What is it with authors dropping the ball on the ending of books?

This is another in my quest to read the first 100 HPs. This one is numbered 54. It was published in 1972 and is the 42nd one I have read so far. It takes place in the Camargue region of France. It mostly dealt with miscommunication. I'm going to blame the hero just a little bit more here. Seriously she asked him 4 or 5 times when he was going to marry the other woman and he never told her he wasn't. And even though she (the OW) was crippled and lived with his family, he clearly had broken up with her years ago. He kinda deserved all the angst he went through. I liked the descriptions of the local area. I liked the heroine generally. I felt that she had a fairly decent reason for the secret baby although not a whole lot of reason to continue the secret. She had come to France to ask for money to take her child to a warmer climate for his health and she managed to bring an oddly extensive wardrobe with her.

So I liked it but the author totally failed on the ending. The OW brought them together. Going out of her way to go to another country and tell the heroine that the hero had been injured nearly unto death by a bull. Sort of I don't want him and now you can't have him because he's dying, ha ha. So the heroine goes running to his side. The second in a row I've read where the heroine makes the final running. There were a couple of things left hanging that I would have liked some clarity on.

Still on the whole worth the read. ( )