how could anyone withstand that without breaking? He’d made
her feel alive, and in those bleak hours when she wondered whether this disease was
going to be the end of her soon, she’d ached to live whatever she had to the max.
The thought of him made the painful burning in her chest spread up to her throat.
She hadn’t cried when she’d found the lump on her right breast. It was hidden and
very deep inside, but the mammogram had revealed it was a baddie, and it had to come
out as soon as possible.
Ivy had thought of her mother, of all the women who had this, and she had doubled
her efforts to help them. She’d quit her job as a graphic designer and lived off both
her savings and her mother’s inheritance, which was enough to live comfortably for
several years, then she’d plunged wholeheartedly in to helping other women who were
in the same position as Ivy, or worse.
It wasn’t fair to feel helpless and alone. It wasn’t fair to be a woman, the nurturing
force in the world, and not be supported to go on. If this disease took Ivy as fast
as it had taken her mother, then she would now at least look back at herself with
pride, thinking that if she didn’t survive this, then there were many other women
who would . They would have enough funds and the support to aid them in their fight for years,
and their stories would inspire many other women to come. She’d wanted to gather the
most money possible before her procedure, in case she had no time to do much more,
and she’d had her heart set on Cade West’s help.
Well, she had not erred with him. Not even a little.
Now she swallowed back her tears and set down the razor. It was still her face … with
a small, rounded scalp, her lashes were still big, and her eyes were still honey.
But, the real, honest to God fear in her eyes was a stranger to her.
Her chin trembled. But she wasn’t going to cry, not when there was still a chance that she could win this.
She may “come back” in several weeks, with a new growth of short hair, and she could
tell Cade she’d cut it in solidarity with some of her friends. She could tell him
a lot of things … she could tell him everything except that she’d had cancer.
Would it be bad to lie to him, if the cancer went away?
She wanted him too much to risk losing him. And that was exactly what she would not
allow this disease to take from her. She would die before she let this disease take
it from her.
The only chance of love she’d ever had in her life.
Splashing water onto her face and scalp, she toweled dry, then mentally went through
her options as she got prepared for the procedure. In the hospital room, in the bed,
she closed her eyes and waited for them to take her to the appointed surgery location.
The nurses came in and out, in and out, but suddenly footsteps came in, and there
was such silence when they stopped near the end of the bed that Ivy wondered if she’d
suddenly gone deaf. And then she heard him.
“Ivy.”
The word was low, broken. And the impact it had on her was like a cannon blast.
Her eyes opened, and her vision locked in on Cade like a missile target. The expression
on his heartbreakingly familiar face was as harsh and gray as the storm outside. His
legs were braced apart, his stance powerful, but he still looked like he’d just been
told he had three minutes to live.
Or that she did.
He was darker against the whitewashed walls of the hospital. His eyes were red and
livid, and he looked very lonely, and very big, and very capable of protecting her
from everything.
Everything but this .
And then she became acutely aware of her position, her body spread on the bed, about
to be cut open, her scalp bare and hairless …
“No,” she gasped. Panic gripped her, and for the first time, she loathed her body,
she loathed her life, she loathed this cancer, she loathed him .
“No. No. Look away, Cade. Look away .”
He took
her feel alive, and in those bleak hours when she wondered whether this disease was
going to be the end of her soon, she’d ached to live whatever she had to the max.
The thought of him made the painful burning in her chest spread up to her throat.
She hadn’t cried when she’d found the lump on her right breast. It was hidden and
very deep inside, but the mammogram had revealed it was a baddie, and it had to come
out as soon as possible.
Ivy had thought of her mother, of all the women who had this, and she had doubled
her efforts to help them. She’d quit her job as a graphic designer and lived off both
her savings and her mother’s inheritance, which was enough to live comfortably for
several years, then she’d plunged wholeheartedly in to helping other women who were
in the same position as Ivy, or worse.
It wasn’t fair to feel helpless and alone. It wasn’t fair to be a woman, the nurturing
force in the world, and not be supported to go on. If this disease took Ivy as fast
as it had taken her mother, then she would now at least look back at herself with
pride, thinking that if she didn’t survive this, then there were many other women
who would . They would have enough funds and the support to aid them in their fight for years,
and their stories would inspire many other women to come. She’d wanted to gather the
most money possible before her procedure, in case she had no time to do much more,
and she’d had her heart set on Cade West’s help.
Well, she had not erred with him. Not even a little.
Now she swallowed back her tears and set down the razor. It was still her face … with
a small, rounded scalp, her lashes were still big, and her eyes were still honey.
But, the real, honest to God fear in her eyes was a stranger to her.
Her chin trembled. But she wasn’t going to cry, not when there was still a chance that she could win this.
She may “come back” in several weeks, with a new growth of short hair, and she could
tell Cade she’d cut it in solidarity with some of her friends. She could tell him
a lot of things … she could tell him everything except that she’d had cancer.
Would it be bad to lie to him, if the cancer went away?
She wanted him too much to risk losing him. And that was exactly what she would not
allow this disease to take from her. She would die before she let this disease take
it from her.
The only chance of love she’d ever had in her life.
Splashing water onto her face and scalp, she toweled dry, then mentally went through
her options as she got prepared for the procedure. In the hospital room, in the bed,
she closed her eyes and waited for them to take her to the appointed surgery location.
The nurses came in and out, in and out, but suddenly footsteps came in, and there
was such silence when they stopped near the end of the bed that Ivy wondered if she’d
suddenly gone deaf. And then she heard him.
“Ivy.”
The word was low, broken. And the impact it had on her was like a cannon blast.
Her eyes opened, and her vision locked in on Cade like a missile target. The expression
on his heartbreakingly familiar face was as harsh and gray as the storm outside. His
legs were braced apart, his stance powerful, but he still looked like he’d just been
told he had three minutes to live.
Or that she did.
He was darker against the whitewashed walls of the hospital. His eyes were red and
livid, and he looked very lonely, and very big, and very capable of protecting her
from everything.
Everything but this .
And then she became acutely aware of her position, her body spread on the bed, about
to be cut open, her scalp bare and hairless …
“No,” she gasped. Panic gripped her, and for the first time, she loathed her body,
she loathed her life, she loathed this cancer, she loathed him .
“No. No. Look away, Cade. Look away .”
He took
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