Her warm hand felt strong and soft beneath his fingertips.
Hard knots formed in the center of his stomach as he drove them both home.
Why was she looking at her will?
And why hadn’t she talked to him about it?
Ian was overcome with the urge to pull up by the side of the road and refuse to go anywhere until Lucy told him everything. He began to sweat, and his mind raced as he went through one bad scenario after the next.
As soon as they stepped in through the front door, Lucy made a beeline for the stairs. He was scrolling through his phone, debating whether or not to call Sophia or Lily. His chest was still tight, and his fingers were trembling as he raked them through his hair. Then he heard Lucy call out to him, and he stopped breathing altogether. He took the stairs, two at a time, and found her on the floor of their room with her knees drawn up to her chest and tears streaming down her face.
Wordlessly, Ian scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bed.
He paused to draw back the covers and tuck her in. The bed dipped beneath his weight as he got onto it and pulled Lucy into his side. She threw an arm over him, snuggled against his neck, and exhaled. His eyes filled with tears as he caught the floral scent of her perfume.
Ian held his breath for a long time after.
It wasn’t until Lucy’s breathing turned even that he released the breath he’d been holding. Slowly, he rolled her onto her side, adjusted the covers around her, and stood up. Barefoot and anxious, he tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs. In the kitchen, he stopped to lean against the counter and exhaled.
All he could see was Lucy’s frail form, and all he could hear was the deafening silence settling around him.
Before he knew what he was doing, Ian kicked one of the chairs over. Red-hot anger pumped through him as he hurried into the backyard and picked up the garden shears. He was halfway through cutting the hedge when he realized what a mess he’d made. Making a low, frustrated sound in the back of his throat, he dropped the shears and took his phone out of his pocket.
Sophia answered on the second ring. “What are you doing calling me? It’s your anniversary. Shouldn’t you be romancing your wife right now?”
Ian swallowed and turned his back on the house. “I was trying to, but Soph…Luce’s is… She’s sick, and the doctor doesn’t know what’s wrong with her.”
Ian heard a door open and close.
When Sophia’s voice came back on, she sounded close to tears. “Okay, it’s going to be okay. Can we get Lily on the line? Maybe she knows someone who can take a look at Lucy.”
Ian blew out a breath. “Okay.”
The line clicked, and Ian was left alone with his own thoughts and his heavy breathing. He twisted to face the house and studied their bedroom window, outlined in the pale glow of the moon. Moments later, Sophia and Lily were both on the phone with him, sounding anxious and concerned.
Lily exhaled. “It’s late now, but I’m going to send a few messages and make some calls in the morning. Can you tell me her symptoms?”
Ian sat down on the steps. “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me anything. I barely got her to admit that anything was wrong.”
“Okay, that’s all right. I know a general surgeon. I’ll get in touch with him tomorrow. He should be able to point us in the right direction once you tell me the symptoms.”
Ian ran a hand over his face. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how I’m supposed to help.”
And he had no idea if he was equipped to handle this sort of thing.
Ian was more comfortable in the world of criminals and thieves than he was dealing with his wife’s undiagnosed illness.
Shame and guilt rose within him, threatening to drag him under.
He didn’t think he’d unclenched his jaw in hours, and his shoulders felt tight and stiff no matter how often he rolled them.
“You need to focus on keeping her spirits up,” Sophia advised with a sniff. “Don’t make her feel like you’re dwelling on any of this, even if you are.”
“Yes, and try to give her as much normalcy as you can,” Lily added, her voice catching toward the end. “Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.”
Ian froze. “What about the kids? How am I supposed to tell them? She was on the phone with her lawyer, for heaven’s sake, and talking about her will…”
Ian felt sick to his stomach, and the world kept spinning around him.
