Authors: EMILIE ROSE
What if Danny lost his hair or his fingernails, or... Once more she tried to squash her fears. She couldn't afford any negative thoughts. She needed to hold him, to tell him she loved him and have him repeat the words to her.
But he wasn't going to do that tonight. Danny was pushing her away, but he wanted to see Madison. Helen couldn't help the twinge of jealousy needling her. And that was petty of her.
Was this how Andrew had felt when his father had praised Madison over his own son?
It had been during one of her heart-to-hearts with Andrew that Helen had said the words she wished she could take back.
Madison's priorities will change once the babies come. Her career won't be nearly as important as spending time with her child. Just be patient.
“Helen, Madison and Adam will be hungry when they arrive. Go fix dinner.”
She left Danny alone, but she couldn't cook tonight. Her heart wasn't in it, and Danny probably wouldn't be able to eat what she'd planned anyway. Yesterday she'd bought pork chops, intending to fry them for tonight's dinner. But the pamphlets she'd read today while he had his infusion warned that the smell of frying foods might make him nauseous. He was already sick, and she wouldn't do anything to make him feel worse.
She glanced at the clock. It was too late to concoct an alternate menu. Madison and Adam would have to feed themselves after they left. No matter what Danny said, she didn't believe for one minute that he'd be up for company within the next half hour.
Maybe he'd like a glass of water.
A knock on the door brought her up short of the cabinet. Adam, already? But she'd told Adam not to knock. She glanced out the windshield as she crossed the den, but she didn't recognize the small sedan parked out front. She pushed open the door. Madison waited on the mat.
Not who she wanted to see. Helen looked past her. “Where's Adam?”
“He told me to meet him here.”
“Danny's sick to his stomach. I'm not cooking.”
Helen didn't move aside and Madison made no attempt to climb the stairs. “Do you have the right foods in the house?”
“What right foods?”
“You should have received a list of things Danny might be able to eat and things to avoid.”
“I didn't get that until today, and Danny was in no shape to go shopping. I haven't had time to go to the store since we returned home. The infusion took longer than I expected. All day, in fact.” She hated the defensiveness in her voice, but Madison's questions made her feel incompetent.
“I'll be back.” Madison returned to her car and left.
“Who was that?” Danny asked behind her. Helen spun around guiltily. He looked terrible and unsteady on his feet.
“Madison. You need to lie down.”
“I don't want to lie down. I told you I wanted to see her.”
“I didn't tell her to leave.”
“Damn it, Helen, I needed her tonight. I have to have something to think about other than how I feel.”
He stomped back to the bedroom and slammed the door. A tangle of emotions twined through her. She wanted to make him happy, to do everything right.
But she was glad Madison was showing her true colors, and she'd be amazed if she actually did come back. The sooner Danny realized what Madison was really like, the sooner he'd let her go and hire the professional substitutes. That day couldn't come soon enough.
* * *
“W
HEN
I
TOLD
her I wasn't cooking she left without coming inside,” Adam's mother said.
“That's not like her,” his father added from his recliner.
Fury coiled inside Adam like a copperhead waiting to strike.
“How long ago did she leave?” He would track her down and drag her back.
“Thirty or forty minutes ago.”
A flash of movement through the windshield of the motor home caught his eye. Madison's rental car pulled in and parked beside his. He crossed to the front door and shoved it open with enough force to make the hinges protest.
“Where've you been?”
She pulled plastic bags from the backseat. “Getting groceries. Your mom didn't have time to pick up chemo-friendly foods. I told Helen I'd be back.”
Madison climbed the stairs, then paused beside him, her caramel gaze searching his face suspiciously. “Where did you think I went? Home?”
His anger deflated. He took a cleansing breath and her scent filled his nostrilsâthe same fragrance that lingered in his house long after she returned to North Carolina.
“You could've texted to let me know your plans.”
