Page 4 of Eye of Her Storm

“I don’t understand,” Moon whispered.

River’s hands fisting, her nails digging into her palms as she fought to keep her tears at bay. If she started crying, it would lead back into the hysteria she’d fought back, over and over, while she’d waited for this moment. Her sisters were her best and closest friends. She’d had no one else to unburden to.

She closed her eyes, trying to shut out her family’s grief. She couldn’t block the sounds.

“Because of the size and location, it’s inoperable. There aren’t any treatments for it.” She took another deep breath. “They’ve given me three months.”

“Radiation? Chemo?” Paisley demanded.

River shook her head.

“Oh God,” Moon whispered.

“But if it’s not cancer, why is it fatal?” Sun argued. “Maybe, they made a mistake! You look fine.”

“A growth doesn’t have to be cancerous to kill someone,” Brant explained quietly, putting his arm around his youngest sister-in-law. He ran the breeding program at Laurel Ridge, the ranch he owned with Ace, and he’d also trained as a vet. He had enough medical background to understand what was happening in River’s head. “It’s a foreign mass growing in a limited space and pressing against good, healthy, necessary cells—in this case, Riv’s brain—stealing blood supply…”

“Have you gone to another doctor?” Paisley demanded. “Another doctor could do surgery.”

“I’ve seen several specialists. There are no doctors who can or will operate on it,” River argued. Her soul broke for her sisters and this news she’d lain on them. She wished there was a doctor who could help her. Had she researched this? Asked a million and ten question? Freaked out? Yes, yes, yes.

She’d driven into the middle of nowhere more than once this past week and screamed her head off, beating her fists against her car. She’d asked “why me”, and always heard her grandma’s words, Why not you? She’d considered taking her life to avoid the pain and disability to come, but she couldn’t do that to her sisters. Twice, she’d seen the therapist the hospital had assigned her. She’d helped River through some of her initials emotions and assured her she’d battle through many feelings, some more than once, over the coming months. After speaking to the woman the second time, River had vowed to do everything she could to live life to the fullest, to experience everything she could.

“Have you told Tai and Seth?” Brant asked, his voice quiet but hard with determination and concern. Tai was his cousin, and Brant was well-aware of the four-year pursuit Tai and Seth had waged on River.

Tai and Seth…

After Moon’s wedding, River had finally given in to being with them, but the night had come to nothing. She’d been in too much pain to follow through with the sex with them. They’d held her all night until they’d had to leave before daybreak to start their chores on the ranch. River had snuck out like a coward and avoided them for the past two weeks. They hadn’t been waiting silently in the wings. They’d made their displeasure known yet agreed to give her space “for a little while”.

“No,” she replied.

“You need to tell them,” Ace said. “They have a right to know.”

“We’re not together,” she argued.

“Really?” Paisley replied. She scooped up Sela, holding her daughter like an anchor. “You might not be sleeping with them or living with them or even officially dating, but you know as well as any of us in this room that they’re committed to you, and whether you want to admit it or not, you’re committed to them. You’ve had plenty of chances to date other guys, but you haven’t, and whenever you’re in the same space with Tai and Seth, you gravitate right toward them. You three are together, officially or not.”

Sela squirmed in Paisley’s embrace. “Mommy, too tight,” she complained.

“Sorry, baby.” Paisley kissed the top of her head then set her on the floor. Sela scampered off in search of Pete and Moon’s dog, and a hard wave of grief slapped River. She’d never see this sweet girl or her little brother, Kylor, grow up. She’d never see any of her other sisters’ children or find out who Sun finally fell for.

“Excuse me,” River choked out and dashed for the bathroom before anyone stopped her. The door closed firmly behind her, and she bent over the vanity, her hand clenched on the edge and her head dropped forward. She couldn’t lose it. She couldn’t howl her anguish. Not here. Her shoulders shook as she fought to keep her emotions at bay. When she’d first learned the news, she’d been in panic mode then after speaking with the specialists and learning her fate, she’d gone dead inside…numb. God, she wanted to be numb again!

Arms went around her, holding her in a remarkably strong embrace.

“Shh… It’ll be okay,” Moon whispered, her voice thick and rasping with her pain.

“No, it won’t. Nothing will be. I’m leaving you all. I… God, Moon, I’m only twenty-six. There’s so much I’ve never done. I always thought I’d have…time.” Her last word was barely a breath, almost inaudible.

“You’ll move in with Pete and me. We’ll make the best of the next few months.”

River shook her head. “I’m quitting my job with Dr. Walker. My roommate from college, Madison, is taking over for me. She loved it here when she came for your wedding. She interviewed last Monday, and the doc thought she’d be perfect to replace me. She started right away, and I’m finishing up her training. I know you guys want to spend as much time with me as possible, but…I think…I want to travel. We saw the country from the windows of Mom’s van, but we never really saw anything, just backwoods communes.”

Moon’s arms tightened, and River knew her twin didn’t like the idea. She and their other sisters would want to spend as much time as possible with River as they could. “Moon?” River asked.

“Mm-hmm?” Great, Moon was crying now. River felt the dampness on her shoulder and felt her twin shake slightly as she held River tight.

River stroked Moon’s hair, offering her as much comfort as she could in her compromised state. She was barely holding herself together, but being there for her sister somehow helped. It got the focus off her, at least. For a minute.

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