Living To Love You (Santos Family Series Book 4)

by KD Bryan

  Not to be upstaged, Monica stepped forward and pinned Rob with an icy stare. “I know what it’s called, Rob. And Jillian will simply take the treatments and then this will all be over. She’ll go back to work, and this will just be a blip in her life.”

  Throwing both hands up into the air, Rob was simply dumbfounded at this woman’s deluded thinking. She made it sound like Jillian was suffering from a case of the flu, and with a little rest and Tylenol she’d be fine in a few days. It was all so typical Monica…she’d never grasped the complexities of what normal people dealt with in life, and Rob doubted she ever would. Well, he had a dose of reality that he was about to deliver and he’d make sure she got the message loud and clear.

  “You’re just as selfish and delusional as you’ve always been, Monica. Apparently that hasn’t changed, but let me enlighten you as to what has changed, so listen up,” began Rob in a tone that brooked no argument.

  Melanie was standing quietly watching their whole exchange, and she knew by instinct that Jillian’s mother wasn’t going to take this lying down. Her assumptions were proven correct when Monica leveled a finger at Rob and tried to retaliate.

  “Rob, you have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do when it comes to my own daughter! I won’t stand for it, do you hear me?” declared Monica haughtily.

  Rob was done, and he knew he’d already listened to Monica’s ranting far longer than he should have. “You will not come into our home and upset Jillian again or you’ll answer to me, because I won’t stand for that! If you do decide to come back then leave off the damn perfume or stay at home. It’s obvious that she can’t handle it, and she doesn’t need anything else triggering her nausea,” warned Rob, his voice hard and unyielding.

  Spinning on his heel, Rob threw over his shoulder, “Melanie will see you out. Call before you decide to come back. I have to get Jillian’s nausea medication.”

  Melanie watched her brother-in-law’s retreating back for a moment before turning to Monica again. “Well, I guess that’s all settled, so let me show you to the door,” said Melanie, her own voice leaving no room for argument.

  With a sniff, Monica whirled angrily and headed toward the door where she spared Melanie one more glance before declaring, “Please tell my daughter that I’ll be back when he’s not at home and we’ll discuss things then.”

  Opening the door, and then moving aside so the other woman could step through, Melanie smiled sweetly. “I’ll sure do that, sugar, don’t you worry. You take care, and please remember to call the next time.”

  With a resounding click, Melanie closed the door on Monica’s stunned expression and turned back to see Rob coming out of the bedroom again. He’d obviously felt the need to make sure Monica was gone after giving Jillian her medication, and Melanie could certainly understand why. The only one she knew who could rival Monica’s brand of behavior was her own mother.

  Dragging his fingers through his hair, Rob stood with both hands on his hips and looked at Melanie. His sister-in-law had come through in a big way for them today, and a simple thank you didn’t seem adequate at the moment.

  “Mel, I don’t know what to say…thank you doesn’t seem adequate. I owe you…big time for this,” said Rob with a frown.

  Melanie moved to the couch where she retrieved her purse and slid the strap onto her shoulder. “Rob, sugar, you don’t have to thank me for goodness sakes. That’s what family is for…to have your back when the Monica’s of this world show up at your door. You’ve never met my mother, Rob, or you’d know that I’m a pro at dealing with Monica’s brand of behavior,”

  Eyeing Melanie with interest, Rob said, “I guess I didn’t realize that things were that strained with your own mother, Melanie. But then I’ve never heard you mention your parents for that matter, and I know they didn’t attend the wedding.”

  “No, they chose not to come, but I just consider it their loss. They’ve seen Gabriela one time, and I finally told them about this pregnancy just a few months ago. People make their choices, Rob, whether right or wrong. In the end, though, it’s either their regret or their gain.”

  Following Melanie to the door, Rob leaned down to place a quick kiss on her cheek. Straightening again, he said, “You’re right, Mel.”

