His prepaid First Class ticket in hand, he waited fifteen minutes at the gate for his Boston-bound flight to board. Within an hour from leaving her building, he was on his way to meet Beth. He wondered why she hadn’t called to tell him the news. Probably forgot her phone again. Worry pinched him. Please take care of Kay.
****
Lizzie ran through the hallways of the hospital to the bank of elevators. When the doors opened on the third floor, she rushed to the ob-gyn waiting room. Mick was slouched in a chair with his head in his hands on the other side of a glass window. His family surrounded him.
Her heart turned to ice. Bracing herself for bad news she shoved through the door. Mick saw her, jumped to his feet and enveloped her in a bear hug. She cried and trembled like him.
Clinging to him, Lizzie’s heart broke.
“It’s okay, Lizzie girl. Don’t cry. She’s going to be okay. You just missed the doctor. She’s going to pull through. It was touch and go, but she’s strong.”
“What about the babies?”
“Oh my God! I’m a daddy! You’re an aunt! We have two daughters. Noel Elizabeth and Merry Katherine came into the world about a half hour ago. I was with her during the C-section. Wait until you see them. Perfect. Two little Kays. I might be a little biased, but they are the most beautiful babies ever born.”
“Noel Elizabeth.”
“Yep, she’s named after her godmother.”
Lizzie’s tears rained down her cheeks. Her legs weakened, nearly buckled under her.
She heaved a relieved breath. “Noel and Merry. Born on Christmas Eve. The perfect Christmas presents. What happened? What about the hemorrhaging?”
A man in scrubs, bags under his eyes, came into the waiting room. “Mr. Lynch, your wife is being taken to her room now. Wait a few minutes, and then she can have visitors.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Mick pumped his hand. “I can’t thank you enough. Merry Christmas.”
“You’re welcome. Your daughters are in the nursery if you would like to show them off to their new family. Enjoy your double blessings.” The doctor’s gaze moved from Mick’s face to the family who listened with rapt attention. “Merry Christmas to all of you.”
Lizzie waited her turn to visit Kay. After the family had gone in, two at a time, Mick entered the waiting room and took her hand. “Come on Auntie Liz, Kay is asking for you.”
Shocked at how pale and fragile Kay appeared against the stark, white hospital sheets, she forced a cheery smile. Kay’s lips were blue, and she trembled under a pile of blankets.
Mick gave Lizzie’s hand an assuring squeeze. “The nurse told me the shakes and that bluish color are reactions to the anesthesia.” He nudged her toward the bed.
“Hey, Momma.” Lizzie reached toward Kay’s hands.
“Bella. So glad.” Kay’s ice-cold hand clasped Lizzie’s damp one. “Have you seen my girls?”
“No, I was waiting to see their momma first. Damn, you gave me a scare.”
“Scared, too, but so worth it,” Kay’s voice raspy, her speech slurry. “Poor Mick. My girls are so beautiful.” She burst into tears.
“What is it? Is something wrong? Are you in pain? Do you want me to get a nurse? Don’t cry.”
“Crazy. It’s OK. Happy tears.”
Lizzie squeezed Kay’s hand, tears welling. “I thought you might be looking for sympathy. This is a pretty lame way to get chocolate, if you ask me. Not this time. If anyone deserves chocolate this time, it’s me. Here I am at the birth of my nieces, and I was in such a rush to get here that I left my camera bag behind.” Her fear subsided and her heartbeat slowed down when Kay gently squeezed her hand back.
“I, the official photographer of this family, have to go to the hospital gift shop and purchase a disposable camera. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that will be for me? A lousy plastic camera is all I’ll have to photograph two of the world’s most important children. So, missy, it’s payback time. You owe me a giant box of Russell Stover. You’re too deprived in Boston without Fannie May.” She hoped humor would help Kay forget her pain as it helped Lizzie forget that she’d almost lost the only family she had. She couldn’t lose them again.
Kay laughed, more like a strangled chuckle. Her friend clutched her belly and winced but chuckled anyway. Lizzie leaned down and hugged her around IV tubes and buzzing machines. She didn’t want to let go.
