The water was just starting to simmer. She had time to unpack a box or two. Isaac would like that. Of course, he wouldn’t have a clue where anything was. She thumbed back.
DeeDee: Maybe you prefer texting because you’re afraid of me. I understand. I’m pretty intimidating.
The first box contained mostly dish towels, but also a box of toothpicks, a bag of brown sugar, and an impressive collection of still-wrapped chopsticks from a Chinese food place in Chicago.
DeeDee: Who packed for you? A chimp with ADD? I need a raise.
There was no order she could see in how the contents of the kitchen had been arranged, so she started moving things around.
Another buzz:
Isaac: Nice. My brother packed.
DeeDee’s breath caught. Oh, God. She’d been joking. That must have sounded horrible.
She started fumbling out a response when another text came through.
Isaac: Gotcha. Now who’s scared? I’m busy. Quit distracting me.
DeeDee heaved a sigh, then chuckled to herself. So, the stern Isaac had a playful side.
The water was almost boiling, and she readied the box of pasta when her phone buzzed again. She prepared to further the banter with Isaac, but caller ID showed that it was from Cynthia this time. It was a call, not a text.
“Hey, baby mama,” she said, leaning against the counter, readying for a chat. She wasn’t big into babies herself, but Cynthia was so stoked her excitement was contagious.
“Where are you?” It was Chad, not Cynthia.
“At Isaac’s, waiting for Mark. Why?” She straightened up. “Where’s Cynthia?”
“Hospital.” Chad voice was wire tight.
“Hospital?” DeeDee’s heart stuttered. “What… why… what happened?”
“She started bleeding. She asked me to call. Can you come?”
DeeDee turned off the stove before Chad had finished speaking. “I’ll be right there.”
Poor, sweet Cynthia.
She almost fell down the stairs in her haste, pushed open the door to Isaac’s office, and stuck her head in.
He gave her a quick, distracted nod and held up his index finger, but she ignored it.
“Something came up. I have to leave.” Her voice was shaking.
Isaac spoke quickly into his headset and flicked the button to mute the call before turning to her. The half-smile faded. Deep lines bracketed his eyes and his hair was mussed, as if he’d been running his fingers through it.
“I specifically requested you to stay later tonight.”
“Family emergency. No time to explain.”
She shoved her phone into the front pocket of her bag and yanked on her coat. Last thing she wanted was for stoic Isaac Litton to see her cry. She ran out the door, ignoring his response. Rain had blown in with the brisk spring breeze, and she was going to get wet on the way to her car.
Cynthia had to be okay. She just had to.
Isaac reached the car a second behind her. He slapped his hand on the door, so she couldn’t pull it open.
“What’s going on, Deirdre? Mark will be home any minute, and I’ve got three clients on hold.”
Tears stung her eyes, which made her furious.
“I know this is inconvenient for you, but you’ll have to manage. Let Mark watch TV while you finish work. He’s used to that, right?”
A muscle in his jaw flickered.
“You’re upset.”
“Yeah, I am.” She dashed moisture off her cheek. “It’s my stepsister. She’s in the ER. Now, let me go.”
She pushed past him, and this time, he let her.
*
“Did you know Isaac was such a workaholic when you set me up with him? He’s so self-absorbed.” DeeDee paced the waiting room in the emergency department at the Marietta hospital, worry gnawing at her stomach.
“Says the woman working two jobs.” Maddie was pacing an opposite path to DeeDee. She appeared somewhat less crazed, but it was a narrow margin as she was almost as excited about this baby as the parents-to-be.
“He doesn’t get it that some people have actual lives.”
“And you do?”
“Harsh, Maddie. Harsh.”
On some level, DeeDee knew that her irritation at Isaac was out of proportion to his actions. But who else could she be angry at? Cynthia didn’t deserve this. With her big, soft heart, she’d be devastated if something happened to her baby.
Dave, the ER nurse, poked his head out. “You can come in and see her now, if you like.”
As they rushed him, he stuck his arms out sideways, like a scarecrow, nearly clotheslining them.
