A Second Chance (19 page)

“
You’re doing it
now.”

“
Now, when it’s too
late.”

Arianna shook her head. “Why is it too
late?”

He turned his head toward her and
rolled his eyes. “I’m getting married in four weeks. All she ever
wanted me to do was move on. I finally did.”

“
The dress is gorgeous, by
the way,” she added, nudging him and smiling. “But there are still
four weeks for you to really process what you’re
feeling.”

“
I’m just having wedding
jitters.” He patted his sister’s hand and breathed in her calm to
settle his nervous stomach. “I’m also just worried about someone I
care deeply about.”

“
I’ll always be around if
you need someone to talk to.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Even
when I’m in New York, I’m always around.”

“
Thanks.”

“
By the way, I’m staying
with Maddie for the next few days, and while Zach is out of town,
Regan and Tyler will be staying with her.”

He smiled. “You guys have this all
figured out?”

“
She’s part of our family.
We all care for her. We always have and we always will.” She
settled her eyes on his. “Kathy is even making dinners for her for
the next week and freezing them. No one is leaving her
behind.”

“
I don’t think she knew how
lucky she was.”

“
Too bad. We should have all
been here for the first surgery.”

Anger still swarmed inside him when he
thought about the phone call he’d received from Curtis that
morning. “Yes, we should have.”

He was right next to her when the pain
in her chest forced her to open her eyes. This time she’d expected
him to be there and would have been disappointed had he not
been.

“
Hi,” she said weakly as she
gritted her teeth against the pain in her chest.

“
Hi.” He kissed the fingers
of the hand he held in his. “How are you feeling?”

“
Like shit.” She tried to
laugh, but it hurt.

“
They’re planning on keeping
you at least overnight until they’re sure the grafted areas are
okay and so is your reconstruction.”

She tried to look down, but she was
too stiff. Her chest was covered in bandages and cold compresses.
Again, tubes darted from the bandages for drainage.

Madeline let her head sink into the
pillows. “Did I tell you I was going on vacation?”

“
Yes, the last time you
decided to have surgery.”

“
No, no.” She smiled and
turned her head to him. “I decided that when this is all over I’m
taking a vacation. I’m going somewhere warm where there’s a beach
and water and margaritas.”

His eyebrows drew together. She knew
he wasn’t comfortable with her traveling, but she knew she had to
get away. But he forced a smile. “I think that sounds
wonderful.”

“
Me too.” She closed her
eyes and sighed. “I’m tired of working so hard and never playing.
Besides, after all of this, I think I deserve it.”

“
Oh, honey, you deserved it
a long time ago. I really should have done those things for you.”
There were those sweet words again. How could she let him marry
someone else when he called her honey and sat by her side in the
hospital?

“
Well, things are different
now, aren’t they?”

“
Yeah, they are.”

She kept her eyes closed, not wanting
to look into his. “I may need to have the kids back for a few
weeks. They say I’m going to be unable to lift my arms for a
while.”

“
My family already has that
planned out.”

She opened her eyes and shifted them
to see him

He smiled. “Arianna is spending a few
nights with you when they release you, and then next week when Zach
goes out of town Regan and Tyler are coming to stay.”

Her heart swelled with the love she
had for his family. “Oh, that is so wonderful.”

“
And,” he said as he kissed
her fingers again, “Kathy is making meals for you. She’s freezing
them so you’ll be able to prepare them easily.”

Her eyes watered. “I don’t deserve
that.”

“
No one deserves it
more.”

She sucked in a deep breath and
swallowed back the fear that was boiling in her belly. She needed
to address the last thing she’d said to him before she went into
surgery. “I want to say I’m sorry for what I said
earlier.”

“
Don’t you dare apologize
for that.”

“
I’m just very emotional and
very appreciative of everything you’ve done for me.”

A nurse entered the room to take her
vitals. “I’m going to check her bandages and tubes. If you don’t
mind stepping out for a few minutes.”

Carlos nodded. “I’ll go let everyone
know you’re doing well and give the kids a call.”

“
Thank you, Carlos, again.
For everything.”

He gave her a smile as he left the
room.

Madeline rested her head against the
pillow as the nurse pulled back her gown. The cold air hit her
sharply just as the emotion had when Carlos had enlisted his family
to be there for her. She closed her eyes as the nurse checked the
drainage tubes. It would be nice if, just like the reconstruction
to her chest, her relationship with Carlos could be mended. But
they’d severed that that relationship as much as the surgeons had
when they removed the cancer from her body.

She’d been given a second chance at
life, and even if she couldn’t have a second chance with Carlos,
she could still have those little moments between them.

Madeline’s freezer was full of food.
Her house was full of flowers and cards. And Arianna brought her a
cup of tea every hour to keep her warm.

“
Thank you,” she said with
her teeth chattering.

“
Are you sure you don’t want
to take the cold packs off?”

“
It just feels so much
better with them on. I’d rather be cold.” She tried to lift the
half-filled mug to her lips, but every slight movement caused pain.
She took a little sip, and set it down in her lap. “I can’t wait
until this is all done.”

“
Do you think it was worth
it?”

“
Asking me that now isn’t
fair.” She chuckled and winced from the pain. “When I see myself in
a real bra or a low-cut shirt, I’ll have a better answer for you.
Right now, no. It wasn’t worth it.”

Arianna nodded. “Carlos said you want
to go on vacation when you’re done with it all.”

“
Yes. Somewhere warm. I
guess that’ll be the real time to ask me that question. If I look
good in a bathing suit, then yes, it will have been worth
it.”

