, when the door sliced my heel open, making me fall on the floor in pain and shock. I hated the sight of blood.

Shadow pulled on his leash to get outside, and I almost tipped over.

“Hold on, Shadow!” He halted at my shout but looked back at me with an impatient shake of his head.

I laughed at his eager expression. He loved going on walks. Whenever he heard the clink of his harness, he would give a few happy woofs and jump on me, tail wagging frantically. He’d been with us for a month, and we took a lot of long walks together, just Shadow and me. Robert was in bed most of the time now, and the only way I could stave off my worry was to get out of the house when he was resting. I’d installed a camera so that I could keep an eye on him while Shadow and I went on our walks. They calmed me, forced me to take in deep breaths of fresh air as we roamed the neighborhood.

I didn’t want to admit it, even to myself, but I could see Robert was fading away. I was losing him. Despite trying everything—making sure he ate and stayed hydrated, talking to him softly, reading his favorite books to him, playing his favorite music at a comfortable level, keeping his lips from drying out—despite getting Shadow, despite getting the boy into our lives, I had failed to do the one thing I’d vowed to do, and that was not let the cancer win the fight for Robert. We now had someone coming to the house daily to help. Just the other day, the doctor had mentioned hospice. I clamped my mouth together hard to drive that thought away.

I refused to let him give up. I couldn’t. What was I going to do without him? Even now, just thinking about it, the panic caught in my chest and clawed at me until I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide. I couldn’t live without Robert. We were everything to each other. It was us against the world, and we were each other’s number-one priority in life.

I took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before blowing it out through my mouth, just like our yoga teachers had taught us. Shadow started walking down the front path and I followed, willing my negative thoughts to float away with each exhale. I invited in only positivity, only healing thoughts for Robert. He looked good today. He even had enough energy to sit up in bed and talk on the phone with his sister, who lived in Connecticut. I was thankful for Janie, who called Robert often and tried to visit

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