“Easy, you two. Geez. She needs peace and quiet and calm. Maddie? We’ve been down this road before. Can I trust you to behave yourself?”
Maddie threw him an exasperated look. “I believe I proved myself rather well the last time you and I butted heads.”
“Well, this isn’t a big, strong stranger with the hots for you. This is your very frightened younger sister.” Some very personal concern slipped through Dave’s professional demeanor. Cynthia was well-loved in Marietta, as was Chad.
Maddie straightened her shoulders, nodding. “I know, Dave. Thanks. I appreciate you looking out for her.”
He cleared his throat, then looked at DeeDee. “You’ll keep this one in check, too?”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” DeeDee snapped. “Also, I don’t need a handler.”
Dave pursed his lips and crossed his arms. “If you say so.”
DeeDee remembered that they’d gone to high school together. Uh-oh. Did he have a grudge against her?
“Did we date?” she asked.
He blew a puff of air through his lips. “Thank God, no. I was a dumb science nerd. You didn’t go for guys like me.”
But he’d asked, she thought. A dumb, brave science nerd. And the response she’d have given him was laughter. She and Maddie had enjoyed breaking hearts back then. Maddie, however, seemed to have redeemed herself in Dave’s eyes.
DeeDee still had a long way to go.
“Look,” she told him. “If I hurt you back then, I apologize. Can we let bygones be bygones?”
They looked at each other for a long moment, and she sensed the tension lift. They were grown-ups now.
“Water under the bridge,” Dave said. “Besides, I was way too good for you.”
Before she could respond, Maddie’s arm landed on her shoulders. “We’ll be good with Cynthia, Dave. The very definition of calm and controlled.”
The sound of footsteps behind them caught Dave’s attention. “All right, your parents are here. You two go comfort your sister while I talk to them. Five minutes.”
Maddie reached for her hand, the same way she had when they were small. “She has to be okay,” she said as they wound their way through the maze of curtained-off cubicles.
“She will be okay,” DeeDee promised. She prayed she was right.
Then they saw her. Cynthia lay back on the narrow mattress, looking pale and thin against the pastel sheets. Chad sat in a chair next to her, holding her hand to his chest.
“Cynthia,” DeeDee whispered.
Maddie was already crying.
“Hey, hey. Look who’s here.” Cynthia pushed with her elbows to sit up.
Chad got to his feet and kissed each of them on the cheek. “Thanks for coming.”
Then he bent down to his fiancée and brushed her forehead with his hand. The simple gesture was so laden with tenderness that DeeDee’s eyes welled up.
“I’ll let you visit with your sisters for a few minutes. Okay, honey?”
Cynthia nodded, her eyes following his broad back as he walked away.
Maddie sat in Chad’s chair while DeeDee dragged an unused one from a nearby cubicle. They didn’t have much time before Dave returned, so Cynthia spoke quickly.
“I’m okay. The b-b-baby’s alive.”
Maddie heaved a shuddering sigh. “Oh, thank God.”
“Or, rather,” Cynthia said, her voice breaking. “I should s-s-say one of the babies is alive.”
Chapter Eleven
“Twins,” DeeDee said, clutching Maddie’s hand again.
“I w-wanted it to be a surprise.” Cynthia gulped back fresh tears. “I was so excited to tell your m-m-mom. To raise you two, and then have twin grandchildren…”
Dave came in then and shooed them all out so they could move Cynthia from the Emergency room to Maternity. The remaining twin was alive, but the doctors wanted to monitor her overnight, at least.
Maddie left to pick up Mick, who was just getting back from a trip to Alaska where he’d dropped off a party of eco-tourists. Their mom, torn between worry for Cynthia and Norm, finally chose to take her husband home, promising to return in the morning.
Suddenly, DeeDee was alone.
Once again, she was overwhelmed with the sense of being out of place, out of the loop, a newcomer in her own family, an outsider who’d once wanted nothing more than to get as far away from Montana as she could.
