He hated this, ached to tell her that, yes, of course he damn well wanted her! Of course she hadn’t been wrong about that! He’d been on fire for her, practically shaking with the effort of overcoming it. But what could he say? How could he say it?
I don’t trust this stuff because my dad chose to deal with cancer by leaving a good marriage in the dust, leaving his whole family in the dust, and even if I did trust it, I’ve promised my wife that I won’t get involved with anyone else until our divorce is through. Oh, and in case you’re forgetting, I used to be engaged to your sister.
It was the kind of emotional triple-play that could bring consequences—mess and anger and reproach—that he shuddered to contemplate.
Best let it alone, let her think it was a rejection. There was a level of safety in that.
“Brad is competent to manage everything I’ve left him with,” he said. “And I agree with you about Kyle. Brad has spoken to me about him, also.”
“I’ve been hoping he’d quit. Now I feel as if I’ve ill-wished him.”
“No such thing,” he told her bluntly.
“You think?”
“I know.”
It was part of the long list of things he didn’t believe in, because if ill-wishing worked, then Andrea Lewers would be covered in boils like volcanoes and would spit toads every time she talked like some character in a fairy tale, since his mom had been ill-wishing her relentlessly for years.
“Thanks for the reassurance,” Daisy said neutrally.
“You’re welcome.” Then he blurted out her name before he could stop himself. “Daisy...”
“Hmm?” Her eyes were narrowed and she looked tense and he hated it.
“Look, this past week, after we—”
“Tucker,” she cut in, more tense than ever, “if you’re talking about...out by the lake...can I apologize for that? It was inappropriate. I know that now. And I hoped I’d signaled clearly enough that you wouldn’t be subject to a repetition.”
“You did. I didn’t mean to—” He swore under his breath, wondering what in hell had made him open his mouth. “There was no need for me to bring it up. My turn to apologize.”
“Yes, well...” She gave a tight little nod. “We should just let it go.”
The tension between them flickered and shifted. There was no place for it now. They both headed for the pool, Daisy marching ahead with those blankets flopping in her arms.
“He’s still not coming round,” Brad said when they were close enough to see over the rim. Brad had stayed at Kyle’s side, while Scott had flung their jackets down there to cover him with. He seemed to have given up on the idea of continuing work on his own, and was just standing by the edge of the pool.
“Use these,” Daisy said, tossing the blankets down. “Let me stay with him until the ambulance gets here. This has happened on our site and I want to take responsibility.” She climbed down the dry, blue-painted steps of the pool, and went to kneel beside the unconscious man, ignoring the mucky water that quickly soaked the knees of her jeans. Carefully, she removed the two jackets and spread the blankets instead.
Brad stood up. “Boss?” Tucker wasn’t sure what to do, or how to feel. There was an uneasiness in all of them, stemming from the fact that none of them had liked Kyle all that much, but now he was badly hurt and no one would have wanted that.
Looking down at the scene in the pool, Tucker felt a rush of weird relief, seeing Daisy’s blond head bent over the injured worker.
“We have this under control,” he said. “Daisy’s here, the ambulance is coming, he’s fully covered by our insurance and I’m about to call Jackie to find out who we need to contact about what’s happened. I want you and Scott to get back to work, Brad, okay? There’s nothing more we can do for Kyle right now. Let’s not add a ruined pour and piles of hardened concrete to this disaster of an afternoon.”
A subdued and smaller work crew resumed the task of smoothing cement, leaving one section of it open to create a safe passage to the pool for the paramedics, while Tucker turned his back on them to speak to Jackie about Kyle’s emergency-contact details. He’d listed his mom, but when Tucker tried to call, her phone was switched off.
The ambulance arrived ten minutes later.
“I’m going to follow along,” Daisy said after they’d put Kyle in a neck collar, slid a spinal board beneath him, brought him with some difficulty up from the pool and loaded him into the back of the vehicle.
She’d climbed out of the pool, her pretty features all tight. Tucker realized how rare it was for her to look that way. Normally her face was so open and alive, eager and curious and involved. Seeing her like this gave him a powerful need to take action, but he knew he had to let it go. It wasn’t his role.
“Did you get ahold of anyone?” she asked, seeing that he still had his phone in his hand.
“Left a message on his mom’s phone.”
“Give me her number. I’ll keep trying her from the hospital.” She took out her own phone and stood there with her head bent a little as she input the number, her hand shielding the screen from the light.
“Keep me posted,” he told her. “I want to come in and see him...can’t imagine they’ll send him home today, he’s been out cold for a while now.”
“I kept hoping for him to groan or move, but he hasn’t. I hope we have better news when we get on to his mom.”
“Talk soon,” he promised, and reached out to squeeze her shoulder before he could stop himself. The rounded muscle there felt slight but firm, strengthened by the physical work required in a big professional kitchen. His thumb slid over the shoulder seam of her blue sweater. The office where she’d been working all morning was warm, and all she wore beneath it was a bra, but out here it was chillier and she looked cold after sitting on the chilly concrete of the pool, at Kyle’s side.