“So you could keep tabs on me? Maybe have someone at the market call and report on my progress like you do at the office? Yeah, I know about the daily check-ins. You spyâjust like your father.”
The dig struck a nerve. She stood toe-to-toe with him, bristling with insult and challenging him to admit he'd misjudged her. When he kept his mouth shut she brushed past him, her shoulder bumping his chest with an electrical charge.
“Hey, Danny. Rough day, huh? I hope I found something to tempt your taste buds. It's normal for them to be out of whack after a treatment, so it might take some experimentation to find something that appeals. I got a little bit of everything to cover the bases.”
“I knew you'd be back, Maddie.”
That made one of them, Adam conceded. She carried her bags to the kitchen and set them down, then reached into a cabinet, retrieved a glass, filled it with ice and then the ginger ale she'd brought.
“Have you taken your antinausea meds?” She waited for him to nod, then offered him the glass. “Try sipping on this. Ginger's supposed to soothe your stomach. If it does, I bought some ginger root for Helen to incorporate into your foods.”
He grasped her hand. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
She didn't pull away. “You're welcome.”
Madison had made it clear at every turn that she didn't want to be here, but there was no evidence of that in the kind way she treated his father. Adam glanced at his mother and caught her watching the scenario play out with downturned lips.
Madison returned to unloading the bags, filling the compact counter with yogurt, bananas, applesauce, Jell-O, fruit juice popsicles, canned soups and stews, a rotisserie chicken, a loaf of bread and sandwich meat.
“Helen, I don't know where this stuff goes. Do you mind if I leave it for you to put away?”
“No.”
His father perked up. “I would love one of those strawberry popsicles, Maddie.”
“Yes, sir.” Madison opened the box and delivered. “Go slow. Everybody's different, but these are the foods I've heard are recommended.”
“You shouldn't have had to do this. Helen should haveâ”
“Helen was busy taking care of you today.” She squeezed his shoulder.
Madison coming to his mother's defense took Adam aback. This was not the woman his brother had described.
“How did you know which foods to buy?” Adam asked.
“From parents of my patients. I have a tendency to pick up strays. Pets. People...” She shrugged as if it was no big deal that from the moment she'd walked in the door tonight she'd made him question everything his brother had told him about her.
His mother hustled to her purse and extracted her wallet. “Thank you. How much did you spend? I'll reimburse you.”
“Don't worry about it, Helen.”
His mother looked insulted. “I can afford to buy my own groceries.”
“I know you can. But you've fed me countless times and will likely continue doing so while I'm here. Please let me return the favor. I didn't spend much, really.”
His mother's expression wavered between humiliated, angry and about to cry. Adam decided to head off all three.
“Mom, have a seat. Would you prefer a chicken or ham sandwich?”
“IâI need to go to the ladies' room.” She fled.
He turned to Madison. “I apologize.”
“For?”
“Assuming the worst.”
“How many times do I have to tell you I keep my word?”
It was time for him to start forming his own opinions of Madison instead of relying on his brother's. Either she had changed dramatically or Andrew had lied, and he was beginning to suspect the latter might be the case.
“That'll be the last time.”
* * *
A
S
SOON
AS
Adam unlocked his front door Madison ducked her head and tried to scoot past him and into the safety of the guest room. Something had changed between them tonight. Something that could spell trouble.
“Madison.”
She stopped, and with dread swirling in her stomach, faced him. Proximity was not her friend at the moment. They'd become a team working toward the same goal when he'd helped her prepare dinner, and teamwork with him made keeping her distance and forgetting that kiss a difficult proposition.
“Thanks for what you did tonight. Dad's in bad shape and Mom's a wreck. But you stepped up to the plate and hit the ball out of the park before I could even assess the situation.”
His praise filled her with warmth. Not a good thing. She'd prefer to have a polar ice cap wedged between them. “I'm happy I could help. Good night.”
“What happened between you and Andrew?”
