Shelby turned around. “I should have realized you couldn’t change overnight,” she said in a low voice. “After all, the angry kid found his niche—why would he want to give up all that excitement he has every time he goes out on an assignment? A desk job wouldn’t give you that danger high, would it? I can understand better now, Jed. It’s a part of you. And you obviously feel it’s a necessary part and there’s no room for anything or anyone else in your life.” Her fingers were clasped tightly in front of her. “I’m going to check on Meredith. She’ll be discharged, although now that she’s met a very eligible doctor I’m sure she won’t be all that eager to leave.” She started toward him, then checked her movement. “I’ll talk to you later.”
In Jed’s mind, her statement wasn’t all that hopeful. Not when he didn’t have a chance in hell of going after her if she decided to leave the hospital.
As if to remind him that things were even worse for him this time around, the low, throbbing pain in his chest rapidly built up to major agony. He seriously thought about calling the nurse and asking if it wasn’t time for another lovely, mind-numbing painkiller.
Damn. He was getting too old to get shot.
Chapter 12
“Now let me get this straight. You dumped Jed. Jed flew off on one of his business trips. You came up here with me. The cabin was broken into by two Neanderthals with more brawn than brains. I was injured and you were kidnapped. Jed came back, your father had a heart attack and Jed came up here to rescue you.”
Meredith ticked each item off on her fingertips as she sat cross-legged on top of the bed. “He rescued you. I’m sure the two of you had a lovely reunion in some little hideaway.” She determinedly ignored her friend’s blush. “Then our mountain boys found you again or you found them. Jed fought for you, killed the guy, his nephew shot Jed and you shot the nephew. We’re all here at the hospital when you find out your father needs to step down because of his health, so you thought Jed would conveniently take over and skip all that lovely international travel and stay home with you. Except you found out he didn’t have that in mind, so you’ve dumped him again. I swear, you two are better than a soap opera.”
Meredith rolled her eyes under Shelby’s glare. “I am your best friend, Shelby. Have been for so many years I can’t remember ever not knowing you. But I will not wallow in self-pity with you. You knew from the beginning what Jed was like. You once told me he was always honest with you. Did you think he would suddenly change?”
Shelby threw her pillow at Meredith, who easily caught it with both hands. “I hate it when you’re logical. And yes, I hoped he would change. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Meredith hugged Shelby’s pillow against her chest. “Shel, when I regained consciousness, the doctor told me that if the deputy hadn’t been so prompt in answering the alarm I would have died. They didn’t even tell me what happened to you right away because they weren’t sure how I would handle it. As soon as I started feeling human again, I got to thinking about it. You came up here in an attempt to get away from Jed, and instead, you were thrown back with him. I came up here because I didn’t know what else to do with myself. I still don’t know exactly what I plan to do with myself, but I’m going to do my damnedest to find out.”
Shelby was stunned as she listened to the formerly frivolous, party-hearty Meredith speak so seriously. “Is this along the lines of you ‘seeing the light’?” she asked.
Meredith tipped her head back and studied the ceiling. “I think it’s more like I’m realizing I don’t want to grow old alone.” She smiled uncertainly. “I couldn’t be any worse a mother than my own mother was, could I?”
Shelby shook her head. “I don’t think I’m hearing correctly. You’re thinking of becoming a mother?”
Meredith leaned forward confidentially. “And why not? Have you gotten a really good look at Dr. Taylor?”
Shelby had seen the man and was surprised her friend was interested in someone who wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, didn’t hold a high-powered position or have his own stock portfolio. But Shelby had noticed the way he looked at Meredith, as if she was a dream come true. Meredith had dated more than her share of losers, and Shelby wanted to see her good friend with someone who realized just how special she was.
“I’ve seen him, yes,” she said hesitantly.
Meredith straightened up. “He wants to teach me to fish.”
Shelby couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Fish? You?”
She nodded. “He said it’ll only work if I’m willing to bait my own hook.”
“With worms?”
“They’re supposed to be the best,” she loftily informed her.
Shelby hopped off the bed. “Now I know I’ve heard everything. The world is going insane. I don’t know if it’s the water or the clean air up here or what, but I do know I’m getting out of here before it affects me, too.”
“You told me that when those men had you, you promised yourself if you could see Jed again, you wouldn’t press for a commitment. You wouldn’t even say anything to him about his having to take these trips,” Meredith reminded her. “You realized what was important was being with him and taking advantage of the time you had together.”
Shelby took a deep breath. “I really hate you.”
Meredith smiled. “No, you don’t. You just hate it when I’m right.”
Shelby rested her palms flat against the closet door and began bumping her forehead against the smooth surface.
“Now if I did that, I’d probably shake something important loose,” Meredith observed. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“I’m hoping the pain will wake me up out of this crazy dream,” she said between clenched teeth. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be working.”
“Maybe you need to do it a little harder,” Meredith said, straight-faced.
