When Max turned and faced her, she smiled and reached for his hand. “We never finished that coffee.”
Ensconced on the couch, she passed him his cup of lukewarm brew with a couple of napkin-wrapped cookies. “I can nuke it if you like.”
She noted the slight shake in his hands as he took the proffered items. “This is good. Half the time it gets cold before I can drink it anyway.”
“I appreciate how you handled things with Maddie.”
He stuffed one whole cookie in his mouth and followed it with a deep gulp of coffee. “I had no idea what I was doing.”
“Couldn’t prove it by me.” She nibbled on a cookie. “Kids can be tricky, but you handled it like a pro.”
“She’s a swell kid, Sky.” He stared into his cup and swirled the liquid around. “What about her dad?” He straightened. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that.”
She placed a hand on his thigh and waited for him to look up. “If we’re going to move forward in whatever this relationship is, you have a right to ask.”
A slight tilt of his head encouraged her to continue.
“My mother was severely injured in a car wreck when I was sixteen. There wasn’t any other family, so I basically took care of her and me, too.” She leaned back on the couch and looked at the ceiling. “I was in my second year of nursing school when she died. Even though I knew it was coming, I was still devastated. Nearly flunked out before I got myself together.” She drew in a deep breath. “Then there was a house fire, and I basically lost everything but a few trinkets and the linens we used for Thanksgiving.”
He laced their fingers together and squeezed. “Damn. I’m sorry, Sky.”
She shrugged. “I got through it. Buried myself in my studies and graduated at the top of my class.” She turned her head toward him. “I got a job at this hospital in Dallas. Work was great, but I was still lost. That’s when I met Brett. He was related to one of my patients.”
Max said nothing as she gathered her thoughts. “He was charming, had a good job. I was so lost and lonely, he pretty much swept me off my feet. A whirlwind courtship, then married on a beach at sunset. The whole nine yards.”
“What happened?”
Memories of those years still threatened to crush her a times. “Maddie.” She sat up straight and turned toward him, hands still laced together. “I told you she was born early. What I didn’t tell you was all the health problems that come from a premature birth. She barely weighed two pounds and spent months in a NICU, a neonatal intensive care unit. I brought her home with a monitor to wake me if she stopped breathing.” She couldn’t control the quiver in her voice. “She required constant supervision. Her resistance was so low, any infection was potentially life threatening.”
“I can’t even imagine how awful that must have been for you.”
“I was terrified something would happen. I quit my job to care for her.” Eyes closed, she inhaled deeply. “Brett tried, but….”
“But?”
She shook her head slightly. “It was more than he could handle seeing her in that place. Monitors, tubes, and wires everywhere, knowing any minute she could die. Then, he got this promotion at work and had to travel a lot.” She shrugged. “We needed the money and the insurance, so…”
“How long did she stay there?”
“Five months, three weeks, and four days.” She looked at him and smiled. “Not that I counted or anything.”
He squeezed her hand again.
“I spent so much time caring for Maddie, I didn’t realize how far apart we’d drifted until it was too late.” She looked down at their hands, then back up. “She was two and a half when we divorced. By then, her health was better, but…”
“Does he see her?”
She swallowed hard, bit her lower lip to stop the tremble. “No. He tried at first, but then he remarried and moved to Austin.” She ducked her head, squeezed his hand for support. “When she was four, she got pneumonia.” Her voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “I almost lost her.”
She didn’t resist when he pulled her in his arms and hugged tightly.
Neither spoke for several moments.
“How is she now?” asked Max at last.
She didn’t raise from her spot against his chest. “Good. Thank God. She has bouts of asthma, but Doc has her on an inhaler if it flares up.”
“And he still doesn’t see her?”
“No. He did a few times at first, but that stopped along with child support. The only thing I stipulated in the divorce was that he keep her on his health insurance because I had no idea what the future held. I can’t bear to think about what might have happened if he hadn’t agreed to that.” Mimicking Maddie, she shifted to a more comfortable position at his side. “That ended two years ago when he lost his job. He was unemployed for six months. When he finally found work, it was at a lower salary, and he couldn’t put her on his insurance.”
“Can’t you take him back to court or something? Get some of the back child support at least?”
“I thought about it, but that takes money.” She sensed his preparation to speak and pressed a hand to his chest. “No. I won’t take money from you, so don’t offer. Besides, I found out I can get a lawyer through one of those legal aid groups for free.”
“Are you going to do it?”
“I honestly don’t know. He sends me money occasionally, but he has a wife and two kids to support, too, so I haven’t pushed it. She hadn’t asked about him in a long time until this week. Not sure what sparked it.” She sighed. “But we’re making it okay for now. Maddie’s prognosis is great, and her general health is good, too.”
“That still doesn’t erase his obligation to her.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
Muscles tensed beneath his shirt, and he sucked in a breath. She knew he was angry for her, for Maddie, and that made her happy. How crazy was that? She eased back and touched his cheek with her finger. “Let’s talk about something else, shall we? Did I tell you I got the info from Doc about getting back into nursing?”
His jaw muscles worked up and down as he clenched his teeth. “No, you didn’t mention it.”
“It’s not going to be as hard as I thought. She gave me the paperwork a few days ago, and I just got through all of it last night. She wants me to give my notice to Ruby soon so we can start on it right away.”
