by Deanna Chase
“No, dad, I’m not getting involved with him,” she said, telling herself it wasn’t a lie since she’d already decided they couldn’t move forward with whatever relationship they’d started. “You’re right, it would be a bad idea.”
“Good, good,” he said absently. “I don’t want to see you hurt again.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that and decided it wasn’t worth asking. She didn’t want to be hurt any more than she already had.
“I was talking about Vinn,” her father said. “He was flirting with her. They both deny it, but I know flirting when I see it.”
Yvette gave Noel a he’s-lost-his-mind look. “Dad was hallucinating due to his dehydration.”
Noel raised both eyebrows and eyed her sister. “Vinn? Really?”
Yvette just shook her head. “No. He was just being nice to me because I was freaked out about dad passing out.” She turned to her father. “We spoke with your doctor, Dad.”
He stared up at the ceiling and sighed. “I figured you would.”
Noel moved to the other side of her father’s bed and sat opposite Yvette. “We know you’re still getting treatments. Why did you make us believe you were done with them for now?”
He gritted his teeth, clearly uncomfortable being questioned by his two oldest daughters. “I just wanted some peace. That’s all. Clair has been taking me to my appointments.”
“Okay,” Yvette said. “That’s good, but don’t you think we should be kept informed about your medical treatment?” She could hear the hurt in her own voice and she wanted to swallow her words. He didn’t need a guilt trip while he was in the hospital. She just wanted him to take care of himself.
“I’m a grown man, Yvette,” he said.
“I know that, Dad. But do you know how scared I was today when you went down at the brewery? I had no idea you’d had a treatment yesterday. If I had, maybe then I’d at least have understood what was going on. Instead, I was convinced you’d had a heart attack… or worse. I’m just asking that you keep us updated. If you don’t want us going to your doctor visits or getting in your business, tell us to butt out. But at least let us know what’s going on.”
He glanced at both of his daughters. Yvette could see by his slightly irritated expression that he wanted to tell her to butt out right then and there, but because he was Lin Townsend and loved his daughters more than anything in the world, he nodded. “That’s fair.”
Noel smiled. “Thanks. There’s one more thing.”
He groaned. “What?”
“Your doctor said you’re overworking yourself, and you’ve been restricted to six hours a week,” Noel said.
Lin’s eyes narrowed. “I was just dehydrated.”
“So we’ve heard,” Yvette said. “Dr. Sims says if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re at risk for infection. And let me tell you this right now, Dad, we’re not letting that happen. So six hours at the brewery. That’s it. And we’re going to hold Clay and Rhys responsible.”
“How about I just hand everything over and stay home in my recliner?” he asked in a clipped tone, his eyes flashing with anger. “You can hire me a nurse to wait on me hand and foot, and I’ll just spend the rest of my life doing nothing but watching daytime television. Are those soaps your mother used to watch still on? Maybe I can finally find out what all the fuss was about.”
“Nah, Dad, you don’t have to watch soaps,” Noel said. “You can binge watch just about anything on Netflix. You should give The Walking Dead a try. It’s hugely popular.”
“Why would I do that? I’m already living the life of the walking dead.”
Yvette had to stifle a laugh. He was being so dramatic. “Noel’s just messing with you, Dad. No one wants you to waste your days in the recliner.”
“No?” He glared at Yvette. “Well, that’s what will happen if I stop working at the brewery. Now that there isn’t much to do with the orchard over the winter, I don’t have anything else to do. Why do you think I offered to fill in for Clay?”
“You can still work six hours,” Yvette said lamely, feeling awful for her father. She was finally able to see just how terrible and frustrating this illness was for her dad. It wasn’t just the battling of the disease; it was everything else. Having his daughters take on the role of caretaker, being forced out of his business, and feeling like a spectator in his own life.
He snorted. “Great.”
Yvette met Noel’s gaze. Neither of them knew what to say. Yvette desperately wished she had a magic wand she could wave to make everything better for her father. And for maybe the first time in her adult life, she found herself feeling truly helpless.
Chapter Eighteen
Yvette barely slept. After spending the evening with her dad in the hospital, she’d been exhausted, but every time she dozed off, she saw him lying unconscious on the floor of his office, his skin that sickly gray color. Only when she found him on the floor in her dreams, he didn’t wake up.
She was up by five, unwilling to keep reliving the same dream over and over again. And even though her body ached from fatigue, she walked out of her house at five minutes to six and headed straight for Incantation Café.
Twenty minutes later, armed with the best coffee in town and two bear claws, she strode into the hospital and made a beeline for her dad’s room. Technically, it wasn’t visiting hours, but no one stopped her or said a word when she slipped past the nurse’s station.
She found her dad propped up against the pillows, flipping through the morning news channels. “Good morning,” she said, forcing the brightness in her tone.
He glanced over at her and a genuine smile tugged at his lips. “What are you doing here so early, Rusty?”
“Bringing my favorite father breakfast.” She set the coffee and bag of pastries on the cart next to his bed. “I figured this would be better than anything they were serving.”
