A Second Chance (10 page)

She nodded. “And she’s
pregnant.”

“
Son of a bitch!” His hand
formed into a fist at his side. If it were any other time, he’d
have found a wall to put a hole in, but as it was he gritted his
teeth. “He was having an affair?”

She nodded again. “It doesn’t matter.”
She adjusted to rest against him again.

“
It does matter. You don’t
do that! You don’t marry someone and then change your mind.” He
couldn’t control his anger, and now he wasn’t sure if it was
directed at Matt for leaving Madeline or Madeline for leaving him
five years ago. Sitting there with her in his arms was confusing
his thought process.

“
I know I should be upset,
but I’m not. I never loved him. Not like I should have.” Her
shoulders dropped and her face turned into his chest. He could feel
her breath on his neck and his heartbeat grew faster. “Not like I
loved you.”

A sharp pain resonated in his chest.
“You should get some more rest.” In his present state of mind he’d
better not say any more. He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be here when
you wake up,” he promised her as she rolled to her side.

He took the quilt from the foot of the
bed and laid it over her. His mother had made it for them when
Christian was born. It meant the world that she still used it and
kept it close.

While she slept he made plans for the
next day. He’d call in a substitute for one more day. He could
afford to do that. They’d go to the doctor and he’d hear for
himself how she was doing. From where he stood, it didn’t look like
she was doing very well at all.

He met the kids at the bus stop when
they got out of school and drove them back to Madeline’s. When
Christian and Clara had made it into the house, he took hold of
Eduardo’s arm and turned him toward him.

“
You’ve been lying to me.”
He narrowed his stare at his son and he could see anger rise in
Eduardo’s eyes. “She’s lost ten pounds and has been sick for days.
Her hair is falling out in clumps. She can hardly walk she’s so
weak, and she sleeps all day. What part of that is fine to
you?”

Eduardo pulled his arm back from his
grasp. “Dad, she didn’t want me to say anything to you.”

“
You needed to.”

“
I was doing what she asked
me to do. You’re so busy with Kathy, she didn’t want to worry
you.”

“
Too late.” It all boiled in
his stomach. Madeline, Kathy, the kids…it all seemed so
complicated.

“
Why are you here? Did she
call you?”

Carlos shook his head. “No, your
brother called me from school because he was so worried about her.
Ed, you needed to tell me. You’re not here during the day to take
care of her. She needs more than you just making her breakfast and
making sure she’s getting into bed each night.”

“
Dad! Is that all you think
I do?” His voice had risen to match Carlos’s anger.

Carlos rested his hand gently on his
son’s shoulder. “No. No, I know you’re taking good care of her. I’m
sorry.” He raked his fingers through his hair and let out a breath.
“It kills me to see her like this.”

“
Trust me. I know. I’m
scared that every morning I’m going to go in to wake her up and she
won’t. It’s almost a relief to hear her throwing up because I know
at least she’s alive. I watch her when she falls asleep on the
couch trying to help us with our homework. I watch her chest rise
and fall. I ask her every morning to let me stay here, but it’s
Mom, she refuses.”

“
Of course she
does.”

“
I’m sure this is what
happens on those meds. I asked Uncle Curtis and he said she sounds
normal. But it’s hard to watch.”

“
It is.” He put his arm
around his son’s shoulders and walked with him toward the house.
“I’m taking off tomorrow to go to the doctor’s appointment with
her. I’ll find out all I can. If you have questions, let me know
and I’ll try to answer them or get answers to them.” He kissed his
son’s head as they walked through the front door of the home they
all once shared. Carlos held open the screen as Eduardo walked
through, and he let out a breath. If only he didn’t have to turn
back around and leave to go back to his own house.

It was almost nine o’clock when he
returned home. Kathy sat at the kitchen table with an empty plate
in front of her. A full plate sat in front of the other
chair.

Her arms were crossed over her chest
and her foot tapped on the wood floor. They hadn’t had a fight yet
in their relationship, but he had a feeling they were about
to.

The color in Kathy’s cheeks deepened
and she inhaled a deep breath. “I came home as quickly as I could.
I left Audrey’s house and made a mad dash home to make you a
special dinner and spend the evening with you.” She stood and
dumped her plate into the sink. Bracing her hands on the counter,
she looked out the window, over the sink, and out into the
darkness. “Do I even have to ask where you were?”

“
Kath, I’m
sorry.”

“
I’m done with sorry,
Carlos.” She spun around. “You asked me to marry you. Do you even
remember that?”

“
Kathy…”

“
Why in the hell did you ask
me? Why did you lead me to believe that there was a future with
us?” She walked to the table and picked up the full plate of food.
She then dumped it into the sink, turned on the disposal, and began
to sob.

Carlos moved to her and laid his hand
on her back. He reached around her and turned off the disposal and
absorbed the sound of her sobbing.

Kathy shook her head. “I knew from the
moment I met you that I wasn’t Madeline. I don’t look like her. I’m
not as smart as her. I’m not anything like her.”

“
No you’re not,” he said
softly turning her toward him. “You’re completely you, and that’s
what I love.”

“
But since she’s been sick,
you’ve done nothing but spend your time with her.”

“
I know.”

“
It’s as if I don’t
exist.”

“
That’s not true.” He pulled
her into his arms, and she rested her head against his
chest.

“
I miss you. I miss the
kids. I feel like her husband left her so my family left
me.”

His heart was racing. He hadn’t meant
to hurt her, but he was. Zach had been right. Sooner or later Kathy
was going to break, and he suspected she’d hit her breaking point.
But he couldn’t leave Maddie. She needed him too. The only thing he
could do was be honest with Kathy.

