“Sure did. They gave me a full ride and in return I have to buy a lot of Gatorade.”
“Cute.”
“Not to change the subject, but I do have a question.” Shelly
hesitated for a moment. “Something that has been bugging me ...” “What’s that?”
“How did you know I was going to be in the parking lot this morning?”
“Well. I got this call from someone who shall remain nameless, who thought I should try to meet you and show you the real Nick Harris.”
“And that person would be?”
“I promised I would not reveal the person or persons involved.” “I can’t persuade you?”
“Nope.” He zipped his lips with his thumb and forefinger. “My lips are sealed. Of course, my caller may be feeling pretty bad after what happened. Maybe tonight will make up for it.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” Shelly said, “but I did a little research on you. I guess the ad business is treating you pretty well, huh?”
“Oh, I love the ad biz, but my boss is a complete ass, to be blunt. One day, Jerry and I are going to do it ourselves. Go off on our own. But for now, I just want to be sure Dad is taken care of and do the things my mom has asked me to do.”
“That’s sweet,” she said.
“She fought cancer for about four years, and we would talk about how we still can’t stop it. We can send guys to space, develop smart bombs, and there are deadly diseases that are curable. But cancer, for some reason, is not on that list.”
“Not true,” Shelly interjected. “We’re making progress. What we’re doing at St. Theresa’s is amazing. We have a wonderful team of people, and really, it’s a great time to be a doctor.
“I know it’s a slow process,” she continued, “but as I said before, if we can get people in early to be treated, we can save them. But sometimes people don’t know they have cancer until it’s too late. It’s a give and take every day. And it’s a fight.”
Nick nodded. “I watched my mom go through it. She did everything she was supposed to do. Ate the right food, exercised daily, always taking vitamins, and made sure our fried food intake