He wanted to pull her against him and warm her with his own body heat, feel the press of those sweet, pert breasts, smooth down her mussed-up hair. His thumb slipped again—and okay, it was deliberate—down toward her collarbone.
She looked at him, eyes narrowed, not warning him off but confused, asking a question. So now you’re touching me? Now you’re the one invading my space?
Damn! Damn! Damn!
He let her go, dropped his hand to his side and clenched it into a fist.
“It’s almost four,” she said. “I’m not going to be back by the time you stop for the day, so could you lock the office? Or ask Tony to, if his crew’s still here?” She kept it open for the work crews anytime she wasn’t around, in case they needed the fax machine or the refrigerator.
“Sure,” he said.
“Thanks.”
Within a minute or two, she’d gone, speeding up the driveway in her little red car, leaving him frustrated and cursing himself and still angry at Kyle.
Chapter Nine
“What shall I tell his mother, assuming I can reach her?” Daisy asked one of the nurses at the desk.
The emergency room was quiet. She’d been here over an hour but hadn’t been able to find out much. She’d tried Kyle’s mother’s phone three more times, leaving increasingly urgent messages, but there had still been no response. It was almost six in the evening now.
“He’s in a stable condition, and we’re waiting on tests,” the nurse answered. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you any more than that since you’re not next of kin. We would like someone here, if that’s possible. You don’t have any other contacts for him?”
“No, we don’t.”
“No one that his workmates know of? People don’t always think carefully when they fill in those forms at work. He could have a girlfriend or a roommate, someone else whom he would want to be here.”
“He hasn’t been working for Reid Landscaping very long, apparently. I’m not
sure how much they’ll know about his personal circumstances. But you’re right. Let me make another call.” She went to phone Tucker outside, where daylight had ebbed and the clouds had lowered but the dry weather still held.
“I’ll ask Brad and Scott, see if they know who he might want,” he said when she’d explained the issue.
“How is the concrete?”
“It’s done. It’s good. We’re about ready to leave, and Tony’s crew headed off over an hour ago. They’ve closed everything up. Just hang on a second.” Daisy heard the muffled sound of his voice questioning Kyle’s workmates, and then he came back on the line. “He has a girlfriend, Scott says. Her number should be in his phone. That’s still in our truck. I’m about to head to the hospital, so I’ll bring it and we can hand it over to the staff.”
“Okay, yes, that makes sense.”
“You’ll still be there?”
“I really don’t want to leave until Kyle has somebody here.”
“We can talk about that when I get there. It’s my responsibility more than yours. Reid Landscaping is my company.”
“It’s my pool, and Spruce Bay is my family’s resort. I’ll try his mom again.”
“Really hope you can reach her.”
“Me, too.”
“See you in a bit.”
That was, what, five words? Five words that echoed in Daisy’s head, and that she wanted to treasure. Casual words. She liked that. “See you in a bit” was something you said to people you felt comfortable with, and good about. She liked the idea that maybe Tucker felt good about her, even if he did keep her at a scrupulous distance.
She keyed in Kyle’s mother’s number yet again, expecting the message service, but this time, finally, someone picked up, at which point Daisy realized she had no idea how to address the person she was talking to. She didn’t know the woman’s name.
“Is this Kyle’s mother?”
“Yes, who is this?” The voice sounded scratchy and distracted.
It was an awkward conversation, and the other woman seemed slow to grasp what had happened. “You mean he’s in the hospital right now?”
“Yes.”
“So can I speak to him?”
“No, I’m afraid he’s still unconscious.”
“You want me to come? Are you one of the nurses?”
“No, I’m... He was working on site at a project Reid Landscaping is doing, and I’m—”
But the woman didn’t seem interested in the clarification. “I guess I’ll come. I’ll call a cab, or something.”
“If you need—” But Kyle’s mother had disconnected the call before Daisy could offer to pick her up, and she was left with no idea of when to expect her arrival.
Tucker should be here soon, she reminded herself.
But he didn’t come, and close to another hour passed, which meant it was after seven, and the nurses still had nothing to tell her about Kyle’s condition. She sat in the waiting area, perched on the edge of a plastic seat, watching the automatic doors at the entrance swishing open and shut whenever someone went in or out.
Then finally...
“Are you the lady who called me?” The woman was scrappily dressed and poorly groomed. She apologized for both. “I was taking a nap.” Passed out, Daisy corrected mentally. Kyle’s mom reeked of stale alcohol and still sounded slightly slurred. “I’d only just woken up when you called.”
“We’ll find someone on staff.” She stood and put an awkward arm around the woman’s shoulders, feeling a surge of sympathy despite the questionable beginning. This was a mother with an injured son. “They’ll be able to tell you much more about how Kyle is doing. All they’ve told me is that he’s stable.”
But the mom—Daisy still hadn’t discovered her name—had her focus fixed elsewhere, in an angry stare. “What the freakin’ jeesh is that hellcat doing here?”
The automatic doors had swished open again. Daisy’s heart jumped when she saw Tucker, but it was the pretty young woman beside him who had Kyle’s mother’s attention. “She has no right to be here! None!”