  With a wink and a wave of her fingers, Melanie called out, “Well, of course I am, sugar, all the time. Just ask your brother if you don’t believe me. I’ll call in a few days. Tell Jillian I said good-bye, please.”

  Rob finally heard movement from the bedroom sometime later and left his computer to see if Jillian was finally awake. He’d checked on her throughout the morning, but thankfully she’d still been sleeping each time. He knew all the trauma from earlier had undoubtedly worn her out, and Rob ground his teeth again thinking about what he’d found when he’d arrived back home.

  Slipping into the room he realized Jillian was in the bathroom so he took a seat on the side of the bed to wait. When she finally emerged again, one swift glance told Rob all he needed to know. She was still pale from her bout of vomiting, and the rested look she’d worn earlier before he’d left was now gone. Anger swept through him, and Rob wanted to rip Monica a new one again for turning what had been a good morning into a disaster.

  “Hey, do you feel better after your nap?” he asked quietly.

  Joining him on the bed, Jillian shrugged and chose to look at the floor instead of Rob. Nudging her shoulder gently with his, Rob said, “Hey, talk to me. I know you’re upset, babe. I’m pissed, too. But don’t let your mother ruin your day, okay?”

  Jillian plucked at the hem of her shirt absently as she murmured, “Too late. I threw up in the living room, and had to be carried to bed.”

  Smiling despite the situation, Rob leaned into Jillian’s space and said, “Yeah, but at least you hit the trash can. And I happen to like carrying you to bed…it makes me feel all hero-like.”

  A smile tugged at her lips as Jillian turned her head and met Rob’s gaze. “You’re my hero, Roberto, whether you’re carrying me to bed or not. I just wish the circumstances were different that’s all.”

  Rob took her hand in his and stroked his thumb across her knuckles. “I do too, baby, but they’re not. In the meantime, though, we’re going to take it one day at a time and do whatever it takes to make sure you’re as comfortable and healthy as possible. Which brings me to the elephant in the room that we need to talk about.”

  Jillian shifted away to lean back against the bed pillows and sighed with pleasure after Rob removed her new sock and began rubbing her foot. He gave the best foot rubs, and she’d taken advantage of that skill on numerous occasions through the years. Rob had always been a very tactile person with her, and Jillian recalled the early days when he’d worn down her defenses pretty deftly. Following her parents’ bitter divorce, she’d closed herself off and developed the tough persona she was known for. Even though she’d used it against Rob many times in the past, he’d always seen through it when no one else had.

  Now they had to deal with the issue of her mother, and Jillian usually needed more than a foot rub to tackle that subject. Unfortunately, though, a glass of wine or great sex with the gorgeous man holding her foot at the moment weren’t on her list of options.

  “Rob, I had no idea she was going to show up this morning. I thought she’d call, but obviously that was too much to ask,” said Jillian frowning.

  Working each individual toe on Jillian’s foot, Rob lifted one brow in a look that said are you serious right now? Monica was all about the dramatic effect and whatever drew attention to herself. Controlling the situation was her goal in life, and Rob unfortunately knew that first hand. His expression morphed into a scowl, but he quickly relaxed his features before Jillian’s gaze sought his again. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on his own past issues with Monica…they had immediate issues to focus on today.

  “Jillian, she’ll turn up when she damn well pleases and you know that. I told her that if she comes back she needs to call first, as wel
l as leave off the toxic perfume. I also warned her that I won’t allow her to come into our home and upset you again,” Rob informed her with a definite edge to his voice.

  Our home.

  Despite the upheaval with her mother, Jillian felt the warm comfort of Rob’s words spread through her. She wanted to feel like this was her home, and over the past several weeks she’d even started thinking of it in that way.

  “Rob, she probably won’t stay around long, you know that. Of course I never got the chance to talk to her today, so I have no idea what her imminent plans are. After you put me to bed, and gave me my medicine, I just tried to block out everything that was being said,” said Jillian.

  Rob felt another surge of anger roll through him as he recalled Monica’s latest irrational idea, and now he had to burden Jillian with it as well.

