by Stratton, M.
Sam was dozing on the couch when Ethan came through the door a little later. As always, he stopped in his tracks and looked at her. His heart sank. She didn’t look good; there was no denying it. The doctors said they couldn’t believe how well their daughter was doing considering how bad Sam was. The cancer was growing faster than anyone had estimated. Their goal was to try to make it to thirty-six weeks and perform a C-section, and after the child was born, they’d do whatever they needed to do inside Sam to remove the cancer they could, before sewing her up again.
There was no hiding the look in the staffs’ eyes when they were in the office to see the doctors every week. They didn’t think there was any hope. There were nights when Ethan didn’t have any either. He kept that from Sam. She didn’t need his worries and heartbreak on top of everything else she was worried about. She didn’t think he knew about the back room, but he did. He let her do what she felt she needed to do in order to get through every day and prepare for every possible outcome. Thankfully, she wasn’t there the first time he’d found it, because he’d lost it seeing all of those containers lined up, labeled with the holidays. Then he opened one and started crying all over again. She amazed him with her strength, gathering all that for their daughter, while all the while fighting for both of their lives.
Quietly, Ethan went into the kitchen and prepared a snack for them. He found that if they ate together, she’d eat more. Between the baby and the cancer, there wasn’t much left of her. She was too skinny, and he hated to admit it, almost grey looking. He’d been at the resort too long. He knew what that color meant and it almost shattered him.
He had some news for her and he hoped it would settle her mind for the future of the resort. He put the tray of food down on the table and looked over at her, smiling when he saw her eyes were open and looking at him. “Good morning, beautiful, did you have a good nap?”
“It seems all naps are good now. It would be nice if they could be a bit longer. I know it’s good for us.”
“Yes, it is, and so is this. Here, let me help you up.” Once she was sitting up, he placed the tray next to her on the couch. “Now eat. Did you do anything special while I was gone?”
“No, I did a little reading, and daydreaming. You?”
“As a matter of fact, I finally have some good news to share with you.”
“What?”
“Remember how we talked about the gold mine months ago?”
She waved her hand at him and picked up a strawberry. “That’s a myth.”
“It isn’t.”
Pausing with the berry almost to her lips, she blinked her large eyes at him. “Excuse me? It isn’t?”
He smiled and shook his head. “I’ve found it.”
“No way.” She shook her head.
“Oh, yes, since we talked about it I’ve been doing research and hired geologists to come out, and what do you know, we ended up finding it.”
“Where is it?” She sat up straighter and set the berry down.
“Pretty much right under our noses. Going back through the historical records, we discovered the old building we turned into a gym was one of the first buildings here, and there was a crawl space hidden, way back in the corner. It was so dark I always missed it, not like I spent a lot of time down there, but yeah, there it was, the entrance to the mine.”
“It’s been here all the time?”
“Sure has, and here’s the kicker. There’s still a lot of gold down there. In fact, there is so much you’re going to have more money than I do, a lot more.” He smiled at her. “Do you know what that means?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea. I can’t wrap my head around that much money.”
“It means Last Resort is going to go on for a very long time. Hell, you could buy all the surrounding properties and expand and still not worry. You could even open up other resorts throughout the country, world even.”
“There can’t be that much down there.”
“There is. Of course, there are no guarantees as to how far the veins of gold goes, but just with the little bit that’s exposed, and the going rate, you’re seriously set.”
“Well, that’s good . . .” She leaned back and stared off. “All these years, it’s been right here. Oh! What about the tunnels? You always hear stories about tunnels collapsing and swallowing buildings, could that happen here? Should we map them out and make sure there aren’t any buildings above them?”
“That’s the thing, it’s a small tunnel, a few feet wide and about six foot tall, and maybe each section goes out twenty feet from the gym. They were very surprised it was so small considering the stories on how much gold was pulled out of there, but once they got down there and saw exactly what everything looked like, they were very excited.”
“Should we worry about people coming here to get their hands on it? I mean, I’ve gotten offers to buy the land because of it. In fact, some of them have gone so far as to sabotage equipment.”
“No, you’re not going to have to worry about anything, because between the two of us, we have enough money to make sure we have the best security, both in personnel and equipment to make sure nothing happens to harm anyone here on the resort.”
“Wow. I’ve got nothing else, just wow.”
“I know. I’ve been pretty excited the closer we were to discovering its location, and today, everything was confirmed. It’s gold. I was afraid it might have been fool’s gold when I first went down there.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Should I be pissed off at you after the fact that you went down there before the professionals did, you know, the ones who would know if it was a safe thing to do or not?”
Leaning in close to her, he looked her in the eye. “Tell me you wouldn’t have done the same thing.” When she didn’t answer, he kissed her quickly on the nose. “See, you have no room to talk.”
“Okay, changing subjects. How was the rest of your day?”