Maybe not, Daisy had no idea about that, but she could see that the girl had been crying, and she still looked agitated and upset, while Kyle’s mom still didn’t seem to have registered that her son’s condition might be serious. She stormed forward and repeated the words to the girl’s face. “You have no right to be here.”
“He’s unconscious, Annette,” the pretty brunette said tiredly. “Can we put the rest of it on hold for now?”
“On hold? What do you mean, on hold?”
“Can we maybe forget that we can’t stand each other, and remember that we both care about him, or something? Is that too hard?”
“I don’t need to hear this. You think you are just so perfect, that you’re better than me. You think you can tell me how to behave? That is a joke! You’re stealing my son away from me—”
An ambulance pulled into the bay outside, lights still flashing, and there was a commotion as staff hurried to meet the paramedics who climbed out.
“I’m not stealing him. You push him away. You drive him away. Is it any wonder he has problems?”
A child in the waiting room began to cry loudly. He looked to be around two years old, with his arm in a makeshift sling, and his parents couldn’t manage to comfort him. Meanwhile, another set of parents huddled together, whispering fiercely at each other.
“Problems?” Kyle’s mother screeched. “Oh, he has problems? And those are down to me? Do you have any idea how much grief he’s given me? And his father is no help. Seven years of child support he never paid. And you’re telling me he has problems.”
A doctor appeared, and three people went toward him with fear in their faces.
“Your drinking, of course, has nothing to do with any of it,” Kyle’s girlfriend said in an angry mutter. It was hard to tell if she meant it to be overheard or not, but overheard it was.
“Do you hear how she’s talking to me?” Annette turned to Daisy, cheeks aflame with indignation, grabbing her arm as if they were best friends and she could count on Daisy’s support.
But Daisy hardly heard her, because all her focus was on Tucker. He had gone progressively paler as the argument progressed and the tension in the waiting area heightened. Now there was no color in his face at all. His jaw was so tightly clenched that she could see the knots of muscle on either side. His eyes were narrowed and he held his body as stiff as a board. The tension in him crackled almost audibly, although Kyle’s mother and girlfriend were both too caught up in their own problems to notice.
“This is pointless. I’m not doing this now. I’m just not,” the girlfriend muttered again, half under her breath. “I’m going to find out if we can see him. He is the important thing right now, not this stupid, possessive—” She stopped, took control of herself and turned to Tucker. “Thanks so much for bringing me. I was shaking so much when you told me, I don’t think I would have been safe to drive.”
“You’re welcome, Bec.” He shook off a little of his visible torment, took her hands between his and squeezed them. “If there’s anything I can do, you call, okay?” Daisy could see his struggle to speak calmly. “You have my number. It was a workplace accident, so we’ll be covered for that. Mrs. Schramm, or either of you... If you need help with insurance paperwork, or anything else at all, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Kyle’s mother glowered at him, seeming not to know who he was, but prepared to be angry that he was being so civil to the girlfriend she couldn’t stand.
Meanwhile, Bec nodded in reply, lifting her chin as if to take a firmer grip on herself. “Thanks. I will. You’ve been great.” Daisy couldn’t help admiring her strength and caring, especially in the face of Kyle’s mother’s attitude. She stepped back, and both women began to walk toward the main desk, Bec leadi
ng the way and Mrs. Schramm apparently following only to ensure that she wasn’t outmaneuvered in some nasty game that Bec very clearly didn’t want to play.
Daisy and Tucker were left standing together, and she could see that all he wanted was to cut and run. He looked as if he was ill, or in pain, or about to lose it—his head, or his lunch.
“I’m sorry I took so long to get here,” he said with difficulty. “When I reached Rebecca...Bec...on the phone, she was so upset I ended up going over to their apartment and picking her up. It took a while, and I didn’t manage to call you.”
“It’s fine. I’m glad she’s here. The mother...”
“...looks like a problem,” Tucker agreed. They looked over at the main desk, where the two women were still visibly bristling at each other while a nurse spoke to them. The fiercely whispering couple a few yards away were getting louder.
“We have to tell the doctor,” Daisy heard the woman say.
“No, it’s not important,” the man replied. “You’re totally overreacting, as usual.”
Tucker took in a breath, trying to disguise its unsteadiness, and Daisy said quickly, “Let’s get out of here.”
“Yes.” He was already on his way to the door.
“Are you okay?” She followed him, wondering if he was phobic about blood or needles, something that would make sense of his scary level of stress.
“Fine. I’m fine.”
“You’re not.” Don’t yell at him, Daisy. She lowered her voice, but it was just as intense. “You’re really not, Tucker.” Her feelings for him flared and burned, and she felt so powerless she almost couldn’t breathe.
“Sorry. I will be. In a minute.” He went for the automatic door on a lunge, barely giving it time to open, and as soon as he was through he began to stride along the concrete sidewalk that ran along the front of the hospital building, and she had to hurry to keep up.
“Don’t apologize,” she told him. “Can we sit, or something? Catch our breath? That wasn’t much fun.”
The One Who Changed Everything (The Cherry Sisters) Page 9
