by Nan Dixon
“He’s got a lot on his mind,” she said, defending him. “He works so hard.”
“I know.” Nathan shrugged.
They grabbed two trays and filled cups with tea and coffee. She added bottled water. Her buzz from the Cava was gone.
“It’s nice your family is here.” Nate reached for his wallet.
“I’ve got this.” She paid the cashier. “Samuel’s like a father to us.”
“It’s time for me to buckle down.” Nathan straightened his shoulders. “Pop’s not coming back to the business soon. I’d assumed being home was short term. Look at me. Thirty years old and living in my folks’ house. It’s time to pack up my Atlanta apartment and find a place here. Time to get serious.”
His eyes, so much like Daniel’s, now held a new maturity. He said all the right things, but Daniel had been cleaning up his messes for weeks.
Just last weekend, Daniel had complained he’d caught measurement errors in a custom window order that Nathan had placed. The second in two weeks with mistakes. And a week before that, idle crew members had called Daniel because Nathan hadn’t arrived with the site blueprints. Those were just the complaints she knew about.
“I’m glad you’re moving home, if you’re happy,” Bess said, hoping Nathan would buckle down for his family’s sake.
Heading back to the waiting room, Nathan said, “I don’t know if I’m happy, but I’ll make this right.”
Dolley took the tray from his hands. “The oncologist is here. I’ll show you where he’s meeting with your family.”
Bess released her anger. Sure, she and Daniel had fought, but he was under a ton of pressure. She had to help Daniel through this crisis.
* * *
DANIEL HELD HIS mom’s cold hand as they waited in the conference room with Dr. Lageson, Pop’s oncologist.
“Nathan will be right in,” Mom said.
Daniel wished he could emulate his mother’s calm demeanor. “We can—”
Nathan rushed into the room.
“Good,” the doctor said. “We’re admitting Mr. Forester. His hemoglobin is low, so we’ll transfuse him here instead of in the clinic like we’d planned. His white blood cell count is low, too. We want to ensure he doesn’t get an infection.”
“Is he conscious?” Nathan asked.
“He squeezed your mother’s hands a couple of times, and his neurological reactions aren’t impaired.”
Daniel looked at his mother. “We have to keep him away from work.”
“I’ll make sure of that.” Mom’s face was set in fierce lines. “Do you know anything more from the biopsy?”
“The staff is checking on the results. I’ve asked them to expedite.” After asking if they had any more questions, the doctor left.
“Mom, why don’t you have a sandwich? We’ll sit with Pop.” Daniel gave her a hug.
“I’ll do that. You boys both ate something?”
“Abby’s food? Absolutely,” Nathan said. “Maybe if we tell Pop Abby brought food, he’ll wake up.”
Mom laughed. Daniel couldn’t summon a smile. Back in the exam room, he took his dad’s cold hand. “Hey, Pop. I’m back.”
Pop’s fingers moved under his.
“He squeezed my hand,” he told Nathan.
Nate whispered in Pop’s ear, “We’re all eating food Abby brought. You can’t have any unless you wake up.”
Pop’s knee twitched.
Mom came back in.
“I’ll leave,” Daniel said. The rooms, medical staff and the Fitzgeralds were all closing in on him. He couldn’t draw in enough oxygen. He needed a break.
Bess hurried over to him. “Is everything okay?”
“I hate this waiting.” He ran both his hands through his hair.
“Come sit.” She pulled on his arm.
He couldn’t let her touch him right now. “I need air. Alone.”
He rushed through the ER’s automatic doors and stopped at a small wall, resting his hands on the brick.
There was the rasp of a lighter and a cigar appeared in his hands.
“You okay?” Gray lit another cigar.
“Pop’s the one in the hospital.” He inhaled the smoke and puffed a stream over his head. “And I’m suffocating.”
Gray raised his eyebrow. “You’re not in control here.”
“Isn’t that the truth.” If he hadn’t been waiting for Bess two nights ago, none of them would be here. If not for Bess, he would have been on top of everything. He would have been in control of his life.
Just one more painful lesson on why he couldn’t be around Bess.
He and Gray smoked silently, side by side. He knew what he had to do. From now on, Forester Construction would be his only concern.
* * *
BESS’S HEART ACHED a little more each time Daniel pushed her away. She wanted to comfort him. He was brave and honorable. Her breath shook as she exhaled. She hated to see the man she loved in so much pain.
The man she loved? Her skin pebbled with the shock of her thought.
“They’re taking him upstairs,” Daniel announced. “You can go home.”
“We’ll stay a little longer.” Abby held up her bag of goodies. “There’s food left. What can I interest you in?”
Daniel took a cookie, but he just twirled it around in his fingers.
Nathan bounced into the waiting room. “He’s awake. Once he’s upstairs, his very hot fourth-floor nurse says he can have more visitors.”
In the elevator, Bess touched Daniel’s hand. She wanted to hold him until the tension left his shoulders. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”
Daniel shifted away from her. “You don’t know that.”
