The Cowboy's Bride Read Online Free

called you.”
    Jake nodded. “Well, what do we know so far?
Does she have to do Chemo?”
    Chemo—such a dirty word—one associated more
often with death than any other.
    “Yes,” William rasped. “She’ll have at least
eight weeks of it, and then following that—radiation.”
    Jake’s lips trembled. “Then she’ll have it.
And everything will be okay.” As soon as the last part left his
lips despair set in. “What about the baby?”
    The baby. They didn’t even know if they were
pregnant. Nothing like jumping the gun, but it was the one thing
Jake wanted more than anything—to see their baby grow inside Tessa.
Tears slipped out of his eyes.
    William noticed. “If there is a baby, then
it will have to be aborted, or Tessa won’t stand a chance.”
    Jake felt as if he was going to be sick. “Of
course.”
    “That’s what’s tearing her up, Jake. The
thought of killing your child. It’ll ruin her. You need to
cooperate with us.”
    Jake wanted to punch William in the mouth.
“What kind of a man do you think I am, Will? I’ve loved her nearly
my entire life! Haven’t you noticed? I wouldn’t do anything to
harm, Tess. Nothing!”
    William’s face was red, but he kept quiet,
only nodding a few times during Jake’s rant.
    “I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a few
minutes alone with Tess. I want to talk to her.”
    “Don’t—”
    “I’m not going to upset her, Will.”
    Will nodded as Jake went into the room.
    ***
    Mary was sitting next to Tess, holding her
in her arms when Jake walked in. Tessa sat up and her gaze bore in
to Jake’s. Jake asked Mary if she could give them a few minutes,
and before they knew it, they were finally alone.
    “So, Tess, what kind of cancer are we
dealing with?”
    Tessa swallowed her tears down as Jake took
her hand in his. “Lung cancer.”
    Jake wanted to punch something. As far as he
knew, Tess never smoked a cigarette in her life.
    “I know—not a smoker. Go figure,” Tess said,
sounding somewhat light-hearted.
    “Well, you know what they say,” Jake
smirked, “beginner’s luck?”
    Tessa laughed. “I guess. When they did the
scan they saw what they believe to be cancer—the doctor is almost
100% positive. Of course, they won’t really know until they take a
biopsy.”
    “When will they take that?”
    “Tomorrow.”
    Jake’s eyes widened. Everything was going so
fast. “Tomorrow. Well, I’ll be here with you.”
    “Jake, you can’t. You have branding and you
have to get ready for the Round up.”
    “Tessa, I will be here with you. Nate or
Jack can take care of that stuff. That’s what we pay them for.”
    “Jake, there’s something else.”
    Jake thought for sure she was going to bring
up the baby. He braced himself for the conversation, then looked
into her eyes.
    “We can’t get married.”
    “No.”
    Tessa looked affronted. “Jake, I mean it. We
can’t. It’s really bad, and I don’t think…”
    “Tessa, I swear to God, if another dumb
thing comes out of your mouth I will put you over my knee right
now. We are getting married in two weeks. You promised.”
    Tessa’s lips quivered. “Why?”
    “Because I love you.”
    “Because of the baby?”
    “No. Because of you. You’re such a brat, you
know that?” Jake asked. His lip quirked to the right in its
familiar place and Tessa smiled. Jake used to always say that to
her growing up.
    “Yeah, takes one to know one,” Tess replied
her own quip. “It’s going to be hard, Jake.”
    Jake didn’t care. Nothing good in life was
never not worth a bit of work. “I look forward to it. Besides, Ms.
Soon-to-be-Anders, you promised me grandchildren.”
    Tessa slumped down in her bed, fearing that
her promise would be short-lived.

Chapter 4
     
    T hat next week
turned out to be chaotic. Nearly every day of the week, Tess was
getting some kind of test done. The results from the biopsy came
in, and sure enough, it was Stage 2 cancer. Not the worst it could
get by any means, but it