twenty
Colin studied the sky from his observatory. One of the planes he’d been tracking in the last half hour had to be the Harmon’s jet. According to Daniel, Mandy and the baby would be back by dinnertime. He’d been tempted to alter Sabrina’s programming so she would tell him if Candace had returned to her apartment. But that was crossing too many lines. Another plane flew by, but it was on its initial climb, not landing.
“Candace Wilson is on the elevator. Should I grant access to the penthouse?”
“Sabrina, yes!” Colin hurried down the spiral staircase and through the rooms. The elevator opened just as he got there. He searched for something to say. Candace held up a shopping bag. He took it. The T-shirt said, “I’m with stupid.” Candace moved to his right side so that if he put it on it would point at her.
“I don’t get it.” Colin put the shirt back in the bag.
“I shouldn’t have told you the way I did, and I shouldn’t have tried to shut you out. I am stupid.”
“I don’t think you’re stupid.” Colin led the way into the more formal sitting room. Candace sat on one end of the couch, and he took the other.
The silence begged to be broken. Candace took a breath. “Shortly after my sixteenth birthday, my mother was diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer. She taught my sister and me how to do self-exams. I found a lump, but cancer in teen girls is rare. We only got it checked because my grandmother had also had breast cancer. Mine was fast moving and had already spread to a couple of lymph nodes. Dad found mom a spot in Houston at MD Anderson, hoping they could do something. I went too. After conferring with several doctors, I decided to remove not only the breast with the tumor but the healthy one, too. Mom and I had our mastectomies the same day. I didn’t know it until we were in Indy and I talked to Dad, but she only did it to support me. It didn’t change her outcome. Because it had spread to our lymph nodes and to her bones, we both had chemo. Mom and Dad didn’t tell Crystal and I how serious Mom’s was until it got near the end. When I made the choice to remove the healthy one, it seemed logical since there was a genetic factor. I figured since I only had ten years to live, I would never get married anyway.”
“You had already started your ten-year plan?”
“No, just my bucket list. My first thing was a photo with Mom in the Texas bluebonnets. Then I wanted to kiss one man each year until I died. Looking back, that was stupid. I pretty much just kissed anyone. People accuse men of using women. I wasn’t any better. It wasn’t until Mandy fell for Daniel that I saw my folly. I was on number nine. I never did kiss number ten.”
Colin held up his hand. “So I am number ten?”
She grabbed his hand and held it between hers, sending warmth up his arm. “Or you are number one of my new plans.”
Number one sounded good. Which reminded him about 1 2 3. What did it mean?
“I’d meant to tell you about the mastectomies since Indy. I knew things were getting serious, and I knew you needed the choice to find someone who was whole. But I couldn’t do it. I’d made up my mind to tell you that night, but one thing led to another, and then I was regretting my choice to not leave the healthy one just in case . . . in case . . .” Tears formed in her eyes.
Colin pulled out his handkerchief and handed it to her. I love you Candace. It doesn’t matter.
“Thanks.”
Colin cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but Candace held up her hand.
“There is more. One of the more obvious side effects of my treatment is my lack of hair. Permanent hair loss was a known but rare side effect of the new drug they used on me. A more common one was early onset menopause. As in I have been having hot flashes, et cetera, for a year, and I am not even twenty-eight. I can’t have children.”
The news didn’t surprise him. “I wondered if that might be the case. I did a lot of research over the weekend. You have been in remission for a decade, so you have excellent chances of the cancer not reoccurring, especially since you chose to remove healthy tissue. I think I’d rather have you around for fifty years with two scars than the alternative.”
“Do you have any idea how ugly they are?” Candace let go of his and started to lift the hem of her shirt.
Colin reached out and stopped her tugging the shirt back down. “If you hadn’t had the mastectomies, would you show me your chest?”
“Not until the wedding night.” Candace blushed. “I mean, I wouldn’t show any man until then.”
“Then don’t show me now. Your scars are a special part of you, showing your strength and courage. They should be saved for a special time.”
Candace looked at him in disbelief. “But they are so ugly.”
“I am told beauty is largely a part of one’s perspective.” He leaned closer and removed her wig and the wig cap beneath it. “You are beautiful.”
Tears ran down her face.
Colin panicked.
Candace laid a hand on either side of his face. “I love you, Colin McClain Ogilvie.” Then she kissed him.
She knew his middle name. She knew him. He kissed her back, hoping she would understand the things he didn’t know how to say.
Candace didn’t want to leave, but Sabrina and her alarm feature were annoyingly persistent.
“Cinderella needs to leave the ball. Dong, dong . . .”
Candace lifted her head from Colin’s shoulder. They had simply talked for the last hour. “Did you really program her to say that?”
“After our last kissing session started getting more intense, I thought it would be good to have our AI chaperon keep us in check. It was funnier in my mind.”
Candace got up and slipped her shoes and wig on. “It is kind of funny.”
Colin stood up with her. “How about that ball I promised you? How about Thursday night, since Friday is the Harmon’s party?”
“Will Sabrina be there?”
“My mother would kill me if I installed an AI out at the house.”
“Will your mother be there?”
“Probably not.”
Not too disappointing. The couple of times she had been around Colin and his mother, he was stiff and nervous. “Do I need a ball gown?”
“I think every woman should wear an appropriate gown to her own ball.”
“I left all my bridesmaids dresses at Art House.”
“Buy a new one.”
Candace smiled, knowing he had no clue how much a gown cost. “Nick doesn’t pay me that well.”
“Then let me buy you one. And don’t say no. I’ve watched all your old roommates get something extravagant. Daniel gave Mandy a house. I am just giving you a dress. Go shopping with Mandy and have her send the bill to me.”
Candace kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Yes, my prince. I’ll have a new gown by Thursday.”
“Cinderella needs to leave the ball. Dong, dong.”
Candace hurried to the elevator before the AI tried something more drastic, like an electric shock.
She set her alarm and got ready for bed. After putting her prosthetics in their individual boxes, she looked in the mirror. He thought her scars could be beautiful. She pondered that for a moment. Colin certainly had no problem with her bald head. In a few months, she might believe it. Fortunately, Colin was not one to make quick decisions.