Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  Of course she could have died. Her heart had stopped. But she’d been on a plane. He didn’t care that the flight attendants were trained in CPR and that the planes all had defibrillators. Being on a plane complicated an already dangerous situation, period.

  She could have died. He would have never met her.

  He thought about her smile, how it felt to hold her, how she kept everything going, how she came to his rescue. She was so soft and warm—in every way.

  And she could have died.

  A shudder went through him.

  But she hadn’t died. She was alive. And well. And wonderful.

  “Is she okay?” he asked Lauren. “She told me she is, but…maybe she was making me feel better.”

  Lauren frowned. “She’s fine. Evidently. Phoebe said her doctor has told her repeatedly that she’s fine, that she doesn’t have to live the way she does.”

  “The way she does?”

  “Scared. Worried all the time. Not getting on airplanes with the guy she’s crazy about.”

  Immediately, he shook his head. He was in a daze for sure. But something didn’t feel right about that. “Maybe it’s better. She’s safe this way. She has what she wants.” His heart hurt a little with that realization. She had the life she wanted in Sapphire Falls. The life where she was safe and free from worry. Then he came along and within three days was changing everything. “Why didn’t she tell me about the plane?”

  Lauren looked at him with her you’re-kidding-right? look. “You know the answer to that.”

  “I would have…” Been tempted to wrap her in bubble wrap and never let her go anywhere. Damn. He certainly wouldn’t have expected her to fly to Haiti. Or live in Haiti. He shook his head. “I would have wanted her to stay in Sapphire Falls.”

  “And you would have been determined to stay with her,” Lauren said. “Which she knew. Which was why she didn’t tell you.”

  “There was something in her eyes,” he said. “When she was saying she didn’t want me to stay. I knew there was something else there, something more.”

  Lauren nodded. “I know. I thought so too. But now I’m wondering.”

  “About?”

  “Her. Her feelings. You.” Lauren shrugged. “I know she’s scared, but the truth is she’s healthy, there’s no reason for her not to fly. I really thought—hoped—that for you she’d get over it. I expected her to be here by now.”

  “That’s asking a lot.” But a weight seemed to have settled on his chest.

  “Being in love requires a lot,” she returned. “You have to fight for it sometimes. Even if you’re fighting yourself.”

  The weight on his chest turned cold. Adrianne didn’t want to fight. She wanted peace and quiet and calm.

  “You don’t think she’s coming?” he asked Lauren who’d had a much more detailed conversation about all of this than he had.

  Lauren looked like she regretted having to say it. “I don’t.”

  “Because she loves me and wants me to go to Haiti?”

  “That’s what I want to think.”

  “But you’re not sure now?” He wasn’t sure why he was torturing himself like this. Wasn’t it bad enough that she wasn’t here and wasn’t coming? Did he really have to delve into why?

  Apparently, the answer was yes.

  Lauren’s expression hardened. “I’m becoming more and more sure that she’s not coming. And that she doesn’t deserve you.”

  “A heart attack is a big deal,” he said.

  “You’re a big deal,” Lauren shot back. “And I really thought she got that. But I guess not. Which means you’re better off without her.”

  Right.

  That made sense.

  She wasn’t willing to step up and be brave for him, so maybe she wasn’t the one.

  Alex hadn’t been willing to give anything up for Lauren. She’d wanted her life to stay the same—normal—and if Lauren wanted to be a part of it, she had to give up Haiti and their work. Lauren probably was better off without Alex.

  Adrianne hadn’t asked him for that. She hadn’t expected him to change. And maybe she had a better reason for wanting her life to stay the way it was. But the bottom line was still that she didn’t want her life to change. Not even for him.

  So he was probably better off without her.

  Yep, that was likely the reaction a normal person would have.

  Which would explain why he didn’t feel that way at all.

  ADRIANNE PACED across her kitchen and glared at the new box of butter she’d pulled from the fridge. She should work on her candy. That was simple, made sense and would definitely be sweet in the end.

  Instead, she held her phone to her ear and chewed on her left thumbnail as she waited for Lauren to answer. Calling Lauren to check on Mason was complicated, confusing and could pretty much go either way as far as being sweet or bitter in the end.

  It was Thursday. Mason had left Sapphire Falls on Monday. It felt like an eternity.

  “Dr. Davis,” Lauren finally answered.

  “How did it go?”

  Lauren apparently knew who it was. “Let me put it this way—the vice president has banned Mason from his office indefinitely, and Mason hasn’t done one bit of productive work since leaving Sapphire Falls.”

  “You left not even quite seventy-two hours ago,” Adrianne pointed out, slipping right into protect-Mason mode.

  “You have no idea what Mason Riley can do in seventy-two hours when he’s on,” Lauren informed her.

  Hearing his name made Adrianne feel antsy. She wanted to be with him, dammit, and she was going to do this.

  If she died on that plane—and she did acknowledge the fact that the chances of that were small—at least she’d died taking a risk for something big.

  That was better than sitting safely in Sapphire Falls with only her regrets.