She’d done that, and look where it had gotten her. Right back where she’d started.
Dave walked up to her, the fatigue from a long shift showing in the lines on his face. “Cynthia’s settled now and asking for you. I’ll show you to her room.”
She got to her feet, feeling creaky from too much time in vinyl upholstered chairs. “Does this mean you’re done being mad at me?”
“High school was a long time ago, Stretch. And life’s too short.” He glanced back at her, a tired smile on his face. “Besides, after twelve hours on the job, I don’t have the time or energy for anyone but my patients. If Cynthia’s not mad at you, why should I be?”
His words humbled her. “Now you’re just twisting the knife.”
He led her to the elevator and pressed the button for Maternity. There was a wedding ring on his left hand, she observed.
“It’s not about you, DeeDee.” He evaluated her thoughtfully. “And if it was, well, I like where I’m at in my life.”
She looked at the lights above the elevator door, feeling herself flush at the implication. Word had gotten around that her life wasn’t the blazing success she’d let them believe.
In the time she’d been “finding herself” and having a good time, Dave had gotten a useful degree. He was using his skills to save lives and help people who were suffering. He’d gotten married, might even have a kid or two of his own.
It was no secret that DeeDee had accomplished none of these things. Her stomach spasmed, that old pain just below her ribs. Suddenly, her ambitions and disappointments seemed so petty, her problems nothing more than the insignificant obsessions of a spoiled princess.
The elevator dinged and the door opened.
“Down the hall, turn right. Third room on the left.”
“Thanks, Dave.”
He held the elevator door open until DeeDee walked through. Then, as it was closing, he added, “The main cafeteria’s closed, but there’s a vending machine at the end of the hall if you’re hungry.”
She pushed away the memories of her teenage self, the one who’d mocked boys like Dave and their hopeless crushes, flouncing about while tossing her hair in their faces.
The laughter was on the other foot now, wasn’t it?
Whoever said you couldn’t go home again had it right. Or perhaps as a returning heroine, you could.
Not so much when you were slinking back with your tail between your legs.
She straightened her shoulders. Where was this coming from? She wasn’t prone to self-pity, or pity of any kind. Shaking off the mopes, she pushed open the door to Cynthia’s room.
She looked a little better, not as shocked or frightened as she’d appeared in the ER. She had an IV line in one arm and some wires sticking out from under her hospital gown.
“Hey, babe.” DeeDee tiptoed up to her stepsister’s bed and perched on the chair at her side.
“DeeDee.” Cynthia reached for her and began crying again. “I’m s-s-sorry, the hormones are making me leak like a s-sieve. It’s awful.”
The stutter that had bothered Cynthia throughout her life only appeared now when she was emotionally stressed. And this certainly counted as such a time.
DeeDee enfolded her, pressing Cynthia’s head into her shoulder, stroking her golden hair, feeling the wracking sobs shudder through her, into her very bones. “You cry all you want, honey. This sucks, what’s happening to you.”
Cynthia wept and wept. Finally, she pushed away and sat back. She wiped a hand over her face. “It really does suck,” she agreed in a tremulous voice. “B-but I’ll be okay.”
“Of course you will. You’re so strong. You survived Maddie and me, after all. You can get through anything, right?”
“Oh, DeeDee,” Cynthia said, gripping her hand. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Guilt, shocking in its intensity, washed over DeeDee. She’d never expected that her absence would have mattered so much.
“Oh, honey. I’m here now. That’s what matters.”
“Yes, it does.” Cynthia took a moment to compose herself. “I know you’re working with Mark, but DeeDee, I need you more than ever now.”
“And I’m here. The fundraiser is under control. Everything’s going to be okay, Cyn.”
Cynthia’s eyes overflowed again. “The show is in two weeks, and I’m going to be on bedrest for who knows how long.”
“I can handle the final details.” She patted Cynthia’s hand. “You’re making yourself crazy.”
“But now I need you to host it, too. Can you handle that? Being the emcee?”
DeeDee blinked. “Oh. Right.”
