Return to Sender

by Fern Michaels

  Lin knew Sally didn’t function well without her morning caffeine jolt.

  “I feel like such a fool. If you don’t speak to me ever again after what I’m about to tell you, I’ll understand. I just want you to know that, Sally.”

  “That isn’t gonna happen, and you know it. Spill it, Lin.”

  “My father didn’t have a heart attack—”

  “—Too bad.”

  “Sally!”

  “That’s it?” Sally questioned.

  “No, there’s more, if you’ll stop interrupting me. I went to Atlanta. Basically I told him to kiss off. You’ll be happy to know I’m no longer footing the bill for his care.”

  “What!” Sally shouted.

  Lin held the phone away from her ear. “You heard me. That wasn’t my intention, but he was such a bastard. Called me a slut and started preaching about the fires of hell. I’d had enough, and I told him so. I went to the administration office, told them I would no longer be responsible for his care as of September. They looked at me as though I were the most evil daughter that ever lived, but I didn’t give a damn. He’s belittled me for the last time.”

  “Hallelujah! It’s about time you got on your hind legs and roared. Good for you, Lin.”

  “I knew you’d be glad to hear that. What I didn’t tell you…Well, I’m in New York. Remember that day at the diner when we were talking about letting bygones be bygones? I couldn’t let it go, Sally. I just couldn’t, but I didn’t want you involved any more than you were already. It was something I had to do. Alone.” Lin waited for the sound of the dial tone.

  “And you think I’d stop what? Being your friend? Quit the diner? Lin Townsend, you know me better than that!”

  Lin sighed. “I should, huh?”

  “Damn straight. Now, tell me what’s going on in the Big Apple. Have you seen Will?”

  “No, Will thinks I’m in Atlanta, at my father’s bedside. I hated to lie, but I didn’t know what else to tell him.”

  “Okay, I can understand that, but what about Sir Nicholas? Have you exacted your revenge or what?”

  “That’s just it. I have in a way, but it looks as though someone higher up might finish the job for me.” Lin told her what Jason suspected.

  “Dying? Well, if that isn’t sweet revenge, I don’t know what is,” Sally said coldly.

  “I don’t want the man to die, Sally! I’m not that coldhearted!”

  “He was,” Sally reminded her. “A seventeen-year-old who could have been pregnant with his child and he couldn’t care enough even to open the letters you sent him. I’d say that’s pretty coldhearted.”

  One of the things Lin admired most about Sally was her ability to cut through the bullshit and go straight for the heart of the matter.

  “Put that way, it’s cold. I don’t care if he dies. Not that I want him to…What if Will decides to donate marrow? That’s what I’m worried about.”

  Lin heard clinking noises. Sally pouring coffee.

  “You can’t allow him to, that’s all. Surprise him. Tell him…something and keep him away from the school until the drive is over. End of problem.”

  Could it really be that easy?

  “It’s the middle of the semester. I can’t just pull him away from his classes.”

  “I didn’t say that. Just make sure when he’s not in class that he’s with you, anywhere but on campus. Tell him you miss him, which we both know is true, so that’s not a lie. He’s eighteen. Tell him you’re taking him out on the town. Nothing like an invitation to party in the Big Apple.”

  Maybe that could work, Lin thought.

  “Why don’t you fly up? Between the two of us, we’re bound to come up with a plan to keep Will away from campus.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. Jack is freaking out because I refuse to serve meat loaf every day. Apparently that compromise you reached with him about meat loaf as a lunch special isn’t enough to satisfy him. And Kelly Ann thinks she pregnant. She’s spent more time in the ladies’ room than she has working.”

  Lin needed to go home, but she couldn’t. Not yet. Not when the lie she thought she’d kept hidden from Will was about to be uncovered, or at the very least, there was a chance that it could be. Sally needed to stay in Dalton.

  “I’ll be fine. Sounds like you have your hands full. I hope Kelly Ann’s boyfriend steps up to the plate if she is pregnant. He’s such a weirdo.”

