Deadline

by Judy McDonough

Caroline nearly exploded. "What! Eighteen hours? I've been asl—what? How have I. . .why didn't you wake me up?"

  "Easy, tiger," her dad chuckled. "You needed the rest. The doctor is giving you oral pain medicine to bring home, and you can relax in the comfort of your own room."

  Cade bounded through the door like a college student late for class, eager to see Caroline. Elation swelled in her heart. So adorable.

  "Well, hello, beautiful," he said, panting out of breath. "I've missed that dazzling smile of yours."

  Caroline's heart quivered, as the butterfly flutters her wings. "Hey there, handsome. It's great to see you. So hot for me that I take your breath away, huh?"

  The room filled with laughter and Cade grinned. "Ma Chérie, you have absolutely no idea. No idea."

  They gazed at each other for a long, quiet moment until Eddie cleared his throat to remind them of their audience.

  Caroline flinched. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's roll! I'm ready to get home." It was easy to call the plantation house home. She was comfortable there, apart from the whole ghost issue and her impossible run of bad luck.

  Eddie held his hand up. "Wait just a minute, love, we have to wait for the doctor to see you first. We've all been anxiously waiting for you to wake up. You had us very worried."

  Caroline gasped. "Did Kristy make it in? Did someone go get her from the airport? She was supposed to catch the first flight out before I had my mini-coma."

  Cade smiled. "Relax, I picked her up from the airport."

  "How did you know who she was?"

  "Well, I had seen her picture in your photo album, but I also had a sign with her name on it." He smiled very cryptically. Like the cat that ate the canary.

  "The photo album. So I was right and that was how you knew about the rum runners. How very observant of you." He was still smirking and she couldn't take it anymore. "What's that smile about? What happened?" Caroline was completely intrigued now and a bit peeved. What had Kristy thought of him? Had Cade found Kristy attractive? A jealous twinge pulsed through her. She's your best friend, and you're engaged to someone else, so get over it. You can't have the best of both worlds.

  "Kristy is quite charming, isn't she?" Cade looked directly at her. He knew something he wasn't sharing.

  Now she was utterly confused, somewhat disappointed, and a bit territorial. "Yes, she is. She's beautiful and she's single, too. Maybe I could hook you guys up or something." Her tone came out a little harsher than she intended it to be. She blamed it on the jealousy. Their audience shifted uncomfortably and Cade's smile faded. That must not have been what he hoped to hear. Caroline flashed him a crooked grin. "She's high maintenance, though. I don't think you could handle her."

  His smile stretched across his handsome face. "Yeah, I gathered that."

  "So. . .where is she?"

  "She asked me to drop her off at the house so she could get ready for your homecoming. I don't know what exactly she's planning to do because all you really need is your bed, but she said she had some preparations to make."

  Caroline smiled. That sounded like Kristy. Who knew what she had planned?

  Caroline couldn't stop thinking about Cade's cryptic smile when he spoke about their meeting. Why is this bothering me so much? He's not even her type.

  Dr. Breaux was not the stereotypical doctor, by far. The proverbial tall, dark, and handsome, he wore his hair longer than normal and a large dimple crowned his smile of perfect white teeth. She blushed. She glanced at Claire whose face also glowed red. At least she wasn't alone this time.

  "Well, hello, Miss Fontenot. It's nice to see you with your eyes open. I was beginning to wonder if you were under a spell, waiting for your handsome prince to give you the long-awaited kiss."

  Cade shifted his weight, uncomfortable with that analogy. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. The doctor spoke before she could further embarrass herself with jumbled words.

  "I am not entirely comfortable with your discharge, but your father assures me he will make you stay in bed." He glanced at Eddie who nodded in response. "I have a prescription for some pain medicine you can take home with you. I need you to take it easy. Now is your chance to have people catering to you."

  His beautiful smile left her speechless. He didn't sound like he was from this area, and she wondered if, like Cade, he'd had to work to lose his accent for professional reasons.

  "Now, if you start feeling worse I want you to call me at once. Okay?" She silently nodded like a bashful child afraid to speak. He grinned and gave her one last check up, examining the bandages around her head, before he allowed her to leave.

