Love Under Two Reluctant Heroes by Cara Covington (best books to read fiction txt) 📕

else. Not only did he not have any girl sperm, his genes sure as hell didn’t have cancer in them. And since her kid was a girl and got cancer, then the brat was no kid of his. I should have fucking left her right after she popped out a girl instead of staying and giving her a chance to give me the son I deserved.

That was his story, and it was a good one. Who could blame a man for not wanting any part of a sick kid that wasn’t even his own?

“Croaked? Naw, from what I hear, Libby’s doing great. Jeanie told me that they’re making miracles these days with childhood cancer. She’s almost completely cured, Jeanie said.”

“Bullshit. That disease is a death sentence. Everybody knows it.” Not only a death sentence to the one who has it but to their family, too. Buck considered himself lucky for the escape he’d made. The divorce had dinged him some, but at least he didn’t end up owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in hospital bills.

“Think what you like, buddy.” Rudi took a swig from his bottle then waved it as he swallowed. “But that wasn’t the news I was talking about.

“Here’s the news. Rachel spent more than a year in Memphis while Libby was at that famous hospital there, getting treatment. Jeanine said it was a real fancy place—a condo with all the bells and whistles. And then they came back to Waco, but they weren’t back here long before they moved again. Jeanie didn’t tell me much more except that Rachel’s really happy now. She’s debt free, and she’s got a nice big house in this nice little town west of Waco.”

Buck blinked. He set his beer down and looked at Rudi. “What the hell? Did she win a lottery or something?”

“Jeanie didn’t say. But you have to figure, don’t you? Fancy, famous hospital, now a new house?” There was a sense of gloating in Rudi’s tone.

Buck would just bet the bastard would laugh himself six ways from Sunday thinking about Rachel being rich as Midas while Buck kept getting let go from his jobs. Not my fault. All my bosses have been total assholes lately.

Of course, having a house wasn’t all fun and games. These days, Buck didn’t have to worry about spending his spare time fixing a house up. Time was when barely a week would go by when one repair or another would have had to be seen to. Sometimes taking care of his property ate his weekends completely. He was glad to be done with that.

He lived in a small bachelor apartment, no fuss, no muss, and no repair bills.

No, you just have to worry about keeping a job so you can pay the fucking rent.

He didn’t say anything to Rudi in response, because he’d be damned if he gave the son of a bitch the satisfaction of knowing how pissed off he really was.

Instead, he just hunkered into himself, the way he did when he wanted to be left alone. He didn’t say another word to Rudi, but he thought. He thought plenty.

How could Rachel afford the hospital bills, and a new house, unless she’d won a lottery? Despite his uncle’s hints to the contrary, she sure hadn’t inherited much from her parents when they’d died.

The two of them had been married four years before they’d had Elizabeth. He’d wanted a son, and they’d tried some more after the girl, but things hadn’t worked out for him. He’d been happy in the beginning, those first few years of marriage because she’d waited on him, made him feel like a king. But then, with no son, things went for a major dump. Rachel didn’t get pregnant again, and they’d started to fight. He’d figured she’d been doing something to stop herself from getting pregnant, so he’d searched through her stuff, looking for pills.

She was his wife. She was living under his roof. It was his right to look any damn where and at any damn thing he wanted to. He hadn’t found anything, but that was beside the point.

His uncle had sold him on marrying Rachel, because she was an only child, her folks were old, and all their money would be going to her—or, if he married her, to him when they passed.

The pittance he’d gotten from their estate had been enough to pay a few of his bills, but it hadn’t been the fortune he’d been expecting. Then they’d found out that the kid had cancer, and all he could see was everything he’d worked hard for going down the toilet. He’d likely lose his house and his little bit of savings…so he’d left her, let her have the few dollars in the bank and the house the bank was sure to repossess anyway, because he’d skipped a mortgage payment or two lately. Rachel only ever worked as a waitress after we got married. Working for tips sure didn’t bring in much. And money she brought in with her dumb hippie beads, well, that was only pennies. There’d been no doubt in Buck’s mind that he’d made a damn good decision and a damn good escape.

I wonder how long she’s been rolling in the dough. God knew that woman was so cheap he had no doubt that it didn’t matter. She’d have held on to that cash with both hands. Sure as hell would squawk loud enough if I went out after work and had a few beers with the guys.

Buck had no doubt about it. He’d thought and come to the logical conclusion. Rachel Cosgrove, his wife, had come into some major cash—and the fact he hadn’t heard about it meant she intended for him to never know.

He needed a plan. There was no way on God’s green earth he’d let her get away with cheating him out of his fair share of the fortune she’d come into.

 

Chapter Three

Libby was feeling really happy. She and her best friend, Bonnie Dorchester, had