Protecting Her Child Read Online Free PDF

shrugged. “Things happened.”
    â€œSo I’m the love child she gave away.” Meredith’s tone of voice hovered between anger and regret.
    â€œAt her parents’ insistence.” Pete thought of the Townsends’ strict rules and harsh censure of anything but the most proper behavior. “Eve wanted to keep you, but her parents were unrelenting. They said adoption into a loving family would be better for the baby.”
    Meredith groaned. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. “Loving family? What was the criterion they used?”
    Evidently, Sam and Hazel Collins hadn’t been the best of parents.
    â€œThe Townsends went through a trusted lawyer,” Pete continued, hoping to convince Meredith of the wealthy family’s good intentions. “He assured them you would be well cared for.”
    She swallowed hard. “Does she have other children?”
    He shook his head. “Eve never married. Shortly after you were born, she started having medical problems. Tumors developed, and she was diagnosed with a disease called Von Hippel-Lindau.”
    â€œTumors? Are they cancerous?”
    â€œNot at the onset, although they do cause problems. They can attack various organs. Sometimes the retina. Or the spinal cord. Often the adrenal gland.”
    She listened attentively.
    â€œWhen the disease zeros in on the kidneys, the tumors turn malignant. Researchers are now trying to determine which forms of kidney cancer are related to VHL.”
    â€œYou’re saying some people don’t know they have the disease?”
    â€œThat’s right. VHL can go undetected until a major organ is affected. It’s a genetic disease that can be inherited from either parent. Or it can appear sporadically for no known reason.”
    â€œAnd Eve’s kidneys are involved?”
    â€œShe had one removed two years ago. Renal cell carcinoma was diagnosed a few months back.”
    With her arms wrapped protectively over the child within her belly, Meredith looked vulnerable, and Pete’s heart went out to her. She deserved more than the bad news he’d come bearing.
    â€œEve wants you to know about VHL so you can be tested. You might not carry the disease.”
    â€œBut if I do, I could pass VHL on to my baby.”
    â€œIt’s a possibility. Eve can explain everything.”
    Meredith narrowed her eyes. “I don’t want to see her.”
    Pete hadn’t expected the depth of emotion he heard in her response. “Please, Meredith—”
    â€œDo you know what a child thinks when her mother abandons her?” She dropped her gaze and picked at the edge of her sweater. “A child thinks she’s unlovable. That she’s done something wrong. That she deserves the scolding and lectures. That she deserves to be—”
    Her voice hitched, and he saw the angry tears that glistened in her eyes.
    She swiped her hand over her face and sniffed. “I’ve cried enough in my life. I don’t want to cry anymore. Tell her thanks for the invitation to reconnect, but I’ll pass.”
    She stood and started to race away.
    Pete hurried after her. “At least be tested. I can draw your blood at my laboratory. You don’t have to meet your mother.”
    â€œI’ve got your number. I’ll think it over.”
    He grabbed her arm, causing her to turn. Once again, the light from the Lodge played over her face.
    â€œWhat are you involved in, Meredith?”
    â€œMeaning?”
    â€œWere Dixie Collins and her boyfriend working with you and your husband?”
    Her eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œDixie and her boyfriend broke into your house last night.”
    She flinched. “But how—?”
    â€œI wanted information to take to Eve so I followed them.”
    Meredith took a step back. “I don’t know anything about you, Pete Worth, and you know even less about