Shelby spent the rest of the afternoon on the telephone, talking to Warren Carlisle’s doctor and nurse and getting hold of her father’s housekeeper, who broke down and cried when she heard her voice. It took Shelby several moments to assure the older woman she was all right. She had checked her business answering machine and jotted down messages, but had no desire to return them just yet.
She didn’t bother calling Warren’s office. She was certain Jed had already taken care of that; besides, her father had many capable employees. She wondered if they were agents, also. She had already noticed that the drowsy look of a man under painkilling drugs had quickly disappeared the longer Jed was awake. By now, she decided on a sour note, he was probably jogging around the hospital parking lot without even breaking into a sweat. She looked up from her note taking when Faye walked in with medication for Meredith, who was still suffering from horrible headaches.
“I guess I should get out of here, since you probably need the bed space,” she commented.
“We would have kicked you out if we needed the bed. That’s the nice thing about our actually being more a medical center, in a sense, than a hospital. Our serious cases are airlifted out, and it’s quiet right now,” Faye explained. “Just don’t expect room service.” She handed the small paper cup to Meredith and waited for her to swallow her pills. “I have to admit you three have sure livened this place up. We haven’t had this much juicy gossip since the time two skiers tried to make love on the ski lift late at night and practically froze to each other.”
Meredith made a face. “Sounds painful.”
Faye giggled. “It was to them.”
“And here we thought small towns had no excitement,” Shelby said.
“Oh, we do, but we keep it to ourselves. We don’t want it ruined with too many city folk coming up here,” the nurse teased. “Mr. Hawkins is back from his tests if you want to go up and see him.”
Shelby went on instant alert. “What tests?”
“He was experiencing a lot of pain, so they wanted to make sure there weren’t any other problems cropping up,” she explained. “The doctor figures because there’s old scar
tissue so close to this present wound, it’s creating problems in the healing process.”
Shelby could feel Meredith’s gaze on her. “He’ll be fine. He’s tough,” she murmured, refusing to look at her friend.
“And probably waiting for someone to come in and kiss his boo-boo better.”
Faye looked from Meredith to Shelby and back again. “I thought there was something going on…” She brightened up. “If there’s not—?”
Meredith waved her hand back and forth. “Don’t even bother. She gives him away and he refuses to understand he’s supposed to go with someone new. I had him for all of two seconds and enjoyed every bit of that minuscule time. Even if he didn’t know it.” She heaved a deep sigh and made a great show of inspecting her nails.
“I’ll look in on Jed in a little while,” Shelby said, eager to end this conversation as quickly as possible.
“According to Bridie, a Do Not Disturb sign would be in order where you two are concerned.” Faye quickly left before Shelby had a chance to respond. Or retaliate.
“I really like this place,” Meredith commented. “Everyone is so… real.”
“You’re only saying that because of the good doctor. Once the lust wears off, you’ll decide this is a one-horse town and you’ll be rarin’ to get back to all the fun we have,” Shelby replied, feeling more than a little put out at her friend’s keen observations.
When Meredith didn’t respond, Shelby cast her a quick glance. Instead of anger, she saw something that looked suspiciously like pity.
“I think I’ll check on Jed,” she muttered, making her escape.
“Good idea. I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you.”
Unable to leave without having the last word, Shelby waited until she was walking out the door to say, “At least I didn’t have to wear braces all through high school.”
She should have realized Meredith wouldn’t let that go.
“Better braces than major zits my junior year. Right before the prom, wasn’t it?”
Shelby smiled to herself. She should have known better than to get in a contest with Meredith. Her friend’s mind was a virtual database of information.
Shelby didn’t head for Jed’s room immediately. She stopped in the unoccupied visitors’ waiting room and gazed out the window. The mountains looked as if she could reach out and touch them. She shuddered as she remembered her unplanned trek up one of them. She placed her palm against the glass, feeling the coolness against her skin. With the sun setting, the sky was brilliant orange, turning the peaks a dark navy blue and deep purple.
“So beautiful and so dangerous,” she murmured.
“Like you.”
She didn’t turn around for a moment, but remained standing at the window. When she did turn, she found Jed seated in a wheelchair. A hospital-issue robe was pulled around him. She wanted to smile at the sight of him in the hospital gown held together with only a couple of ties in the back, but thought better of it.
He remained in the doorway, as if blocking it. Even now there was a sense of power around him, as if all his senses were on alert to make sure an enemy didn’t lurk nearby. It wasn’t just his job that made him this way; it was an integral part of the man himself.
“Making your escape?” she asked lightly, deliberately ignoring his provocative comment.
He grimaced. “Bridie could put the fear into anyone.”
“Even you?”
He grinned slightly. “Even me. The woman is a tyrant worthy of Kublai Khan.”
“I heard that, Hawkins!” Bridie’s voice could be heard from down the hallway. “Just for that I’ll use ice water for tomorrow’s sponge bath.”
“See what I mean? The woman’s middle name is Sadistic,” he confided.
“Maybe she just knows you better than you’d like to think,” Shelby replied. “I heard you had a great deal of pain. Something about old scar tissue acting up.”
