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. Her other mother? It s a long story, and one I don t wish to discuss with Tara inthe room. 34Stunned, Billie stared at her hands in her lap.At length, shelooked at Cat. I d never hurt a child.I m sorry you don t trust me. I didn t say I don t trust you.Hell, you ve had my kid for thepast day and a half, and the two of you come waltzing in here thismorning like you ve been best friends for life.She doesn t evenseem to care that my parents flight was delayed by a day.My dadcalled and left a message on my phone last night.He said their flightwas delayed and that you were with Tara at my condo.You reobviously good with her, and it s clear she s more than comfortablewith you. Cat sucked in a breath. What worries me is what ll happentomorrow, or the day after, or a month from now.Unfortunately, myplan to ease you into her life is completely blown out of the waternow.I m terrified that she may become collateral damage if wedecide to end our friendship.Tara is the most important person inmy life, Billie.She ll always be my first priority. And what about Gail? Billie asked. I hired Gail as a live-in day-care provider for Tara.She d beenwith me for about six months before I met you.What I didn t knowwhen I hired her, was that she was more interested in me than inTara.Like you said about Darlene that first morning we hadbreakfast at Rose s, she was trying to sell me something I wasn tinterested in buying. Billie tried to wrap her brain around all that Cat had told her.Her heart thumped so strongly she was sure Cat saw it beating rightthrough her shirt.All these revelations from Cat, and she still hadn tchoked out one word about Seth.The enormity of it almostoverwhelmed her. I really wish you would ve told me about Tara earlier. Cat raised her eyebrows. Why on earth does it matter? Because I love you.There, I ve said it.I love you. Billiefought to keep her chin from quivering as she waited for Cat sreaction. You love me? Billie nodded.A parade of emotions passed over Cat s face.Billie had no choice but to wait until Cat was ready to speak. Are you saying you d feel differently about me if you dknown about Tara? Do you even like children, Billie? Has the timeyou ve spent with Tara these past couple of days been a ruse to winme over? If that s the case, forget about it.I don t have room in mylife for someone like that. 35Billie rose and walked a few feet away to stand in front of thewindow, her back to Cat.Silence permeated the room for several long moments.Billie felt a tug on her shirttail.She looked down to see Taraholding several pages from her coloring book toward her.Shekneeled and accepted the pages. Wow, you did a super job coloringthese pictures.Are they for me? Tara nodded her head vigorously. Do you like them? I love them.Thank you for coloring them. Billie huggedTara. I can color some more if you want. Billie was touched by the look of sincerity on the little girl sface. Would you? That would be really nice. Tara skipped back to the corner and resumed coloring.Billie stood and backed up against the windowsill.She lookedat Cat. Do you have room in your life for more children? Shecrossed the room to stand beside Cat s bed. That s an odd question. Cat frowned. To be honest, I hadn tplanned to have more children.I pretty much have my hands fullwith Tara. I see. Billie sighed and lowered her chin to her chest oncemore. Billie, look at me. Billie raised her eyes to meet Cat s and saw tears washingdown Cat s face. I m so sorry, Cat said. I hate that I m the cause of the fear Isee in your eyes right now. Billie s chin quivered.She tried to speak, but words failed her.After what felt an eternity later to Billie, Cat spoke. I m sorryif my words seem harsh to you, but Tara is my child and I need todo whatever it takes to protect her.Surely you can understand that. Cat paused. I should ve said this when you told me how you felt afew minutes ago.I love you, too.You own my heart.I think you vealways owned it, even before I met you.I ve always known thatsomeday I d find you.But if you can t accept my child, ourrelationship would be doomed from the start. Billie swallowed hard. I do accept your child, but can youaccept mine? Cat s eyes opened wide. What are you saying? I have a son. You have a son? Billie saw the fire raging in Cat s eyes. 36 How dare you sit there and judge me about keeping Tara asecret from you when you ve done the very same thing to me? The circumstances are different. I fail to see how keeping your son a secret is any worse thanmy keeping Tara s existence from you.What makes him sodifferent? What makes him different? Tara is alert, healthy, inquisitiveand playful, loud and rambunctious, endearing and flirtatious.She sa joy to be around.Seth is none of those right now.Seth has beenlying in a hospital bed in a coma for the past nine months. A lookof horror crossed Cat s face. Yes, Cat.My child is little more thana vegetable right now. Oh my God, Billie.I m sorry. Yeah, well, so am I.I m especially sorry you don t want morechildren, but like Tara is for you, Seth is my first priority.I llprotect him and nurture him with everything that I am.For the restof my life, if necessary. Can t something be done for him? I mean, what are hisdoctors saying? They aren t saying anything very encouraging.He could staylike this forever, for all they know.I, for one, choose to believe he sstill in there.I see small signs that he s aware of his surroundings [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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. Her other mother? It s a long story, and one I don t wish to discuss with Tara inthe room. 34Stunned, Billie stared at her hands in her lap.At length, shelooked at Cat. I d never hurt a child.I m sorry you don t trust me. I didn t say I don t trust you.Hell, you ve had my kid for thepast day and a half, and the two of you come waltzing in here thismorning like you ve been best friends for life.She doesn t evenseem to care that my parents flight was delayed by a day.My dadcalled and left a message on my phone last night.He said their flightwas delayed and that you were with Tara at my condo.You reobviously good with her, and it s clear she s more than comfortablewith you. Cat sucked in a breath. What worries me is what ll happentomorrow, or the day after, or a month from now.Unfortunately, myplan to ease you into her life is completely blown out of the waternow.I m terrified that she may become collateral damage if wedecide to end our friendship.Tara is the most important person inmy life, Billie.She ll always be my first priority. And what about Gail? Billie asked. I hired Gail as a live-in day-care provider for Tara.She d beenwith me for about six months before I met you.What I didn t knowwhen I hired her, was that she was more interested in me than inTara.Like you said about Darlene that first morning we hadbreakfast at Rose s, she was trying to sell me something I wasn tinterested in buying. Billie tried to wrap her brain around all that Cat had told her.Her heart thumped so strongly she was sure Cat saw it beating rightthrough her shirt.All these revelations from Cat, and she still hadn tchoked out one word about Seth.The enormity of it almostoverwhelmed her. I really wish you would ve told me about Tara earlier. Cat raised her eyebrows. Why on earth does it matter? Because I love you.There, I ve said it.I love you. Billiefought to keep her chin from quivering as she waited for Cat sreaction. You love me? Billie nodded.A parade of emotions passed over Cat s face.Billie had no choice but to wait until Cat was ready to speak. Are you saying you d feel differently about me if you dknown about Tara? Do you even like children, Billie? Has the timeyou ve spent with Tara these past couple of days been a ruse to winme over? If that s the case, forget about it.I don t have room in mylife for someone like that. 35Billie rose and walked a few feet away to stand in front of thewindow, her back to Cat.Silence permeated the room for several long moments.Billie felt a tug on her shirttail.She looked down to see Taraholding several pages from her coloring book toward her.Shekneeled and accepted the pages. Wow, you did a super job coloringthese pictures.Are they for me? Tara nodded her head vigorously. Do you like them? I love them.Thank you for coloring them. Billie huggedTara. I can color some more if you want. Billie was touched by the look of sincerity on the little girl sface. Would you? That would be really nice. Tara skipped back to the corner and resumed coloring.Billie stood and backed up against the windowsill.She lookedat Cat. Do you have room in your life for more children? Shecrossed the room to stand beside Cat s bed. That s an odd question. Cat frowned. To be honest, I hadn tplanned to have more children.I pretty much have my hands fullwith Tara. I see. Billie sighed and lowered her chin to her chest oncemore. Billie, look at me. Billie raised her eyes to meet Cat s and saw tears washingdown Cat s face. I m so sorry, Cat said. I hate that I m the cause of the fear Isee in your eyes right now. Billie s chin quivered.She tried to speak, but words failed her.After what felt an eternity later to Billie, Cat spoke. I m sorryif my words seem harsh to you, but Tara is my child and I need todo whatever it takes to protect her.Surely you can understand that. Cat paused. I should ve said this when you told me how you felt afew minutes ago.I love you, too.You own my heart.I think you vealways owned it, even before I met you.I ve always known thatsomeday I d find you.But if you can t accept my child, ourrelationship would be doomed from the start. Billie swallowed hard. I do accept your child, but can youaccept mine? Cat s eyes opened wide. What are you saying? I have a son. You have a son? Billie saw the fire raging in Cat s eyes. 36 How dare you sit there and judge me about keeping Tara asecret from you when you ve done the very same thing to me? The circumstances are different. I fail to see how keeping your son a secret is any worse thanmy keeping Tara s existence from you.What makes him sodifferent? What makes him different? Tara is alert, healthy, inquisitiveand playful, loud and rambunctious, endearing and flirtatious.She sa joy to be around.Seth is none of those right now.Seth has beenlying in a hospital bed in a coma for the past nine months. A lookof horror crossed Cat s face. Yes, Cat.My child is little more thana vegetable right now. Oh my God, Billie.I m sorry. Yeah, well, so am I.I m especially sorry you don t want morechildren, but like Tara is for you, Seth is my first priority.I llprotect him and nurture him with everything that I am.For the restof my life, if necessary. Can t something be done for him? I mean, what are hisdoctors saying? They aren t saying anything very encouraging.He could staylike this forever, for all they know.I, for one, choose to believe he sstill in there.I see small signs that he s aware of his surroundings [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]