  “Babe, I need to prepare you for Monica’s latest ridiculous rant. She wants to move you into a convalescent care facility, because according to her I’m not providing the level of care you need right now,” Rob informed her with another scowl.

  “She wants to do what? My own mother wants to move me into a care facility?” asked Jillian incredulously. Her mother had certainly had her fair share of delusional ideas through the years, but this one was completely off the charts.

  “Yeah, that’s what she said,” Rob said quietly. “It didn’t register that her own perfume was the reason you got sick.”

  Rolling her eyes, Jillian looked at him and replied, “Well of course it didn’t register, Rob. My mother is never at fault, nor does she take any responsibility for her actions. What did you say when she suggested that I be put away somewhere?”

  Rob heard the underlying hurt in Jillian’s voice, despite the brave façade she tried to put forth. Monica had always had that effect on Jillian, and Rob hoped that someday she could stop allowing her mother to have that much power over her emotionally. In all fairness, though, Rob had no experience dealing with parents who were indifferent. His own were as far from indifferent as they could possibly be, and Rob knew how fortunate he and his siblings were.

  “Here’s the deal, sweetheart, I used some language that I normally never use in front of women, much less to a woman. Am I proud of that fact? Not necessarily, but at the moment I didn’t care. There will be no moving you anywhere…period. You are exactly where you need to be…of course that is if you’re happy here,” offered Rob with a hint of reservation in his voice.

  Jillian was happy here with him, right? He thought he’d been doing everything he could to take care of her…and his family had stepped up to help at every turn when needed as well. Hell, thought Rob, maybe I’ve presumed too much through all of this.

  The sudden change in Rob’s tone caused Jillian to look at him sharply and reach for his hand. “Hey, what’s the matter? All of a sudden something in your voice changed. Talk to me.”

  Running his free hand back through his hair, Rob then rubbed the same hand across the scruff on his jaw. He was stalling for time and Rob knew it, but he finally turned to look at Jillian again. A mixture of doubt, worry, and uncertainty were etched on his features and Jillian had no idea why.

  “Rob, you can’t possibly believe that my mother is right, do you?” asked Jillian faintly.

  Jillian scooted forward to sit beside him on the bed again and then reached out to cup Rob’s jaw in the palm of her hand. She searched his features again looking for some sign that he didn’t actually believe her mother’s ridiculous rant before saying softly, “Hey, look at me.”

  When he finally made eye contact again, Jillian saw the smallest trace of doubt still lingering in the troubled depths of his eyes. “I love you, Rob. There is nowhere else that I want or need to be right now. You’ve taken wonderful care of me…you and your whole family…since the moment this whole thing started, Roberto. You’ve been with me for almost every appointment, and if you couldn’t go then your mom or Carli were there. You sat with me for hours while I received my first treatment. You’ve helped me to the bathroom to throw up when I couldn’t do it on my own, or held a pan when I couldn’t get up at all.”

  Sniffing back tears, Jillian continued, “You shaved my head, Rob. You helped me feel like I had some control again when I’ve felt nothing but out of control for weeks. You have been my rock, and there is no one else I want with me more than you.”

  Fighting his own emotions, Rob reached out to pull Jillian into his arms. Maybe he had needed to hear the things Jillian had just told him, because deep down he had doubted himself at times…doubted whether he could be everything she needed in order to make it through this impossibly difficult situation.

  Cancer had already robbed Jillian of so many things, but Rob refused to let it take anything that was within his power to prevent. It certainly wasn’t going to take him away from her, because he’d be here until the day this all ended. And he wouldn’t allow himself to think it was going to end any other way but in their favor.

  “Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out,

  But to see who cares enough to break them down.”