He picked up the coffee cup and breathed in the rich aroma. “You are now officially my favorite daughter.”
She rolled her eyes. “You’re so easily bribed.”
“That’s probably true.” He stuffed one of the bear claws in his mouth with the exuberance of a little kid.
She sipped her coffee and waited for him to polish off the pastry. Once he was done, she said, “You’re in an awfully good mood this morning.”
“Why wouldn’t I be? They’re springing me out of here any minute.” He sucked down a swig of his coffee and let out a contented sigh. “You really know how to get back in my good graces, don’t you?”
His statement startled a laugh out of her. “It would appear so,” she agreed and sat down on the edge of his bed. “Listen, Dad, I’m pretty sure I owe you an apology.”
He grabbed another bear claw, but before he bit into it, he gave her a confused glance. “For what?”
“For treating you like a little kid,” she blurted. “For going behind your back to talk to your doctor without you. And most of all, for not listening all of these months when you’ve been telling us you need something more to do than just hanging around the house. We—I just don’t want you to be sick anymore.”
He reached out and grabbed her hand. “I don’t want to be sick anymore either, love, but it’s the hand I’ve been dealt, and I have to deal with it. It’s my battle to conquer.”
“Of course it is, but you don’t have to do it alone. We’re all here for you.”
“I know,” he said simply. “But you can’t just set rules for me to abide by and hope the disease goes away. I’ve done my research. I’m fully aware that this is a type of cancer I could be living with for the rest of my life. And if I’m going to really live, then it’s not going to be behind the television screen watching other people’s pretend lives.”
“I understand completely,” she said with a nod. If anyone tried to get her to stay away from her business, that message would be dead on arrival. “And I think you should spend as many hours as you want at the brewery.”
Lin eye
d her with suspicion. “What happened? Judging by last night’s conversation, I was certain this was a fight we were going to have over and over again. What changed?”
Yvette pointed to herself. “I did. First, I couldn’t stop dreaming about you lying unconscious on the office floor. Then I realized that if someone tried to keep me away from my bookstore while I was in treatment, it might be the last thing they ever did. It’s important for you to have something to live for other than us kids. I’m sorry we tried to take that away from you.”
His wiry eyebrows shot up. “You did? How?”
“We sort of convinced your doctor that you don’t really take it easy at work, and that’s why she reduced your allotted time there.”
“That’s… all true,” he said with a laugh. Then his eyes glittered as he asked, “You know what, Yvette?”
“What’s that, dad?”
“I wasn’t going to listen anyway, so it’s really no big deal. I’ll work when I want to, and I’ll be much more careful about taking care of myself, but that’s all I can promise.”
“That’s all I need,” Yvette said, leaning down to give him a hug. His warm arms wrapped around her, giving her one of his legendary hugs.
“Thank you, my sweet girl,” he whispered in her ear.
“For what?” she asked.
“For loving your old man enough that you showed up here before the crack of dawn with goods from the Pelshes’ cafe.” He grinned. “What do you say? Should we make a second stop there when you give me a lift home?”
“Definitely. More caffeine and sugar are always the correct answers.”
“That’s what I thought,” he said with a nod.
“Good morning, Ms. Townsend,” the night nurse said as she swept into the room holding a clipboard. She turned to Lin. “Ready to blow this popsicle stand?”
“You have no idea just how much,” he said.
“Excellent.” She handed him a file of paperwork. “Inside you’ll find instructions from Dr. Sims for your continued recovery. Don’t forget to hydrate.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said. “I certainly will. And if I don’t, I’m sure my daughters are on standby, figuring out who will be my caretaker.”
“There’s no need to wonder, Dad,” Yvette said. “I have a feeling I’ve already been nominated for that prestigious honor.”
“Heaven help us,” he said, and as the nurse bustled back out of the room again, Lin patted the bed for his daughter to join him again. “Take a seat.”
She did as she was told and waited.
It took him a moment to form the words, but when he did, he got straight to the point. “I know you’re seeing Jacob Burton.”
“How did you… who told you this?”
Her father brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “No one, love. Though he did come here last night looking for you. That was my first clue.”
“Wait, what? Jacob was here?” she asked.
“In the flesh.”
She was stunned. After the brush-off earlier in the day, she’d gotten the impression he wouldn’t be calling her again.
“You lied to me about him. Why, Yvette?”
She glanced over at her tough-as-nails father and shrugged. “I guess because I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me.”
Her father sucked in a sharp breath. “Why would you think that? You’re entitled to a date every now and then.”
“Yes, but experiments in mixing business with pleasure have always ended poorly for me. You’d think I’d learn, but…”
“No one ever does when it comes to matters of the heart,” he said, patting her hand. “Forget anything I said about your choice to date Jacob Burton. He’s a good man from what I can tell, and he’d be so lucky if you decided he was worth your time.”
“He is a good man,” Yvette said sadly. “I just don’t think he’s interested in being my good man.”
Lin chuckled softly. “That’s not what I saw when he came barging in here last night looking for you. I suppose there’s a chance I could be wrong…” he shrugged, “I’m not though.”
