her, his sweet old dog Rosie came over and rested her head on Juliet’s lap. Grateful for the moral support, she petted the dog for a moment to gather her thoughts before she faced him.
“It has..e to my attention that I have been...unfair to you. At least that’s what my daughter very firmly lectured me about tonight.”
“Oh?”
His tone was not encouraging at all. If anything, he was going out of his way to be the opposite. She sighed. She deserved nothing else.
“Olivia insists I owe you the truth about...about why I told you I didn’t want a relationship.”
He said nothing, only continued looking at her.
“I don’t want to bury the lede, so I’m going to start by telling you that I...love you.”
He stared at her, not saying anything, though he seemed to make an involuntary movement toward her. She held up a hand.
“Wait. I...I need to tell you the rest. I love you so much that I felt like I was doing the right thing for you by pushing you away. Olivia tells me that I was really being afraid and that the right thing would be telling you the truth so that you can decide for yourself.”
“The truth?”
Oh, this was hard—which was probably the reason she hadn’t told him, all these years.
“Four years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. I’ve been lucky. It’s been mostly in remission since then. I’ve been on various medications and the one I’m on seems to be doing a good job of controlling my symptoms for now. My doctor tells me that while my particular case is mild currently, obviously there are no guarantees. It could progress tomorrow and I could permanently need that wheelchair I’ve been using the past few weeks.”
He sank onto the sofa next to her, still watchful and silent. Why didn’t he say anything? Had she made a terrible mistake?
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. It’s just... I know how hard things were for you, caring for Lilianne. You were so wonderful with her. Sweet and loving and patient.”
She could feel hot tears at the memory of her dear friend and willed them away for now.
“Her cancer became so much a part of your lives. I couldn’t do that to you again. I wanted you to have someone young and healthy and strong. That’s why I...told you I couldn’t have a relationship with you.”
“Because you have multiple sclerosis.”
“Yes. But Olivia made me see I had to be honest with you, no matter how hard, so that you could choose.”
She looked down at Rosie, afraid to meet his gaze. “So there you have it. You don’t have to decide anything right now. You can...think about it. Weigh the options. I can give you some information about MS so you can make a truly informed decision. But if you decide you’re...you’re willing to take a chance on a future with me, I would...would want that very much.”
Her voice trailed off and she finally lifted her gaze to meet his. The blazing emotion in his expression stole her breath.
“Are you done?”
“I... Yes. I think so.”
“Good.” He leaned over, wrapped her in a tight embrace and kissed her so fiercely, she had to reach for the arm of the sofa to keep from falling backward against the cushions.
The kiss was raw, wild, and so full of life and promise and joy that those tears spilled over and trickled down her cheeks.
Oh, she wanted this. A future with him. But she was so afraid to hope. “Henry, stop. You haven’t read any of the information yet. You need to be sure.”
He gave a strangled sort of laugh. “Juli, I’ve known about your MS all along.”
“You have not.”
He left her for a moment, turning to the built-in cabinets on either side of the sofa. The top was bookshelves but the bottom was cupboards, and he reached into one and pulled out a stack of books.
All of them were about multiple sclerosis, including several she had in a drawer of her own nightstand.
She stared, not understanding. “How? You can’t have known!”
“Who did you tell when you were first diagnosed four years ago?”
She blinked, trying to remember that frightening time that seemed a lifetime ago. “No one. Well, okay, Lilianne. But I made her promise she wouldn’t tell anyone.”
His face twisted into a sad kind of smile. “She broke her promise to you a few weeks before the end. She was worried about you and made me promise to watch out for you. She seemed to think