The Jilted Billionaire Groom

by Jennifer Youngblood

  Nothing.

  Fear lodged thick in her throat. Was he okay? She pounded on the door, fresh tears welling in her eyes. “Ian!”

  She rushed into the bathroom and grabbed a bobby pin. She returned a second later, jamming the end of it into the hole in the center of the knob. She worked the lock until the door opened. “You’d better have a good explanation for this,” she muttered, charging in. She let out a strangled cry, her hand going over her heart when she saw the open window. The curtain was still moving. She ran over to it. Ian was running across the yard. He was wearing his backpack, his skateboard tucked under his arm. He glanced back over his shoulder.

  “Stop!” she yelled. To her dismay, he kept going. When he reached the road, he put his skateboard down and hopped on. Sunny cursed under her breath as she ran out of the room, her only thought to get to Ian.

  * * *

  According to the GPS, Finley was almost to Sunny’s house. Thankfully, he’d been able to reach Drake who gave him her address. Just as he feared, Sunny didn’t show up for work. His intuition told him that she was running. He glanced around at the middle to lower-class neighborhood. Exactly what he would’ve expected from a single mother who worked as a maid in a hotel. However, it was obvious that Sunny was well-educated. Her demeanor spoke of class, and she knew a ton about design. She’d used technical terms to describe the changes she would like to make to the hotel. Not only that, but she’d spoken with absolute confidence, which is why he had no reservations about giving her such a huge project. Regardless of what Sunny said, she wasn’t a novice.

  As he turned onto the street where Sunny lived, he glanced over and saw a kid sitting on the sidewalk, holding his arm, tears streaming down his face. He got a block past the kid when he realized who he was—Ian! He slammed on the brakes and put the Hummer in reverse. He backed up, put the vehicle in park, got out, and rushed to Ian’s side.

  Ian’s arms and knees were bleeding. He was howling in pain. Finley squatted down and touched Ian’s shoulder. “Hey, bud. What happened?”

  The words came out in short guttural bursts like it was an effort for Ian to get them out. “I fell—off my—skateboard.” He squinted his eyes. “It hurts so bad.”

  It was at that moment that Finley got a good look at Ian’s arm. It was streaked with purple and swelling. He suspected it might be broken.

  “Okay,” he said mostly to himself. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  Ian’s eyes widened in terror.

  “It’s okay,” Finley said soothingly. “They’ll get you patched up in a jiffy.” Ian’s face was scarlet, his breathing shallow. The trick was to keep him calm until they could get to the emergency room. “I need to call Sunny and let her know what’s going on. She’ll be worried sick.” He was about to pull out his phone when Sunny came trotting up the street. Her face registered shock when she saw Finley. “What’re you doing here?”

  Before he could answer, she spotted Ian. “What happened?” she cried, rushing to Ian’s side.

  “I fell,” Ian winced.

  Finley looked pointedly at his arm. “I’m afraid it might be broken.”

  Sunny’s hand went over her mouth. “Oh, my gosh!”

  “It’ll be okay,” Finley assured her. “I’ll take him to the emergency room.”

  Her eyes rounded. “No! You can’t!”

  For a second, he thought he hadn’t heard her correctly. “Excuse me? Ian needs to see a doctor,” he said quietly.

  She moved a couple of steps away from Ian. She started shaking her head back and forth. “We can’t take him to the emergency room. It’s too risky.”

  Sunny wasn’t making any sense. “Ian needs help.”

  She touched his arm, her eyes filling with some indiscernible emotion. “Please, we can’t.”

  “Why?” He rubbed his neck. “Look at him. He’s in pain. If his arm is broken, it’ll have to be put in a cast.”

  Ian was rocking back and forth, crying softly.

  Tears rushed to Sunny’s eyes. “Can you send for a doctor, privately?”

  What in the heck was Sunny mixed up in?

  Her eyes pled with his. “Please?”

  The desperation on Sunny’s face, cut Finley to the core. She was a good person, he could feel that. He glanced at Ian before reaching a decision. Even if he had to move heaven and earth, nothing would keep him from taking care of Sunny and Ian. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “I’ll get a doctor. Let’s get Ian back to the hotel.”

