Allison reached past the monitor cords, found her husband’s hand, and clasped it hard. “You’re asking me to make the most heartbreaking decision of my life,” she said. “You’re telling me I’ll need a lawyer to fight for my rights. But I don’t understand what those rights are, or whom I’d be fighting. This is no time to keep secrets from me, Burke. Not even for my own good.”

Burke closed his eyes. He appeared to be resting, but Allison knew he was thinking about what to say and how much to tell her. When he opened his eyes again, he looked tired and in pain. “How much do you know?” he asked.

“Only what Garrett told me—that the American Heartland is in danger of going under and maybe taking the agency with it. He said that in order to survive, you’ll need to remodel the theater and hire some big-name acts.”

He took a deep breath, bringing his oxygen level up. “Did he tell you there’s no money for that, and that the loan we took out to get the building up to code is due at the end of the year? And did he tell you what our options are?”

“As I understand it, you could either try to refinance for enough to pay off the existing loan and make the improvements, or bring an investor on board.”

“That’s right. I was working after hours on an application for the refinance, taking time to cover all the bases, when this damned accident happened. I figure the loan is a risk, but an honest risk. If we can pull the American Heartland out of this slump, we should be able to make the monthly payments and come out with our ownership intact. If not, it’ll be abandon ship, every man for himself.”

His eyes narrowed. “That’s just one of the reasons you need a lawyer in your corner. You’ll need to get out of this marriage and take everything you can get your hands on, before the whole house of cards collapses and me with it—if that’s what’s going to happen. Take my word for it—you won’t want what’s left of me by the time this is over.”

Allison’s stoic expression masked a storm of emotions. Her husband was telling her to divorce him, for the most mercenary reason she could imagine. How could he believe her capable of such a cold-blooded act? She had vowed to take him for better or for worse, and she’d never intended to break that vow.

But right now, her hurt feelings couldn’t be allowed to matter. She was here to learn and understand, not to judge.

“You say you were working on the refinance,” she said. “If you go ahead with the application, what are its chances of being approved?”