“I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to you.” The mere thought terrorized her.
Lizzie locked her gaze with Kay’s, and all that was between them spilled out in combined tears and laughter.
Mick chose that moment to come back into the room. “Oh boy. What’s going on here?”
“Get used to all the hormones, daddy. You’re outnumbered now.” Kay’s eyes shone.
Mick grinned, a look of pure adoration for Kay on his face.
Lizzie sensed their need to be alone. “I’ll be right outside, sweetie. Get some sleep. You’re both going to need it. It’s time that I made silly faces at Merry and Noel through the nursery window.”
She was exhausted, her feet like lead. Fear had a way of draining everything.
I have to call Jack.
Missing him sorely she wanted to be in his arms again and have what Kay and Mick have. She wanted children. Beth wants it all.
Closing the door behind her, Lizzie debated if she should see the twins or hunt down a phone. She walked toward the nursery scanning overhead signs hoping she’d find a payphone on the way.
Kay and Mick’s families clustered around the glass window and made appreciative noises at the babies’ every move. Wallace stood in the middle of the group, like a cactus in a flower garden, looking ill at ease. He gave her a hapless, crooked smile.
God, what is he doing here?
She forced a smile and approached the group.
Peering through the nursery window, she spied the twins and couldn’t help but grin.
Apparently she inadvertently encouraged Wallace to pipe up, “I’m not exactly in my comfort zone. This is not where I planned on spending Christmas Eve.”
“I’m sure Kay doesn’t expect you to be here,” Lizzie remarked through clenched teeth hoping he’d get the hint.
“Elizabeth…”
Lizzie cut him off, “I have to find a phone.”
“Going to call Jack Clark?” He sneered.
Lizzie rolled her eyes. “None of your business.” She stepped away from the window and surveyed the hall for a likely place for a payphone.
“Here use mine.” He strode over to her and handed her his BlackBerry.
“You can’t use cell phones in the hospital.” Lizzie held the phone toward him to return it.
“You can use it in that waiting room. I did and no one tried to stop me.”
Rules don’t apply to you, do they Wallace? Anxious to connect with Jack she’d give Wallace some cash for the call. “OK, thanks. I’ll be right back.”
****
“Here you go.” Wallace accepted his phone from Elizabeth and shoved it in his coat pocket.
“Where did the family go?” She looked down the empty hallway.
“To Kay’s room I think.”
“OK. Take care, Wallace.” She turned her back on him and walked toward the elevator bank.
“Just a minute, Elizabeth. Aren’t you going to thank me for arranging your flight?”
Turning around, she advanced toward him, pursing her lips into a thin line. “Why did you?”
“An olive branch, Elizabeth. Have you forgotten how generous I am?”
“Why yes I have,” she replied with an insulting sarcastic tone in her voice.
He huffed. “You obviously don’t deserve my generosity.”
Hands on her hips she frowned. “How much do I owe you? I’ll write you a check now.”
The elevator doors behind her slid open. Jack Clark stood inside, head bent downward.
Wallace grabbed Elizabeth by the arms, yanked her t
oward him and plastered his mouth on hers, his arms locking her against his chest. He arched his back lifting her feet off the floor while he continued to glue his lips to hers, spearing his tongue into her mouth.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Clark staring at them, and with the fierce pressure of his lips, Wallace squelched any sounds from Elizabeth except a faint mewl that he hoped Clark wouldn’t hear.
The elevator doors swished closed, and he dropped her back on her feet.
“You son of a bitch!” Nearly toppling over as she shoved his chest with both hands, he staggered a few steps backward.
She dragged the back of her hand across her lips, eyes blazing. “Don’t you ever touch me again!”
Knuckles on each hip she leaned forward, shoulders heaving. She raised her head, and stared at him, disgusted. “How dare you treat me like this? I don’t owe you a thing, Wallace. To think I once loved you, wanted to marry you.”