  “My thoughts, too, but kids will be kids. Even though she’s twenty-one, Lizzie still acts like a teenager sometimes.”

  Feeling defeated, Lin took a deep breath, trying to take some interest in their conversation. “I’d always heard girls were more difficult than boys. But listen, I shouldn’t have dumped all this on you. I’m just feeling so mixed up about the whole stupid mess. Maybe I should’ve insisted Will go to college elsewhere. I don’t know. There are so many what-ifs right now.”

  “Listen, you can ‘what-if’ yourself to death, and it will get you nowhere. Stuff happens. You deal with it. Bottom line, would it be so terrible if Will were to learn his father was alive?”

  “Yes and no. He’d never trust me again, and I wouldn’t blame him. And what if he does find out and Nick dies? Where would that leave him? Me? Us? I can’t risk it. There’s too much at stake.”

  “Let’s look at the worst-case scenario. Number one, Will finds out his father is alive, and you’ve lied about it all these years. You carry that damn messenger bag full of those letters with you everywhere you go. Show them to Will. Let him know you made the effort to include his father in his life. Number two, this may hurt Will, but at least he’ll know your intentions were good. Rejection from an unknown father is much worse than rejection from a father you’ve known all your life. At least that’s my take on it. Will is eighteen. Nick is his father. Whatever happens between the two of them, if anything were to happen, you will have done what is right. Will is an understanding young man, Lin. Remember it was you that raised him, not your father, not Nick. He’s a good penny.”

  “I know. I just don’t want my son to think less of me. He’s all I have, Sally.” Tears pooled in Lin’s eyes. She used the hem of her sweatshirt to stem the flow.

  “Ultimately, the decision is up to you, Lin. I can’t make it for you. Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it.”

  How like Sally to put what Lin thought of as a gut-wrenching nightmare into perspective. It really was simple. Cut and dried, if you will. But gambling on her son’s emotional well-being wasn’t something she was willing to do at that point.

  “You’re a real friend, Sally. I can’t imagine what I would’ve done without you all these years.”

  “Yeah, whatever. Stop with the sappy stuff. Whatever you decide, I’m here.”

  As always, Lin thanked her dearest friend before they said good-bye. She was on a mission.

  “Man, you’re crazy! It says they’re paying five hundred bucks. In cash,” Will said to his dorm mate, Aaron Levy. “There’s a hundred things I could do with five hundred dollars right now.” Though Will had plenty of extra money, it came from his mother. This was going to be the first Christmas after he had been away from home. It’d be cool to buy her something really nice with money he’d earned on his own.

  “Not me. I hate needles,” Aaron explained to his crazy friend.

  “And you want to be a vet? Look, man, I don’t know what planet you came from, but the last I heard, veterinarians use needles. They give shots. They draw blood. That kinda thing.”

  “I meant to say that I personally hate needles stuck into me.” Aaron laughed. “I don’t care how much money they’re offering.”

  “Says here the matching donor will receive a ten-million-dollar bonus. Holy crap! Just think of the practice you could start with that kinda money. I’m not afraid of needles. I’m going first thing tomorrow.”

  “Whatever, dude. All I can say is good luck.” Aaron tossed a blue and purple pillow at Will.

  “Thanks.” Will said. “I’m going to the
library. Check you later.”

  Will’s dorm mate was cool in every way except socially. He was shy, didn’t have the first desire to meet some of the hottest girls he’d ever laid eyes on. Will couldn’t wait to tell Jack about the house of horniness he was living in. The old man was like the grandfather he’d never known. He’d get a kick out of hearing about it for sure. His mom, on the other hand, would blush and shake her head. She was always preaching to him about getting a girl pregnant. Didn’t she know he carried a condom wherever he went? Well, he had since starting college. If the opportunity arose—No pun intended, he thought to himself and laughed—he was going to be prepared.

  The request for bone-marrow donations in the Sunday edition of the Times was the perfect opportunity to earn some cash. Wanting to surprise his mother, he decided not to mention anything about it to her. She’d get all antsy and squeamish. He remembered when he was in high school and always donated blood. His mom never understood why he went through what she called “such an ordeal” when you didn’t have to. It was just something he liked doing. Maybe he’d saved a life or two. He didn’t know.

