Free Jesse's Soul (2) by Amy Gregory Page B

was the struggle. It was necessary to get it all and keep me from possibly having to go through worse stuff in the future. But with my age and being so young…” She tried to shrug it off. “The doctors, my dad, and I…we all really struggled with that. In the end, we all decided it was the best course of treatment for me. So no, no kids.”
    “I’m sorry, Emery. I’m so sorry.”
    “It’s fine. Some days are better than others. They’ve been really worried about depression because of that, and well, like I said, some days are better than others. But if I get down, then I don’t feel like eating much, then I get to feeling bad, and it’s the whole cycle again.” She glanced at Molly. “What a mess. I hate that I’ve dumped this all on you. You barely know me. Like I said, I don’t tell people about this. My family knows and now you…that’s it. I’m kind of a private person.” Slowly releasing a deep breath, she tilted her head and prepared to beg Molly to keep her secret. “Please don’t go and tell Jesse about this. Please, Molly?”
    “Oh, sweetie, I know what it’s like to want things kept private. I understand. I won’t say anything.”
    “I just don’t need a repeat of Collin. There is no way I could take that again.”
    “Who’s Collin?”
    A slip of the tongue bit her in the ass. The first time she’d had made a connection with another woman and Emery was going to blow it by dumping more personal baggage than a new friendship was allowed. Humiliated, she snorted.
    “He was my boyfriend. We were almost engaged.” Her shoulder jerked like it was a useless piece of information, embarrassed to admit even knowing the man, let alone almost marrying him. Emery just about snickered at the shock on Molly’s face, but in reality—it wasn’t funny.
    “Was? Were?”
    “I guess you might as well know the rest of the story.” Emery tried to smile, but it was a useless effort. “In short form. We’d been together for almost two years before I got sick. He was six years older than me, so he was ready to settle down, buy the house, have kids, a dog, and the picket fence. When I got the diagnosis, he pulled away immediately, but at the time, I’d just ch alked it up to him being a man and not being able to handle bad news. Then when it came down to it and they had to go ahead with the hysterectomy, he walked out. Literally.”
    Seeing the astonishment on Molly’s face brought home how terrible that piece of the story really sounded out loud. Up until now, it had been locked away in the back of her mind never to be touched again.
    So much for that plan.
    “No. You cannot be serious, Emery.”
    With her palms out, she shrugged. It sure as hell wasn’t something she’d make up. In the end, she’d been the one to not only feel the loss, but the pain of looking stupid for ever thinking that man was someone she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
    “Really. I was in the hospital, they’d run a bunch of pre-op tests and they were going to do the surgery the next morning. My dad, Riley and his wife, Lauren, and my grandparents on my dad’s side were all there. Collin stood in the corner as the doctor explained everything about the surgery and then about the treatments they would do afterward. He asked if they were sure they couldn’t treat it without the hysterectomy, and the doctor explained why it was the best option, again. The doctor walked out, and he walked over to me, kissed my forehead, wished me good luck with everything, and said he wanted kids. He walked out of the room before I knew what hit me.”
    “Oh my God. You have to be joking me. I am so sorry. I don’t even know what to say.”
    Emery let out a breath. “It’s okay. There’s nothing to say. It’s over. It made the surgery harder to deal with, and not being able to have kids gets a little more depressing when added to it is the fact that I’ve actually been left because I couldn’t give a man children. But,