AMANDA BROWNING - The Bitter Price Of Love

She called in to see the doctor first, and he was characteristically cautious.

‘As you know, every one of these attacks worsens her condition. Your mother is a very resilient woman, and she fights back every time, but it cannot go on indefinitely. The operation will still be able to help her so long as it takes place fairly soon. However, there will come a time when it is no longer viable, especially should she be unable to travel.’

This was pretty much what Reba had expected to hear, and it helped her to know that her decision had been the right one. ‘I expect to get the money very soon. If the operation was to take place within the next two or three months, that would still be OK, wouldn’t it?’ she queried, needing to know precisely. Either she asked Eliot before they were married, or after. Lord, just how did she go about asking for so large an amount?

The doctor pursed his lips. ‘I should think the sooner the better. Our best hope is that your mother doesn’t have another attack too soon.’

That was it then. It must be before the wedding. ‘I’ll have the money next week. Please go ahead and make all the arrangements.’

The doctor looked taken aback, but he rallied at once, not looking a gift horse in the mouth. ‘That’s good news. I’ll put the wheels in motion then, and let you know when everything is ready.’

‘Thank you, Doctor.’ Reba’s own smile was tight, but he didn’t seem to notice. She went off in search of her mother then, finding her in a small ward that took four beds, two of which were empty at present.

‘Reba!’ Maggie was out of her seat as soon as she saw her sister’s head appear round the door. She was shorter than Reba, her hair browner and her eyes more hazel, but she was just as beautiful, in a less exotic way. ‘Thank goodness you’ve arrived.’

They hugged each other warmly, then Reba glanced over at the bed. ‘How is she?’

‘Better. The doctor says she may go home soon. I told her you were coming. She ticked me off!’

Reba smiled. ‘Then she must be better.’

Maggie grinned, as much in relief as amusement. ‘I’ll go and get you some coffee, shall I? I expect you’ll want to talk to her on your own for a bit.’

‘Actually I want to talk to you both, so don’t be long,’ she disagreed, and moved to her mother’s bedside as Maggie left the room.

Harriet Wyeth looked pale and drawn as she lay against her pillows, but her eyes were as sharp as ever as she looked up at her eldest child.

‘I told Maggie she shouldn’t have sent for you,’ she protested.

Reba bent down to kiss her mother’s cheek, then sat down in the chair her sister had vacated. ‘I’m glad she did. I would have come anyway. I’ve some news for you.’

Harriet pulled herself a little higher up the pillow. ‘Good news?’

‘The very best,’ she agreed, taking her mother’s hand and squeezing it gently.

‘What have I missed?’ Maggie demanded to know, returning just then with the coffee which she set down on the locker.

‘Nothing, darling,’ Harriet assured her at once. ‘Reba was just saying she’s got some good news for us. Tell us, dear, or Maggie is going to burst.’

‘I will not!’ Maggie protested, but she looked across avidly at her sister all the same.

Reba licked her lips. She had prepared what she was going to say during the endless flight, and now hoped she could pull it off. ‘Well, I didn’t like to say anything before I went away, but this assignment brought us very near the total we need. Then I managed to earn some bonuses too, so the good news is that you should be having your operation very soon, Mum!’ she announced, and the look on her mother’s face was reward enough for all her own sorrow.

‘Oh, Reba!’ Her mother’s soft exclamation was drowned out by Maggie’s squeal of delight, quickly followed by a sudden rush of tears.

‘Are you pleased?’

Harriet’s fingers tightened on her daughter’s. ‘Of course I am, but for your sake. You’ve worked so hard, and I never thought it was fair to ask so much of you. I’ve longed to be able to get up and help. I’ve felt so angry and helpless! But now you can stop and get on with your own life.’

‘Mum, if you could get up and walk, you would. We all know that,’ Maggie said as she wiped her eyes.

‘And I am going to get on with my life,’ Reba added quickly. ‘That’s my other piece of news. I’m going to get married.’ There, it was out, and she hadn’t made a mess of it—yet.

Harriet Wyeth’s surprise quickly changed to delight. ‘Married? Why, Reba, that’s wonderful news. Who is it? Do I know him?’

‘His name is Eliot, Mother. Eliot Thorson the Third, to be exact. You don’t know him, but I’m hoping you’ll meet him soon.’

Her mother’s eyes widened. ‘Good heavens, with a name like that, he sounds well off.’

Reba laughed, even as she felt heat invade her cheeks. ‘Actually, his family does happen to own one of the largest hotel chains in the States,’ she enlightened them calmly, hoping they would mistake guilt for self-consciousness.

‘Do you love him very much, Reba?’ Harriet asked softly.

Love him? In an instant Reba’s mind threw up the picture of a pair of intense blue eyes, before the need for self-preservation made her blank it out. They weren’t for her, and right now she couldn’t allow herself to remember that pain.

‘Yes, I love him. Eliot’s a wonderful man.’ The lie tripped easily off her tongue. She was getting good at it. ‘You’ll like him.’

Harriet smiled. ‘Of course I will. I’ll like any man who loves you and can make you happy, Reba. It’s been my dearest wish that you should fall in love one day,’ she added gently, unwittingly opening a wound that could never heal.

Pain caught Reba unprepared, and she was glad her watery eyes and smile were misinterpreted. ‘Everything is turning out right after all, isn’t it?’ she said gruffly. ‘We’re fighters and survivors, and we’ve won through.’

Harriet Wyeth laughed through her own tears. ‘Yes, darling, we have. And now you’re going to do something for yourself and be happy, Reba.’

Reba uttered a choked laugh. ‘I will be. Marrying Eliot will make me happy. Very, very happy,’ she insisted firmly.

‘So when is the wedding to be, and can I be bridesmaid?’ Maggie asked, grinning all over her face because her world had been miraculously brightened.

Reba pulled a wry face. ‘We haven’t decided. Actually, Eliot doesn’t even know I’ve accepted.’ Seeing their two startled expressions, she eased in yet another lie. ‘You see, he asked me before this assignment, and although I would have said yes, Eliot insisted I take this time to make sure. I had to see you first—that’s why I’ve told you. I’m going to fly back to New York and tell him myself, now that I know you’re OK.’ This was make or break. If her mother should smell a rat…

But she didn’t; she merely shook her head and laughed.

‘You young people do things in the most crazy way! Now, take a deep breath and tell me all about him.’

With her boats well and truly burned, Reba could do nothing else but accept the invitation with all the enthusiasm she could muster. Perhaps if she told herself she would be happy often enough, one day it might even come true.

REBA flew back to New York in the middle of the following week. Those few days with her family had been a strain, but somehow she had managed to get through them without breaking down. That first evening at home she had cried long into the night, her tears muffled by her pillow, but it had been the last time. Afterwards she told herself firmly that there was nothing to gain from thinking it could have been different, that Eliot was the wrong man. What was done was over, and now Eliot was the only man.