skillfully avoid the press, but Grace... Yeah, Kat’s boss was demanding and challenging. It took a special person to work for her, and he knew she bugged Kat for an exclusive at least once a week. So far she’d held out, but after the past few days he wasn’t entirely sure Grace would keep taking no for an answer.
The sudden urge to escape, to take Kat somewhere where they could relax in blissful anonymity and just ignore the realities of the outside world, swept over him, and his grip tightened on the phone. Japan, maybe? The Himalayas? Alaska. Alaska was nice....
Or they could just stay here.
Her soft exclamation broke through his thoughts and he quickly busied himself with the cups.
“The geneticist called. They have my results.”
He spun around, but she’d already pulled open the patio doors and stepped outside. The soft click of the door was as final as any slam.
She’d shut him out.
Damn. He busied himself with coffee, refusing to look further into it. As always, she’d tell him in her own time, and as always, he’d be there for her, whatever the result.
He paused, and damn, the panic he thought he’d managed to ignore these past few days just swept right back in, leaving him floundering in a pool of helplessness.
He couldn’t lose her. Not his Kat. Not the woman he’d just realized he was totally and completely in love with.
Wait, what?
Before he had a chance to let that realization take bloom, she’d reopened the door and was standing, pale and still, in the middle of the room.
“Kat?”
“I know they’re not supposed to tell you over the phone,” she said slowly. “But Dr. Hardy and my mother go back a long way, and I wasn’t sure when we’d return to the mainland and—” She stopped, took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “Sorry, I’m rambling. I just...” She dragged a hand through her hair with a sigh as he just stood there, his heart lumping in his throat, blood pounding way too loud.
“Kat, you’re killing me here,” he said softly. “What did he say?”
“They’re doing another test, to double-check the results,” she began. “But...”
“Yes?”
“Preliminary tests were...” Her eyes rounded, disbelieving. “Positive.” She swallowed, her voice cracking. “They were positive.”
Oh, dear God.
For one second the world stopped spinning. He realized he’d gotten out a thick “What?” but the shock quickly drowned everything else out. She was... She had...
No. Just no.
NO.
He realized he was staring, silent and disbelieving, until he saw her tears spilling, slowly coursing down her cheeks, and his heart just shattered into a million tiny pieces.
Nononononono—
He surged forward just as she let out a gut-wrenching sob. In a few strides he’d crossed the room, and then he was crushing her against his chest.
She collapsed into him, and when he felt her begin to shake, he just held on tighter.
Impotent fury surged because he couldn’t help her, couldn’t stop her tears, couldn’t do a damn thing but hold her, muttering totally useless sentiments while she cried and cried and broke his heart over and over.
He swallowed thick gulps of air, tightening his embrace as she trembled in his arms. She was so damn strong all the time, and it killed him to see her so broken now. After her mother’s death, she’d never allowed herself to think about this possibility. She’d been determined to live her life without a death sentence tainting every moment. But now...now...
He held on tight, feeling her body shake, her tears dampening his shoulder, and he swallowed again and again, sucked it all up and bit back all his pain even as he felt his own tears spill on his cheeks. She needed him to be the strong one here. He’d be useless to her any other way.
Yet how could he when everything inside him throbbed with pain and fury and the injustice of it all?
That anger took flame, growing with each second, until thankfully he managed to force back the
The sudden urge to escape, to take Kat somewhere where they could relax in blissful anonymity and just ignore the realities of the outside world, swept over him, and his grip tightened on the phone. Japan, maybe? The Himalayas? Alaska. Alaska was nice....
Or they could just stay here.
Her soft exclamation broke through his thoughts and he quickly busied himself with the cups.
“The geneticist called. They have my results.”
He spun around, but she’d already pulled open the patio doors and stepped outside. The soft click of the door was as final as any slam.
She’d shut him out.
Damn. He busied himself with coffee, refusing to look further into it. As always, she’d tell him in her own time, and as always, he’d be there for her, whatever the result.
He paused, and damn, the panic he thought he’d managed to ignore these past few days just swept right back in, leaving him floundering in a pool of helplessness.
He couldn’t lose her. Not his Kat. Not the woman he’d just realized he was totally and completely in love with.
Wait, what?
Before he had a chance to let that realization take bloom, she’d reopened the door and was standing, pale and still, in the middle of the room.
“Kat?”
“I know they’re not supposed to tell you over the phone,” she said slowly. “But Dr. Hardy and my mother go back a long way, and I wasn’t sure when we’d return to the mainland and—” She stopped, took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. “Sorry, I’m rambling. I just...” She dragged a hand through her hair with a sigh as he just stood there, his heart lumping in his throat, blood pounding way too loud.
“Kat, you’re killing me here,” he said softly. “What did he say?”
“They’re doing another test, to double-check the results,” she began. “But...”
“Yes?”
“Preliminary tests were...” Her eyes rounded, disbelieving. “Positive.” She swallowed, her voice cracking. “They were positive.”
Oh, dear God.
For one second the world stopped spinning. He realized he’d gotten out a thick “What?” but the shock quickly drowned everything else out. She was... She had...
No. Just no.
NO.
He realized he was staring, silent and disbelieving, until he saw her tears spilling, slowly coursing down her cheeks, and his heart just shattered into a million tiny pieces.
Nononononono—
He surged forward just as she let out a gut-wrenching sob. In a few strides he’d crossed the room, and then he was crushing her against his chest.
She collapsed into him, and when he felt her begin to shake, he just held on tighter.
Impotent fury surged because he couldn’t help her, couldn’t stop her tears, couldn’t do a damn thing but hold her, muttering totally useless sentiments while she cried and cried and broke his heart over and over.
He swallowed thick gulps of air, tightening his embrace as she trembled in his arms. She was so damn strong all the time, and it killed him to see her so broken now. After her mother’s death, she’d never allowed herself to think about this possibility. She’d been determined to live her life without a death sentence tainting every moment. But now...now...
He held on tight, feeling her body shake, her tears dampening his shoulder, and he swallowed again and again, sucked it all up and bit back all his pain even as he felt his own tears spill on his cheeks. She needed him to be the strong one here. He’d be useless to her any other way.
Yet how could he when everything inside him throbbed with pain and fury and the injustice of it all?
That anger took flame, growing with each second, until thankfully he managed to force back the
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