“You won’t believe who I heard from today. Peter, you remember, him and Marissa at the restaurant.” He watched as her hands stopped the circular rubbing motion on her belly.
“What did he have to say?”
“I guess they’re divorced. She found someone new, with more money and left him, but not before taking half of his money.”
“I guess, that’s good for him?”
“Hopefully. He called to apologize again.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t all of it.”
“No, he has a deal he wants me to go in on.”
“Are you?”
“What? No way, I’ve been quietly selling all my investments as it is. The last thing I want is to get into another one.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you selling all your investments?”
“I don’t need them.” He shrugged. “If I don’t have to go down into the city, I don’t want to. I’ve never been happier than I’ve been since coming up here. I’ve actually been grooming my assistant Jodi to give the business to. She’s really intelligent and doesn’t take grief from anyone. She’s going to do really well.”
“Don’t you miss it?”
“Sure, I’ve spent so many years wheeling and dealing, but Sam, this is my home now, you and our child are my home. All I’ve ever wanted is here.”
“But what if I’m not here.”
“Samantha–”
“Don’t you Samantha me. We have to talk about this. About the worst case scenario. We’ve been skirting the issue for months. We can’t wait any more. Think of everything Last Resort represents, now think of me, can one exist without the other? Can you exist here without me?”
He stood up and walked away from her. “I’m not ready to talk about this.”
“Well, you’re going to have to be. We have this opportunity to talk things through before it happens, most people don’t get this chance. Don’t throw it away.”
“I refuse to talk to you about you dying. It’s not going to happen.”
“Go ahead, keep lying to yourself.” Slowly and awkwardly, she stood up. “Think of it this way, I like to be prepared for every single possibility that might happen. By being prepared for the worst, most of the time it never happens.” She started to walk away.
“Don’t go,” he whispered. “I don’t know. You’re in every building, every tree, and every breath of this place. Am I strong enough to be here if you’re not? I don’t know. Can I expect to see you every time I turn a corner and not break down when you’re not there? Can I walk into the Legacy Garden and see the butterflies and your handprint amongst so many others and not fall to my knees feeling my heart break over and over again? Can I hear your voice only to turn around to nothing but the hope you are still here and the ache in my heart that will never go away? I just don’t know.”
“But you’ll have our daughter.”
“Hopefully, I will. She’s strong right now. Can she be that way for another month? What if I lose both of you? It would be hard enough trying to put one foot in front of the other, day after day without you by my side, but to lose something I’ve never held before but in my heart? I can’t . . .” He placed his hand on her belly. “I love you both so much.” He couldn’t hide his anguish, his voice shook with it. “Promise me, promise me you’ll continue to fight with everything you have, for yourself, for our child, for us.”
“Ethan, you have to know I’m not giving up. As long as there is a breath in this body, I will fight. I will hold out hope that we will both survive and be able to have a long life with you by my side.”
“You have no idea how much I want that.” He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her scent which always calmed his soul.
“We both do, we both do.”
Day 79
Ethan–
Got to tell you, bro, things aren’t looking good. I think it’s my time. Strangely, I’m okay with this. I’ve lived my life. I’ve had my fun and now I get to see what’s on the other side.
Stay positive. Live the rest of your life, truly live it, brother of mine.
I love you,
Evan
“Here.” Ethan held out a package for Sam. “Put this on.”
“Why should I?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Because we’re going to have some fun today.”
“Why do I have to change? Do you know how much work it is for me to get out of these clothes and put on whatever is in here?” She waved it at him.
He sat down next to her. “Come on, you used to love this stuff.” Placing his arm around her, he deepened his voice. “If you’d like, I can help you.”
Sam burst out in tears and covered her face with her hands.
“What is it? What did I say?” He tried to pull her hands away from her face. “Come on, honey, I’m sorry. Please let me make this better.”
“You don’t understand,” she wailed.
“No, I don’t, so help me.”
“I’m fat. I waddle. I look like crap and my body isn’t my own anymore. Between the pregnancy and cancer, I’m nothing.”
“Oh, honey.” He gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly. “You’re everything. You have to know I love you no matter what.”
“But I can’t give you everything you need.”
“Stop, stop it right now, you,”—he tapped her chest where her heart was beating—“ . . . you have given me so much more than I could ever give you. I’d still be that shell of a man if it weren’t for you. And this,”—placing his hand on her belly, he rubbed it—“ . . . this is so special I can’t even put it into words.”
“But you’ve spent so much time having to take care of me, sacrificing what you want for me.”
“Listen to me. Love is never a sacrifice. Every single thing I do is out of love. I remember my dad saying he’d bend over backwards to make sure Mom was happy, because to make her happy made him happy. And it’s never work or a chore if you love that person.”
“I wish I could give you more,” she whispered.