  -Socrates

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jillian glanced at the calendar on her phone and blanched at tomorrow’s date. Of course she knew what was coming tomorrow, but every visual reminder struck a chord of dread deep inside her. Carli had driven her to the hospital two days ago for her lab work and Dr. Nixon’s office had called this morning to say it was a go for her chemotherapy treatment tomorrow. Evidently her red blood cell count had been at the lower end of normal, but not enough to postpone the treatment. Upon waking this morning, though, she’d told herself she wasn’t going to dwell on tomorrow, but simply try and enjoy today instead.

  Rob was taking the day off to go with her of course, and Jillian breathed a sigh of thankful relief that his job allowed him so much flexibility. Being part owner in the firm held its own level of leeway, but fortunately he’d also been able to arrange client meetings around her appointments. On the days he didn’t feel comfortable leaving her Rob worked from home and while she napped he made client calls or worked on his computer.

  Jillian could hear the banging of pots and pans coming from the kitchen at the moment, so she surmised that Rosita was starting dinner. She’d arrived a short time ago to spend the afternoon, and Ric had trailed through the doorway after her carrying the numerous bags of food she’d brought with her. He’d simply given Jillian a knowing smile, and a quick kiss on the cheek, before following his mama into the kitchen.

  Ric had only stayed a short time and then took off with promises to return for Rosita later this evening. He’d been headed to Isabella’s to pick up Anton for a “guys afternoon” with his grandson, and was anxious to get their time together started. Jillian followed him to the door with instructions to give all three of Isa’s children a hug and kiss from her as well. She’d missed seeing the kids in the family so much, but all the mothers had declared their children off limits to her for the time being. As Isa had said, kids were germy on their best day and you never knew when an illness was lurking just around the corner. No one was willing to run the risk of Jillian becoming sick, so she’d only talked to the kids through Skype.

  The sound of the doorbell startled her from her thoughts, and Jillian frowned wondering who could be stopping by. Her earlier resolve to have a pleasant afternoon vanished quickly when she opened the door to find her mother standing there. Memories of the last visit came crashing in on her, and without thinking Jillian raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose. Her stomach had been cooperating since her mother’s earlier visit, but Jillian wasn’t anxious for a repeat of last time.

  “Jillian, for goodness sakes, is that all you can manage to do is hold your hand over your mouth in that unattractive way?” asked Monica as she swept into the room. Looking around, she turned to her daughter and leveled her gaze at Jillian. “Is Rob here?”

  Shaking her head, Jillian made her way to the couch again and sat before answering. “No, mo
ther, he’s not here. He’s at work this afternoon. Won’t you have a seat?”

  Choosing a chair some distance away from the couch, Monica settled in and glanced around the room again. The sound of a drawer opening and closing drifted in from the kitchen, and Monica turned to Jillian with a puzzled look.

  “I thought you said he wasn’t at home. Who’s that in the other room?” asked Monica sharply.

  In an attempt to keep things civil, Jillian replied simply, “That’s Rosita, she came to stay with me this afternoon, and she’s cooking dinner.”

  Monica’s features twisted into a frown as she looked at Jillian and asked, “Can you not do anything without some member of that family always underfoot, Jillian? And speaking of which, I want to discuss something with you. I’ve made some decisions, and the sooner we put my plan into place the better.”

  Jillian closed her eyes wearily and then opened them again to look at her mother. She really wasn’t in the mood to hear about any of Monica’s “decisions” this afternoon, but then she was never in the mood for it.

  “What decisions are you talking about, Mother?” asked Jillian absently.

  “Well, I’ve decided that we need to move you into a reputable convalescent care center…”

  Holding one thin arm up into the air, Jillian made a stop motion with her hand. “No.”

  Blinking in surprise, Monica looked at Jillian like she’d grown another head. “No? Excuse me, Jillian, but I think I know what’s best for you in this situation. You need constant care, and not at the level you’re getting here…”

  Resting her elbows on her knees, Jillian leaned forward and pinned her mother with a look. “You have no idea what kind of care I’ve received here or anywhere else for that matter, Mother. And besides, since when have you ever known what was best for me in any situation? What I’ve needed through the years hasn’t been your priority, so let’s not pretend otherwise, okay?”