A sad smile curved the corners of the attractive widow’s lips. “You’d think there’d be some sort of an unspoken understanding that said that if the patient didn’t make it, the grieving family left behind was absolved from having to pay off the rest of the outstanding bills.” Ruth was doing her best not to cry again. “It’s only fair. I mean, they didn’t live up to their part of the bargain. They didn’t save him, so why should we...?”
She stopped abruptly, as if suddenly realizing what she was saying. Ruth flushed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to carry on like this. I guess I’m still dealing with my own emotional fallout.” She took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “I’m afraid I’m not ready to deal with Howard’s passing yet.”
Leaning over the table, Cilia put her hand over her friend’s, infinite comfort in the small gesture. “I understand, Ruth. Believe me, I understand. When I lost my husband, it felt as if I was the only one in the world who had gone through this kind of tragedy. I promise it’ll get easier. Not immediately, but slowly, bit by bit, it will. You won’t stop missing him, but it will get easier,” she told the other woman.
Ruth took in another long breath. “I didn’t ask you to meet me for coffee to come apart in front of you like this.”
Cilia smiled understandingly and did her best to sound encouraging. “I know. Take all the time you need, dear.”
Ruth framed her coffee cup with her hands, drawing in the warmth. She carefully took a long sip, hoping that would somehow help steady her nerves. To an extent, it did.
“Anyway, what I was trying to say is that Lizzie put her whole life on hold to help me deal with the bills and, eventually, with Howard’s loss. He was her stepfather,” she said even though most of her friends had known that. “But he adored her, and the feeling was mutual. He was better than her own father had been.” For a moment, she allowed herself to reflect on the past.
“I know,” Cilia told her quietly.
“Howard was always able to talk to Lizzie even when I couldn’t—not that she was ever a problem,” Ruth said quickly, “but she was kind of headstrong and, well—” she shrugged haplessly “—you know what it’s like between mothers and daughters.”
Cilia smiled and nodded, her own set of memories slipping in. “Oh, I know, Ruth. Believe me, I know.”
“Anyway, she worked really hard to make sure all of the bills were paid off before they got out of control. Because of that, she didn’t have any kind of a life. She certainly didn’t have anything that could have remotely passed for a social life. By now, she should have had her degree and gotten not just her MRS but her MOM as well,” Ruth said, a fond expression on her face.
“Does she want those?” Cilia asked, thinking that perhaps her friend was putting her own hopes and dreams on her daughter. It had been known to happen. These days, not every woman wanted to sacrifice a career for raising a family.
“More than you could possibly guess,” Ruth told her with feeling as she thought of her daughter. “But when Howard got sicker, she just pushed all that to the side. She took any job she could, holding down two and at times three part-time jobs so I could be at Howard’s side. Well, those bills are finally all paid off now, but my debt certainly isn’t.”
“You’re referring to your debt to your daughter,” Cilia guessed knowingly.
Ruth nodded. “I most certainly am. I feel that because of her huge heart, which had her doing—as she put it—the right thing, I owe Lizzie as much as I can provide toward helping her get that college degree. But most of all, I owe her that home and family she couldn’t even let herself think about because of what she felt was her obligation.”
Ruth looked at her friend. “But in order to do that, I need help. Professional help. Your help.”
Cilia knew the woman was referring to what she and her two best friends did as a sideline. Matchmaking. She nodded.
“Let me see what I can do,” she promised Ruth. “And I’ll get back to you.”
“I have suggestions,” Ruth added, an eagerness entering her voice.
This time it was Cilia who took a deep breath, bracing herself. “I’m sure you do.” Cilia turned and looked around for the waitress. Spotting the woman, she waved for her to come to their table.
As soon as she was close enough, Cilia said, “I think I’ll have that sweet roll now.”
The waitress beamed.
Copyright © 2020 by Marie Rydzynski-Ferrarella
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ISBN: 9781488069772
The Texan’s Baby Bombshell
Copyright © 2020 by Harlequin Books S.A.
Special thanks and acknowledgment are given to Allison Leigh for her contribution to The Fortunes of Texas: Rambling Rose miniseries.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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