Carlton put the fedora back in its box and looked at her with renewed interest. “Are you going someplace exciting?” he asked her. “Dallas? Houston?”
“I’m thinking slower-paced,” Sabrina replied as she filled out the form. “And a bit farther away.”
“Acapulco?” Moira jumped into the guessing game. “Cancun?”
“Nope.” Sabrina tapped the piece of paper with the end of her pen then signed the bottom line with a flair. “Somewhere very cold. I’m thinking … snow.”
**
“Are you sure this isn’t a crazy idea?” Sabrina asked.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Molly kept her eyes focused on the road as she drove down the highway.
“I’m flying to Des Moines on New Year’s Eve. I am not thinking this though.”
“You’re not, and you shouldn’t.” Molly slid Sabrina a knowing look. “If you ask me — which you are, come to think of it — I think that flying to Iowa on the spur of the moment is one of the sanest things you’ve done in your entire life.”
That’s what she was afraid of. Molly’s blessing could well be the kiss of death. Sabrina’s stomach was still in knots from the dressing-down she’d received from Theo for not only taking personal time off right before the busiest time of the year but refusing to tell him why. Her stress levels had shot up further from planning an impromptu pack-and-dash and from the caffeine in the extra-large double latte she’d just gulped down.
Molly navigated the old Volvo around the afternoon traffic like a Formula One driver, nipping around a semi-trailer truck.
“Are you trying to get me to the airport or get both of us killed?” Sabrina squeaked as she glanced at the speedometer in alarm.
“I’m getting you to Des Moines on time,” Molly told her. “If you miss this flight, the next one’s not until morning.”
Sabrina instinctively clutched the edge of the seat as the wagon veered onto the exit ramp sharply. She could hear the squeal of planes dusting off the runway and the thunder of several others directly overhead. She’d never been to Des Moines or anywhere in the Midwest. She wondered what it would be like. Definitely colder than Texas.
Molly pulled into the passenger unloading lane and the two women quickly pulled Sabrina’s luggage from the back of the vehicle.
“You do intend to come back?” Molly eyed the mountain of Louis Vuitton.
“I didn’t know what the weather would be like, so I packed a little bit of everything,” Sabrina explained. “My shoes took up most of the room.”
Molly smiled and rolled her eyes. “Here.” She stuffed several folded papers in the side of Sabrina’s messenger bag. “I printed out the directions to the hospital and your hotel. I made reservations for two nights. I also wrote down the number of the local taxi service.”
“Thanks so much, Molls.” Sabrina felt grateful. Leave it to Molly to take care of the small details. “What if Gage doesn’t want me there? What if he sends me away?”
“You’re working yourself up over nothing, Brini,” Molly said by rote. Her next question took Sabrina by surprise. “Are you in love with him?”
“God, no. We’re just friends. That’s what you wanted for the two of us, right?” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Sabrina sensed the burden of her lie. It wasn’t just physical attraction or the thrill of mad sex. She was in love with Gage Fitzgerald. There was no other explanation for the unpredictable rollercoaster of emotions she’d felt since he moved in.
Molly put her hands on her hips and eyed Sabrina critically.
“Okay, you win,” she sighed. “I’m crazy about Gage.”
“If he’s given up on you, then you’ll come back home,” Molly said practically. “I’ll pick you up, and you’ll have a good cry — or we’ll go out to a pub and get smashed on strong, warm European beer.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Sabrina replied, unenthused.
Molly looked at her sympathetically. “I can’t walk you through the rest of this, Brini. Gage is a proud man. You’ll have to prove to him that you’re worth a second chance.”
“This has never happened to me before, you know,” Sabrina told her. “Falling in love is scarier than I ever thought it would be.”
“I know, sweetie. It’s supposed to be.” Molly wrapped her in a big hug. “Have a Happy New Year, hear?”
