120 days... (32 page)

“Should we worry about people coming here to get their hands on it? I mean, I’ve gotten offers to buy the land because of it. In fact, some of them have gone so far as to sabotage equipment.”

“No, you’re not going to have to worry about anything, because between the two of us, we have enough money to make sure we have the best security, both in personnel and equipment to make sure nothing happens to harm anyone here on the resort.”

“Wow. I’ve got nothing else, just wow.”

“I know. I’ve been pretty excited the closer we were to discovering its location, and today, everything was confirmed. It’s gold. I was afraid it might have been fool’s gold when I first went down there.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Should I be pissed off at you after the fact that you went down there before the professionals did, you know, the ones who would know if it was a safe thing to do or not?”

Leaning in close to her, he looked her in the eye. “Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing.” When she didn’t answer, he kissed her quickly on the nose. “See, you have no room to talk.”

“Okay, changing subjects. How was the rest of your day?”

“You won’t believe who I heard from today. Peter, you remember, him and Marissa at the restaurant.” He watched as her hands stopped the circular rubbing motion on her belly.

“What did he have to say?”

“I guess they’re divorced. She found someone new, with more money and left him, but not before taking half of his money.”

“I guess, that’s good for him?”

“Hopefully. He called to apologize again.”

“I’m sure that wasn’t all of it.”

“No, he has a deal he wants me to go in on.”

“Are you?”

“What? No way, I’ve been quietly selling all my investments as it is. The last thing I want is to get into another one.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you selling all your investments?”

“I don’t need them.” He shrugged. “If I don’t have to go down into the city, I don’t want to. I’ve never been happier than I’ve been since coming up here. I’ve actually been grooming my assistant Jodi to give the business to. She’s really intelligent and doesn’t take grief from anyone. She’s going to do really well.”

“Don’t you miss it?”

“Sure, I’ve spent so many years wheeling and dealing, but Sam, this is my home now, you and our child are my home. All I’ve ever wanted is here.”

“But what if I’m not here.”

“Samantha–”

“Don’t you
Samantha
me. We have to talk about this. About the worst case scenario. We’ve been skirting the issue for months. We can’t wait any more. Think of everything Last Resort represents, now think of me, can one exist without the other? Can you exist here without me?”

He stood up and walked away from her. “I’m not ready to talk about this.”

“Well, you’re going to have to be. We have this opportunity to talk things through before it happens, most people don’t get this chance. Don’t throw it away.”

“I refuse to talk to you about you dying. It’s not going to happen.”

“Go ahead, keep lying to yourself.” Slowly and awkwardly, she stood up. “Think of it this way, I like to be prepared for every single possibility that might happen. By being prepared for the worst, most of the time it never happens.” She started to walk away.

“Don’t go,” he whispered. “I don’t know. You’re in every building, every tree, and every breath of this place. Am I strong enough to be here if you’re not? I don’t know. Can I expect to see you every time I turn a corner and not break down when you’re not there? Can I walk into the Legacy Garden and see the butterflies and your handprint amongst so many others and not fall to my knees feeling my heart break over and over again? Can I hear your voice only to turn around to nothing but the hope you are still here and the ache in my heart that will never go away? I just don’t know.”

“But you’ll have our daughter.”

“Hopefully, I will. She’s strong right now. Can she be that way for another month? What if I lose both of you? It would be hard enough trying to put one foot in front of the other, day after day without you by my side, but to lose something I’ve never held before but in my heart? I can’t . . .” He placed his hand on her belly. “I love you both so much.” He couldn’t hide his anguish, his voice shook with it. “Promise me, promise me you’ll continue to fight with everything you have, for yourself, for our child, for
us
.”

“Ethan, you have to know I’m not giving up. As long as there is a breath in this body, I will fight. I will hold out hope that we will both survive and be able to have a long life with you by my side.”

“You have no idea how much I want that.” He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her scent which always calmed his soul.

“We both do, we both do.”

Day 79

Ethan–

Got to tell you, bro, things aren’t looking good. I think it’s my time. Strangely, I’m okay with this. I’ve lived my life. I’ve had my fun and now I get to see what’s on the other side.

Stay positive. Live the rest of your life, truly live it, brother of mine.

I love you,

Evan

“Here.” Ethan held out a package for Sam. “Put this on.”

“Why should I?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Because we’re going to have some fun today.”

