“To help me stay balanced. I don’t like them. They make things foggy. But my father insisted, ever since my mother died.”
“Balanced? I don’t get what you’re saying. I don’t remember you taking them when we got married.”
“I stopped taking them that summer, too.”
“And you were okay? You were perfect when I met you. A little sad about your grandmother, but you certainly didn’t seem foggy.”
“I stopped taking them, because I met you and everything seemed perfect. I thought I didn’t need them.”
“Maybe you don’t,” he said, kissing her shoulder. “You haven’t been taking them the last few months. Have you felt better?”
“I have. Finding Jordan and being with her, being with you again…it’s all been incredible.”
“Then, I’d say you don’t need them anymore.”
Her head tipped up to stare at him. “What if I slip? What if it comes back?”
“What is ‘it’that you’re talking about? Do you have some disease?” His heart pounded waiting for her answer.
As she nodded, sweat trickled down his back. Not from the summer heat.
“It’s a mental illness. My mom had one, too. I thought maybe having my daughter around, loving me, would be enough. But my mom had me, and I loved her immensely. It wasn’t enough. She couldn’t live that way, so she killed herself.”
Chapter twenty
“Yourmothercommittedsuicide?You never told me. Only that she died when you were ten.”
No, Chelsea had never confided in Theo back then. It was something she would have eventually told him, but their romance had been a whirlwind, and she’d never found the right time. Hadn’t wanted him to back off thinking she had the same problem.
“It was tough on me. At that age, I didn’t fully understand what had happened.”
Theo’s warm chest felt good, but she wondered if he would still want to hold her once he knew what her future might hold.
His arms tightened around her, and his lips pressed to her temple. “I’m sorry, pixie. You certainly haven’t had it easy.”
A slight shake of her head was all she could manage. Too many images and memories of her childhood assaulted her.
As if Theo could read her mind, he scooted off the bed. “Why don’t we get you something to eat for breakfast and then we can sit outside? It’s gorgeous weather today. We should enjoy it.”
Bending down, he kissed her. “I want to talk more about you and your past. Learn where you came from and what happened in your life.”
Her crappy life that people didn’t understand, because she grew up in a huge estate with everything a child could ever want. Everything, except the type of family she’d found here with Jordan and Theo.
As she stood, Theo asked, “How about some eggs and toast?”
“Do I get real Maine blueberry jam on my toast?”
The grin on Theo’s face could warm the arctic. “You sound like your daughter. Yes, real Maine blueberry jam. Get dressed, and it’ll be ready by the time you come downstairs.”
Holding out the side of the huge t-shirt, she laughed. “What? You don’t like my outfit?”
His eyes gleamed. “I’d like to remove that outfit. How about you put something on that doesn’t tempt me so much.”
As he trotted down the stairs, she quickly cleaned up in the bathroom and donned a pair of shorts and a tank top, keeping her feet bare. With the shorts, most of her legs were bare, also. Tempting him sounded kind of nice.
Her toast and a plate of eggs were sitting on the table when she got downstairs, but Theo wasn’t around. The sound of whistling told her he was in his office. She quickly finished off the meal, then went looking for him. When she stepped in the doorway, he looked up and his smile froze.
“What’s the matter?” Had she done something wrong?
