Lily“What do you mean?” I shriek into my phone.
“She had brain cancer, honey. I guess they’ve known for a year,” my mom’s sad voice answers.
“She died?” I question again as tears fall down my cheeks.
“I know. It’s a shock.”
“Why…why didn’t he tell me?” I think about what Jax’s life must have been like over the past year, and I’m devastated that I wasn’t there for him, that I didn’t know.
“Susie says that no one really knew, besides Jax and her parents, until the end. Jax said Stella wanted to live her life as if she weren’t dying.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“I know, honey.”
We don’t say anything for a few moments as I cry into the phone.
“The service is on Saturday,” she says.
“Okay. I’ll get a flight out tomorrow,” I answer automatically.
“Well, let us know when your flight comes