The question halted her escape. She did not want to have this conversation. Not now. Not ever. She'd already disillusioned him about his mother. She didn't want to corrupt his memories of his twin. “What do you mean?”
“He told me some things in those last few months, and I want to know if any of it was true. I wasn't there to see firsthand and judge for myself.”
Uneasiness trickled down her spine like a melting ice cube. “What did he tell you?”
“That you didn't want the baby.”
She reeled back a step in horrified disbelief, her hands covering her stomach. “Of course I wanted my baby. The pregnancy wasâ” She wasn't about to burden him with the whole sordid truth. “Finding out I was expecting was...a surprise. But from moment I learned I was carrying Daniel I loved him, and I started making plans for his birth. Andrew knew that.”
“Even though the timing would have derailed your career plans?”
“Not by much, though. Sure, I'd have had to take a few months off, but I'd already talked to Helen. She offered to provide childcare.”
His eyes widened. “Neither Mom nor Andrew mentioned that.”
She yearned to escape, but she had to know the rest. “What else did he tell you?”
Adam's jaw shifted. “That he didn't know what or
who
you were doing to garner all the accolades in school. He implied the baby might not be his.”
Dizziness assailed her. She staggered to the nearest door frame and gripped it to stay upright.
The bastard.
Just when she'd thought Andrew couldn't stoop any lower...
“He accused me of cheating on him?” A tension headache banded her skull. Her ponytail suddenly felt too tight, as if it were pinching her brain. She ripped the elastic band free and massaged her nape. “No wonder you all hate me.”
“He didn't accuse. He implied it might be possible. Did you have an affair?”
“
No!
Adam, from the moment I met your brother I was too besotted to even look twice at another man. As for those accolades, I worked my ass off in school and took every extra assignment I could to earn the credentials I needed to take my place alongside Andrew and your father. I had no life beyond my classes, my textbooks and those projects, except for weekends and holidays at your parents'. I barely had time to eat or shower, and I certainly didn't have the time or energy to screw around.”
He didn't look convinced.
“When did Andrew tell you all this?”
“After the ultrasound. He called to say you were having a boy and then told me the rest.”
Their celebratory lunch right after the procedure had turned into their first argument about her future. Andrew had informed her he wanted her to delay starting workâat least until Daniel started school. And she'd told him she wasn't going to throw away years of education.
Why had he tried to turn Adam against her?
“Was the wreck an accident?”
Another shocking question. She blinked and silently repeated Adam's words, but no matter how many times she tried to reprocess his query, she came up with the same horrible conclusion.
“Are you asking me if I ran off the road, drove through a guardrail and down an embankment in an attempt to kill my husband and son on purpose?”
“You couldn't have known the outcome. Mom said you were angrier than she'd ever seen you when you left the party.”
Because Andrew had spilled most of his diabolical plan before they'd left. He'd shared the rest in the car. “I was angry. But I am not a murderer.”
“I didn't say you were.”
“But you're suggesting it. Adam, I can barely stand to euthanize a suffering pet. How dare you suggest I'd intentionally hurt my husband and child. You are way off base. If you'd read the police report, then you know it said I hit black ice.”
“And that you were driving too fast for conditions.”
The words stabbed her like an ice pick. This nice little conversation had taken care of any camaraderie or sexual tension there might have been between them. Right now she never wanted to see him again. Anger and angst boiled in her veins.
“I won't stand here and argue with you all night. I have to work tomorrow.” Not that she expected to sleep.
She turned and fled before she said something she shouldn't, closing and locking the door behind her. If Adam wanted to censure her for running from her problems tonight, then he could have at it. But she couldn't handle any more of his inquisition.
CHAPTER TEN
M
ADISON
PERCHED
ON
the edge of her chair, last night's conversation with Adam still ricocheting around in her brain, the way it had been all day. Helen flitted about the kitchen like a nervous hummingbird. No wonder her ex-mother-in-law couldn't stand to look at herâAndrew had filled their heads with lies. But informing Helen that her precious son had been a liar was hardly what the woman needed to hear right now.
