Page 4 of Captivating Mr. Second Chance

He stood up slowly, his eyes drifting around their condo, and Laney could see it all crumbling at her feet. The last three years, the amazing job she’d left to work with this man because he begged her to, the time and energy she’d put into this relationship. It was all gone.

“I can explain.”

An indignant guffaw burst out of her. “Yeah?”

“It’s not what you think, joey.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped, hating the cute nickname she ordinarily loved. He couldn’t be cute. Not now.

“I’m sorry,” he said like he was calming a wild animal. She felt wild. Maybe even a little rabid. “Please, love, let’s talk about—”

“Laney,” Gem said, interrupting them, one hand on her stomach, the other holding out the test.

The answer was right there. In clear blue letters. Pregnant.

And then Gem vomited at Bobby’s feet.

Laney sighed. “Happy twenty-eighth birthday to me.”

2

“So, what’s going on?” Ethan Marrero studied the faces of his family members—his parents, brother, and sister-in-law—all seated around his parents’ dining room table. He hadn’t had a good feeling when his brother texted him to meet at their parents’ house, and now that he was here, he knew it was going to be bad. He felt it in his bones.

Rita and Tom, Ethan and Justin’s parents, both appeared as nervous as Ethan felt, and the three of them patiently stared at Justin, who glanced at his wife, Leah, wrapping his fingers around hers.

Ethan was stuck on her red-rimmed eyes. This wasreallybad.

“I got the test results back today,” Justin said in his usual halting cadence. “It’s Huntington’s disease.”

Ethan’s breath caught in his throat, his mind tripping over the vaguely familiar term. “Huntington’s? What is that?”

Justin cleared his throat, swiping a knuckle over one eye, and Ethan could count the number of times he’d seen his older brother cry on one hand.

Fuck.

“It’s progressive, and there’s no cure.” Justin gazed at his parents, and Rita gasped out a little breath that quickly morphed into tears. Tom reached for Justin’s hand, silent and stoic.

Progressive.No cure. Ethan blinked into the space above his brother’s head. His older brother, who was the strongest person he knew, had a terminal disease. Memories flashed in his mind. The two of them playing basketball in the driveway as kids. Wrestling in the living room and breaking an antique lamp handed down from their great-grandmother. Hugging each other on the day Justin left for college and later on when Ethan graduated with his master’s. Ethan giving the toast at Justin and Leah’s wedding a few years ago.

“It’s, uh, it’s a genetic disorder,” Justin said, and Ethan swiped his clammy palms down his jeans, blinking back to the present.

“Genetic,” Ethan repeated in a quiet tone. Meaning his brother inherited this disease from his biological parents, and guilt swept over Ethan that his brother would have to suffer with this genetic disorder, but Ethan wouldn’t.

“We didn’t know,” their dad said. “If we did…”

Rita grabbed a tissue, dabbing under her nose. “If we knew, we would have gotten you help, and I’m so sorry. We love you,” she said, swiping at tears on her cheeks. “We love you. We love you.”

Justin and Ethan had both been adopted, and even though Justin had tried to find his biological parents at one time, it was a dead end.

“There was nothing in the medical records,” Tom went on. “Maybe they didn’t know.”

Justin lifted a resigned shoulder, the barest hint of a smile on his face before he turned to his wife. “But at least I have an answer now. It’s better than having to keep living in limbo.”

Ethan shot out his arm. “So what? What the fuck was all that shit about the gluten intolerance and ataxia?”

“Ethan,” his mom murmured, a subtle reminder to watch his language.

Leah placed her hand on the dark wood of the table, smiling through her tears. “A misdiagnosis. Since it’s genetic, and obviously no one else in your family would have had symptoms or a previous diagnosis, they didn’t think to test for it until now.”

---