  Since Scruffy had died, Will had known his calling. He’d loved her so much, it was like losing his best friend when she’d died. His mother had told him the story about finding her cowering beneath the steps of her apartment, cold and hungry. If he were able to extend the lives of animals, make their lives healthier and happier, it would give him immense pleasure. At fifteen he’d decided to become a veterinarian and he’d studied hard when he hadn’t really wanted to, but his hard work had paid off. He’d been accepted into one of the most prestigious undergraduate vet programs in the country. Will couldn’t wait to get his degree. Then he would really be on his way to fulfilling his life’s dream.

  And ten million dollars would make it so much nicer, if he turned out to be the donor they were looking for.

  Lin read the newspaper article for the third time. Ten million dollars! Five million to an orphanage, and now this. Her hands shook, she was so mad. The son of a bitch threw fortunes around like pocket change. Her desire for revenge renewed, she called Jason’s cell phone.

  “I take it you read the paper,” he said.

  “Ten million dollars. Can you imagine?” Lin asked in amazement. “He’ll have so many donors, they’ll be crawling out of the cracks like ants at a picnic. But I suppose that’s what he’s trying to achieve.”

  “I knew he was sick when I saw him. I checked out leukemia on the Web, and if he has the fast-moving kind, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, odds are he won’t live long enough for all the donors to be tested. He could have something else, but I doubt it. Dave tracked him to a Dr. Evan Reeves. He’s an oncologist and a hematologist. Smart doctor, from what I hear.”

  Lin had read about him in the article. He and his office staff would be stationed at the university for one week in order to take blood and buccal swabs from potential donors. This would narrow the typing process to only those that met certain medical criteria, a human leukocyte antigen typing which Lin understood involved a part of a gene that identified similar immune systems. From there it would determine who would undergo the bone-marrow extraction. It was quite a task, and Lin knew that if Will learned of this, he’d be first in line. She had to do whatever she could to prevent that from happening.

  “I suppose I should sit tight and see what happens,” she said, knowing she had her work cut out for her if she was to prevent Will from doing something that could cause so much pain.

  “That’s what I would do. I’ve called Dave off. There’s no reason to have the guy followed. He’ll be in the public eye now that he’s confessed to being ill. I imagine he’s hoping sympathy will replace the outrage from the article in Monday’s paper. The man has perfect timing.”

  “He does. I’m going to stay in the city for a couple of days. Then I need to go home. I have a business to run. Call me if there is anything I need to know.”

  “I can do that, Lin. I wish…Someday I want you to tell me why you’re so hell-bent on destroying the man.”

  She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Maybe. I’ll talk with you soon.” Lin closed her cell phone. The day might come when she would have to tell Jason, but not just yet. She had to do whatever was in her power to prevent her son from opening a Pandora’s box so full of lies, it would take years for her to recover.

  After she’d read the article in the paper, the beginnings of an idea had started to take root in her mind. After her talk with Jason, she knew it might backfire, but it was worth a shot.

  It was Sunday. Monday morning she would visit Dr. Reeves. He had to see her. It truly was an emergency. With nothing to do, Lin decided to scope out her neighborhood beyond the local Starbucks.

  She ran a washcloth over her face, brushed her teeth, and pulled her blond hair up in a ponytail. Grabbing a jacket and her purse, she stood in the hallway and locked the door. Feeling relatively safe in a city this size seemed strange to her, but she did. She’d said hello to her neighbors, a young couple with a set of twins. They were both executives on Wall Street. Lin wondered why they weren’t living in a penthouse. Then, remembering the amount of rent she was paying for a one-bedroom apartment, she understood. It would cost a small fortune to house a family of four in this city.

  Why is everything always about money? she thought as she pushed her way outside. She thought of the ten million dollars Nick had offered to pay a matching donor. It was within her power to save his life, sort of. Maybe. In all honesty, if it came to that, it would be Will who held Nick’s life in his hands.

