City of Champions (34 page)

"Claudia, this is Dr. Jenna Sutherland. Jenna, this is my baby sister, Claudia."

"Doctor, eh? Just Claudia will suffice. I am an adult now."

"Just barely," Wyatt grumbled.

Jenna popped her head out around Wyatt's arm, extending her right hand toward Wyatt's sister.

Claudia rolled her eyes at her brother. Following it up with a saucy wink toward Jenna, she shook her hand.

"Hi," Jenna said shyly.

"It's so nice to meet you, Jenna. I'm Wyatt's
grown
sister. Um, maybe you'd like to chat with me on my way to the bathroom before you get a chance to meet the rest of us?" Claudia suggested, glancing meaningfully at Jenna's bare legs underneath Wyatt's button-down shirt.

"Oh my Lord,
"
Jenna answered with a light laugh, her southern accent taking over in her discomfort. "Yes, please. That would be great." She stepped out from behind him, using one hand to prevent Wyatt's shirt from moving and revealing her bare ass.

Once safely deposited in Wyatt's bedroom, Jenna scurried around quickly, yanking on jeans and a sweater. Whatever she could grab to look presentable.

Claudia knocked on the door gently.

"Come in," Jenna answered. When Claudia entered Jenna could immediately tell she was much younger than Wyatt. She looked to Jenna to be around twenty-one, maybe twenty-two, but she was already quite striking. Jenna could only imagine how much Claudia's unique beauty must have worried Wyatt over the years.

Her figure was shapely, but surprisingly petite for being related to a giant like Wyatt, and she didn't share any of his lighter features. Dark eyes, rimmed in thick long lashes, set a sharp contrast to her smooth, olive skin. Her hair was much darker, too — pulled back into a sleek, shiny ponytail that made Jenna wish she could find a moment to brush her tousled waves before reemerging from Wyatt's room.

Claudia leaned back on Wyatt's dresser, crossed her arms and twisted her full lips into a beguiling half-smile.

That sneaky little grin is definitely hereditary
, Jenna thought to herself.

"You're very pretty," Claudia said to her. She surveyed Jenna up and down with a sharp and clever look that belied her young age.

"Thank you. So are you," Jenna answered, with a smile of her own.

"Oh, um, thank you," Claudia said quickly, standing up straight and putting her hands in her pockets.

The compliment didn't seem to sit well with Claudia, which was odd, seeing as she was as patently beautiful as her once-famous mother.

"What are you a doctor of?" Claudia asked, diverting the conversation away from herself quickly.

"I'm an orthopedic surgical resident."

"Too bad you're not a neurosurgeon. I should warn you that Wyatt has a chronic case of hard headedness."

"I don't need to specialize in brains to know that," Jenna laughed, her tension easing immediately around the lively young woman. "So, you call him Wyatt? I heard your mother use his middle name."

"Yeah. From what I understand, my dad picked the name Wyatt. My mom and abuela picked Alejandro for his middle name. They'd love nothing more than to rid our lives of all things McCoy, I think. Seeing as we're stuck with his last name, they made that compromise.”

"That makes sense, I guess. That must have been so hard for you, dealing with your father's issues and the way he…"

"Disappeared? So, Wyatt told you about that? Interesting. I must say, Dr. Sutherland, you're a welcome change to the usual trash chasing after my brother."

"Oh, um, thanks. I don't think I'm really chasing after him, I mean…"

"Don't worry, I didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised to find you here. He's never actually introduced us to any girls or brought them here or anything. But it's hard not to miss the girls that tried to hook him over the years, some more successfully than others."

Claudia made a face at the memory, but Jenna couldn't focus on it. She was too distracted by the instant and shocking level of acidic jealousy that rushed through her at the mention of other women in Wyatt's life.

"I guess we can't hide in here anymore," Claudia said, interrupting Jenna's unwelcome bout of possessive thoughts. "Are you ready to face the Mexican Inquisition?"

"Excuse me?" Jenna asked with a laugh. Though she quickly stopped when she saw the serious look on Claudia's stunning face.

"I'm not kidding. Brace yourself. Those two are gonna get one look at a classy lady like you and sink their grandchild and great-grandchild wanting claws right into you."

"I didn't feel all that classy when you first saw me," Jenna said quickly. "And besides, they can't be that bad…" Jenna added slowly.

"We'll see. Wyatt's driven them crazy over the years with his…"

"Claudia," Wyatt said gruffly. He was standing at the door, glaring at his sister with an intimidating look on his face.

"Oops, busted," Claudia said, with a little smile thrown Jenna's way. As Jenna left the room, Claudia whispered in her ear, "He must like you a lot. I've never seen him that mad about my big mouth."

Jenna tried to respond, but no words came out. She was too stunned by Claudia's words.

Wyatt walked over to Jenna, placing a hand at the small of her back, "Don't believe a word she said about me," he whispered into her ear.

His touch calmed her a bit and she turned to him before they left the room.

"Well, you came in too soon. If you hadn't interrupted, I might've gotten a chance to hear something I shouldn't believe."

"Then my timing was just right, after all. Look, are you ready to do this?"

"I'm not going to just ignore them."

"You didn't answer me," he whispered.

"It's okay. I should be asking you if you're ready. I got the impression from Claudia that…"

"Enough about what she said. Stop stalling and let's get in there," Wyatt commanded.

Jenna suppressed a smile, but she quickly followed his instructions.