“
Listen,” he said pushing
her back to look into her damp blue eyes. “I love you. So I need to
tell you what’s going on. I need to be there for Madeline. I need
to get her through this, for the kids.” She nodded. “She’s one of
my oldest friends, and I share with her the one thing that has
always made me whole. My family. I never meant to hurt you by
caring for her.”

“
I hate that I’m jealous.”
She wiped at her eyes and pressed her body closer to his. “I hate
that it bothers me.”

He pulled her to him again. “You have
the kindest heart.”

“
It’s getting a workout
lately. I can’t shake it and it bothers me.”

“
I know.” He ran his hand
over her hair as if the touch could take away her pain, but he had
so much of his own, no amount of soft strokes with his hand was
going to heal her heart. “I’m taking her to the doctor tomorrow.
She’s very weak, and I’m worried about her. Curtis says it all
sounds normal, but she’s never down like this.”

Kathy pulled back and looked up at
him. A crease formed between her brows as it always did when
something worried her. “Are the kids too much on her? They could
come back home.”

“
No. Actually, I think they
keep her going. But I want to hear for myself what’s going on and
what’s next. I owe that to her and the kids.”

Kathy ran her fingers under her eyes,
smearing the black mascara smudges that had formed. “I know my
throwing temper tantrums doesn’t seem like I care, but I
do.”

“
I know you do. And I’m
being totally up front with you, even if it seems like I’m
not.”

“
I know you are. I just
can’t believe Matt wouldn’t stick around.”

Carlos let out a breath and backed
away from Kathy. He picked up the glass of wine she’d left on the
table, which she’d obviously poured for him, and drank it down. The
sweetness landed in his gut, but the alcohol did nothing to dull
the pain he was feeling. “He’s getting married.”

“
Married?”

“
Yep.” He picked up the
bottle and filled the glass again, hoping a second helping would
ease the anger he had brewing over the man he once called his best
friend. “They’re having a baby, isn’t that sweet?” The words burned
against his tongue.

“
Oh.” She covered her mouth.
“That’s awful.”

“
Some stand-up guy.” He
finished the second glass of wine and set down the
glass.

“
I really think I should go
spend some time with her. I need to let her know I support
her.”

Carlos gathered her back in his arms.
“That’s what amazes me about you. You’re so
compassionate.”

“
I don’t feel amazing or
compassionate. I feel petty.”

He laughed and kissed her forehead.
“You’re nothing of the sort.”

“
I’ll wait until you know
what’s going on with her.”

He nodded. “Curtis thinks we should
bring her to dinner at Mom and Dad’s on Sunday.”

The tightening in her jaw didn’t go
unnoticed, but she smiled and batted away tears. “I think that
would be wonderful for her.”

“
I’ll talk to her about it
tomorrow. But for now…” He hoisted her up to his waist, and she
wrapped her legs around him. He planted a kiss on her lips that
made her go pliant in his arms. “Didn’t you say something about
going to bed early?” he asked with a playful rise of his
eyebrows.

“
That was the
idea.”

He held her tight, pressing his face
into her shoulder and wishing he could clear his mind of Madeline.
“Let’s go mess up those sheets.”

Chapter Five

Madeline had paced the floor in the
kitchen from the moment she’d awoken until the kids had left for
the school bus. How was she going to talk Carlos out of going to
her appointment with her? No possible excuse she could come up with
was going to hold.

The point was, he was going to go
whether she wanted him to or not. He was going to drive her in her
own damn car if she refused to get in his. And no matter what, she
knew it was the right thing to do. After all, she’d gone through
the surgery without having told anyone only to find him by her
bedside. He’d given up everything in his life to take care of
her—she owed him that much, to let him go and ask his own
questions. Besides, it would be good to have more than one set of
ears listening to what they had to tell her.

She finished as much of her breakfast
as she could. Her nerves twisted her stomach. With a gulp of her
cold coffee, she took her medicine and then lay back down on her
bed. Already she was exhausted. He’d be here in two hours. She had
plenty of time to take a nap before she showered and got
ready.

“
Maddie!” She heard her name
called in her quiet house. It was familiar—a comforting sound.
“Maddie!”

She sat up quickly, her heart racing
at a record pace. She sucked in a breath when she realized she’d
been alone when she’d fallen asleep.

“
There you are,” Carlos said
as he leaned against the doorjamb to her bedroom.

Madeline rested her hand on her chest
and calmed herself down. She looked him over, standing in the
doorway as he had a million times before. He looked just as relaxed
now, as a guest, as he always had as her husband. That made the
uneasy feeling in her stomach return.

Carlos shifted his weight. “I knocked,
rang the bell, knocked again.” He laughed. “It’s a damn good thing
that husband of yours never thought I was enough of a threat to
change the locks.”

She rubbed her eyes. “What time is
it?”

“
Time to go.” He walked
closer to the side of the bed.

“
I didn’t mean to sleep this
long.” She kicked back the covers and landed her feet on the floor.
“I need to take a shower.”

“
You look fine. We don’t
have time for a shower.”

We don’t have time for a
shower.
He didn’t mean it the way she heard
it, but it warmed her just the same. Oh, how she wished they didn’t
have to go to the appointment and they could stay right there. Her
mind had been filled with him holding her in his arms, just as he
had done the day before when he fed her soup.

Why was this man with dark chocolate
eyes and handfuls of wavy black hair not her husband anymore? Where
had it all gone so terribly wrong? She couldn’t even
remember.

She swallowed hard and fought back the
sadness that hovered in her chest. He belonged to Kathy now, just
as she’d belonged to Matt for so many years.