  “So he’s not willing to work?” Adrianne asked, wondering if it was okay to feel flattered by that. She knew she should feel guilty—and she did—or worried—which she also did. But it was nice to know that Mason seemed as messed up without her as she was without him. She knew he needed to leave. But she didn’t want him to like it.

  “He’s trying, I think,” Lauren said. “He was in the lab all day Tuesday. But it’s not working. Something’s not clicking. He knows this is important to you and he knows we need this fertilizer figured out before we get to Haiti but…” Lauren trailed off. “You know what I think?”

  Adrianne didn’t respond to the question right away. “He knows this is important to me?” she asked, standing in the center of her kitchen and staring at the jar of caramel sauce she’d had to replace.

  Lauren paused. “Yeah, he…he knew something was up, Adrianne. He knew that you were making him leave because it really mattered to you rather than because you didn’t want him.”

  She wasn’t sure what to say to that. That was…incredible. Mason knew her, after three days, enough to trust that she loved him in spite of all she said and did to the contrary?

  Wow.

  “Okay, so you think he’s just distracted or what?”

  “Maybe,” Lauren said. “But I’m wondering if it’s more than that. It’s like…he put so much heart into his work before that now that his heart is with you, there’s not enough left for the lab.”

  Um, wow again. “That…doesn’t sound like you at all,” Adrianne said. She didn’t know Lauren well, but the other woman gave the definite impression of being tough and practical and not all that sentimental.

 
; Lauren laughed. “I know. But it’s the only explanation. He’s worked through illness, distraction, fatigue and almost everything else.”

  “I might have a solution,” Adrianne said, her heart rate picking up.

  “Good. ’Cause I don’t know what the hell to do.”

  “I’m coming to Chicago. But I need to know where—well, where should I go? Should I go to his place? Yours? The lab? And I need addresses for all of those and times to be there. Things like that.”

  “You’re coming?” Lauren said.

  Adrianne took a deep breath and felt the rightness of her answer clear to her toes. “Yes.”

  “Oh, thank God. Don’t move.”

  The next thing Adrianne heard was nothing. Lauren had hung up. She didn’t answer when Adrianne called back.

  Ten minutes later, there was a pounding on Adrianne’s front door.

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Adrianne said when she opened the door to find Lauren on her front porch. “You were already in town?”

  “Yeah. I was with Phoebe trying to figure out how to convince you to come to Chicago.”

  Adrianne looked over Lauren’s shoulder to find Phoebe and Hailey coming up her front steps.

  “How did that plan look?” Adrianne asked dryly.

  “I’ll admit that it involved a lot of alcohol.”

  “For me or you?”

  “Both,” Lauren confessed.

  “I’ve been reading up on the fear of flying,” Adrianne said.

  “I have too,” Lauren said with a laugh. “And minor heart attacks in young women.”

  “You have?” Adrianne was stunned by that. And a little touched.

  “He’s my best friend, Adrianne, and he needs you,” Lauren said with a lift of a shoulder.

  “Are you going to let him come back to Sapphire Falls?” Adrianne asked.

  “Are you?” Lauren challenged.

  Adrianne didn’t hesitate. “In between trips to Haiti. And wherever else he needs to go.”

  “Good answer,” Lauren said with a nod. “Let’s get you on a plane.”

  “I only need to pack my bag.”

  “Then we’re right on time,” Lauren said to Hailey. “This is Chicago and DC, not Sapphire Falls we’re talking about here.” She glanced at Adrianne’s blue jeans. “You want to handle makeup? And hair?” she asked, taking in Adrianne’s pony tail.

  “What are you doing here anyway?” Adrianne asked her boss.

  “It occurred to me that I like you better happy. You do more for me when you’re in a good mood,” Hailey said.

  “Of course this is about you,” Adrianne muttered.

  “I’m kidding,” Hailey said, holding up a hand. “Mostly anyway.”

  Adrianne started to reply but Hailey jumped in. “I’m really here because Lauren came to the office wanting Phoebe’s address. She told me she was here to talk you into going to Chicago. It occurred to me that you’ve spent a lot of time making me look good and maybe it was time I returned the favor.”

  “How are you going to make me look good?” Adrianne asked with some sarcasm.

  “I’m not completely talentless,” Hailey protested.

  Adrianne drew herself up tall. “Are you seriously thinking that I need a makeover?”

  “Honey, like I said, you’re not going to be hanging out in Sapphire Falls,” Lauren said. “You need to look more like Hailey than Phoebe. No offense,” she added to Phoebe.

  “Oh, none taken,” Phoebe said sarcastically. “Why would I take offense at your criticizing my clothes, shoes, makeup and hair?”

  “No, I mean…” Lauren trailed off. “Sorry.”

  “For your information,” Adrianne said, stepping forward. “I can out-Hailey even Hailey Conner when it comes to clothes, shoes, hair and makeup. If I want to.”

  “Well,” Hailey said, stepping forward to meet her with a smile. “It might have been a tie. In the old days.”

  “Oh, really,” Adrianne said, her eyes narrowed. “You ever dressed for a business meeting and dinner in London or New York?”

