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But it’s cole parents froe Aball known as betrayal slammed into it Marissa’s deceit had a profound effect on ine It clearly has closeda relationship But it also made me super protective Not only of my own heart, but Gabe’s as well

The sad truth is… I really don’t trust any other woman not to shred my heart, and I sure as hell would never trust another woman not to hurt my son

Ergo… that is why Mac has no clue I have a son

I don’t trust her enough to let her know

The cab driver pulls up in front of the admissions entrance of the hospital, and I hand cash to cover the fare plus tip I slide out of the backseat, pulling my small suitcase behind me

Staring up at the building in front of me, I take a deep breath and let it out slowly I’m here for Mac I’ that I do care for her How can I not when she’s such a fantastic woman, inside and out of the bedroom?

But there’s not much past that

No trust

No co each other, and even then, we haven’t exactly talked about that

No burning need to immerse myself in her life

No devastation if ere to go our separate ways tomorrow

Yes, I care for her But not enough to invite her all the way into my life

Chapter 18

I’ve been lying in this hotel bed, holding Mac inon an hour now She’s sound asleep, and I have no desire to let her go I’m afraid that if I do, she’ll feel the loss of my comfort and will hurt worse than she already does, and I’m not about to let that happen

It’s been a brutal day today

When I made it to Rooh led hair and wrinkled clothes, she looked hauntingly beautiful in herher hand and weeping softly I wanted to go to her and pull her intoin that hospital bed

But I couldn’t intrude She was having a personal h to know that she wouldn’t be having many more

When Mac finally saw rief, I couldn’t do anything but open my arms to her and let her crash into e that I was there for her to lean on

Then I started taking care of her

I gently persuaded her to leave herto eat While we sat in the cafeteria, I asked Mac for all the painful details and she confir there

She would have to make some end-of-life decisions

“I don’t knohat to do,” she toldvoice

“Tellon, and we’ll talk it out ”

“The doctor is going to coht and talk to me in more detail about her condition, but fro to recover She has ht now I think tonight… I think he wants to talk toher off life support ”

“Did yourWill or any other health care directive?”

I didn’t think ain in her eyes and she looked so forlorn as she shook her head in the negative “I’ht to have my mom do one ”

I reached across the table and took both of her hands in ly “Don’t do that to yourself It has no purpose here to dwell on those things ”

Mac tried to pull herself together, because although she’s wide open and vulnerable right now, I know she’s norh I watched as she pulled her lower lip in between her teeth and bit down, causing the skin to blanche white The physical pain must have helped orient her because with a few blinks of her eyelids, the tears evaporated

“Did you and your ently

“No Not even when my dad died He had a heart attack It was so quickWe never thought about soht I’d have to make these decisions ”

Squeezing her hands, I say, “Okaylet’s figure out what your mom would want then Tell me about her?”

Finally, I saw a s happy reen eyes up to hts of the past, and she started talking about heralmost nonstop for an hour When she finally exhausted herself, to me it couldn’t be any clearer I’ht now, she’d tell us that she would never want to live life hooked up to a machine