A mouthwatering fragrance filled the motor home, but the idea of eating made Madison queasy. Danny looked pale and drawn. “You should be in bed instead of entertaining me.”
“I'm sick of that bed. I've been there all day.”
“I didn't come to stay. I just wanted to drop off today's files before I headed north.”
“Leave the rental car at the depot here and let Adam fly you home after dinner,” Danny implored.
Adam... She'd avoided him this morning by slipping out of his house while he was in the shower. And if she had her way she'd be out of Norcross before he arrived at his parents' tonight. She checked her watch. She needed to hit the road now.
“Thanks, but no. I don't mind the drive. It gives me time to get my thoughts together for the week ahead.”
“If you take the car you won't get back until 2:00 a.m.”
“That's one of the reasons I need to leave now. Tomorrow will be a long day playing catch-up. I feel bad enough that I left my assistant to do all the setup for our week ahead.”
“You could live better if you charged more for your services, Maddie.”
“But I couldn't live with myself. I work in a rural farming community. Folks back home are doing everything they can to make ends meet. My clientele is very different from yours.”
“It hurts me to see you wasting your talents. You're better than this.”
“I don't want anything bigger or better or different. I love my farm and my practice.” She pushed to her feet. “I forgot to tell you, I checked in with Mrs. Woods this morning. She wants to keep that momma cat, which she has named Silver Lining. I promised we'd help her find homes for the kittens in a few weeks, and that I'd spay Silver after the kittens are weaned. Anyway, rest up, Danny, and good luck with your second chemo on Friday. I'll see you next week.”
He held out a hand. She placed hers in it. He squeezed weakly and tugged her down for a hug. “Take care, Maddie. I'll be waiting until you come again. I might need you to spring me from this joint. I love you, girl.”
Madison heart skipped a beat.
Love you, girl.
The phrase he'd used so often in the past rocked her, scattering her composure. She struggled to regain it.
“Behave, Danny. Don't give Helen a hard time. Goodbye, Helen.”
Her ex-mother-in-law paused in wiping the counter, her face an emotionless mask. “Thank you for the groceries.”
Then she resumed her task. Madison assured herself she wasn't disappointed by the lackluster response.
“You're welcome.” She hustled out the door. Adam's car turning into the drive dropped an anchor of dismay in her stomach. So much for a clean getaway. He climbed from the vehicle. The brisk evening breeze stirred his hair and flattened his shirt against his lean abdomen. Her mouth dried.
“Where're you going?” he asked as he closed the distance between them.
“Home.”
“You're not visiting Dad?”
“I already did. He needs to be in bed and he won't go if I'm here.”
Scowling, Adam reached into his pocket, then offered her a roll of bills. She kept her hands by her sides. “What's that?”
“Money to cover the food you purchased and gas for the trip.”
“I don't need your money.” Her momma had always said pride would be her downfall. That thought unearthed another can of worms that she refused to open.
“You need to fill up the rental before you return it or they'll charge the fuel to my card. I'll pay for it either way. It's cheaper if you do it on your own.”
That was true. She swallowed her pride, took the wad and counted the twenties. “This is two hundred dollars. I won't need that much.”
He heaved an exasperated breath. “Then give me the change next week, Madison. I'm not going to argue over a few bucks with you. Text me when you arrive.”
“It'll be the middle of the night.”
“Do it anyway. Do you have a ride from the agency or do you need to keep the car and turn it in tomorrow?”
“I left my truck parked in their lot.” As long as Ol' Blue started she'd be good to go. If not, she'd sleep in the camper shell. It wouldn't be the first time.
He stared into her eyes until she was ready to climb out of her skin. Her pulse fluttered irregularly. She blinked to break the connection.
“See if you can get your dad to bed. He's wiped out.”
Adam nodded, then headed for the motor home.
