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Jennifer spent the next two hours eagerly awaiting Mark's return. She had no idea what kind of surprise he was planning, but the fact that therewasa surprise, and she knew about it, was killing her. She had to know! To distract herself, she explored the rest of the house that she hadn't gotten a good look at since coming to the mansion.

She spent a bit of extra time in the library, admiring the bookshelves carved into large tree trunks.

By the time two whole hours passed, she circled back around to the entrance to peek outside. It was midday now, and pleasantly warm outside. The instant she heard the sound of anapproaching vehicle, though, she sprung toward the front door and searched outside.

Not one, buttwovehicles approached. One was Mark's black SUV, the one Jake borrowed to pick her up from the airport, and the other a large white van. Jennifer stood on the front steps, watching the two vehicles with curiosity waiting to burst out of her chest.

Mark parked out front, and Jennifer hurried over to hug him, but on the way over, the passenger door to the SUV popped open and a familiar face peeked out at her.

Jennifer froze in her tracks. A little gasp came from within when she saw the familiar woman climbing out. She looked far older than she should have at only forty-five years, but that was what cancer did to the body.

"Mom?"

Arabelle's face brightened from confusion to absolute joy and relief. "My Jenny!"

Jennifer had her mom in her arms a second later. She was so small now, but she still hugged like a bear. Tears formed at the edges of Jennifer's eyes when she held her mom, something she thought would be impossible for at least another week, maybe longer.

The guilt of leaving her behind to come to this strange place where Mark lived stayed with her every day. In her mind, she was living in a permanent vacation while her mom was left to suffer ... but now she was here.

"How is this possible?" she said.

Arabelle, too, let out a little cry. "It was that big man of yours." She gave Jennifer a motherly jab in the ribs. "The oneyoudidn't tell me about."

Leave it to Arabelle to jump straight to the secrets-kept part of the reveal. Jennifer had planned on telling her ... eventually. Once things made more sense in her head. Now it seems Mark must have told her everything.

"I'm sorry, mom," Jennifer said. "It's all so complicated, I'll tell you the whole story once we're inside."

"It's always complicated with you, but now I have some of the pieces. I expect the rest of them before the day is through ..."

"Of course, mom. You've come all this way, I couldn't imagine keeping anything from you anymore."

Across the front of the SUV, she met Mark's eyes and gave him a thankful nod. She couldn't express just how much this meant to her ... to finally see her mom again. But when she stared into his eyes, she saw something else staring back at her, not just a man who wanted to be helpful and take care of her: she saw the eyes of love.

Was she imagining it?

She swallowed. No, it had to be real. She felt it, too. Only a man who loved her would go so far out of his way, even after Jennifer previously refused his offer, to make this happen.

Arabelle seemed tired, and she leaned all of her weight on Jennifer. If she made the same flight as Jennifer did a few days ago, then she was probably exhausted and needed some rest. Good thing there were lots of guest bedrooms.

Jennifer held Arabelle close; she wanted to keep her mother close, and also make sure she didn't fall over.

The van stopped behind the SUV and the driver's door popped open. A tall woman with fair skin, blonde hair, and a white lab coat climbed out. She had an ethereal beauty,something that didn't seem quite right, but Jennifer couldn't explain it. It was almost like she wasn't human.

Mark joined Arabelle and Jennifer on the other side of the SUV, placing a light hand on Jennifer's shoulder. "May I introduce Dr. Variety, the cancer and disease specialist I talked to you about before, Jennifer," Mark said. "She'll be here to provide in-house care while Arabelle undergoes the rest of her treatment."

Jennifer vaguely recalled him mentioning knowing such a doctor being in Boston, but she assumed that meant taking regular trips from their hidden home to the big city, not moving the doctortothe woods with them. But, this was Mark she was talking about—it didn't seem that he did anything part-way.

Dr. Variety came forward, giving an old-fashioned, sweeping bow. Jennifer raised her eyes in surprise.

"Honored to be here," Dr. Variety said. "Mrs. Wright will fare well under my care. Over the weekend, I organized her care plan utilizing the best technologies and medicines available, as well as my personal touch." She smiled widely. "Cancer is a beast, but it is now a beast we can beat."

Jennifer looked between the doctor and Mark. Did that mean what she thought it meant? She wanted to ask the question out loud but couldn't quite bring herself to voice that much hope.

Instead, Mark caught the question in her eyes and said, "yes, Arabelle will be just fine." He gripped her mother's shoulder like they were old pals. "Won't you, Mrs. Wright?"

"Yes, yes, thank you, I'm so sick and tired of dying."

They had a good laugh at Arabelle's twisted sense of humor. While Jennifer helped her mom inside, Mark stayedback to help carry the equipment left behind, giving the pair a few minutes on their own.