Sabrina watched the Volvo pull away from the loading zone. She suddenly felt terrified. If her worst fears were playing out in a Des Moines hospital room, there wouldn’t be much to be happy about.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The cab sped along the icy road from the Des Moines International Airport toward the city.
Sabrina hoped to catch a glimpse of the river, but the route the driver took gave her a view of a glistening black lake that was almost impossible to see in the dark. She’d never seen so much snow in her life. Dirty snow was piled on roadsides and walkways. Plump fields of white, virgin snow coated parks and open green spaces. It was the type of weather that would have had Austin in lockdown, Sabrina thought, remembering the handful of ice days that sent her to the market to scavenge for the last of the bread, eggs and milk.
Here in Iowa, life apparently just went on.
Judging from the empty seats in business class, New Year’s Eve wasn’t a popular time to travel to the Midwest. A kind flight attendant had taken pity on Sabrina and bumped her up to first class on the last leg, where sparkling wine and bacon-wrapped tenderloins were on the dinner menu. Sabrina had picked at her food because she’d been too nervous to eat. Now there was an anxious gnawing feeling in her stomach. She imagined herself knocking on the door to Gage’s room.
Would any of his family be there? What about his friends?
The cab ferried her into a massive network of medical clinics, each connected to the other. Sabrina suddenly realized she had no clue where she was supposed to be going.
“Main hospital, please,” she told the driver.
The vehicle came to a halt on the far side of what appeared to be the visitors’ entrance. She stepped onto the icy pavement and watched the driver huff and puff as he hoisted her luggage out of the trunk. Ordinarily, she would have made an itemized list of every piece of clothing and pair of shoes she planned to pack to avoid redundancy. With little time to get to the airport, her strategy was reduced to hurling a little bit of everything into all of her bags.
The breathless driver, laden down with Louis, set the last of her bags down beside her. What a kind man, Sabrina thought. She plucked off one thin leather glove to retrieve her wallet. She gave the driver the fare along with a generous tip. There was no way she could have transported her luggage to the entrance without his help. As she was tucking her wallet back into her purse, she heard a car door slam. Then she felt a blast of heat on her calves as exhaust blew out of the tailpipe.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” she wailed as the taxi took off, its tires crunching over bits of salt. She surveyed the ice field in front of her. Then she looked down at her impractical black patent pumps. The shiny toes were already caked with dirt.
Another visitor loitered by the entrance. He wore a sweater cap and a dark peacoat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the brief flare of a lighter as the man lit up a cigarette. She looked around her. Aside from the other human nearby, who didn’t acknowledge her presence, she was alone. She slung her garment and messenger bags over one shoulder. Using the handle of a larger suitcase for stability, she gingerly took a step forward. Her ankle immediately twisted at an awkward angle as the sole of her shoe slid on the ice. Tears of frustration popped into her eyes. She reviewed her choices. She could soldier on and risk cracking her tailbone or she could crawl.
The latter was not an option.
It was now or never. She couldn’t lollygag in the parking lot until the next thaw. She stepped forward confidently, but the weight of the bags threw her off balance. Her feet slid around her for what seemed like a short eternity.
Sabrina close
d her eyes tightly and braced herself for a spill on the ice below.
Then two large arms broke her fall.
**
Gage stared at the familiar Des Moines cityscape in front of him. The hospital room had been soporifically warm. Too quiet. Too still.
Just like I remember …
He wished he were anywhere else but here, at this place. The elegant curl of the smoke rising from his cigarette was soothing. The smell and the taste of the cigarette reminded him of a time when he was younger and the thing that complicated his life the most was figuring out which older kid was willing to buy beer for him and his buddies. In fact, a cold, dark beer sounded great right about now.
But he had to make do with the pack of smokes in his coat pocket and standing outside with the cold eating through the wool and into his skin, listening to the distant rush of traffic. The cold reminded him that he was still alive, and he needed that feeling now more than he ever had. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a taxi pull in front of the entrance and deposit a fare. The woman wasn’t even wearing a hat and scarf, just a dress coat more suitable for an Iowa spring.