"We begged Alejandro to come home for Christmas, but he said he couldn't. I think I know why now," Wyatt's mother said to Jenna, with a teasing tone. Wyatt glanced at Jenna, worried about her reaction to his mother's revelation.

"What? I don't understand…" Jenna whipped her head in Wyatt's direction.

Dammit
, he thought.

She was clearly confused. Wyatt could almost hear the gears in her brain churning, trying to process why he'd lied and told her his family didn't want to see him for the holidays. He searched for words to end the tense moment, but his sister was already on it.

"Mom, don't embarrass her," Claudia said to their mother.

Wyatt was instantly grateful to his sister for trying to ease his mother's interrogation of Jenna. He was surprised by how much he liked having Jenna meet the women that meant so much to him. But the last thing he wanted was for her to hear something from them that made her suspicious of him in any way.

"Mama, I'm sorry I couldn't make it," Wyatt interrupted, "but I hope you had a great Christmas. I did call, you know."

"You did. You're such a good boy. And we were going to stay in Texas and not bother you. But, your brother cancelled his visit at the last minute. He is off to who knows where. So we decided to come up and see you."

Wyatt's teeth gritted at the mention of his little brother. He was always "off somewhere," satisfying whatever latest whim — or woman — that appealed to him. Worrying about whether his family was all right without him over the holiday season had never interested him. Yes, Wyatt had deserted them this time of year, but it was for a very good reason.

"Do you like children?" he heard his abuela ask Jenna, quickly pulling him back to the conversation.

In the twenty minutes since he'd taken Jenna into the living room to meet the rest of his visitors, they hadn't been overly pushy with her. They must've been just getting warmed up before diving into the weighty topics.

Before Jenna could even answer the question, he could see they were already examining her hips. He assumed they were trying to gauge if they were wide enough to accommodate the many grandbabies his mother wanted.

"I love kids," Jenna said, with a smile, and Wyatt felt a bit of relief that she hadn't been offended. "I've helped to raise my best friend's son over the last several years. Her husband died when she was only a few weeks pregnant."

"And she volunteers with local underprivileged kids in the area. She helps them with their health, athletics, tutoring…you name it," Wyatt interjected.

"Thanks, Wyatt," Jenna said softly, her cheeks flushing a bit.

"It looks like our Alejandro knows quite a bit about you, my dear," his mother said sweetly. She glanced at his abuela, quickly turning back to Jenna, "But do you want kids of your own?"

"Mama, lay off her a minute, will you?" Claudia said. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer all their nosy questions. It's just rare that we get to see my brother care enough to know a girl's last name, much less all these sweet little details."

"Claudia!" Wyatt said, with a chastening voice. He'd been lucky to catch Claudia in his room before she said anything too awful to Jenna about him, but he knew she wasn't done trying to torment him.

"Um, no, it's okay," Jenna answered quietly. "I would love to have kids of my own. It's something I've always wanted."

"That's wonderful," Wyatt's mother exclaimed. "Maybe you will want to have kids soon?"

Wyatt felt Jenna's whole body tense up next to him. He looked over to her and was shocked to see she'd turned completely white. Any smile on her face was gone, replaced with a look of pure anguish and panic.

"Are you okay?" he asked, leaning forward to whisper in her ear.

She shook her head and jumped up out of her seat.

"Um, I'm so sorry, but I just realized I have to go. It was really nice meeting you all. Please forgive me." Jenna quickly darted out of the room toward the door, leaving all of them with shocked faces.

He tried to catch her, but she'd already gotten on her shoes and left before he could talk some sense into her.

"I'm sorry, I have to go get her. I'll be right back."

Wyatt quickly put on shoes and a jacket and ran after her.

Jenna rushed to her car in Wyatt's driveway as fast as she could. Her hands were trembling as she tried to unlock the door. She'd rushed out so quickly that she hadn't even grabbed her coat, but there had been no time for that.

Shame filled her at making such a scene in front of his nice family, but Jenna knew she couldn't be in that room with them anymore. Her emotions were out of control, and she couldn't let anyone see her that way. She needed to be alone until she could collect herself again.

She'd let the magic of these few days so completely consume her that she'd barely thought about the painful procedure and lengthy treatment awaiting her. With that much desired escape, came the fact that she hadn't even let herself think about what this could mean for her future — and the life she'd dreamt to have for herself one day.

What if this course of treatment doesn't work? What if I need invasive chemo and end up not being able to have kids?
she thought in a panic.
Will cancer just keep taking from me? It took my mother at the beginning of my life. Is it going to take my chance to create it? Will I forever be alone in this body?

That bleak possible future flashed before her eyes — it would be a life of smiling at happy women with
their
swollen bellies, as they celebrated their own granted wishes. She would probably deflect questions when people asked if she would ever want a family. Maybe provide some bland excuse, or change the subject, all the while hiding the pain of knowing she'd never experience the joy of creating life.

Or worse, what if I really am sick? What if it simply kills me? The only remnants of my mother will die with me. How will my father ever get through that?

Jenna's throat closed and it felt like she was suffocating — as though her knees were rubber and would never hold her weight. This place wasn't for her — a place full of big families and hopes and dreams. She was days from embarking on a painful medical process that might not be successful. Jenna had walked that path before and she knew there was a good chance it would only devastate every person around her. She didn't want to drag Wyatt, or his lovely family, down with her. All she could do was run.