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response.
    â€œI’m not telling you how to run your business—Well, maybe I am. The purpose of hiring and training someone is because you want them to be able to handle the job with or without supervision. What would she have done if you weren’t around?”
    â€œBut I was around. I’m the manager. It’s my responsibility—”
    â€œAnd you have a life.”
    She huffed and pushed up from the couch. “For twenty-five years I devoted my life to making a home, being a wife to the exclusion of anything I wanted for myself. I didn’t know I could do anything other than cook, clean, decorate and be a wife and mother. This spa opened a new world for me. It’s given me a confidence I’d lost. It helped me realize that I’m so much more than I had been.”
    â€œI understand that. But, at the same time, Ellie, you can’t now allow the job to become your new dependent. At some point, you have to find a way to separate yourself from the job.”
    She averted her gaze. He didn’t understand, not really. How could he comprehend how much it all meant to her? The spa is what helped her heal, got her over the hurdle of Matt’s betrayal and the ensuing divorce. If she didn’t have the responsibilities of running the spa she would have lost her mind.
    â€œEll, all I’m saying is make time for you so that you can make time for us. That’s all I’m saying,” he repeated.
    She slunk back over to the couch and plopped down next to him. “I’ll try,” she murmured.
    Ron draped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head.
    Yet, even as she agreed and sat curled in the security of his embrace, she was wondering what was going on downstairs and, more importantly, just how much would her love for her job affect her relationship with Ron.

Chapter 2
    M atthew Lewis sat in the quiet of his doctor’s office on the Eastside of upper Manhattan. He’d gotten the call from his doctor’s nurse that it was very important that he come in as soon as possible. When Matthew questioned why, he was informed that, “the doctor would explain everything.”
    He didn’t like the sound of it. He heard the door open behind him. Dr. Chavis walked in.
    â€œThank you for coming, Matt,” he said as he went around the desk and sat down.
    â€œWhat’s this all about? Is it the tests?”
    Dr. Chavis opened a folder on his desk. He paused for several moments before speaking. He looked directly at Matthew. “The test results are not good. We found elevated PSA levels and, in conjunction with the exam, the swelling of the prostate gives me cause for concern.”
    Matthew felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. All the color drained from his face.
    Dr. Chavis held up his hand. “There is some good news. There are a great deal of treatment options, especially for a man of your age who is in reasonably good health.”
    The doctor’s voice drifted off. Matthew no longer heard him. Cancer. The doctor hadn’t come right out and said it, but it hung in the air like a bad smell. The word sent a chill through him. His father had died of prostate cancer and so had his uncle. It ran in his family and the risk of it killing him, as well, rose exponentially. That much, he did know.
    â€œI want to get you in the hospital as soon as possible and take some more tests. They’ll do a biopsy. After we’ve examined the tissue under a microscope, we’ll know best how to proceed.”
    Matthew started blankly at the doctor. “When do you want me to come in?”
    The doctor opened his appointment book. “Tomorrow at noon.”
    â€œTomorrow?” Fear gripped his gut. “So soon?”
    â€œThe sooner the better, Matt, I’m sure you know that.”
    Matthew swallowed over the dry knot in his throat.
    â€œIn your medical history you indicated that both your father and your