  Feeling empowered by her rationalization, Lin joined a group of others in a line that wrapped around the Magnolia Bakery on Bleecker Street. She needed to gain a few pounds, anyway. She’d eat two of the cupcakes. Maybe three, one for Sally. Hell, she’d get a dozen and take them back to the apartment with her.

  Thirty minutes later Lin felt as though she’d burst if she ate another cupcake. She’d picked up a couple of mystery novels at a secondhand bookstore across the street from the bakery. She planned to spend her Sunday afternoon reading.

  Chapter 13

  Monday, October 29, 2007

  New York City

  Lin swallowed, feeling a lump in her throat the size of a golf ball.

  Now that she was there, she wasn’t sure if she had the nerve to go through with what had seemed like such a good idea just yesterday. Maybe I should just leave, she thought. But before she could escape the confines of the small examination room, the door opened. It took a few seconds before Lin could speak. “Hello.”

  “Hi. I’m Dr. Reeves. It says you’re here on a personal matter.” He glanced at the clipboard holding the papers she’d just spent twenty minutes on. “Have a seat.” He motioned to a metal chair. He hopped on top of the table. He smiled. “You’re wearing a dress.”

  “I know.” What an idiot she sounded like. “I mean, of course I do.”

  Blond hair that was too long, a deep tan, and from what she could tell by the way he filled out his polo shirt, he had the body that went along with the total package. And he was a doctor. Some woman was lucky. Just looking at him made her blush, forget why she’d come in the first place.

  “And it’s very pretty, too.” Lin must’ve looked shocked, because Dr. Reeves laughed very loudly. “I’m sorry. Most of my patients are sick. You look very healthy to me. And pretty.”

  Did he say she was pretty? Or was it the dress he thought pretty? Was he actually flirting with her? She looked for a wedding ring. Nada!

  “Uh, thanks. I guess. I am healthy as far as I know, though it’s been a while since I had my cholesterol checked.” Lin could’ve given herself the V8 smack to the forehead.

  “We can check it for you,” Dr. Reeves said.

  She hadn’t expected such a young hunk. Heaven help her, Sally would die if she saw him. That thought caused her to smile. If he didn’t stop the unprofessional banter, she didn’t know what she was going to do. Feeling lik
e a girl with her first crush, Lin cleared her throat. She had a son to consider. Who cared what the damned doctor looked like?

  I do, I do, a little voice whispered in her ear.

  “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m sure it’s fine. As I said on the papers I filled out, this is a personal matter. I saw the article in the Times.”

  “Yes. Some people have money to burn. If it saves their lives, then who’s to say it’s a tad on the side of ridiculous? I suppose you want to donate your marrow. It was pretty clear in the paper. We’ve got a medical team set up on campus. They can do everything that I could do here in the office.”

  “No, no, it’s not that. I don’t want to donate my bone marrow.” Lin stood up. “This wasn’t a good idea. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

  “Wait!”

  Lin stopped on the way to the door because the handsome doctor blocked her path.

  “Please, tell me why you’re here. It must be important to you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come.”

  Shaking her head, Lin wasn’t sure how she should reply. “I’m not sure myself. Obviously, I didn’t think this through.”

  “Okay. I can’t force you, but just so you know, whatever you say to me is protected. Patient confidentiality.”

  “I thought so, but I wasn’t sure, since I’m not actually a patient. Does this mean that whatever we discuss, no matter what, it can’t be used…for one of your patients?” Knowing her words made no sense to the doctor, she was about to correct them when Dr. Reeves spoke.

  “I suppose that qualifies as personal. I can’t give you a yes or no answer, Ms. Townsend. If it involves something that’s unethical, then I can’t withhold that information, whatever it may be.”

  Lin nodded, unsure of what his response meant. “I shouldn’t have wasted your time. I’m sorry.”

  “Wait,” the doctor called as she pushed past him to the door. He hesitated; then a quirky smile revealed bright white teeth. “I mean…are you hungry?”