Wallace brushed past her and punched the elevator button. Pivoting, he turned into the swing of her arm, the stinging slap landed squarely on the side of his face. He grimaced but would not stoop to hit a woman, in public anyway.
“Return my $10,000 donation check,” he growled.
The bell sounded and the elevator opened. He stepped inside and pushed the ground floor button staring at her. “I never intended to marry you, by the way.”
Chapter Twenty
Convinced he was an idiot, Jack kicked the door to his closet shut with the toe of his boot. The slam echoed through the silent house.
Whenever he had closed his eyes in the uncomfortable, plastic, airport chairs or the more comfortable seat in First Class, he saw Lizzie and Wallace locked together like lovers.
He figured Liz and Wally’d had a good laugh at his expense. Duped by her innocent act. She had always wanted Wally first.
What the hell happened? For years he guarded himself and avoided the pain he’d seen in his father’s eyes every day growing up. He had let his guard down for one solitary night and look where it left him. He didn’t want to look in the mirror and see Dad’s pained expression on his face.
Emptying his pockets onto the glass end table he picked up one item. No need to open the box knowing what was nestled inside on a bed of black velvet. He had taken the ring out and tested its brilliance in the overhead light on the plane heading to Boston, and he’d left it in his pocket on the flight home. What the hell had he been thinking?
His grandmother had been surprised, but so pleased, when he showed up at her door Christmas Eve morning.
Was it really only yesterday? Yeah, it was. Merry Christmas, Jack.
He kicked the closet again. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
Thrilled to give him the diamond that her mother had worn, Grandma Viv had turned the ring over to him without asking one question. The ring had been promised to him when he found his special love. Yesterday, he thought he had found his soul mate.
At least he had seen Lizzie’s true colors before he made a complete fool of himself.
Now he would have to explain to Grandma Viv that it was a false alarm, a crazy mistake.
A primitive anger built in his chest. He wanted to smash his fist into the wall. How had she manipulated herself into his life? For years his anger with his father for falling apart when Mom left seemed justified. Like father like son. As much as he hated to admit it, he had been tough on his father. This kind of loss could rip a man in two.
But he’d be stronger than his father, wouldn’t crumble or fall apart. He refused to wallow in the pain.
The message alert buzzed on his cell phone. He had avoided retrieving his messages since he left Boston. Giving in, he went through the motions of dialing into his voicemail and listened. When he heard her voice, he damned himself for not being able to hang up.
“Jack, hi, it’s Lizzie…Beth. I can’t wait to talk to you. And hear your voice. I have the most wonderful news. Kay had the babies. Noel Elizabeth and Merry Katherine.” Her infectious laughter bubbled in his ear.
“They’re going to get even for those names one day. I didn’t get a chance to call you. Everything was so crazy. Mick called, and Kay was hemorrhaging, so I had to get here as fast as I could. I just ran out the door. Even forgot my cameras. Can you believe it? No cameras to take pictures of the prettiest babies ever born. Then my cell phone died. Didn’t do me any good that I finally remembered the damn thing. Too bad I forgot the charger. It was touch and go with Kay, but I’ve seen her and the doctor says she’s going to be all right. I just came from seeing the girls. Beautiful, amazing, angels. Wow I am going on and on and Merry…”
The timer cut her off before she finished her message. He hated the fact that he missed her. She sounded so sweet, so genuine.
He hit the return call button needing to talk to her. Maybe she could convince him he hadn’t seen what he thought.
“You have reached Wallace Prescott. I am unavailable. Leave a message.”
Jack threw the phone across the room and sagged onto his bed. He had his answer.
She’s with him. But why?
He pulled the pillow from under the bedspread, buried his face in it and was assaulted with the delicate scent of Beth’s perfume. The smell of roses clung to his sheets and his hands. Thoughts of their passionate lovemaking jolted him off the bed. Tearing the sheets off, he bundled them up and threw them in the hamper.