Gage frowned and took one last puff of the cigarette before stubbing it out on the icy pavement with the toe of his boot.
Another out-of-towner, he thought as the woman attempted to pick her way across the ice with delicate, mincing steps. He heard her mutter an expletive as her feet began to slide around underneath her. Countdown until landing. Gage quickly crossed the distance between them. The next thing he knew, her arms were clinging to him helplessly. He was engulfed by the scent of incense and lilies. Certainly it couldn’t be …
“Sabrina? Is it really you?” he asked incredulously.
Maybe he was imagining her. Then he saw the familiar cap of streaky hair and saw her big, dark liquid eyes looking at him from under a fringe of lashes. With a soft whimper, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and pressed her cheek against his chest.
“It’s really me,” she breathed into the lapel of his coat. Gage waited until she got her ice legs before gently prying himself away.
“What the hell are you doing in Des Moines?” He held her steady at an arm’s length. He didn’t know if he was entirely happy to see her. The only emotion that registered was surprise. She was the last person he’d expected to fall into his arms on an icy driving lane at Mercy Medical.
Of all the damn things …
“I should be the one asking you the questions, Fitzgerald,” she said. “What are you doing here? Do the doctors know you’re outside?”
“Of course not.” What would give her that idea? Gage wondered. Maybe the cold had already gone to her head. Then again, she might have nipped too many of those little bottles on the plane ride. He tried to detect the smell of liquor on her breath, but there was none. “C’mon. Let’s get you inside. Then we’ll talk.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist. “Just put one foot in front of the other,” he coached. “Don’t get in a rush, or you’ll take us both down.”
He carefully steered her in the direction of the iceless cement walkway. Once he made sure her feet were on terra firma, he went back to retrieve the rest of her things. He shook her head at the back-breaking pile of designer luggage. Only Sabrina would pack enough bags for an entire year abroad. He’d bet that the thickest item of clothing in the entire lot was the University of Texas sweatshirt she sometimes wore around the house.
“Thank you,” she said, picking up her train case along with one of the smaller bags.
“No scarf. No cap. Driving gloves,” Gage noted as they walked to the entrance together. “Only you would wear heels to Des Moines in winter. Please tell me you brought more suitable attire.”
“Well, of course. This is the Midwest, right?” She spoke a bit too casually. Something told Gage that a shopping expedition would soon be in order.
He led her through the hospital lobby and toward the visitors’ lounge. The abrupt change in temperatures from tundra to hothouse made his face and fingers begin to tingle.
Gage sat down in one of the chairs and patted the seat beside him. “Sit,” he told her. “Tell me how you ended up here. I’ve heard of people going to desperate measures to get a date on New Year’s, but this is way over the top, even for you.”
“I came here because I thought you were in trouble, Gage.” Sabrina sat down on the edge of the seat and looked at him with genuine concern. “I thought you were in the hospital!”
“Do I look like I should be?” He felt a smile tug at his mouth.
“Well, no,” she admitted, looking slightly abashed. “You mean you’re not?”
“Honey, I’m in perfect health. What made you think that I wasn’t?”
Gage listened while Sabrina told him about the phone call she’d placed to the hospital and the confusing conversation she’d had with the operator. So she worried about him after all, he thought. But that didn’t make it all better. She had to know that he was still a little raw after their last encounter.
“So you flew all the way out here because you thought I was at death’s door,” he said. “That’s sweet.”
“It’s not sweet. And I didn’t think you were at death’s door.”
“No?” he asked. “Seems like you made quite a long haul for what could have been accomplished with a simple phone call.”
Sabrina turned her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation.
“Okay, so maybe I did assume the worst,” she conceded. “But you left me no choice. I had to make sure you were okay. It’s what any friend would do in the same situation.”
He gave her a frank look. “Is that what we are to each other now? Friends?”
