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go.
Shep came over and took her hand, leading her into the dining room. Soon, she was eating a
generous helping of roast chicken stuffed with oranges, plus mashed potatoes, and lemon asparagus.
She hadn t been eating enough recently and, in the mornings, had been having trouble keeping things
down. Right then, she ate every bite and relaxed for the first time in weeks.
Shep ran his hand over her knee, and she leaned into him. Yes, she d tell him what was going on
soon, but first she needed to figure out what was wrong with herself emotionally and how to help
Shep s family.
As dinner wound down, they made their way into the living room. She sank into the couch, her
body relaxing against Shep s. Austin sat on the other side of her, as if he knew they all might need the
comfort.
So& we re here, Shep started, running a hand over his face.
You re here, Harry said. You re here because Austin asked that of you, and I m grateful. He
met Shea s eyes then Shep s. As you know, I have prostate cancer. We caught it early because my
wife makes me go to the doctor to catch things like this. He let out a breath then gripped Marie s
hands.
Shea let a tear fall. It would be no use holding them back now.
Can you tell us more about it? Shep asked. Where you re at? What treatments? I want to make
sure we understand so we can help out and know all we can.
Harry nodded. I ll tell you everything I can. I don t want to hide this from you, nor do I want you
to go in thinking the worst& or even the best. I m in the very early stages of the disease with a slow-
growing, low-grade tumor.
That s good, right? Shep asked and Shea squeezed his hand. Shit. I mean better. Not good.
There s nothing good about this.
He caught it early, and that s a good thing, Austin said quietly.
Yes, son. That s exactly it. It s low-grade, as I said. That means we re looking at external beam
radiation therapy and not a radical prostatectomy. However, if the doctors think I need that, then we ll
do it. I m not going to risk my life and forego treatment because of cost not yet.
Shea didn t think Harry meant the cost in terms of money.
Sierra and I were looking at the types of radiation and how it would work while we were
researching, Austin began then coughed. I hope that s okay.
For the first time, Harry looked truly bright. Sierra, is it?
We re just starting out, Dad.
Shea smiled as Austin squirmed in his seat.
Why didn t she come tonight? Harry asked.
She had to work at Eden, her shop across the street from Montgomery Ink. I ll bring her next
time, okay? Austin grinned a bit, though he looked like he d rather not be subjected to his parents
stares.
Good for Austin.
Good, Marie said sweetly. I want to meet this woman that Maya speaks of.
Austin groaned. You know better than to listen to what Maya has to say.
Austin Montgomery, you be nice to your sister, Marie ordered with a smile. She looked over at
her husband and sighed. Now where were we?
They re still prepping me for radiation, Harry said after he let Austin sweat a bit. I start it in
three days, and it will probably kick me in the ass, but I m not going to let it keep me down.
Shep let out a shaky breath, and Shea ran her hand down his thigh.
We ll be here for a couple of weeks or so, Shea said. I can do most of my work from home at
this point, and Shep s coworkers at Midnight Ink don t mind picking up the slack while we re here.
That means we can help with whatever you need.
You rented a car, did you? Harry asked, and his brow rose.
Yes, we wanted to be mobile, Shea answered.
Well, you can return the damn thing, Harry said. Take my car. I m not going to be able to drive
anyway. Shea knew it had taken a lot for Harry to admit that, and she wanted to hug the man hard.
Uncle Harry& Shep began then shook his head. Thank you.
You re welcome, now let me hug that wife of yours again because it looks like she needs it.
She did, but it looked like Harry needed it more. She hugged him again hard then pulled away as
Austin and Shep did the same. Marie wrapped her arm around Shea s shoulder and both women stood
off to the side, still as stone.
It was clear to anyone that Harry was the center of the Montgomery family. If they lost him&
well, Shea didn t want to think about that. She put her hand over her stomach again, that worry sliding
through her like it d never left.
One thing at a time, she whispered to herself. One thing at a time.
Chapter Eleven
Miranda Montgomery might be the youngest in the family, but she wasn t a kid anymore. Getting
that idea into the thick skulls of her brothers and sisters, on the other hand, might take a miracle.
Forcing the man she d loved for years to see that would be even harder.
Well, considering she was currently on a date with someone else so she could get that other man
out of her head probably wasn t helping things.
But there was only so much little-sister babying she could take.
She was twenty-three, done with school, and on the prowl.
She couldn t help the grin at that thought. On the prowl? More like on a slow, steady march
toward what she wanted. Right then, she was on a pit stop to make sure she wasn t being an idiot
though.
Just because she happened to love her big brother s best friend didn t mean he had to love her
back.
Oh no. Decker Kendrick didn t do anything he didn t want to do, and loving her wasn t in the
cards. Seeing her as an adult woman with needs seemed so far out of his scope that Miranda was just
about to call it a lost cause.
Miranda, darling, are you listening? Edward, her date, asked, that pleasant smile on his face
getting on her nerves.
It wasn t that he tried to be annoying; he couldn t help himself. Everything about him was
pleasant. His not-too-tight and not-too-bright smile, his suit that wasn t designer but neither was it
bargain priced his job as an accountant that was middle of the road, his voice that wasn t too deep,
wasn t too high, or anything else she could name. He was just& pleasant.
What had she been thinking when she d agreed to this date?
Oh, yeah...that Decker hardly looked at her as anything more than a little sister and she hadn t
been on a date in months.
Miranda shook her head then calmly put her napkin down on the table. They d gone out to a nice
dinner that wasn t too fancy, nor was it all that casual, either. The man had a theme for sure, and he
wasn t about the get off course.
I m sorry, Edward. I m not feeling well. I think I m going to go home so I can make sure I m
ready for work in the morning.
A Thursday evening date. Seriously? What had she been thinking? She had class in the morning
and would have even more papers to grade after that. But she was trying not to be a homebody, and
Thursday night dates with pleasant, boring Edward had been her answer.
Or not.
Edward frowned but not too deeply. I m sorry to hear that. You drove in. Are you able to drive
yourself home?
She d driven in because she d had a feeling she d have to cut the date short. Also, her brothers
would have killed her for going on a first date without an escape route.
I m good. Thank you for the evening. She stood up, and he stood as well, gently kissing her
hand.
And nada.
No spark.
Rain check? he asked, his eyes hopeful.
Instead of answering, Miranda gave him a small smile then said goodbye. She wasn t about to
crush his hopes in the middle of a restaurant, but she couldn t go out with him again. Not when she
was beyond bored.
She made her way home, then kicked off her heels and flopped on the couch. She d get out of her
dress and makeup in a bit. It was only seven thirty, so she had plenty of time.
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