Jack couldn’t close his eyes in his own bed without seeing her poised beneath him naked, taunting him. He grabbed a duffle bag from his closet, threw a few things in it, zipped it up, tugged the strap over his shoulder and headed out of the bedroom. In the kitchen, he noticed the light flashing on the answering machine. He deleted all the messages without listening to any of them. Out into the cold, he jumped into his car and screeched out of the driveway.
He knew exactly where he would spend the holidays and would call Charlie on the way to apologize for not being at Christmas dinner with the family. A pang of guilt assaulted him over leaving Charlie alone on this first Christmas without Mari, but he was in no state of mind to offer comfort to his brother. No need to explain his change of plans. He would just tell him something came up. Charlie could think what he wanted to think. He couldn’t explain why. At least not yet. Maybe never.
****
Early Christmas morning Lizzie walked into Kay’s hospital room with a put-on smile. She was sure her red-rimmed eyes gave her away.
“Merry Christmas.” Lizzie knew her voice sounded weak and wavered.
“Merry Christmas, Bella. Wow, you look worse than I feel. Mickey, darling, can you let Lizzie and I have some girl time?” She kissed her husband and gave him a beatific smile.
When he closed the door behind him, Kay gazed at her shrewdly, her eyes narrowed to slits. “What’s up, Bella?”
Lizzie fidgeted with her hands unwilling to meet Kay’s eyes. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve left messages everywhere for Jack, and he didn’t call me back. I’ve left messages with Charlie, and he didn’t call me back. Why does this keep happening to me?”
“Well what’s the big deal? It’s Christmas. Maybe he’s busy with family.” Her casual words pained Lizzie.
She frowned. “I’m so afraid that the same thing has happened to me with Jack as with Wallace. It appears Jack doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Even though she didn’t think she had any tears left to cry, Lizzie’s eyes welled again as she sank down to sit on the foot of Kay’s bed.
Kay’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. I understand now. You slept with Jack, didn’t you?”
“I thought I made love with Jack.” Lizzie swiped under each eye with the knuckle of her index finger.
“Spill it. I want the facts. Where? When? How?”
“We can talk later, you must be exhausted,” she said, hardly in the mood to provide details.
Lizzie stood poised to approach Kay for a hug and then leave.
Kay’s eyes softened. “I’m not tired. Don’t you
want to get this off your chest?”
Lizzie paced around the small room. “I went back to his house after the ball. It was wonderful, heavenly, amazing. I told him that I loved him.” Despite her fear that Jack had deserted her, she was glad to share this confidence with Kay. Just twenty-four hours before, the memory of that evening was joyful.
“What did he say? Did he tell you he loved you, too?”
“Yes. But obviously he didn’t mean it.” Tears tracked down her cheeks again.
“Honey, you are a beautiful, strong, caring, lovable woman. No man you want could resist you, least of all Jack. Are you sure he’s avoiding your phone calls? Maybe he hasn’t even gotten them. There has to be some kind of mistake. Something isn’t right here. Jack would never hurt you. I saw the way he looked at you at the reunion.”
“I will not cry about this anymore.” Lizzie looped around Kay’s bed, aimlessly pacing. “Hard to believe that Wallace might be right about something.”
“What in God’s name does Wallace have to do with any of this?”
Kay reclined against her pillow, arms folded over her stomach, watching her movements keenly.
“It’s a long story, but the two of them are competitors. Wallace claims there’s some sort of ego game going on between the two of them.” Lizzie sat on the bottom of Kay’s bed. “Wallace can go to hell. And if Jack’s playing games, he can go right with him.”
“Oh, Wallace has a screw loose. If anyone has ego problems, it’s Wallace. You can’t trust him.”
“Damn straight.”
Kay raised her eyebrows. “That’s the spirit.”
“You know what that son of a bitch did?”
“Which son of a bitch are you referring to?” Kay gave her an impish grin.
Lizzie snorted a laugh. “Last night, outside the nursery, he practically muzzled me with a kiss. Kissed me so hard that I could barely breathe. Tried the same thing in Chicago on Thanksgiving. I was honestly afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop him.”
Reunion for the First Time Page 18
