Read Online Sizzling by Susan Mallery - Free Book Online Page A

figure out the steps.
But I guess it wasn't real to me before. I guess I thought nothing
bad could happen to my sister. Until this, she's lived a pretty
perfect life."

She sucked in a breath.

"Her
doctor talked about how long she had and how we needed to think about
hospice care. That really got to me. Talking about the end."

Reid
reached out and took her hand in his. "What's the time
frame?"

"About a year. She moved in with me a few
months ago. She's starting to have bad days. She's working part-time,
but that won't last long. I took this job because the hours allow me
to spend more time with her and the money is great. I'm saving as
much as I can so I can take off the last couple of months to be with
her."

She squeezed his hand and fought tears. "She
wanted to talk about that today. On the drive home, she said I
shouldn't put my life on hold for her. That she was fine going into a
hospice. But I don't want that for her. I can take care of her."

She
had to be there for Madeline.

"Is a liver transplant the
only way to save her?" he asked.

She nodded. "Unless
they find a miracle cure and that's not likely to happen in time.
I've been tested and I'm not a match."

He frowned. "You
can't give up your liver."

Despite the pain and threat of
tears, she smiled. "They use living donors now. They would take
a piece of my liver. But it's a nonissue. I can't. My mom could
except she drank so much for years that there isn't much of her liver
left."

Lori released his hand and took a step back. "It's
just like Madeline to have a weird blood type. She's totally perfect
in every other way. Why can't she be O positive like the majority of
the population?"

It was easier to joke than admit the
real problem. There were no easy solutions for her problem or
Madeline's. Lori never knew how to act or what to say. She just lived
in guilt. Because as much as she loved her sister, she'd also
resented her in equal measure. Which made her a pretty horrible
person.

"I'm sorry," Reid told her. "I know
that doesn't help, but I don't know what else to say."

He
sounded sincere, she thought as she stared into his eyes. So they
were both clueless. An interesting thing to have in common. "Thank
you. I'm sorry I fell apart. It's not like me. Usually I can hold it
together."

"It's okay. Under the circumstances
anyone would."

She swallowed and forced herself to tell
the truth. "You helped."

One corner of his mouth
turned up. "Then that's a first for this month."

He
walked out of the kitchen, leaving her staring after him. Had they
just had a moment that included sensitivity? She didn't want him to
be more than just a pretty face. That made him far too dangerous for
her fragile peace of mind. But it seemed she didn't have a choice in
the matter.
    * * *
    REID WALKED INTO the small den he'd turned into a temporary
office. Lori's problems put his into perspective. People thinking he
was lousy in bed was nothing when compared with a sister dying. Of
course there were the kids who'd been disappointed, ignored and
abandoned by someone who was supposed to be a hero. Telling himself
it wasn't his fault wasn't cutting it anymore.

He glanced at
the stack of letters. Okay, so things had gone wrong. Could he fix
the problems after the fact? He grimaced as he remembered Frankie's
sobbing mother. If only…

No, he couldn't fix the
problems, but he could stop new ones from happening. He could do
better. He could get involved and make sure the right people got what
they needed.

He sat in front of the letters and saw the folder
from those kids he'd tried to send to the state finals. The ones who
hadn't gotten return tickets.

He read the hostile, accusing
letters and felt his gut tighten. Dammit, it wasn't his fault. He
hadn't had anything to do with the travel arrangements, but that
didn't matter. The offer had been made in his name.

He scanned
the bitter letters and found one from the coach. Not sure what he was
going to say, he picked up the phone and