“Perils of old wounds in the vicinity of new ones.” He verbally brushed it off.
“The one when you were mugged by that kid in Cairo?” she asked archly.
He still watched her with that unnerving stare of his. “Not exactly.”
“The enemy?”
He slowly nodded.
She learned more about him now each time they were together. How had he managed to keep his life so neatly divided into two separate parts? Who was the man she had once known as Jed Hawkins? It was mind-boggling.
“Were any of those scars from your childhood or muggers?” she asked, trying to keep her questions light and airy instead of demanding. It wasn’t easy. She found herself growing cold inside every time she thought of the Jed she first knew and the man she had come to know the past few days.
How had she missed the little signs all these months? His way of making sure he sat against a wall facing the restaurant doors. The way he always seemed to know if someone got too close to them. The invisible protective cloak he seemed to throw around her wherever they went. The times he seemed to be on alert for something only he could sense. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach. Had her attraction to him blinded her that much?
“Childhood scars were more internal,” he said with a closed expression.
“I need to go to my father,” she said finally, for lack of anything else to say. “I want to make sure for myself that he’s all right, so I thought I would leave in the morning.”
His expression didn’t change and his eyes remained focused on her face. “I’ll drive you.”
She gaped at that statement. “You aren’t ready to leave here.”
“I know what my body can handle,” he countered. “And I’ll be doing the driving.”
“The doctor won’t allow you to leave so soon,” she argued.
His lips twitched in a mirthless smile. “That’s why hospitals have something called Against Medical Advice. I’ve signed myself out of hospitals more times than I can count.”
“You’ve done your job, Jed. You brought me down safely, so it’s best if you stay here and let the staff take care of you while you recuperate. My father would tell you the same thing.”
“We’ll take my car.” With that, he turned the wheelchair with an ease that spoke of familiarity with the device and rolled down the hallway.
Shelby could have followed him to his room and told him there was no way she was going to allow him to drive her back. She could have reminded him that her father would order him to stay in bed until he was fully healed. She could have insisted she didn’t need protection any longer. But she had no doubt that no matter what she said to him, how long or vehemently she argued, he would still be in that car with her the next day. Not only in it, but driving.
“One day, he has to learn he can’t have it all his way,” she murmured, walking out of the waiting room. “And one way or another, I’m going to show him that’s the way the world works. He’s going to find out he can’t win all the arguments. Or do things the way he wants to. One day I will win.”
“I do believe of the three of us, I’m actually in the best physical shape. Perhaps I should be doing the driving.”
“No!”
Meredith didn’t show the least bit of petulance at Shelby and Jed’s simultaneously shouted retort.
“It was a thought.” She stretched her legs along the back seat and picked up the paperback book she’d been reading for the last half hour.
Shelby envied her friend’s ability to lose herself in a book while riding in a car. All Shelby ever ended up with was a queasy stomach.
She hadn’t been surprised when Jed signed himself out of the hospital that morning, but was furious when he insisted on driving, after making arrangements for her car to be picked up by an agent and driven back to L.A. She may have lost the battle but refused to lose the war. She knew her plan was successful when she saw the look of resignation on his face as a chirpy-looking Meredith appeared by the car as Jed was loading their luggage. It had taken Shelby two hours of pleading, cajoling and outright b
ribery to convince her friend she needed to return home that very day and no, the good doctor would probably not forget Meredith within twenty-four hours. Shelby gave up her favorite copper silk blouse for the cause, but she considered it a worthy expenditure—she’d give anything to avoid all those hours alone in the car with Jed.
She cast a sideways glance toward the passenger seat. Jed’s lips were tightly compressed. His set expression and the white lines around his mouth told her he was in pain, but he wasn’t about to admit it.
“Anyone want to stop?” she asked.
“No.” Jed looked straight ahead.
Shelby glanced in the rearview mirror. “Meredith?”
Her friend looked up with feigned wonder on her face. “Am I supposed to say yes or no?”
“Say no and you won’t have to walk the rest of the way,” Jed kindly advised.
Meredith held up her book. “I’m fine, thank you very much, but stopping at a drive-through for something to drink wouldn’t be amiss, would it? And maybe a cheeseburger?”
“We’ll do that,” Shelby said, as if she had made the final decision.
Driving Jed’s car was far different from driving her sportier model. His was a much larger and heavier vehicle but had unbelievable power. She kept one eye on the speedometer to keep to the legal limit. The last thing she needed was to be stopped for speeding. Although she was certain Jed had the resources to ensure that a ticket would be erased from the Highway Patrol computer.
For now, he sat silent in the passenger seat. She had to admit she was surprised he hadn’t fought her too much on the driving issue, but one look at his newly sharpened features told it all. He had signed himself out when he wasn’t ready. And he was paying the price. She vowed that once they reached the hospital, she was going to have him hog-tied and thrown into the bed next to her father’s, where he would have no choice but to stay there and recuperate.
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