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 doctor to the 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 stayed back to help carry the equipment left behind, giving the pair a few minutes on their own.
When Jennifer opened the front door, Arabelle's eyes noticeably widened. "I know, when I first came here, I thought we were just in the middle of the woods."
"I admit, it seemed too good to be true to have this handsome young man, claiming to be your new husband, come pick me up at the airport," Arabelle said casually. "When he brought me out into the middle of nowhere, I thought, 'oh well, seems the assassins have finally come for me.'"
"Mom!" Jennifer laughed. "What have you ever done in your life to warrant assassins, anyway?"
"Oh you would be surprised, my dear, you would be surprised."
They made it to the largest guest bedroom on the main floor, and Jennifer helped Arabelle into the bed. She tucked herself right under the blankets, making a comfortable sigh once she had a pillow beneath her.
"You look so tired, mom. Should I leave you to rest for now? We can talk later."
"I am tired, but not so tired I can't listen." Arabelle made a tsking sound. "So you eloped with this husband of yours, leaving me in Portland all on my own? Jenny, dear, I think you might have taken a page out of my personal handbook."
Jennifer smiled, pleasantly surprised by her mom's reaction. "You're not mad?"
"Can't say I blame you. All the hospitals and old people have to be a bore to my energetic little girl."
"It was nothing like that. I was happy to keep caring for you, mom. But when the doctors said the chemo wasn't going to work anymore ... I couldn't just sit by and watch you wither away."
"Of course you couldn't. That's not the daughter I raised." Arabelle sighed. "But I wanted a more fulfilling life for you ... after all this, it seems you might have found it."
Jennifer sat on the floor next to Arabelle's bed, tilting her head to rest on the mattress beside her mom. "Yeah, I think so. I wasn't sure anything would come of it, but in the end ... Mark is great, mom. I think I love him."
Arabelle laughed. "I would hope so, after all the trouble he went to round me up and ship me over here."
"Speaking of which," Jennifer said, "how did he convince you to come here? He didn't tell me a thing about what he was planning."
"Oh, he's a sneaky one, that's for sure.
A few days ago he called, confessing who he was.
Naturally, I cursed him out as a liar, trying to trick a sick woman, but as he began to tell me more, I realized he had to be telling the truth," Arabelle said.
"Only my daughter would think to torture her mother by finding such a handsome young man and not telling me. "
"Mom ... I didn't tell you because I was embarrassed," she said.
And because she didn't want to give Arabelle any false hope.
She wasn't sure that a relationship was going to work out with Mark, or that it would result in a better paying job she could use to pay those medical bills.
Never in her wildest dreams had she expected to get matched with someone with a fortune like his, or that he would simply cover the expenses of all the treatment without a worry.
Arabelle placed her hand on Jennifer's. "He loves you too, Jenny."
Jennifer's stomach twisted, as if releasing the cork on a bottle of butterflies. "Did he say that?"
"No, but I heard it in the way he talked about you. He's a winner. I don't know where you found a wonderful man like him ... but you better keep him."
She still had the medal tied around her wrist. It would be too impractical to wear forever, but for now, it was a symbol of her devotion to him. She had no intention of letting him go, not now, not ever.
Ever since she arrived at his place, Mark had been nothing but kind and caring to Jennifer. Now, bringing her mother here, promising to care for her, paying for treatment that would save her life ... he'd won Jennifer's heart.
She could feel the love pouring from her like an overfilled sink. Love, and all of it meant for him.