  A sob broke from Sunny’s throat as her knees gave way. He caught her arm to keep her from falling. “You’d do that for me?” she breathed, disbelief sounding in her voice.

  “Yes, for you and Ian.”

  “Thank you,” she stammered. “You have no idea what this means to me.”

  He searched her face. “Enough to tell me the truth about what’s going on?” Arguably, it wasn’t the best time to press her about her situation, but Finley was desperate to know the truth, especially since he was now involved.

  She clutched her chest, eyes darting to Ian. An exchange passed between them. Sunny turned back to Finley. “Okay,” she said flatly, her shoulders sagging.

  Chapter 8

  True to his word, Finley flew in a doctor from Dallas. His family doctor Leo Stratten was in Canada attending his daughter’s wedding, so Finley got the intern who was working under Leo to come instead. Even though Dr. Clint Clock had made it to them in record time, the four hours they’d spent waiting seemed like an eternity. The Tylenol Sunny gave Ian had done little to ease his pain. For the past hour, he’d been screaming and talking out of his head. At the rate Ian was going, there would be little to tell Finley about their situation.

  “I want my mom,” Ian yelled. “Mom, come back.” His lip quivered. “Why did you have to die? I hate Nolan Webb,” he screamed. “He killed my mom! And he killed the police officer,” he wailed.

  “Shh,” Sunny said, touching Ian’s shoulder. “Try to calm down. The doctor’s here.” She cast a concerned glance at Dr. Clock who was removing the cap and pushing liquid through a syringe. She could only imagine what he must be thinking.

  “I was in Nolan’s office.” Ian’s voice choked, his voice going whiny. “I just wanted a piece of candy from the desk.”

  “It’s okay. Try to relax.” Sunny looked at Finley for help, but he could only shake his head.

  Ian looked straight ahead, his eyes fixed unseeingly into the distance like he was watching an invisible screen. “Nolan and the policeman came in. Nolan got mad when I went in his office, so I hid behind the desk. The policeman and Nolan started yelling.” Ian squinted his eyes shut. “It was loud. I put my hands over my ears. The policeman wanted money. Nolan said he’d already paid him too much. Bang!” he screamed, jerking.

  Sunny felt like she was on the verge of losing it. Not only was Finley hearing everything, but worse, so was Dr. Clock. Finley seemed to be reading her thoughts. He placed a hand over her arm. “Don’t worry,” he said quietly, “I’ll have a talk with Clint and explain the importance of keeping everything confidential.”

  The reassuring tone of Finley’s voice helped soothe Sunny’s nerves. If he’d not shown up when he did today, she didn’t know what she would’ve done. Everything imploded when she came up the street and realized Ian was hurt. She couldn’t keep doing this on her own. She needed help. She needed to trust someone … she needed to trust Finley!

  “This is a mild sedative,” Dr. Clock explained.

  “I don’t want it,” Ian screamed, trying to move away, but Dr. Clock caught his arm and pushed the needle into his flesh. “Ouch!” Ian screamed.

  Sunny pushed the damp hair from Ian’s forehead. “It’ll be okay,” she said soothingly. She felt like she was coming unhinged. Please let it be okay, she prayed. She’d give anything to be able to take the pain away from Ian.

  “I want Mom,” Ian whimpered, looking at Sunny with desperation.

  “I know.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I
know,” she repeated. “Your mother loved you with all her heart.” Her voice caught. “She’d be here with you if she could.”

  She felt the comfort of Finley’s protective hand on her shoulder, his fingers seeping warmth into her. Tears dribbled over her cheeks. The cat was already out of the bag. No sense in pretending any longer.

  Ian leaned back, his head resting against the pillow. A few minutes later, he relaxed, closing his eyes.

  A surge of intense relief came over Sunny, followed by a deep weariness.

  “The sedative will help Ian rest,” Dr. Clock said. He looked from her to Finley. “Can I talk to the two of you in the other room?”

  Sunny nodded, feeling numb as they followed the doctor into the sitting area. She and Finley sat down on the sofa with Dr. Clock in the overstuffed chair across from them.

