“She’s scared. She found out she had cancer the day after Matt left. She feels that if you know she’s sick you’ll treat her differently. All she wants to do is take care of you. But now she needs us to take care of her. We’re all going to help her through this.”

“Your dad is right. We’re all going to help her,” Kathy added.

Carlos smiled through his pain. “Thank you. You sure are amazing.”

“I want to see her,” Clara whispered against his chest.

“You will. We’re going down there to see her tomorrow. She’s going to be mad as hell at me for it, but I don’t really care. She needs you, and once you’re there, she’ll understand. I’m going to go call Grandma and Grandpa too. They wanted to be here, but their flight was delayed until tomorrow.” He kissed the top of Clara’s head. “Now I have to find Matt. He really should know what’s going on.” Even if Matt didn’t come to be with her—and that thought had Carlos’s blood boiling.

“Mommy’s really lucky you still love her so much,” Clara said. Carlos knew she didn’t mean any harm in her comment, but his eyes darted toward Kathy’s and he saw the flash of pain.

Chapter Three

Carlos peeked around the door and watched Madeline as she shifted to see him. He’d expected her to look better, but her skin was pale, her eyes sunken and dark. His stomach knotted. “Good morning, beautiful. How are you feeling?”

“Like I was run over by a truck,” she said softly as tears filled her eyes.

He walked to the side of the bed and gathered her hand in his. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared. I’m so scared.”

“Oh, baby.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You need to think positive. What you went through yesterday was enormous. One step at a time.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you I was going to come back and take care of you.”

“I’m not your responsibility anymore.”

“Yes, you are. You’re very important to me,” he said, and that pang of guilt was back. The look in Kathy’s eyes when Carla had said he still loved Madeline flashed in his mind. But he knew Kathy understood. “I have a surprise for you.”

“For me?”

“Are you up for it?”

She nodded.

“Okay, I’ll be right back.”

A moment later, he returned with Eduardo, Clara, and Christian. Each of them held a long-stemmed rose.

Her eyes opened wide and weak smile settled on her lips. “Oh, my babies.” She began to sob, and Christian stopped his progression into the room, but Carlos pulled him in.

Eduardo advanced toward her first and kissed her. “Hey, Mom. You doing okay?”

“Yeah. I’m doing okay.” She smiled and moved her hand to grasp his.

“Why didn’t you tell us? You should have told us.”

“I know. I just didn’t want you to worry about me.”

His lips thinned and he looked away then back at her. “I was already worried about you. I knew you were sick.”

Clara couldn’t speak through her tears. She walked to her mother and rested her head on the pillow next to her, and Madeline nuzzled against her with her cheek. “It’s okay, baby. I’m okay.”

Christian kept his distance, but he smiled when she looked at him.

Carlos knew they had their ways of dealing with things. He excused himself and stood outside of the room. There was a long road ahead of them. He had to decide how to deal with the fact that they needed each other, but he also needed to distance himself. There was no way he’d let her be alone. Damnit, it hadn’t been a lie. He needed her. She was an intrinsic part of his life. But now he had Kathy and he had to watch his step. He’d lost sleep over seeing the pain caused when Clara said he loved Madeline. Who wouldn’t be pissed by something like that? Worse yet, he hadn’t—couldn’t have—corrected her. He’d never stopped loving Madeline.

There had always been that small part of him that secretly wished for Matt to leave so he could reclaim his wife. Who’d have thought the opportunity would arise the moment he fell in love with someone else?

He pulled the slip of paper from his pocket and dialed his cell phone. There were still enough connections to Matt Carson, and he’d known who to ask. He dialed the number.

“Matt, it’s Carlos.” Irritation filtered through his voice, but there was no way to hide it as he told the man who’d once been his best friend that the woman they’d both loved had cancer.

He returned to the hospital later that evening after taking the kids home and feeding them dinner. Kathy was edgy and he couldn’t blame her. She was being a great sport, and he’d make it up to her. When Madeline was healthy and home, he figured he’d ask Kathy to marry him. After all, he’d made the phone call to Matt Carson himself. The man was already in the car and heading back to Nashville before he’d hung up. Carlos wouldn’t stand in the way.

He scrubbed his hands over his face. The heavy stubble on his cheek reminded him he’d forgotten to shave that morning. He’d been in such a hurry to get to Madeline’s side.

He tapped on her door and she invited him in. This time she looked happy, and the glow had returned to her skin. She looked stiff sitting in her bed, and he knew the bandages wrapped around her made her uncomfortable. There would be time to deal with that, he thought. She’d be upset the first time they let her see what they’d done to her.

“You look better.”

“I feel better. I hate you for bringing the kids, but thanks. That really helped me out.”

He leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I know you pretty well.”

“Did my parents ever get on the plane?”

He laughed as he pulled the chair to her bedside. “Yes, they finally got a flight. They’ll be here soon. He took her hand and absentmindedly kissed her fingers.

Madeline nodded. “I owe you. This was bigger than me. I was afraid I was going to die. I couldn’t handle it.”

“You’re going to be fine and I’ll be here for you.”

“No, you won’t.”

His head snapped up.

Madeline lowered her hand slowly to the bed. “You’ve started a new life. You really need to focus on Kathy and building a life together. I’m just in your way.”