‘You had cancer and you didn’t tell me?’
Joan sighed. ‘I had a tumour in my lower spine,’ she said, stirring her coffee as they sat in a café across from the station. A drop splashed onto the floral tablecloth, which Joan swiped up with a finger before it could sink in. ‘It was hurting like hell to sit, for no particular reason. You know me, I was never one to be out swimming laps of the bay like you did, so there wasn’t any cause for it. The doctor ran some tests, then they did a scan which showed the tumour. The doctor said I’d caught it a month before it would have been inoperable. The surgery saved me, but I lost the use of my legs.’
‘I’m so pissed,’ Grace said, sobbing into a tissue. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. We’re best friends. All through it you were messaging me like e
