Juliet didn’t answer for a long time. When she did, her voice sounded strained. “Lilianne was a beautiful, kind, athletic woman. My friend. Her life was filled with joy and art and kindness. Her death, on the other hand, was anything but. It was long, horrible, drawn-out. And Henry was there for her, every single step of the way. For five long, dreadful years, he cared for her. I can’t do that to him again. I...I love him too much. He deserves someone young and healthy, vibrant and strong.”
Olivia stared, aghast. “How can you arbitrarily make that decision for him? He deserves to be with the woman he loves. If you’ve never told him, don’t you think he deserves all the information so he can be the one to make that choice?”
Juliet huffed out a breath. “I know what he would say. He would say it doesn’t matter. He’s too honorable to say otherwise.”
“Or too honest. Maybe it truly wouldn’t matter to him.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Juliet said, her usual way of shutting down a discussion she didn’t want to have.
Only Olivia wasn’t fifteen years old anymore, trying to be the perfect daughter. She wasn’t finished giving her opinion yet, that her mother was being stupid to throw away something wonderful without giving him a chance.
“Think about what you’re doing. What’s the difference between you keeping the truth about your diagnosis from Henry and Natalie keeping the truth about Caitlin from Cooper?”
“They’re not the same thing at all,” Juliet protested.
“Aren’t they? You’re unilaterally making decisions for him without giving Henry the right to choose for himself. You have to tell him.”
“That’s easy to say, not so easy to practice. What if I tell him the truth, he says it doesn’t matter, and then he changes his mind down the road, once he faces the reality of my diagnosis?”
If she had been in her mother’s shoes, with a potentially life-changing disorder, would she have done the same thing? Walk away from someone she loved to protect them?
Possibly.
Her mother was acting from a position of fear. Exactly the same reason she was running from Cooper. She couldn’t think about that now.
“Weren’t you just telling me life is about taking chances? That the risk is great, yes, but only because the reward is so much greater, too.”
Juliet glared. “That’s not fair. You’re not supposed to throw my own words back at me.”
“Henry is a good man. You know he is. If he truly loves you, he would want to know this. If you truly love him, as you said, you owe him the chance to make that decision for himself.”
Wind rattled the windows and a branch from one of the trees outside scratched against the glass. Juliet said nothing for a long moment, her features distressed. Then she sighed. “I do love him.”
“Then you need to tell him.”
She looked out the window, then back at Olivia. “I probably shouldn’t wheel down the hill in the rain. Would you mind giving me a ride?”
“Now?” She disguised her shocked laugh with a cough. “The truth will still be the truth in the morning, when it’s not raining.”
“I need to go now. If I wait, I’m afraid I’ll lose my nerve.”
Her anger at her mother for not telling her warred with an unwilling admiration. She should learn a lesson here. Juliet was throwing her heart on the line, taking a chance.
“All right,” she said. “Sure. Let me grab an umbrella.”
Her mother didn’t waver as Olivia wheeled her to the car and helped her in.
“What if he’s in bed?” Olivia had to ask after she had backed out of the driveway and headed down the street.
“He won’t be,” Juliet said with confidence. “Henry is usually a night owl. And Jake was over earlier tonight and told Caitlin his dad isn’t sleeping well. He hasn’t seen Henry’s insomnia this bad since right after his mom died.”
Poor man. He had been shut out of Juliet’s life and had no idea why.
Sure enough, there were several lights on at the Craguns’ elegant midcentury modern house. She glanced at her mother, hoping she hadn’t been completely wrong to push her into this.
“Are you sure you want to do this tonight?”
Juliet gave her an exasperated look. “Are you kidding me right now? You’re the one who just lectured me vehemently about how I need to be honest with him. Don’t make me doubt myself more than I already do.”