Page 1 of Stolen Mate

CHAPTER 1

TESS

Seattle, Washington

Several Months Ago

There was a weariness in dying that no one ever talked about, much less explained. Tess Dixon’s mother had been in hospice care for the past three months. Tess and her younger sister, Lara, had discussed with their mother the best place for her to be. Except for an almost two-year estrangement between Tess and her mother, the three of them had been close—thick as thieves, most said—since her father had passed more than a decade before. The worst part was that Tess couldn’t even really remember why she’d been angry enough to not speak to her mother until it was almost too late.

Even when they weren’t speaking to each other, Lara had ensured both knew what the other was doing. Tess wasn’t sure how she was going to forgive herself for that two-year period of estrangement. Maybe if they’d stayed close like they had been, Tess would have spotted something. Maybe they would have found the brain tumor sooner. Maybe then she wouldn’t be arranging her mother’s final days.

“I don’t want to be a burden,” her mother had said just a short while ago.

“You won’t be. All we want is for you to be as comfortable as possible,” said Tess. “Lara and I were thinking my loft might be best.”

“I still can’t believe you were able to buy that loft with your little pictures…”

Tess took a breath. She was a successful illustrator of children’s books. Her ‘little pictures’ had won numerous awards and had allowed her to purchase her loft on the Seattle waterfront for cash. And now she had romance authors wanting her to draw their covers. It was a dream she’d never have thought would actually come true.

“I have that whole wall of windows. They have a kind of finish where you can see out, but no one can see in. You’d get all the light and could see Puget Sound and the stars…”

“People really can’t see in?” her mother asked with a wan smile.

Lara laughed. “I hope not, Mom. Tess walks around naked all the time.”

“You don’t,” her mother said, trying to sound shocked.

“I do,” Tess confessed. “Lara has her clinic to keep running, and I work out of the loft. We can set up a bed in the main part and angle it so you can see the television or look out, whichever you want. I have my drawing table and desk in there so I can be right there with you.”

“I don’t want you—either of you—to have to take care of me. My insurance will cover a hospice nurse.”

“I have a client who is an excellent hospice nurse,” said Lara. “She finished a case a couple of months ago. I asked her if she was available, and she is. You’ll like Cathy.”

Her mother closed her eyes and clutched the bed sheets of the bed in the hospital. Tess felt the squeeze around her heart that was becoming all too familiar. The pain must have been bad, because her mother only nodded.

“Then it’s decided. I’ll tell the discharge coordinator we’ve made a decision,” said Tess. “She can arrange for transport.”

“I’ll call Cathy. She said she can get everything set up today at Tess’s place.”

“Sometimes I wonder why the drunk driver that killed your father didn’t kill me, too. It would have been easier, and I miss your father so much. But then I remember all the time I would have missed with you two. You do know I wouldn’t have missed one minute with either of you, right? I love you both so much.”

“We know, Mom,” said Lara. “But we also know you love Tess more. After all, you went all the way to Alaska for her. Dad always said you didn’t even want to go to the hospital to have me.”

It was an old family joke. Tess had been adopted, and her parents had gone to Alaska to get her. As with many other childless couples, two years after bringing Tess home, they’d gotten pregnant with Lara. Lara had been born in a hospital not twenty minutes away from their home.

Their plans settled, Tess left Lara with their mother and sought out the hospital’s discharge coordinator. Once arrangements had been made, Tess took her cell phone out of her purse and looked down to find a text from Cathy, the hospice nurse. Tess texted her back, arranging to meet her at the loft in an hour.

Cathy Holcomb had been a blessing. Explaining that she felt her job was not just taking care of the patient, but the family as well, she helped Tess get everything ordered, pulled some strings to get same day delivery, and stayed to help Tess and then Lara get everything set up. Tess arranged for her to have a pass to the building’s underground parking lot and an extra set of keys to the loft. Cathy agreed to meet them at the hospital and help get their mother home with the least amount of stress.

Closing the door after Cathy left, Tess turned to Lara. “You were right. She is wonderful.”

Lara nodded. “She is. She does wildlife rescue and rehab in her spare time.” Lara faltered. “What are we going to do without her?”

“We’ll do what she would expect us to do—what she taught us to do. We’ll band together even more tightly, we’ll grieve, and then we’ll get on with our lives. We won’t be orphans, Lara.”

“Won’t we?”

“No. Our parents will have left us, but we’ll have each other.” Tess held up her hand, crooking her finger at her sister. “Pinky promise.”

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