“You give more than you think. Now please, if you want to make me happy, go change.” He picked the package up and handed it to her.
“I don’t think that’s playing by the rules.”
“Oh, it is. Now get a move on. I have to change too.”
“Fine. Here, help me up.” She held her hands out to him.
“Always.” Once she was on her feet, he leaned down and kissed her, hoping to show her that he meant every single word he said.
“Wonder Woman? Why?” she asked Ethan as she looked down at her costume. “And I didn’t know they made them for pregnant women.”
“They make just about every costume for pregnant women. But don’t you get it? To me and everyone else, you are Wonder Woman. Even now when you can’t do as much as you could before, you still make time for everyone and make sure you are visible around here.”
She couldn’t help herself, tears welled up in her eyes. She knew the pregnancy hormones had a lot to do with them, but Ethan had been so wonderful to her, always making sure she had what she needed and indulging in her every whim, and taking care of Last Resort when she couldn’t.
“Shhh . . .” Ethan wrapped his arms around her. “It’ll be okay. We have a fun day planned and your invisible plane, otherwise known as the golf cart, is right outside the door waiting for you.”
“Well then, lead on, Thor.” Sam took his arm when he held it out for her. She liked the fact he wore the same costume as Halloween, the meaning behind it meant so much to her. “Although, you know walking is good for me.”
“Yes, it is, however, if I know you, you’re going to be up and down all day at the rec center anyway and you’ll get plenty of exercise then.”
“True, true.” She sat back and enjoyed the ride over the hills to the rec center, breathing in the fresh air and seeing the changes that both she and Ethan had implemented. A sense of pride came over her. For all that she and they had achieved together. It wasn’t all smooth sailing. They both had their own opinions, sometimes strong, but in the end, they knew they wanted the best for the resort and were making it their own.
Ethan had started buying up the surrounding properties that were available with the money she had from the gold mine. They had revised their original plan, and based on how much more property they would be able to acquire, would determine how large the resort would become. One of the things she wanted to do was form a children’s area, where the child could not only have all of their wishes come true, the families could stay with them.
Their main focus was to make it feel like a community, a large family and not an institution. They were on the same page there. Most of their arguments came from the fact Ethan wanted to put more of his money into the resort, yet Sam wouldn’t let him. She knew he had his ways of helping out without letting her know, and she let him.
“We’re going to need a bigger rec center,” she said.
“I was thinking we could keep this one, add one in the family area, and then maybe a large one for when we do events everyone wants to attend. We could even build a couple of smaller ones if needed.”
“True, that might be better. That way each one could be specialized.”
“We’ll talk more about it tomorrow. Now, its movie time.”
She couldn’t help it, and blamed it on the pregnancy hormones, why she always seemed to be able to cry at the drop of a hat. The staff and guests showed her all the time how much she meant to them and how special she was. She realized exactly how she made the guests feel when they came to her resort and it made her happy. She had to admit it was harder to put on the brave face than it had been before. There was so much more at stake, her child’s life, her own, and Ethan’s love. She wanted the happy ending more than she ever could have dreamed possible.
Ethan kept checking his watch. They’d been watching one Marvel superhero movie after the other, all in order from when they were released in the theaters. It was almost time for the last movie, the
one that wasn’t going to be released for another month and his other surprise hadn’t shown up yet. He was thankful he had a favor he could call in to make this epic evening happen for her.
When his phone chirped signaling a text message, he quickly looked down and couldn’t hide the smile. “I’ll be right back,” he said to Sam. “You stay right here.”
“Where else am I going to go? Hey, where are you going anyway?”
He leaned down and kissed her quickly. “I’ll be right back.”
“Hey!”
He ignored her and walked out of the rec center and down to the main house. There was a black SUV and Devlin Cross stepped out of the driver’s side and walked around to open the passenger door where his wife, Lily, stepped out. She went around to the back door and reached in as a boy of about ten scrambled out around his mother.
“Hey, Ethan, how’s it going? You didn’t have to dress up for me though.”
“Great, Dev, thanks for coming. I’d like to see you look so good in this costume.”
“Wait until you see me in the movie. You’ll be jealous.”
“No, you’ll both be jealous of me,” a British voice came from the other side of the vehicle. “Everyone knows without me there would be no little pack of superheroes.” Will Martinsson came into view along with his wife, author Melissa Loring.
“Please,” a third voice called from the sports car Ethan hadn’t noticed parked behind the SUV. “If it weren’t for me, none of this would be possible. I was in the first movie.”
Devlin Cross was one of Hollywood’s biggest stars and in the new Marvel movie, while Will was the master villain of the franchise. The last man there was Royce Rivers, the cocky movie star who played a cocky billionaire.
Ethan held his hand out to Will, who introduced his wife, and Royce. Ethan hadn’t met either man yet and he felt uncomfortable in the costume in front of him but knew it made Sam happy.