  Hailey didn’t answer, but Adrianne added, “I don’t need help looking good. If I want to.”

  Lauren was looking back and forth between them. When they both looked at her she said, “Seriously?”

  “Yep, and I can prove it.” Adrianne turned and headed for the stairs.

  Phoebe grabbed her suitcase from the hall closet while Lauren and Hailey followed her to her bedroom closet.

  Five minutes later, her suitcase lay open on her bed and was quickly filling with outfits, underwear and bras and shoes.

  Too many shoes.

  “It’s only a few days,” Lauren said taking two of the six pairs out.

  “She needs to stay longer than that,” Hailey said, adding a pair of boots.

  Lauren rolled her eyes. “Fine, but it’s DC She still won’t need the boots.” She took them out.

  Hailey took them away from her. “You never know,” she insisted, putting them back in.

  Phoebe added lingerie.

  “That’s not even mine,” Adrianne protested, grabbing for the black teddy Phoebe had apparently brought along.

  “It is now.” Phoebe grabbed it back and stuffed it under the boots.

  “I thought I was going to Chicago, not DC,” Adrianne said. When no one responded—Hailey and Lauren were disagreeing over a pair of red three-inch heels Adrianne hadn’t even seen in two years and Phoebe had moved to her jewelry box—Adrianne said louder, “Why am I going to DC?”

  “We’ll go to Chicago first and get Mason, but he has to go back to DC and apologize. Again. If you’re there with him, he’s more likely to do it.”

  Adrianne frowned. “What is he apologizing for this time?”

  “He got pissed when the vice president said Mason needed to allow press with him on the initial trip to Haiti,” Lauren said.

  “What did he say?” she asked hesitantly.

  “Mason said he’s not babysitting reporters, the VP said you will if I tell you to, Mason said, ‘there you go being a prick again’ and walked out.”

  Adrianne groaned and closed her eyes. This was not good.

  “I need you to come and calm him down, talk him into an apology.”

  Adrianne frowned at her. “He shouldn’t have to apologize.” She grabbed the tank top Phoebe held out. “His job is to get those seeds in the ground and growing, not stand around posing for photo ops and giving quotes so Newsweek can sell more copies. In fact,” she said as she tossed her T-shirt aside and pulled the tank top on. “The best thing would be for them to interview people about Mason. They’d get the right flavor but it wouldn’t bother him and getting the job done and he wouldn’t say something—unfortunate. Then they can…” She trailed off when she noticed the other women staring at her and one another with amused wonder.

  “What?”

  “I know exactly who you need to talk to,” Lauren said. “And it’s not Mason after all.”

  LAUREN USED HER outrageous stock of frequent flier miles to get Adrianne a first-class seat on the same flight she was taking that evening. Adrianne was grateful not to have more time to think and worry about the flight. Trying to sleep that night would have been impossible. Better to take a deep breath and get it over with.

  At the gate, they talked about Haiti—anything to keep Adrianne’s mind off of eventually boarding a plane. For the first time in two years. For the first time since she’d almost died.

&nb
sp; It wasn’t the magic solution, but it was interesting information.

  Lauren told her about how most people on the island were still in tents and shacks. Relief workers sometimes had rudimentary buildings—generally put up by whatever organization they worked for—but running water was hit and miss and electricity was sporadic, depending on how hard the wind blew.

  Even with four walls and a roof, workers still slept in tents to protect from bugs, primarily mosquitoes. Only the more affluent side of Port-au-Prince had air conditioning and the team’s time there was short. Lauren and Mason and their team were needed in the rural areas. The poor rural areas.

  Still, Adrianne only had to think of Mason’s smile and she figured she could deal with the heat and sleeping on the hard ground. Like Phoebe kept telling her, she was fine.

  Fine was the last thing she felt forty minutes later when she took her seat in 3A however. Lauren was supposed to sit across the aisle, but she leaned on the back of the seat in front of the man next to Adrianne in 3B.

  “You wouldn’t mind if my friend and I sat together would you?” she asked, giving him a sexy smile.

  The man smiled. “I could probably be talked into it.”

  “I’d appreciate it. She’s a little freaked out about flying and I want to hold her hand.”

  The man glanced at Adrianne, who barely managed a tight smile.

  “I wouldn’t mind holding her hand,” he said with a grin.

  “Yeah, well, she’s all mine.” Lauren gave him a little wink.

  With one eyebrow raised, the man looked from Adrianne, back to Lauren. “Ah. In that case, I’m happy to move. And sit right across the aisle from you two lovely ladies.”

  He stood and stepped into the aisle, letting Lauren slide into the seat next to Adrianne.

  Adrianne tried to take a deep breath. She forced her chest to expand, to pull air in, then relax and let it out. In and out. They just had to get off the ground. In and out. Once they were on their way, she really thought she’d be okay. In and out. She needed to get past the point she’d been last time.

  Lauren forced her fingers to uncurl from the armrest and held her hand. “You’ll leave a dent,” she said lightly.