He’d gone to the one person he could turn to. Breanna had hugged him then ordered him to sit down and share the pot of rosehip tea she’d just made. And while he drank, she’d talked.
‘I promised not to tell,’ she said, ‘but have you wondered why Livvie’s so driven? Why everything’s got to be done yesterday? How she can study, work, run a charity and plan a retreat?
‘Why she’d push you away when her eyes tell you something entirely different?’
And in his mind’s eye he saw her New Year’s Day when they’d made love on the dining table in the hotel. Radiating such a vibrant energy it was as if she was trying to live an entire life in those few crazy moments.
He had his answer.
And the bottom plunged out of his world. ‘She’s dying.’
‘No.’
Breanna smiled but her eyes were different and he knew he had part of it right. ‘Then I don’t get it. Her mother, her family history...’
‘Go back. Make her talk to you.’
* * *
Olivia didn’t hear him come in, didn’t see him until he sat down on the floor beside her and a half-empty box of tissues. ‘Olivia.’
His voice—calm seas. But she got a glimpse of dark, stormy ocean in his eyes before she looked down at her hands twisting in his jumper. ‘How did you get in?’
‘Breanna gave me her key.’
She swiped at her wet cheeks. ‘She told you. She promised—’
‘She didn’t tell me,’ he said quietly. ‘She gave me her key so you could tell me.’
She closed her eyes. ‘Why have you come back?’
‘Some treasures are worth sticking around for—so are some troubles. And sometimes they’re one and the same.’
‘Not this trouble.’
‘Let me make my own decisions about the kind of trouble I want to get involved in. And it is my concern, whether you like it or not. Because I love you. I’ll always love you. Whatever happens.’
Tears filled her eyes and spilled over in her heart. ‘You shouldn’t.’
He shifted closer, so that their shoulders touched. ‘Just answer me this. Do you love me back?’
She could no longer deny her heart. ‘I do. I love you.’ She sighed, drained to the bottom of her soul. ‘But it doesn’t matter.’
‘You’re wrong. It matters. Look at me.’ Tucking a finger beneath her chin, he turned her towards him so she could see the truth in his eyes. He brushed her hair off her face and said, ‘It matters more than my next breath. You’ve trusted me before—do you still trust me?’
‘Yes...but this is dif—’
He pressed a finger to her lips. ‘No buts. I promise I’ll still be here in the morning. And next week. Next year. For however long you love me.’
‘I’ll always love you, Jett. But I don’t know how long that “always” might be.’ She turned away. ‘I’m not a long term kind of girl.’
‘You’re my kind of girl. Who knows how long any of us have? We could be swept away in a flood tomorrow. Talk to me, sweetheart.’
‘I’m waiting on some test results.’
‘And...?’
‘And...the women in my family all carried the same gene mutation. The test will show whether I do too.’ She bit her lip. ‘I’m scared.’
‘It’s okay to be scared.’ He wrapped his arms around her, enfolding her in a comforting blanket of warmth and security. ‘I’m scared too. But we’re going to deal with it together. You’re tough, resilient, formidable even. We’ll get through this even though you tried to spare me and make a difference to others facing the same illness. Which also makes you the most unselfish person I’ve ever met.’
She shook her head. ‘Not so unselfish. I’ve crammed my life with work and fundraising as a distraction as much as anything else.’
‘You could have distracted yourself in plenty of other, more self-satisfying ways.’
‘I did. That’s why I messed around with you.’
‘A very good decision.’
His arms tightened and she leaned against his chest and said, ‘When I knew I was falling for you...’ she took a stuttering breath ‘...I tried to keep it casual. I pushed you away because maybe you’d meet someone who wanted long term, with...kids and everything.’
‘Who are you to make that decision for me? I deserve to make that choice myself. I thought we agreed on making our own choices a while ago.’
‘I guess I didn’t see it clearly in this instance.’
‘What are the chances of a positive result?’ he murmured into her hair.