  Back home, Cade carried her up the stairs. Before he turned the corner into her room, she smelled Kristy's designer perfume. Excitement to see her best friend overwhelmed her. Kristy stood next to the beautiful canopy bed, noticeably excited, too. They squealed, and as soon as Cade laid Caroline on the bed, hugged and cried.

  "Oh, C. You scared me so bad! I couldn't believe my ears when I heard what happened. I'm so glad you are okay! Even with all the bandages, you still look fabulous, you know." Kristy smiled and smoothed Caroline's hair. "You make a concussion look good."

  "I have to agree with her." Cade's smooth voice broke through the air like a knife slicing through soft butter. Kristy beamed before she turned to look at him.

  "Hello, again. I'm sorry, I was on the phone the whole way here and didn't get a chance to thank you for picking me up from the airport, and for saving my best friend's life. I promise to find some way to repay you."

  He smiled the same peculiar smile. "No need, cher. Caroline being alive is payment enough. Thank you for coming to stay with her. I know she's very happy you are here." His eyes moved to back to her. "Caroline, I'm really glad you're back home now, where you belong. If you're comfortable, I'm gonna go down to the kitchen for something to drink. Can I bring you anything?"

  "I'm fine, thank you, Cade. Really. . .thank you so much. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you for rescuing me four times in one weekend. I'm grateful you were there for me when I needed you."

  "Always, cher. Always." He winked and walked out.

  Kristy turned to Caroline with big eyes. "He is the hot-naked-wet guy you ran into, isn't he? Why didn't you tell me he was perfect in every way possible? He's amazing! I can see now why you wanted to stay here all summer." She laughed quietly but stopped when she saw the look on Caroline's face. "Uh-oh, what's wrong. I know that look. Did something happen?"

  "No. Well, kind of." Caroline fought an oncoming headache and didn't want to go into detail about everything, plus she still battled the unwelcome jealousy. "I'll tell you all about it later. What kind of preparations did you have to make for my homecoming?"

  "Well, it's not much, but now I'm not sure I want to give it to you. I may need to make a few modifications to it first."

  Caroline stared, clueless. "Okay, I give up. What is it?"

  Kristy stared at her for a minute before she sighed deeply and stood. She pulled a cart full of fresh flowers from the closet. Roses, lilies and orchids of every color imaginable filled the top of the restaurant-style dish cart. An unbelievable fragrance engulfed the room filling it with the amazing sweetness of the bouquet. In the middle of all the flowers was a beautiful 8x10 framed photo of Trevor and Caroline from Kristy's red carpet birthday party. Caroline loved everything about it and couldn't understand what Kristy meant about needing to make modifications.

  "I figured you'd be stuck in bed for a while and nothing would please you more than your favorite flowers surrounding this beautiful picture of you and your sweetie. I had no idea you had a great view already."

  Caroline ignored her innuendo. "It's wonderful, Kristy! What modifications would you need to make? It's perfect!"

  "Right. Perfect." Sarcasm dripped from Kristy's words.

  "What? Go on. . .tell me. What exactly was that supposed to mean?"

  "Nothing that we need to discuss right now. Why don't yo
u lie down and let me pamper you for a while? You should rest up so you can tell me all about what has been happening with you over the past six weeks." She fluffed Caroline's pillow and covered her up. "Man, there's nothing wrong with the air conditioning in this old house, it's freezing in here! Are you cold or is it just me?"

  If she only knew why it was so cold. She'd hit the door running. "I'm always cold in here. That's why I have so many blankets on this bed."

  "Good, I'm glad it's not just me. I've been nippin' since I walked in here, geez." Kristy rubbed her arms to warm them before tucking her hands in her armpits. "So, I'll go get some water for you to keep by your bed while you relax and take a nap. I'm going to get better acquainted with Mr. Sexy-naked-wet-guy downstairs." She giggled as she kissed Caroline's forehead and bounced out the door.

  Exhausted, Caroline sank into her pillow. Her head hurt too badly to be jealous. A nap sounded good, so she closed her eyes and found her happy place. She must have fallen asleep immediately, because she barely remembered touching the pillow.

  ***