Chapter 58: Indirect Inquiries

Cups clinked, and the chatter was animated, but Nathan Carter heard none of it. His attention was riveted on the woman sitting across from him; her words sliced through the ambient noise like a knife. "Oh, Olivia? She's doing great!" Sarah said, her face suddenly animated at the mention of their common friend. "Haven't you heard? She's sort of been seeing this great doctor for the past couple of months now. His name is Mark, I think. A pediatric oncologist or something. They met during her treatments, if you can believe it. Talk about a silver lining! Nathan's grip on his coffee cup became infinitesimally tighter. "Treatments?" he managed to get out, his voice remarkably neutral. "I hadn't heard she was ill." Sarah's face sobbed a fraction. "Oh, I thought. Well, maybe you two haven't been in touch. She had a health scare last year. Cancer. It was touch-and-go for a while, but she's in remission now." And Mark was apparently by her side through it all. It's like a romance novel. The