She jerked at the edge in his voice. “You have to believe.”
“I don’t have to believe. I just have to do.”
The doors opened. Daniel left her and stood with his mother at the nursing station.
What could she do to help ease his burdens? She loved him. Her stomach flip-flopped. She could share his pain, but Daniel wouldn’t look at her.
“Mom’s wondering if you want to say hello,” Daniel said to the whole group. Why wouldn’t he look at her? “I can take you in two at a time.”
Bess let everyone go ahead of her. “This is great news.”
Daniel nodded.
Mamma and Dolley stepped into Samuel’s room. Abby and Gray went in next.
Silence covered her and Daniel like a blanket. When Abby and Gray came out, she asked, “Will you come in with me?”
“Go ahead.”
Her hands shook. Daniel was pushing her away. She took a deep breath and entered the room.
Samuel sat in bed, a bandage covering half his head. “There’s another pretty girl. Come here, Bess.”
“How are you doing?” Bess planted a kiss on his pale cheek.
“Surrounded by beautiful women, and they’ve got me hooked up to a bunch of bags.” He frowned at Deb. “When can I leave?”
“When the doctor says so. Quit scowling. Bess will think your bad temper’s aimed at her.”
“You won’t think badly of me, will you?”
“No way.” Bess clasped Samuel’s hand. “Get well. People are worried about you.”
When she left the room, Daniel followed her into the hallway. “You should leave now.”
“Don’t shut me out. I’m here for you.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry I forgot our dinner.”
“That doesn’t matter anymore.” He pulled her down an empty corridor and stopped by a small alcove.
Since they were alone, she hugged him. His arms hung at his sides and his muscles were rock. Her stomach twisted and turned like kudzu strangling a tree. What was going on?
&n
bsp; “I need to be with my family.” Daniel put his hands on her shoulders and set her away from him. “We need to take a step back.”
“What?” Her hands shook. Couldn’t he tell how much she cared?
“We’re done.” His brown eyes were...dead.
This couldn’t be happening. Daniel needed her. She needed him. “I can help.”
“We got involved and look what happened.” His hands slashed, as if he was severing the ties between them. “I lost focus. I didn’t catch Nathan’s mistake. Now Pop’s in the hospital.”
“Daniel.” Her voice squeaked. “Please don’t do this to us.”
“I can’t keep all the balls in the air.” He shook his head. “I need to get down to basics, pare away the luxuries.”
“I’m a luxury?” She dashed away the tears backing up in her eyes. She refused to cry in front of him. “I can help.”
“Like you helped me the other night?” His voice was harsh. “I was waiting for you when I should have been making sure the plasterboard Nathan ordered was secured.”
“What?” She clasped her hands on her head. Everything was falling apart.
“Because of you, I failed to check the supply orders and deliveries.” His words were barbs jabbing into her body.
“But the plasterboard was Nathan’s responsibility.”
“But I didn’t check his work. Now Pop’s in the hospital.”
“Daniel.” She held out her hand. “Don’t.”
“We’re through.” He walked away and never turned back.
Her knees let go. She slumped against the wall. He blamed her for his father’s collapse? She loved him. Weren’t they better together than apart?
She held it together until she got to the elevator and punched the button. And stood. Her tears waited, held back by a floodgate. Not here. She searched for stairs, anything to get her off this damn floor.
There. An exit. She ran down the hall. Wetness streaked her cheeks and she swiped her sleeve over her face. She banged the door open and ran. One floor. Two. Three. Heading into the main section of the hospital, she sprinted to the exit.
Outside she stumbled, trying to find her car. Clicking open the locks, she slumped into the seat.
She pushed on the ache in her chest. She’d fallen in love and been slapped back—again. Fumbling her phone open, she started to dial Abby’s number and stopped.
Her breath shook. No one knew about them. Daniel had been her secret.
She had to bear this pain alone.
Her fingers rattled against the screen as she typed out a message.
Had to leave. Can you get a ride with Abby?
Sure, came Dolley’s reply.
The phone slipped from her fingers.
Daniel had ripped her heart out of her chest. The ache grew and grew, crushing her.
She should have known better than to fall in love.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat.
Beverley Nichols
BESS HOVERED OVER her coffeemaker, waiting for the pot to fill. Exhaustion and shock must be a great sedative. She’d slept through the night.
A dull ache radiated through her muscles. She’d been ready to forgive Daniel and he’d slammed the door on any reconciliation. At least she hadn’t told him she loved him. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back the tears. She was done crying.
Shame on Daniel for not understanding she could have helped him during these hard times. A luxury? She wasn’t a luxury. As soon as she realized she was in love with him, it was inevitable that he would break up with her. Thank goodness they’d never told anyone. At least she wouldn’t have to explain another breakup to her sisters.
Why had she dreamed their relationship could be different? This was just one more loss in a long line of losses. She should have learned her lesson long ago.
She sipped her bitter coffee.