Tension drained from Madison. She'd survived another week. Only five more to go. Then Adam paused at the top of the stairs and looked back. Their gazes met and her hormones shot off like a Fourth of July fireworks display gone haywire.
What was wrong with her?
She was going to need the long ride to get her head on straight, because despite everything she'd learned this weekend about Andrew's underhandedness, her hormones were apparently still nostalgic for the past. For another Drake. One who was exactly like her husband and yet different in every way.
* * *
M
AYBE
M
ADISON
'
S
EARLY
departure hadn't been as selfish as Adam had believed. His father looked badâhis face and even his lips were colorless. And as Madison had said, he should be in bed.
Adam scanned the living area. The smells permeating the air made his stomach growl in anticipation. He'd been in hostile negotiations all day and had skipped lunch. But there was no sign of his mother. “Where's Mom?”
Before Danny could answer, the bedroom door opened, and Helen came out wearing her walking clothes and sneakers. She looked almost as rough as his dad.
“Hello, dear.” She dusted a kiss across Adam's cheek without meeting his gaze. “Go ahead and eat. It's roasted pork chops with vegetablesâfull of the nutrients your father needs. Make
him
eat if you can. I'll be back in a while.” She let herself out the door.
Him?
If her snide tone hadn't clued Adam in that something was wrong between his parents, her frozen expression would have. He hadn't seen that numb look since Andrew's funeral. But he didn't follow her out to ask what was bothering her. He and his mom had never had the confidant type of relationship.
He turned to his father. “Should I ask what that was about?”
“She's been hovering. Practically worrying me to death. I can't even vomit without an audience.” He looked at his hands. “I might've upset her when I told her to get out of the bathroom.”
“Cut her some slack. She's scared.”
“You think I'm not?” his father snapped. Then instantly his face filled with regret.
That was the first time his father had admitted to fear. Prior to this he'd acted as if having lung cancer was no more serious than getting a cavity filled.
“I know you are, Dad. But we'll get you through this. You have the best oncology team in the area. I did the research and made damned sure of that.”
His father stared into the unlit fireplace. The creases on his forehead and around his mouth cut deeper than ever. But as rough as he looked, his hair had been combed. His dad was vain about his thick salt-and-pepper hair and had been seeing the same overpriced stylist for decades. How would he handle losing it? Odds were it would start coming out soon.
“What if I don't make it, son?” Adam stiffened in apprehension. Did his father know something he didn't? “Will you look after your mother? All she does is shop and cook. She has no clue how to manage our finances orâ”
“That's not going to be an issue.”
“But what if it is? Don't hide your head in the sand, Adam. What if I'm one of the ones who doesn't come through this?”
“You only had one tumor, Dad, and it was less than three centimeters in diameter. Your survival rate after surgery should be close to one hundred percent unless the doctors have told you something they haven't told me.”
“They haven't. Their fancy scans haven't identified any more tumors. Yet. You know surgery increases the likelihood of spreading the bad cells?”
“Your team is hitting hard and fast with the chemo to ensure that doesn't happen.”
“Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma is the one cancer that hasn't been proved to respond to chemo.”
“It's better to take the precaution.”
“Damn it, it's not fair. I never smoked.”
“I'm sure they told you BAC is more common in nonsmokers. The good news is that means your lungs aren't already compromised by years of smoking.”
“I don't know if I can take six weeks of this.”
Anxiety clenched Adam's gut. What choice did his father have if he wanted to survive? “The first day after chemo is the toughest. You'll feel better tomorrow and even more so on Thursday.”
“Then they'll hit me with another treatment on Friday and I'll feel like death all weekend. I'm going to ask them to move Monday's chemo treatments to Tuesdaysâat least then I'll have one good day with Madison before they hit me again.”