“Why do I have to change? Do you know how much work it is for me to get out of these clothes and put on whatever is in here?” She waved it at him.

He sat down next to her. “Come on, you used to love this stuff.” Placing his arm around her, he deepened his voice. “If you’d like, I can help you.”

Sam burst out in tears and covered her face with her hands.

“What is it? What did I say?” He tried to pull her hands away from her face. “Come on, honey, I’m sorry. Please let me make this better.”

“You don’t understand,” she wailed.

“No, I don’t, so help me.”

“I’m fat. I waddle. I look like crap and my body isn’t my own anymore. Between the pregnancy and cancer, I’m nothing.”

“Oh, honey.” He gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly. “You’re everything. You have to know I love you no matter what.”

“But I can’t give you everything you need.”

“Stop, stop it right now, you,”—he tapped her chest where her heart was beating—“ . . . you have given me so much more than I could ever give you. I’d still be that shell of a man if it weren’t for you. And this,”—placing his hand on her belly, he rubbed it—“ . . . this is so special I can’t even put it into words.”

“But you’ve spent so much time having to take care of me, sacrificing what you want for me.”

“Listen to me. Love is never a sacrifice. Every single thing I do is out of love. I remember my dad saying he’d bend over backwards to make sure Mom was happy, because to make her happy made him happy. And it’s never work or a chore if you love that person.”

“I wish I could give you more,” she whispered.

“You give more than you think. Now please, if you want to make me happy, go change.” He picked the package up and handed it to her.

“I don’t think that’s playing by the rules.”

“Oh, it is. Now get a move on. I have to change too.”

“Fine. Here, help me up.” She held her hands out to him.

“Always.” Once she was on her feet, he leaned down and kissed her, hoping to show her that he meant every single word he said.

“Wonder Woman? Why?” she asked Ethan as she looked down at her costume. “And I didn’t know they made them for pregnant women.”

“They make just about every costume for pregnant women. But don’t you get it? To me and everyone else, you
are
Wonder Woman. Even now when you can’t do as much as you could before, you still make time for everyone and make sure you are visible around here.”

She couldn’t help herself, tears welled up in her eyes. She knew the pregnancy hormones had a lot to do with them, but Ethan had been so wonderful to her, always making sure she had what she needed and indulging in her every whim, and taking care of Last Resort when she couldn’t.

“Shhh . . .” Ethan wrapped his arms around her. “It’ll be okay. We have a fun day planned and your invisible plane, otherwise known as the golf cart, is right outside the door waiting for you.”

“Well then, lead on, Thor.” Sam took his arm when he held it out for her. She liked the fact he wore the same costume as Halloween, the meaning behind it meant so much to her. “Although, you know walking is good for me.”

“Yes, it is, however, if I know you, you’re going to be up and down all day at the rec center anyway and you’ll get plenty of exercise then.”

“True, true.” She sat back and enjoyed the ride over the hills to the rec center, breathing in the fresh air and seeing the changes that both she and Ethan had implemented. A sense of pride came over her. For all that she and they had achieved together. It wasn’t all smooth sailing. They both had their own opinions, sometimes strong, but in the end, they knew they wanted the best for the resort and were making it their own.

Ethan had started buying up the surrounding properties that were available with the money she had from the gold mine. They had revised their original plan, and based on how much more property they would be able to acquire, would determine how large the resort would become. One of the things she wanted to do was form a children’s area, where the child could not only have all of their wishes come true, the families could stay with them.

Their main focus was to make it feel like a community, a large family and not an institution. They were on the same page there. Most of their arguments came from the fact Ethan wanted to put more of his money into the resort, yet Sam wouldn’t let him. She knew he had his ways of helping out without letting her know, and she let him.

“We’re going to need a bigger rec center,” she said.

“I was thinking we could keep this one, add one in the family area, and then maybe a large one for when we do events everyone wants to attend. We could even build a couple of smaller ones if needed.”

“True, that might be better. That way each one could be specialized.”

“We’ll talk more about it tomorrow. Now, its movie time.”

She couldn’t help it, and blamed it on the pregnancy hormones, why she always seemed to be able to cry at the drop of a hat. The staff and guests showed her all the time how much she meant to them and how special she was. She realized exactly how she made the guests feel when they came to her resort and it made her happy. She had to admit it was harder to put on the brave face than it had been before. There was so much more at stake, her child’s life, her own, and Ethan’s love. She wanted the happy ending more than she ever could have dreamed possible.