  “The arm is broken,” Clint began. “We won’t know the extent of the break until we get it x-rayed. There’s definitely some angulation of the fracture and it’s probably about 30% displaced, but of course we need an X ray to get a precise measurement. If the swelling has caused a gap between the ends of the bone there’s a greater chance of non-union. Since it’s near the joint we need to get the Salter-Harris classification and decide if the growth plate is involved. And of course we need to know that we’re only dealing with a simple fracture. A complex break with several pieces could even mean surgery.”

  Surgery? No, no, they couldn’t go there. The faster the doctor’s lips moved, the less Sunny understood. Dr. Clock reminded her of one of those know-it-all students who liked to prove they had a large brain by spouting off technical terms.

  Finley glanced at her. She gave him a haggard smile as silent information passed between them. He could tell she was barely holding it together. She was so physically and mentally exhausted that she felt like she might collapse on the floor. Finley reached for her hand and linked his fingers through hers. She was so grateful for his support.

  “Why don’t you try telling us all this in layman’s terms?” Finley said in a musing tone that spoke of unquestionable authority.

  Dr. Clock’s face reddened as he touched his glasses. “Uh, sure.” He cleared his throat. Sunny thought she saw him give a condescending eye-roll. “He definitely broke his arm. Just looking at it and feeling around on it doesn’t give me enough information about it. I’ve done as much as I can to make Ian comfortable for the moment. Do you have access to a facility where we can do x-rays?”

  Sunny cried inwardly. Of course Ian would need x-rays! In retrospect, they should’ve just gone to the emergency room as Finley suggested. Ian would’ve gotten x-rays and had his arm in a cast by now. She’d feared the fake I.D.s wouldn’t hold up under scrutiny, which is why she wanted to handle the situation privately. Because she panicked, everything was now a thousand times worse. Had they simply gone to the emergency room, no one would’ve been the wiser. Now, thanks to her, both Finley and Dr. Clock had heard everything Ian said. She didn’t mind Finley overhearing because she’d planned to tell him everything anyway. But Dr. Clock was another story. Ian had called out Nolan Webb’s name several times. Nolan was such a prominent individual that most people knew of him. Ice trickled down her spine. How was she supposed to contain this?

  “I’ll make a few calls,” Finley said, “I’m sure we can arrange to have x-ray equipment brought in.”

  She turned to him. “You’ve already been so kind and generous. I hate to keep putting you out.”

  He squeezed her hand. “It’s no problem. I want to help. We’re in this together.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Like Romeo and Juliet.”

  Like Romeo and Juliet. Except I hope we have a much happier ending. Tears gathered in her eyes as she gave him a partial smile. “Thank you,” she squeaked. “You have no idea how much this means to me.”

  He gave her a reassuring smile before turning his attention back to Dr. Clock. “I trust you will stay on a couple more days so you can set Ian’s cast. Also, I’d like for you to monitor him to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

  “Yes, I can do that.”

  “Good, you can stay in one of the suites.”

  Finley paused, giving Dr. Clock a direct look. “The things you heard Ian say …”

  Sunny held her breath, watching Dr. Clock. Color blotched over his cheeks as he rubbed a hand across his forehead and adjusted his glasses.

  Could he be trusted?

  Dr. Clock crossed his legs, adjusting the crease on his slacks. “Federal HIPAA laws prevent me from disclosing information about patients.”

  Finley grunted. “That’s all well and good, but this goes beyond a doctor and patient relationship. What I’m asking you—man to man—is can you keep this quiet?” He eyed the doctor, waiting for a response.

  “No worries. I won’t say a thing.” Dr. Clock offered a curt smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You have my word.”

  Slight pause. “I appreciate that,” Finley finally responded.

  The tension in the room grew palatable as Finley locked gazes with Dr. Clock. In that moment, Sunny realized that Finley was indeed a formidable force. He was sizing the intern up, trying to decide if he could trust him. She felt a rush of gratitude that Finley was in her corner. “Finding people that I can count on … well, it means everything.” The words were spoken deliberately, like a sure promise, maybe even a threat.