Unfortunately, true, if they stuck to the prescribed regimen. “I'm sorry, Dad. I know it's hard. But it's a short-term misery for a long-term goal. Focus on that if you can.” Wanting to change the subject Adam crossed to the kitchen. “Dinner smells good. Want me to fix you a plate?”
“It probably won't stay down.” Hearing the defeat in his father's voice was hard. Danny Drake had never been short on ego or confidence. He couldn't give up now orâ
No. He couldn't give up. End of subject.
“Try some food. You need to keep up your strength.” Adam served the meal his mother had left on the stovetop. He set the plate and a glass of ginger ale on a TV tray in front of his father, but Danny made no attempt to pick up his fork or glass.
“The infusion center really shook up Helen. There were a lot of sick people there. I don't know if she can handle going back.”
It didn't sound like his mother was the only one who'd been rattled by the visit. “She's a caretaker. She'll want to be with you. Mom's pretty tough.”
He shook his head. “Not anymore. Since Andrew died she's been clingy, morose and stuck in the past. Some days he's all she talks about. You missed most of that when you were living out of state, and you don't come around often enough now to see past the act she puts on for you. But Andrew was here almost every dayâto get a free meal, to get his laundry done. She loved that.”
Guilt took a bite out of Adam. “I've been coming every day lately. But I do my own laundry, and I don't need to be waited on. Have you talked to her about seeing someone?”
“I tried. She gets too emotional, and she's beyond listening to reason. She's been downright rude to Madison, and we need Madison here. I can't afford to have your mother run her off.”
A week ago Adam would have insisted they could do fine without Madison, but after seeing the way she handled his father... Maybe they did need her. “Mom's been through a lot, and it sounds like Andrew might not have been completely honest with us.”
Danny's eyes snapped up. He searched Adam's face. “It's about damned time someone got Madison's side of the story.”
“Are you confirming Andrew lied?”
“Adam, I loved your brother, but loving him doesn't mean I didn't see his faults and didn't know that he always put number one first. Madison was the best choice he ever made. She was strong where he was weak, and ambitious when he was apathetic. He was a better man when she was around. But she raised the bar around here, and he couldn't keep being lazy and meet her standards.
“Andrew could be pretty convincing when he wanted something, and I always suspected he might've embellished the truth. How much remains to be seen. I never once believed Madison capable of having an affairâno matter what Andrew said. I saw the results of the extra hours she put in. But he had your mother convinced that Madison was as shallow as a petri dish.”
And him, Adam admitted. He had a lot of research ahead to filter fact from fiction. But that would have to wait until the crises at work and with his father had passed. By then what Andrew had done wouldn't matter, because Madison would be long gone. And that moment couldn't come too soon.
Whether Andrew had told the truth or not was irrelevant. Madison would always be his brother's wife. He would not fill his brother's shoes. And he definitely would not fill his brother's bed.
* * *
R
ESENTMENT
BURNED
IN
Helen's belly. “I love you, girl,” she mimicked Danny's words to Madison and then glanced around to make sure no one had overheard her talking to herself. But the professionally tended yards around her were empty.
She couldn't remember the last time Danny had told her he loved her. Not in years. And she was honest enough to admit she resented Madison sweeping in like a savior, running the practice, buying groceries and entertaining Danny. By doing so Madison had managed to make Helen feel unprepared, neglectful and inadequate in her own home. The same way Madison had made Andrew feel.
Helen knew she should've gotten the shopping list sooner, but... She kicked a piece of gravel. It rolled and bounced along the asphalt, finally coming to rest on the edge of an emerald-green lawn.
Part of not preparing for Danny's care after chemo had been denial, she admitted to herself reluctantly. She hadn't wanted to believe Danny's reaction to the medicines would be this bad. She'd hoped he'd be one of the patients who went on as usual with few to no side effects. Instead, he looked far worse than she'd ever seen him. And it terrified her. The man was rarely ever sick, and even when he had been, he'd never missed a day of work. Seeing him struggle today to lift a glass to his lips tore her apart.