chapter 28
Parkinson’s. Jules had Parkinson’s. Charlotte sat on the deck watching a thin pink seam open over the water as the sun came up. She’d been outside with a blanket ever since she’d slipped from Jules’s bed, leaving him sleeping.
Too upset to sleep herself, she’d gone straight to her computer and read everything she could find about Parkinson’s, what it would do and how to deal with it. But what she’d learned hadn’t been all that encouraging. There was some hope that the disease would not progress quickly. It seemed to differ, depending on the individual, and Jules was young and strong, so he had that going for him. But this was nothing like what she’d expected him to be facing. It’d been too easy to discount a serious health problem when he seemed so physically fit.
At least it wasn’t cancer. She kept telling herself that. But the comfort felt paper-thin. Trying to imagine him as he’d be in ten, twenty or thirty years broke her heart. Jules was the strongest man she knew—physically, emotionally and mentally. It just didn’t seem possible that anything could steal his coordination and vitality.
But what he’d said and how he’d been acting finally madesense. At last she understood why he kept trying to push her away.
Hearing the door open behind her, she quickly wiped her tears with the edge of the blanket.
“What are you doing up so early?” Sloane stepped out in a hoodie and yoga pants, her hair in a knot, but with bare feet.
Charlotte hesitated. She didn’t feel it was her place to tell Sloane. But Sloane wasn’t just Jules’s sister; she was Charlotte’s best friend. And there was no way to hide her swollen, red eyes. Should she say what he wouldn’t—get it out in the open where they could deal with it? She’d promised to give him all the time he needed in Italy, but Italy was supposed to be a chance to heal, not just escape. Keeping his secret felt like watching him tread water while the tide came in. He couldn’t heal in any meaningful way if he was still hiding from the truth—and they couldn’t help him if he continued hiding it from them.
“It’s Jules,” she said, fresh tears blurring her vision.
Sloane had come out far enough to see evidence of her emotions and was watching her warily. “What do you mean ‘it’s Jules’?”
“I know what’s wrong with him.”
Sloane knelt beside her. “What is it? Tell me!”
She squeezed her eyes closed. “You should hear it from him.”
“I’m asking you—right here, right now.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“It’s not health related, is it?”
When she didn’t answer, Sloane grabbed hold of the chair Charlotte was sitting in as if she’d topple over without its support. “What’s wrong with him? Is he dying, Char? Tell me! I’m freaking out!”
Charlotte threw up her hands. It was too late to try to hold back—at this point, it was just cruel. “He’s been diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Sloane.”
“Parkinson’s,” she repeated numbly. “How serious is that? I mean... I’ve heard of it, but no one I know has ever had it. What will it do to him?”
“It’s a progressive disorder that causes the nerves in the brain to weaken and die. It affects so many things—mostly his motor function. There may come a time when he struggles to walk or even talk.”
She covered her face. “No...”
“I wish it wasn’t true.”
After several seconds of silence, she said, her voice a shocked whisper, “How’d you find out?”
It wasn’t hard to tell that Sloane was hurt to think he’d confide in Charlotte when he hadn’t told her. So Charlotte decided it was time for the whole truth—time they dealt with all the secrets between them and figured out how to proceed. Sloane’s problems—and hers—paled in comparison to Jules’s diagnosis. At least they had their health. And yet he’d been doing his best to support them.
“I saw a text come in from his doctor last night.”
Sloane looked confused. “At dinner? Because I was right here with you, and you didn’t even react.”
“Not at dinner. Later—when I was with him.”
“With him where?”
Steeling herself for Sloane’s reaction, Charlotte drew in a bolstering breath. “In his bed.”
Letting go of the chair, she sank down onto the deck. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