  “I understand,” Dr. Clock said quickly.

  “Your willingness to drop everything and come here at my request speaks very well of you,” Finley continued.

  Dr. Clock’s features relaxed a fraction as he nodded. “I was glad to do it.”

  “Rest assured that you’ll be well compensated for your efforts … and for your silence.”

  Dr. Clock smile seemed more genuine this time. “Thank you, Mr. Landers, it’s my pleasure.”

  * * *

  After the doctor retired to his own room, Finley turned to Sunny. “It’s time for us to talk.”

  She nodded, sitting down on the sofa. Her cheeks had a hollow cast, her face pale. She looked fragile, like it was taking a supreme effort for her to hold herself together. He touched her hand, which was ice cold. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and soothe away the tension, but he needed to know the truth. “Tell me what’s going on,” he prodded.

  She took in a deep breath, her eyes meeting his. “For starters, my real name’s not Sunny Day.”

  The breath left his lungs. He knew she was harboring secrets, but it hadn’t occurred to him that she might be using a false name. “What’s your real name?” he croaked.

  Something shifted in her eyes, and he got the crazy feeling that she was hesitant to tell him. He gave her a questioning look, but remained silent to give her space to speak.

  “My real name is Ashley Reed.”

  He rolled the name through his head. It was familiar.

  “I’m not from Montana or Florida. I grew up in Dallas.”

  His eyes widened. “I was right. We do know each other, don’t we?” He searched his brain.

  She gave him a slight smile. “Yes.”

  “How do we know each other?”

  She chuckled, a hint of accusation in her dark eyes as she pulled her hand away from his. “See, I told you I was forgettable.”

  Ashley Reed. Ashley Reed. The Romeo Effect. Mr. Adair. Suddenly, it came to him in a flash. He snapped his fingers. “You went to Trinity Academy. We had an English class together. You sat behind me.” He tried to merge the memory of her to how she looked now. “We were friends, sort of. You were really skinny with glasses.”

  She touched her eye. “Contacts.”

  He let it all sink in. “I thought you acted strange when I brought up Mr. Adair.” A thought occurred to him that nearly snatched his breath away. “Is this whole thing some sort of elaborate scheme?”

  “What?”

  He gave her a hard look. “Is it?”

  She barked out a laugh, shooting him
an incredulous look. “Are you serious?”

  Horror trickled down his spine. “Did my mother send you here to woo me?” It would be just like his mother to trick him into thinking he was falling in love with a simple maid who was a high-society chick in disguise. The sting of betrayal pinged over him. He’d thought Sunny was different.

  She gave him an incredulous look. “You know what? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Everything’s always about you, isn’t it?” She shook her head, disgust heavy in her voice. “Despite what you think, the sun doesn’t rise and set by you.” Her voice rose, nostrils flaring. “There’s a big world out there that has nothing do with the Landers’ dynasty.” She jumped to her feet. “I should’ve just taken Ian to the emergency room and saved us all the trouble. This was a mistake.”

  He jumped up, catching her arm, a swift panic overtaking him. “Wait a minute. You don’t mean that.” His world had started anew the moment he met Sunny. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing her now.

  She let out a humorless laugh. “Yes, Finley. That’s exactly what I mean.” She gave him a withering look as she started pacing back and forth. “I should’ve listened to that warning voice in my head and never gotten involved with you.” Her hands flew into the air. She waved them around as she spoke. “I’ve put Ian in jeopardy. Now you and the doctor know about Nolan Webb.” She put a hand to her forehead, cursing under her breath.

  He felt like an idiot! He’d gotten so thrown off by Sunny’s admission about who she really was that he’d forgotten to factor in that other important tidbit—Nolan Webb, the shooting. “I’m sorry.” He stepped up to her and touched her arm. “Just stop. Please, so we can talk about this.”

  She halted in her tracks, her eyes throwing daggers.

  He blew out a breath. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have assumed that my mother was behind this.”

  The muscles in her jaw flinched with tension. “What you shouldn’t have assumed was that I was trying to manipulate you.”