Slumping in the kitchen chair, she reviewed her life. Carleton House would be finished early next year; no employers were banging at her door to hire her. She had to do something.
What did she have to lose? She took a deep breath. “I’m doing it. I’m starting my own company.”
Work would carry her through this heartache. Where did she begin? She pulled out her phone and scrolled to Daniel’s number. He would have suggestions.
A wave of pain swept through her. She couldn’t call Daniel.
Instead, she pulled up Dolley’s number.
“What?” her sister mumbled.
“I need an attorney to help me set up a company.”
There was the sound of sheets rustling on Dolley’s end of the call. “You’re going out on your own?”
“Yup. What do you think of the name Fitzgerald Landscaping and Design?” Bess took another sip of her coffee. It didn’t taste as bad as before.
“I like it,” Dolley said.
“Good.” Bess pushed a determined smile on her face. “Maybe you could design a logo, like you did for Abby.”
“I could.” Dolley chuckled. “I suppose you want a website, too.”
“Would you?” She loved her sisters. They had her back. “Thanks,” she choked out.
“What’s wrong?” Dolley asked. “Are you okay?”
She swallowed back her tears. They wouldn’t help her anymore. “I will be.”
“I’ll send you Devon’s phone number.”
After hanging up, Bess anchored the Hilton Head plot map and blueprints with mugs from her cabinet. She added more detail to the Hilton Head design. This reminded her of college, when she and Eric worked side by side at his big dining room table.
After they’d graduated, they’d lived and worked together on their start-up landscape business. They’d planned to make the homes around Athens gorgeous. Their work would be featured in Southern Living or Home and Garden magazine. Ah, her foolish dreams.
But like everything she loved, she’d lost both the business and Eric. They’d hired a pretty intern. Eric discarded Bess for the blonde. He’d kept their business and she’d run home to lick her wounds.
It didn’t hurt her ego that the Fitzgerald House gardens had won a residential design merit award from the Georgia chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Eric and his blonde bimbo hadn’t won anything.
She let her head drop onto her hand. If she excelled at growing things, why couldn’t she nurture a relationship? What was so wrong with her that she drove Daniel crazy?
Her fingers drummed on the drafting paper. She’d wanted to help Daniel and his family. They were going through so much. She swallowed the lump in throat. Obviously he didn’t need her help.
She pushed away from the table and poured the last few inches of coffee into her mug. Her head ached, so she took a couple of aspirin.
Scrolling through the island’s requirements one more time, she picked plants and trees for the design. As she did, she tallied the estimated costs and installation hours.
She’d done the same thing for King’s Gardens. Shoot, she’d taught Jimmy how to bid.
But this job was different. This was her sole responsibility.
She pulled everything together and looked it over. On the header of the bid she typed in Fitzgerald Landscape and Design.
“This is it.” Her hands shook as she hit Enter and sent the bid to Jamie.
She released a big breath. I’m in business.
* * *
BESS PEEKED INTO Samuel’s hospital room. It was late morning. She hoped to get in and out before Daniel showed up. Flowers filled the windowsill but didn’t mask the scent of medicine and sickness.
“There’s a pretty face.” Sam’s deep voice carried across the room even though he whispered. W
ould Daniel’s voice deepen like his father’s over the years?
An IV dripped into his arm. The television flickered on the wall while Debbie napped in the lounge chair. On a rolling tray, a Catering by Fitzgerald box with its distinctive black-and-gold label sat open.
On tiptoe, she moved into his room. She brushed back Samuel’s hair and kissed his cheek. “How are you feeling?”
His skin was rosy. Such a difference from the pasty color of yesterday.
“I feel great.” He smiled. “I want to leave before my oil change glow wears off.”
She set the blooming Christmas cactus on the window ledge. “When are they springing you?”
“If I behave, maybe this afternoon.”
She took the empty chair next to the bed and nodded at Deb. “Did she get any sleep?”
“No,” he grumbled. “She stayed all night.”
“I could take her home if she’ll go.”
“Now that they’ve added blood and taken another pint of mine, my doctor should be by soon.” He rolled his shoulders. “We have a family conference scheduled. The doc’s giving me an update on my cancer.”
She squeezed his hand. “I sure hope there’s good news.”
“Me, too.”
“I should go.” She did not want to be here when Daniel arrived.
“Stay a bit. How are you doing?” he asked. “Have you found a place to live?”
“I’m considering options.” The chance of buying her own place had disappeared the minute she’d decided to start her own company.
“I’m sorry we had to sell your apartment.”
“You did what you had to do.” She patted his arm, then steered the conversation away from her personal life. “I’m opening my own company.” She rattled on about her plans and dreams. “I think with Carleton House and a possible job up on Hilton Head, I’ll keep my head above water.”
“You’ll do fine.” He patted her hand. “Forester Construction will throw business your way. Keep it in the family.”
Daniel might disagree with that statement.
“I’d better let you rest,” she said.
“Can’t you wait for Nathan and Daniel?” He frowned. “They’re on their way.”