Sabrina’s cheeks, already flush from the cold, turned pinker as she turned away from his gaze. Now was as good a time as any to tell her all of it. She’d find out eventually. He pulled off his cap. Sabrina did a double take.
“You got your hair cut,” she blurted.
“Yeah, well—” He ran a hand through short, spiky locks. “—My sister always liked it better short. She’s the reason I’m here in Des Moines.”
“You never mentioned a sister.” Sabrina looked perplexed.
“Well, I have one. Her name’s Michelle Fitzgerald,” Gage told her. “She’s the patient, not me, and I suspect that the similar-sounding first names are the reason for your confusion.” He scratched the back of his neck idly and looked around the room. Anything to avoid the concern he saw welling in Sabrina’s eyes.
“Oh, Gage! I hope it’s nothing too serious.” He could see realization dawning, the worry spreading across her face. “It’s real serious, isn’t it?” she asked in a subdued voice. “That’s why you were smoking earlier.”
“You got me.” He tossed his cap from one hand to the other. “I only have a cigarette when I’m under a lot of stress. My sister, she’s in real bad shape, Sabrina.”
It had been a long time since Gage had talked to anyone about Michelle. Sebastian knew. So did all of the folks Gage left behind when he moved away from Walden — a few high school friends and the old-timers who still lived in his former neighborhood. People who actually gave a damn about the Fitzgeralds. But none of his coworkers in Austin knew that he still had family in Iowa. The subject had never come up.
“Is it … cancer?” Sabrina whispered with stricken eyes.
Gage shook his head. “She’s in a coma. She was in an automobile accident two years ago. She was coming home from a New Year’s Eve party. Drunk driver. How’s that for cliché?”
“Oh, Gage,” Sabrina murmured, putting her hand over his. “Has her condition changed? Is that why you’re here?”
He shook his head. “Michelle’s on life support. Her doctors never gave me much hope. But I had to give her a fighting chance. After I got over the shock, I told myself I’d give her a year to come out of it. Then I talked myself into another six months after the first year deadline came and went. She can’t go on like this. I can’t either.”
Gage looked into her eyes, hoping he’d see understanding there.
And he did. Of course he would. This was Sabrina, not some fly-by-night lover.
“You don’t have to explain your decisions to anyone,” she told him in a quiet steady voice. “Certainly not to me. If the same thing happened to someone I loved, I would have done the same thing.” She drew a deep breath. “So what happens now?”
“I let Michelle go.” Gage put his tone in neutral. “I have power of attorney. All I need to do is sign the necessary paperwork, and that’s all there is to it. It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?”
“No,” Sabrina said softly. “It sounds hard as hell.”
He ran a hand across a few days’ worth of stubble, aware that he probably looked as bad as he felt. “I’ve been coming to the hospital every day,” he said. “I read to her. I turn the radio to her favorite station. I talk to her. There’s a lot of stuff I never told her that she should have known about. Hell, Sabrina. I know I’m doing this for myself. It’s not like she can hear me.”
Sabrina studied her lap for a long time, deep in thought. Then she finally looked up at him and said, “You know what I believe? I believe that she can. I think that everything that makes Michelle special and unique is already in another dimension. I believe that the portal that separates the two of you is thinner than you think — as thin as air. You’ll pass through it when it’s your time. We all will.” She gave his fingers a comforting squeeze. “I don’t know if I’m right about any of this; it’s just what I believe.”
The compassion and encouragement in Sabrina’s eyes made his throat constrict. Everything suddenly felt surreal. Here he sat sporting a new haircut for a sister who was in a coma. A sister who likely couldn’t see or hear anything. Sabrina had to think he was poised to dive off the deep end. That had to be the reason why she had chosen to comfort him with the exact things he needed to hear — and that he desperately wanted to believe himself. He moved his hand away.
“Please don’t give me the ‘poor, pitiful Gage’ look,” he said. “I could handle it coming from Molly. Even from Sebastian. But not from you.”
Something About You (Just Me & You) Page 30