“
You know. I was thinking of
doing that very same thing as soon as my next production is over. I
have a tiny little nest egg that would hold me over.”

“
Oh, yeah? Where were you
thinking?”

“
Cancun.”

“
Oh, that sounds nice.” The
very thought warmed her. She’d never been out of the country. In
fact, the only travels she’d ever had were on her honeymoon with
Carlos, for which they drove to New Orleans; and they’d gone with
Matt to see Arianna in New York when she debuted on Broadway; and
they took a trip to Las Vegas. She thought it was time she
experienced something more than work, motherhood, and breast cancer
survivor.

Arianna lifted her mug to her lips and
watched her over the top of it. “I was thinking maybe we could plan
to go together.”

“
Oh, that would be
fun.”

“
I think so too.” Arianna
sipped and lowered her drink. “I went that one time with, oh what
was his name?” She tapped her finger to her lips as she processed
the thought.

“
Gavin.”

“
Oh, my gosh. How do you
remember that?”

“
Because it was just about
the time we got married. Carlos didn’t like him at all.”

Arianna laughed. “You know what, I
didn’t like him either. But he was paying my way to Mexico.” She
kicked her feet up on the coffee table and leaned her head back on
the chair. “Did I ever tell you he asked me to marry
him?”

“
He did?” Madeline laughed
and then winced again from the pain. She readjusted, hoping to ease
the discomfort.

“
Yeah. I don’t think he was
serious though. At least I didn’t when I snorted wine through my
nose when he asked.”

“
Was he mad?”

“
Oh, hell yeah. I never saw
him again.”

Madeline moved the cold compresses and
sipped her tea, which was already tepid. “Are you seeing anyone
now?”

“
Me? Nah. I just don’t have
time. No one in New York does it for me.”

Arianna always was more of a country
boy sort of girl. Madeline was sure she didn’t find too many
Southern boys in New York. “That’s too bad.”

Arianna shrugged and tossed her hair
over her shoulders. “No big deal. Some of us just aren’t made for
marriage.”

“
Yeah, I guess we’re not,”
Madeline agreed, feeling let down that she’d struck out
twice.

“
Zach has already told me I
have a date to the wedding. Do you know John Forrester?”

“
John? Yeah, I think I’ve
met him. Foreman for Zach’s company, right?”

“
Yeah. Carlos used to work
under him when Regan started with his company.”

“
That’s right,” she shifted
on the couch and Arianna stood to adjust her pillows. “Well, Zach
has decided that would keep us both out of trouble.”

“
How
considerate.”

“
Sure. He’s twenty years
older than I am, and I guess he’s been though a nasty divorce.
Sounds like a beautiful night.”

“
You’ll make the most of
it.”

“
You bet your ass I will. Of
course, I get the elder divorcé and my brother gets the French
heiress.”

“
Simone is coming to the
wedding?”

“
Only because she’ll be in
town. Her father’s company is building some monstrosity in
Louisiana, and of course they’re going to use Zach’s company. She’s
doing most of the footwork on it. I think it just keeps her from
spending Daddy’s money on lavish un-necessities.”

“
I can’t even imagine.”
There hadn’t been anything in Madeline’s life that hadn’t been of
complete necessity in years. That too was going to
change.

Three days with Arianna at the house
had been more like a slumber party. By the time Regan arrived,
there were dishes piled in the sink and newspapers strung all over
the kitchen table.

Regan squeezed a decent amount of dish
soap into the sink and ran the water to fill it “You know when I
lived in my sister’s house, she would have killed me if I had left
a mess like this.”

“
Yeah, I’m not much help,”
Madeline said as she sat at the cluttered table for the first time
since her surgery.

She’d done away with the cold
compresses, but she continued her pain medication religiously. She
could lift a teacup to her mouth, or as the case was, lower her
head to the cup, but she still couldn’t lift her arms far enough to
wash her face. Arianna had helped her do that, and now Regan was
there to do the same.

Regan turned from the filling sink and
began to throw away the papers that her sister had strewn
about.

Madeline watched her with amusement as
Regan picked up after her sister. “Where is Zach’s
meeting?”

“
Louisiana. He’s building a
corporate headquarter building for Pierpont Oil.”

“
Arianna told me that Simone
was in town overseeing the process.”

Regan laughed. “Yeah, if you could
call it that.”

“
Not very business
oriented?”

“
Have you never met the
woman?” Madeline shook her head. “I love her. I absolutely adore
her. She has filled my closet with the most wonderful shoes and
designer looks. But a mind for business—” she stopped and raised
her brows with a shake of her head. “I don’t know what her father
is thinking.”

“
Maybe he’s trying to give
her some responsibility.”

“
If Zach wasn’t making more
on this build than any other in the history of Benson, Benson, and
Hart, I don’t think he’d do it. She’s a face among the investors,
that’s it. He’s doing all the work.”

“
Her father knew that would
be the case?”

“
I think so.”

Regan turned off the water in the sink
and began to load the dishwasher with the dishes that didn’t need a
good soak. Madeline watched Tyler enjoy his swing. He wasn’t a
fussy baby, not like Eduardo had been. She was glad she’d been
young enough to have the energy to take care of him then. He’d
certainly outgrown the fussiness and learned to fuss over everyone
else. She knew someday he’d make a great husband and
father.

“
Did Simone go with Zach to
Louisiana?”

Regan loaded glasses into the washer.
“Yep.”