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Zach grabbed the folder from Chad and threw it to the floor. “That’s a huge violation of Dusty’s privacy. Not to mention illegal, Chad.”
“So you don’t want to know the details then?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Zach,” Laurie said, “I don’t condone this invasion of Dusty’s privacy, but I think you should listen. It’ll help you understand why she left you.”
He sat. He couldn’t help the curiosity that flowed through him. His Dusty, sick? He had to know what happened. “Fine. Go ahead.”
“You’re sure?” Chad asked.
“For Christ’s sake, Chad, speak!”
“It turns out A.L.L. has a pretty good survival rate. For some reason, Mollie didn’t respond, but Dusty did. She only needed four months of chemo and she was in remission.”
“God.” The thought of Dusty having to endure even one second of chemo broke his heart.
“A.L.L. is actually more common in kids than adults,” Chad continued. “So it’s pretty weird that both Mollie and Dusty got it as adults. Could be genetic, but nothing in the records indicates that there’s any basis for that. Anyway, the chemo doesn’t have a lot of lasting effects in kids, but in adults, there are things that occur pretty frequently.”
“Such as?”
“Infertility, Zach. Dusty can’t have children.”
“Fuck.” Zach buried his head in his hands. As much as Dusty loved animals, he had a hunch she loved kids even more. “They know for sure she’s infertile?”
“It’s pretty likely. The records are full of references of irregular periods. She’s only had like four periods since she was sick. They’re pretty sure she’s infertile.”
“Damn, it must have killed her to find that out.”
“I imagine,” Laurie said. “That girl’s a born mother if I ever saw one. The way she fusses over animals. It was apparent even when she was a small child.”
“None of that matters to me,” Zach said. “I never told her I wanted kids.”
“But you do,” Laurie said.
“Well, yeah, I do. But we could adopt. I’d rather have Dusty.”
“The story’s not over yet, bro.”
“There’s more?” Zach clenched his jaw. He wasn’t sure he could take anymore.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Go on.”
“Well, you’ve gotta know that chemo ain’t cheap. The O’Donovans didn’t have any health insurance.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yeah. Sean was determined that Dusty would get the best care available, especially after what happened to Mollie. He needed money, and he needed it quickly, because as you can imagine, you don’t mess around with cancer. You treat it as soon as you find it. Anyway, he got involved in some shady business dealings that went awry. He damn near lost everything. The ranch ended up mortgaged to the hilt. They had to sell everything—the cattle, the animals, even some of the property itself. The only thing of value they kept was Dusty’s barrel racer, Regina. I guess old Sean couldn’t bear to take the mare away from his sick daughter. You know how Dusty loves animals.”
“It must have killed her to sell Regina to Harper Bay,” Dallas said.
“She sold her horse to Harper Bay?” Laurie shook her head.
“Yeah,” Zach said. “Go on, Chad.”
“Anyway, Sean kind of wilted away after that. He died within a year of Dusty’s remission. Word around Black Eagle is he died of a broken heart, if you believe that sort of thing. But there are some who say he took his own life.”
