Kathy laid her cell phone on the counter and pulled her travel mug from the cupboard. “I’m going to be late getting home. I have a meeting and then I’m going to run over to Regan’s house. Audrey is going to meet us and discuss catering options.”

“Sounds like a lovely time.”

“Smart-ass.” She bent to kiss him. “Be nice or I’ll make you go.”

“I have to get everything ready for conferences next week.”

“Then this will work out great,” she said just as his cell phone rang.

“Hey, Ed. Good morning.” Carlos stacked the papers he’d scattered on the table and put them into his commuter bag. “How’s everyone this morning?” He watched Kathy fill her coffee mug. “Good. I think it’s good for you to be there. Do you need a ride home from school today?” He stood and walked to the sink to dump out his own mug. “Okay, I’ll call you all tonight. I love you,” he said and slid the phone into his shirt pocket.

“Everything okay?” Kathy asked as she buttered a bagel.

“Yep. He says everyone is doing great. Madeline is feeling good and they’re glad they’re staying with her.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and laid a kiss on her neck. “You know, if you don’t spend all night at my sister’s house, we could get to bed early tonight.”

She squirmed beneath his lips and laughed. “Mr. Keller…”

“Yes?”

She turned into his arms and pressed a soft, warm, and inviting kiss to his lips. “I promise I won’t stay too long.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

Kathy glanced at her watch. “Oh, I’m going to be late.” She kissed him again. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said as she pushed past him, grabbed her bag, and headed out the back door.

He turned off the coffeepot and threw the newspaper into the recycle bin.

His phone rang again and he pulled it from his pocket. The ID was from Christian’s school.

“Hello,” he said quickly. He’d never gotten a call from Christian’s school. He hoped he wasn’t sick or hurt.

“Dad?”

“Chris, what’s wrong?” He pulled his bag over his shoulder and headed toward the back door.

“Did you talk to Ed this morning?”

“Yeah. He called when he got to school.”

“Okay. So you know?” Carlos heard his son’s voice calm.

Carlos clenched his teeth and felt the heat rise under his collar. “Well, why don’t you tell me what I should know.”

“That Mom is really sick.”

Carlos was reaching for the car door, but he stopped. “Your mom is sick?”

“Yeah, I thought you said he told you.”

“How sick, Chris?” He threw his bag into the passenger seat with a huff as he climbed into his car and began backing out of the driveway.

“She’s been throwing up for the past four days. She’s lost like ten pounds, Dad.”

He shook his head. Damnit! What good was it to have Eduardo lying to him when he was supposed to be there to help?

Carlos looked down the road, checking for traffic. He turned sharply onto the street, narrowly evading the mailbox and the six-foot ditch on the side of the road. He swerved back and sucked in a breath. He needed to get a grip or he’d get himself killed, and then where would his children be?

“She’s taking her medicine, right?”

“Yeah, that’s what’s making her sick.” He sounded so young and frightened. “Dad, she’s really, really sick.”

He came to an abrupt stop at the stop sign at the end of the street. “Okay. You get to class. I’ll check on her.” Turning left would have taken him to work, but instead he turned right and headed toward Madeline.

He had the foresight to call Curtis and ask what he should do.

“Antinausea medicine will help and so will ginger. You can get both of them at the drugstore or grocery store.”

Carlos headed toward the drugstore just around the corner from Madeline’s house. “And what do I do to make her eat?”

“If she can start keeping things down, she’ll eat. But you’d better keep an eye on her too. Anorexia is very common when patients can’t keep food down.”

“So they fixed her just so everything else would kill her?” He gripped the steering wheel as if bending it into a different shape would cure Madeline. “It seems like cutting off half of her should have been enough.”

“Carlos, it isn’t going to help her if you’re upset.”

“I know, I know. But damnit, she should have told me she was sick. I bought Ed a damn phone just for this reason, and he lies to me.”

“She doesn’t want to upset you.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem to be working, does it?” He pulled into the parking lot of the drugstore. “She can’t die,” he said on a sigh.

“Carlos, she’s already past the hardest part. What did they say about the results?”

“They got all of the tumor. They said it looks good for her and she’ll finish her round of chemo.”

“The chemo is keeping everything at bay and killing off anything that might have lingered. Soon she’ll be able to have the reconstruction done and she’ll feel and look more normal. That will help her recovery. When she looks normal, her attitude will brighten. But for now she needs you and the kids to just be pillars of strength.”

“You’re right. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Hey, why don’t you see if she’ll come to Mom and Dad’s on Sunday for dinner. Maybe mom can get her to eat.”

“Yeah, maybe I will.”

“I love you, Bro. Take care of yourself too.”

“I will,” he promised before hanging up and walking into the store.

He was directed to the medicines and herbs. He wasn’t sure what the hell he was doing, but he gathered every bottle he thought would help her. Then he took it to the pharmacy, explained what he wanted, and the pharmacist handed him back only two bottles.

“This should be all she needs, and it won’t interfere with her treatment.”

After thanking the pharmacist, he found a book for Madeline to read. If he remembered correctly, Nora Roberts was her favorite, so he picked up the two books that were on the shelf. She’d like three or four of the gossip magazines, so he grabbed them. A Hershey’s bar, it was her favorite too. After finding her a puzzle book and her favorite lip balm, he headed toward the checkout.