She loved waltzing down the runway, and the few roles she’d played had been great fun.
But emceeing a show involved talking… as herself. People looking at her. Listening to her.
The real her.
“Isn’t there anyone else?” she asked, a little desperately. Being real was not her strong suit.
“Chad and Eric will help out. Logan too, probably. But you’re perfect for it, DeeDee. You’re a real model, but you’re one of us, too.”
Not likely.
“And now,” Cynthia added, “you’re connected to the disability community through Mark and Isaac.”
At the moment. This wasn’t meant to be a long-term thing.
Not that she knew what her long-term thing was.
She glanced up. “I guess.”
Cynthia eyed her curiously.
“What?” DeeDee asked at the look.
“You seem to have gotten attached to the Litton brothers.”
“Mark thinks I hung the moon, and you know me and adoration.” She snorted. “He is a sweetie, though.”
“And Isaac? Is he a sweetie, too?”
That Cynthia could tease at all under the circumstances made DeeDee love her even more.
“He’s okay.” DeeDee shrugged, hoping Cynthia wouldn’t see that her feelings about Isaac were much more complicated than that. “We get along.”
Cynthia folded her arms. “Looked like a little more than that, the day in the chocolate shop.”
“What a crazy thing to happen.” DeeDee’s cheeks grew warm. “It was pretty funny, wasn’t it?”
“Isaac wasn’t laughing. He looked as if he wanted to eat you up with a spoon.”
Oh, God. “He was just embarrassed. He’s very proper. Doesn’t like it when people make a scene.”
“Well, then you’re definitely the wrong girl for him,” Cynthia said with a chuckle.
Enough of that. “Back to the fashion show,” DeeDee said. “Before they kick me out of here.”
Cynthia handed her a notebook with lists of the tasks involved, what had been completed, and what still needed to be done.
“The town hall is booked, furniture rented, flowers and decorations ordered. Only a few things left to arrange. The biggest job will be running the event itself. You’re a lifesaver, DeeDee. You’re going to do
a great job. I know it.”
Cynthia’s enthusiasm was contagious, and DeeDee found herself catching it. She could do this. She’d only participated in a few events like this and had never organized one herself, but this was her world, her wheelhouse, her comfort zone. She had this.
“I will handle this better than anything I’ve ever handled in my life,” she promised. “It’s going to be perfect.”
Cynthia laughed softly. “It doesn’t have to be perfect, DeeDee. I want people to have fun and learn enough about the project to open their wallets.”
There was nothing she could do to help Cynthia cope with the loss of one baby, and her fear for the other, but this would at least take one burden off her plate.
“I may have to do some of the legwork with Mark in tow,” DeeDee said. “Hopefully, Isaac will understand.”
“I forgot to tell you. See those flowers in the corner?” Cynthia pointed to an enormous bouquet sitting on the table next to the window. “They were waiting for me when I got admitted to this room. They’re from him.”
DeeDee went to the window and examined the card that was sticking out of the arrangement. “Best wishes for a speedy recovery,” she read. “From Isaac and Mark Litton.”
He must have ordered them the second she’d left the house. Maybe he’d delivered them to the hospital himself.
“How thoughtful of him.”
“Yes. Very. Especially since I’ve met him only the once.” A slight, knowing smile touched Cynthia’s lips. “I suspect this has more to do with you. Maybe he thinks you’re ‘okay’ too.”
“Whatever. I should go.” DeeDee bent to brush a kiss across Cynthia’s forehead. “You lie back and gestate. Don’t worry about anything.”
“You’re taking a huge weight off my mind, DeeDee. Thank you.” Cynthia pressed the button to lower the head of her bed. “I knew I could count on you.”
DeeDee drove back to Maddie’s place, feeling a strange mix of terror and hope. Cynthia had no reason to think she could count on DeeDee. But if anything could make up for how DeeDee had let Cynthia down in the past, this could be it.
All she had to do was pull it off.
The Chocolate Comeback (Love at the Chocolate Shop Book 7) Page 10
