plate. “I hope you haven’t stopped by to tell me that Frankie’s condition has gotten worse.”
“No. Actually, I think she’s slightly improved from yesterday, but her lungs still have a long way to go before I can pronounce them clear.”
“Damn woman,” Chloe muttered. “She should have had heart surgery a year ago when you advised her to.”
Ileana sighed. Frankie wasn’t the first stubborn patient she’d encountered. Over the eleven years she’d been a practicing physician, Ileana had run into her fair share, and when a patient refused treatment it always left her feeling frustrated and helpless. “That’s true. Her lungs are going to keep giving her problems if she doesn’t get her heart sound. But she’s afraid.”
Chloe frowned. “Well, aren’t we all afraid of medical procedures? But if we’re smart, we do them, because we want to be well and at our best. Life is too short to simply exist. I want to live my God-given days to the fullest.”
Ileana thoughtfully stirred sugar into her iced tea. “Yes, but you have lots to live for. I’m not sure that Frankie views life the same as you, Mother. Losing Lewis has devastated her. Just like it would devastate you if Daddy died.”
“Of course losing Wyatt would crush me! He’s the love of my life. But I’d have to go on doing the very best that I could. To do any less would be dishonorable to Wyatt and you children.”
Yes, her mother would see it that way, Ileana thought. But Chloe was a scrapper. As very young women, she and her two sisters had struggled and sacrificed to keep the Bar M going when others would have given up. Frankie didn’t have that same fighting spirit. Could her past life be some of the reason for her lack of grit? Ileana wondered.
“Mother, speaking of children, have you ever heard Frankie mention that she had other children?”
Across the table, Chloe’s fork stopped midway to her mouth. “Other children? What kind of question is that?”
“It’s not some sort of joke, if that’s what you’re thinking. Besides, you know I don’t joke.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, I do know. But let’s not get into that now. What are you getting at? The idea of Frankie having other children is preposterous.”
Ileana reached for a piece of cornbread. “You wouldn’t be saying that if you’d met Mac McCleod.”
Her expression puzzled, Chloe repeated the name. “I’ve never heard the name. Who is he? Where did you meet him?”
“He’s a deputy sheriff from Bee County, Texas. He showed up at the hospital wanting to see Frankie.”
Her expression full of concern now, Chloe leaned forward. “You didn’t allow him to see her, did you?”
Her mother’s sudden anxiousness was suspicious. “You know I’m not allowing anyone in to see her except Quint, Alexa and Abe.”
Chloe glanced down at her plate but didn’t attempt to resume eating. Ileana could tell that her thoughts were whirling.
“Was it official business?” her mother asked.
“No. Personal.” Ileana stabbed a piece of macaroni with her fork. She didn’t like giving people she loved bad news. And she had a deep feeling that Mac McCleod’s appearance was going to shake up more than a few around here. Especially Alexa and Quint. What would they think about having two half brothers? “He—uh—he says he thinks Frankie might be his long-lost mother. In fact, he seems almost certain of it.”
“My God, Ivy! You can’t be serious!”
She couldn’t remember the last time her mother had called her Ivy, the nickname her father had given her shortly after she’d been born. He’d considered Ileana too long and formal for a tiny baby girl. But by the time she’d reached high school age, Ileana had outgrown the nickname. Now, the only people who sometimes called her Ivy were her father and her brother, Adam. Apparently, her mother was completely distressed tonight.
“Yes, Mother. It seemed incredulous to me, too. But the man isn’t a flake. Far from it. He seemed more than legitimate and very determined. He showed me an old snapshot of him and his brother and his mother before she’d left the family. If you took off thirty years, the woman did resemble Frankie.”
“An old photograph doesn’t prove anything. What was this man like? Did he look like he could be related to Frankie?” she asked, then shook her head with disgust. “What the hell am I doing asking that question? There’s just no way. No way at all that Frankie had other children. She would have told me.”
Just conjuring the image of Mac in her brain was enough to leave Ileana’s mouth dry, and she quickly reached for her tea. “He’s a tall, very handsome guy. A cowboy type. A typical Texan,” she added, even though there had been nothing typical at all about the man, she thought.
Ileana took several sips of tea while her mother sat in silence. Chloe was either stunned or scared, and Ileana couldn’t figure which.
“What’s wrong, Mother? You do know something, don’t you?”
“You can’t let this man see Frankie,” she suddenly blurted. “At least, not until we find out more about him.”
“Well, I’d already planned on that. Why?”
With a heavy sigh, Chloe went back to eating but not with the same gusto as when they’d first sat down at the table.
“Look, Ileana, when I first met Frankie, almost thirty years ago, she was just traveling through the area. She’d left Texas and a husband behind. He was making some frightening threats against her, and at that time she was in the process of getting a divorce and was going by the name of Robertson. She said she’d reverted back to her maiden name.”
Ileana’s thoughts were spinning. She’d not even known that Frankie had been married before. Apparently that was a part of her life she didn’t want others knowing about, and if that was true, she probably wanted to keep other things secret. Like two more sons? The whole idea was shocking.
“When you first met her, did she ever mention what her married name was while she’d lived in Texas?” Ileana asked.
Chloe shook her head. “No. She didn’t tell me. And I wasn’t about to ask. I only knew that she needed a friend. I could tell that she was a bit traumatized, but what woman wouldn’t be? The man had threatened to kill her. And he was a farmer, a respected member of the community, or so she’d said. She’d run because she’d figured if she’d tried to get help, no one would have believed her complaints.”
Ileana thoughtfully pushed the goulash around her plate. “Mac didn’t mention anything about farming. He said his father had been a sheriff. Maybe Frankie isn’t the woman he’s looking for. But most of the things he said adds up, Mother.”
“How old was this—Mac—as you call him?”
Color instantly bloomed on Ileana’s face. Now why had she come out with his first name, as though she knew the man on a personal basis? “My age, I think. He told me his mother left the family when he was ten and his brother eight. And that she’s been gone twenty-nine years.”
“Oh,