The nurse charged back in with a wheelchair before Yvette could say another word. “Ready for the express train out of here?”
“You know it,” Lin said and took his place in the wheelchair. “My daughter’s got it from here.” He turned to Yvette. “Let’s go. There’s another bear claw or two just waiting for me.”
Chapter Nineteen
Thursday morning dawned bright and sunny, a rarity for Keating Hollow in January. Jacob stood on his deck bundled in a scarf and jacket and felt a longing he hadn’t experienced in many years. Maybe not since he’d been a freshman in high school and had fallen hard for Mary Jean Hopkins, the transfer student from Austin, Texas who’d moved back home after her parents separated.
He couldn’t stop wishing Yvette was standing next to him, enjoying the incredible view of the redwoods. He could almost feel her nestled beside him, smiling and chattering on about something a customer had said. The past two days had been torture working with her. She’d been her polite, cheery self, but also distant as if she’d already accepted that whatever had been going on with them was over.
Jacob hated it. He wanted to march into her office and tell her everything, to explain that he’d just learned about his daughter and that if his life hadn’t suddenly taken a left turn, he’d be sweeping her off her feet and praying that she fell in love with him. He wouldn’t though. What purpose would that serve other than making him feel better? Laying his crap on her would only make things worse.
His phone buzzed, interrupting his thoughts. He glanced down and saw it was from Yvette. The contractor had arrived to talk about putting a window in his office, and she needed his input. Jacob closed his eyes and muttered a curse. He’d forgotten all about the window. It was completely unnecessary now that he’d decided he needed to leave Keating Hollow, only he hadn’t had the courage to tell Yvette yet. He’d been waiting to talk to Sienna this weekend and find out more about her future plans.
I’ll be there in ten minutes, he typed back.
The green light lit up indicating she was typing something back, but then it disappeared. He waited, expecting a reply, but none came. Jacob shoved the phone into his pocket, pulled out his keys, and headed for his truck. It was time to face the music.
“Yvette?” Jacob called as he knocked on her office door. When there was no reply, he cracked the door open and peeked in. The room was empty. He’d already checked his office, but there hadn’t been any sign of Yvette or the contractor.
“She’s not here,” Brinn said from behind him.
Jacob spun and eyed the young woman who’d been busy helping a customer when he’d walked into the store. “She just texted me fifteen minutes ago.”
Brinn nodded. “She got a call from her niece’s school and rushed out of here in a panic. Apparently they couldn’t get in touch with Noel, so they called Yvette.”
He felt himself go cold inside as he remembered the vibrant young girl he’d met at Lincoln Townsend’s the night he’d had dinner with them. “Daisy’s hurt?”
“I think so, but I didn’t get any of the details.”
“Thanks, Brinn.”
He pulled out his phone and sent Yvette a text, asking if everything was all right. He hadn’t expected a return text so soon, but she immediately typed back, No. Can you come to the school? Daisy and I need a ride.
I’m on my way.
Without another thought, he rushed out of the store and jumped into his truck. The school was only two blocks away, and when he pulled up to the curb where Yvette and Daisy were waiting, he quickly learned why she’d needed him to come get them. Her bike was leaning against the wall of the building, and Daisy was holding a blood-soaked towel over her left eye, whimpering as Yvette tried to soothe her.
Jacob ran around the truck and helped them both in. Once he was back behind the wheel, he glanced at Yvette. “The emergency room or the healer’s office?”
“The healer’s office. I already called Gerry, and she’s confident she’ll be able to stitch her up and tend to her bruises,” Yvette said. She had her arm wrapped around her niece and was gently stroking her.
“You got it.” He put the truck in gear and headed for the center of town.
“Thank you for coming for us,” she said. “I didn’t drive to work today, so I only had my bike, and Noel is out in Eureka running errands today.”
“You’re welcome,” Jacob said. “I’m happy to help.”
“Auntie?” Daisy said with a whimper.
“Yes, sweet pea?” Yvette said, her voice tender.
“My head hurts a lot.”
“I bet it does,” Yvette soothed. “We don’t have too much further to go, and then Gerry will fix you right up, make you good as new. Can you hang in there for me?”
“Okay.” The little girl’s voice was so meek and pathetic that Jacob longed to scoop her up in his arms and shield her from everyone and everything.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I fell,” Daisy said, her bottom lip trembling.
Yvette’s eyes turned dark and stormy as she added, “She had help with that fall.”
Anger balled in this pit of his stomach and Jacob had to work to keep his expression neutral. “I hope he—”
“She,” Yvette corrected.
“Sorry,” he said. “I hope she apologized.”
“Not yet,” Yvette said with a sigh. “But her parents have been called, and I’m sure the school will deal with it appropriately. If not, they are going to have one very upset Townsend clan storming the gates.”
Not just the Townsends, he thought. Even though he knew it was irrational, he couldn’t help but feel protective after seeing the injured child so upset. If Yvette or her sister needed him for anything, he’d be there. But then he remembered that he was planning to leave town sooner rather than later.
