Harlequin Special Edition: June 2022 Box Set 1 of 2 by Allison Leigh

Author:Allison Leigh
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

The second the words were out, Tom regretted them. Too late. Emma had heard, and he knew she was not the type of woman who would ever let a confession like that go.

She stared at him, the soft corners of her lips turning down. “I find that hard to believe.”

Guilt reignited. “Believe it,” he bit out.

Emma squinted, as if struggling to recall what she had heard. “I thought Vicki was ill...”

“She was.” Tom frowned, his misery deepening. “The problem was that none of us realized it. We all thought her fatigue and the weight loss was due to chasing after eighteen-month old triplets all day long.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and began to pace again, confessing his own part in the tragedy. “I mean, my mom lived with us, and she did a lot, too, but I was out on the ranch all day, so by the time I got in at night, I barely had time to help with their supper, and baths, and get them in bed. By then, all Vicki wanted to do was collapse, so a lot of the time, I told her to go on to bed and get as much sleep as she could.”

“Did that help?”

“Yes and no. She said she felt better but she kept losing weight, and there were days when she was so pale.” He shook his head in frustration, remembering. “I asked her to go to the doctor for a checkup but she kept putting it off. Or so I thought.”

Emma’s hand covered her heart, even as she held his gaze. “Please tell me she didn’t go and then not tell you what she found out.”

Unfortunately, that was exactly what had happened. “Vicki didn’t want anyone to know she had stage four pancreatic cancer.”

She gasped. “Why not?” Compassion shone in her emerald green eyes.

“She knew everyone would try and talk her into doing chemotherapy to extend her life. And she didn’t want to do it.”

Emma closed the distance between them and took his hand. Gently, she led him over to the sofa to sit down, settling beside him. “Then how did you find out, if she didn’t tell you?”

Tom leaned into the warmth of her touch. “She collapsed one day and ended up in the ER.” His gut ached, remembering that horrible day. “No one said anything to me directly, but I could tell something was going on, and I eventually got it out of her.”

Emma searched his face. Seeming to know instinctively what a mess he had been, at least on the inside. Outwardly, he’d been as strong and stoic as his family had needed him to be. “How did you react?”

“My emotions were all over the place. I was angry. At Vicki, for not telling me, at God for letting this happen. I wanted her in the most aggressive treatment. ASAP. But she wouldn’t hear of it. Her cancer had metastasized. With or without chemo, she only had a matter of months to live, and she didn’t want to spend it away from me and her three little guys.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.