one with blue eyes and a go-to-hell grin. “Maybe I want to go out with someone else.”
A shocked silence bled through the line. “You’re not serious.”
Chloe took a mental step back from the cliff crumbling at her feet. “I don’t know. But please stop making assumptions about Roger and me. I’m involved in my career right now.”
“Chloe.” Her mother spoke carefully and slowly. “I’d be the first to say that you’ve accomplished far more than your father and I ever envisioned. You’ve made us very proud—”
Chloe could hear the but coming.
“But, darling, don’t you want more from life? A family? Children to cherish? Your father and I so hoped—” Her mother’s voice cracked.
Chloe closed her eyes and bit back a retort, reminding herself that her mother meant well. Her parents had always held her to a high standard, but she had never doubted her importance to them. She’d been showered with every advantage since birth. She owed them more than this growing impatience, but being their first—and in her mother’s case, only—priority sometimes smothered her.
Still, she felt selfish for even thinking that way. “Mother, I don’t want to disappoint you. Yes, I’d liketo have all those things, but—” With someone like Roger?
“Darling, you can’t wait forever.” Her mother’s voice held an odd urgency.
“What are you saying?”
“Nothing.” There was the sound of her mother’s nose softly blown.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” A cold fist grabbed her heart. “Is it—are you ill, Mother?”
“No.” But tears were clearly present.
Oh, no. Not— “What’s wrong with Daddy?” He’d looked tired lately, but he’d ascribed it to overwork. “Mother, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“He doesn’t want to worry you, and neither do I.”
“I’m not a child. I haven’t been one for a long time. I don’t need you to protect me from life.”
“We’ve only tried to keep you safe because you’re everything to us, sweetheart.”
The burden of that sometimes pressed Chloe beyond bearing, but right now she couldn’t concern herself with how much she wanted out from under the suffocating blanket of that love. “Mother.” She used her most soothing voice. “Talk to me. We both love Daddy. Let me help.” Once again, she thought she heard a stifled sob. “Do you want me to come over there?”
“No—no, honey, not tonight. It would only upset your father if he knew—”
“Knew what?”
Finally, her ever-dignified mother’s voice broke. “He hasn’t been feeling well for some time, but he wouldn’tgo to his doctor. Your father always has to be in control. Always on top of his game.”
“Ever the strong one,” Chloe supplied.
“Yes.” Her mother paused. “Men don’t take aging well, darling. They don’t like feeling vulnerable. Women have to cope with drastic changes in their bodies all their lives, once a month or through pregnancy. But barring serious illness, for much of their existence, men never have the experience of their bodies betraying them. Your father hates growing older because it’s a force that his will can’t completely overcome. Still, he was managing, but now—” Her mother fell silent.
A multitude of horrors cascaded through Chloe’s mind. She seized on one. “Daddy’s…dying? Is it cancer or—” She tried to think what could be responsible for her mother’s fear.
“It’s leukemia. He was recently diagnosed.”
“What can be done about it? Don’t they perform bone-marrow transplants? I can donate. I’ll call his doctor tomorrow—”
“No.”
Chloe was already spinning plans, and her mother’s flat refusal took a minute to sink in. “No?” she echoed.
“You can’t do that.”
She frowned at an odd note in her mother’s voice. “Of course I can. I’m Daddy’s only living blood relative, and I want to do it. He gave me life, and now I can give it back.”
“I can’t talk about this now.”
A shocked silence bled through the line. “You’re not serious.”
Chloe took a mental step back from the cliff crumbling at her feet. “I don’t know. But please stop making assumptions about Roger and me. I’m involved in my career right now.”
“Chloe.” Her mother spoke carefully and slowly. “I’d be the first to say that you’ve accomplished far more than your father and I ever envisioned. You’ve made us very proud—”
Chloe could hear the but coming.
“But, darling, don’t you want more from life? A family? Children to cherish? Your father and I so hoped—” Her mother’s voice cracked.
Chloe closed her eyes and bit back a retort, reminding herself that her mother meant well. Her parents had always held her to a high standard, but she had never doubted her importance to them. She’d been showered with every advantage since birth. She owed them more than this growing impatience, but being their first—and in her mother’s case, only—priority sometimes smothered her.
Still, she felt selfish for even thinking that way. “Mother, I don’t want to disappoint you. Yes, I’d liketo have all those things, but—” With someone like Roger?
“Darling, you can’t wait forever.” Her mother’s voice held an odd urgency.
“What are you saying?”
“Nothing.” There was the sound of her mother’s nose softly blown.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” A cold fist grabbed her heart. “Is it—are you ill, Mother?”
“No.” But tears were clearly present.
Oh, no. Not— “What’s wrong with Daddy?” He’d looked tired lately, but he’d ascribed it to overwork. “Mother, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“He doesn’t want to worry you, and neither do I.”
“I’m not a child. I haven’t been one for a long time. I don’t need you to protect me from life.”
“We’ve only tried to keep you safe because you’re everything to us, sweetheart.”
The burden of that sometimes pressed Chloe beyond bearing, but right now she couldn’t concern herself with how much she wanted out from under the suffocating blanket of that love. “Mother.” She used her most soothing voice. “Talk to me. We both love Daddy. Let me help.” Once again, she thought she heard a stifled sob. “Do you want me to come over there?”
“No—no, honey, not tonight. It would only upset your father if he knew—”
“Knew what?”
Finally, her ever-dignified mother’s voice broke. “He hasn’t been feeling well for some time, but he wouldn’tgo to his doctor. Your father always has to be in control. Always on top of his game.”
“Ever the strong one,” Chloe supplied.
“Yes.” Her mother paused. “Men don’t take aging well, darling. They don’t like feeling vulnerable. Women have to cope with drastic changes in their bodies all their lives, once a month or through pregnancy. But barring serious illness, for much of their existence, men never have the experience of their bodies betraying them. Your father hates growing older because it’s a force that his will can’t completely overcome. Still, he was managing, but now—” Her mother fell silent.
A multitude of horrors cascaded through Chloe’s mind. She seized on one. “Daddy’s…dying? Is it cancer or—” She tried to think what could be responsible for her mother’s fear.
“It’s leukemia. He was recently diagnosed.”
“What can be done about it? Don’t they perform bone-marrow transplants? I can donate. I’ll call his doctor tomorrow—”
“No.”
Chloe was already spinning plans, and her mother’s flat refusal took a minute to sink in. “No?” she echoed.
“You can’t do that.”
She frowned at an odd note in her mother’s voice. “Of course I can. I’m Daddy’s only living blood relative, and I want to do it. He gave me life, and now I can give it back.”
“I can’t talk about this now.”
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