Celebration's Family (Celebrations, Inc Series Book 5)

by Nancy Robards Thompson

  Donning a layer of emotional armor, Liam crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. Ignoring Quinn and silently challenging the others to test him further, he felt like the only grown-up in the room, embarrassed that this scene was unfolding in front of Kate Macintyre.

  So he wasn’t the only family man on the small staff. It didn’t mean he needed or wanted a night out. The agonizing torture of those initial minutes, hours and days without Joy had accumulated into weeks, then added up to months that had stretched into years that were marked by the passing of birthdays, holidays and anniversaries that were nothing without her.

  He did well to drag boxes of Christmas decorations down from the attic much less summon the energy to cajole the kids to put them on the tree. But somehow the three of them had managed to go through the motions. If their family had once been a tight circle when Joy was alive, now that she was gone, the circle was broken, and had become a straight line in which he and the girls were desperately hanging on to each other, grasping, making it through day by day.

  Physically Liam left almost everything he had at the hospital. The emotional reserves were left for his kids. Not for a date with a woman who had won him in a sophomoric bachelor auction. Even if it was for a good cause, Amanda and Calee were the only company he wanted.

  Kate Macintyre continued on with her spiel. “A moment ago I mentioned that this event would happen in short order because we have a special incentive.” She paused, and, obviously knowing who her best audience was, she looked at Liam’s colleagues with sparkling eyes, as if she were trying to contain her enthusiasm.

  “Have you all heard of the reality television show Catering to Dallas? It stars Pepper Merriweather—who happens to be my sister-in-law—Sydney James, A.J. Sherwood-Antonelli and Caroline Coopersmith. It’s filmed locally but is broadcast internationally. It chronicles the inner workings of the local catering company called Celebrations, Inc.

  “It’s a fun show, and it’s really caught on with the television audience. They have a huge fan base. I just learned that a scheduled event canceled, and the producers have agreed to let us have the vacant spot. The bachelor auction will be recorded and broadcast at a later date on international television. They’ve also agreed to give viewers an opportunity to contribute to our cause at the end of the show. Even though the show will air later, the hospital’s building fund will have an ongoing need.”

  Everyone except Liam broke out into a round of whooping fist bumps and applause.

  Liam stood. “I’m sorry to be a wet blanket, but this isn’t a good fit for me. I’ll write you a check in lieu of participating. Just let me know what the average auctioned bachelor goes for these days, and I’ll be happy to reimburse you for my part.”

  As he waited for her to quote him a figure, Kate gaped at him, the pleasant smile still affixed to her perfectly formed lips but uncertainty clouded her blue eyes.

  “We’ve never done this before, so I’m not exactly sure.” She paused for a moment, and he could see her virtually weighing her words. “I can assure you, Dr. Thayer, that the auction will be in very good taste. However, I certainly won’t force you to do anything against your will.”

  Damn right, you won’t.

  But he had to give her credit. She was good. Tossing the ball back into his court like this, trying to make it hard for him to refuse. Too bad he wasn’t playing, because once upon a long time ago she might have been just the type who could’ve changed his mind.

  “I need to do my rounds now,” he answered. “When you figure out how much I owe you, let me know, and I’ll get you a check.”

  The chief of staff cleared his throat, and Liam’s gaze zagged over to Cullen’s impassive expression. The guy was only a couple years older than Liam, but the message in Cullen’s eyes was full of authority, a promise that he wasn’t going to cause a scene, but this match wasn’t over. Cullen Dunlevy simply had too much class to duke it out in front of their guest and the rest of the senior staff.

  Liam looked away, feeling like a jackass. But at least he’d stood his ground and won this set.

  “I understand that you’re busy,” Kate said. “I appreciate your time this morning. How about if I call you, and we can set up a time to discuss this?”

  She pulled a business card from her pocket and handed it to Liam. It read Kathryn Macintyre, President, Macintyre Family Foundation. He glanced at it, unsure how her giving him a card would help her call him as she’d offered.

  Liam answered with a curt, noncommittal nod. “I don’t have a business card on me right now. But you can reach me through the hospital.”

  With that, he left the conference room, closing the door after him. He’d made it only a few feet down the hall when a voice sounded behind him.

  “Liam, hold on a moment.”

  He turned around to see Dunlevy standing outside the conference room, his hands on his hips.

  The old familiar fight-or-flight sensation churned inside Liam, and he had to take a moment to reframe his urge to quarrel.

  Reframe. That was the technique that the grief counselor had taught Liam when he felt like lashing out in anger. Of all the stages of grief, he seemed to fluctuate between feeling nothing—or as the counselor called it, “denial”—and wanting to lash out in anger. Or so thought the powers-that-be at the hospital who had forced him into counseling.

  Those authorities had given him two choices: get help or take a sabbatical. Liam had still had enough of a handle on himself to know that he’d end up self-destructing if he had chosen the sabbatical. He couldn’t be alone with himself for that long. Despite how he craved more time with the girls, they were so busy with school and their ballet program that he’d have way too much time on his hands. That wouldn’t be good for the girls or his career.

  Cullen Dunlevy had been one of the proponents of the ultimatum, and Liam still wasn’t sure if he’d forgiven Cullen yet. As the chief of staff walked toward him, Liam knew that he’d better cool his jets or face the possible repercussions of Cullen pronouncing that the counseling wasn’t working or that Liam wasn’t trying hard enough.

  But, damn him to hell, Cullen Dunlevy hadn’t lost a wife; he wasn’t left to raise two children and navigate alone the phase of his life when he and his high school sweetheart, his life partner, his soul mate, should’ve been dreaming of growing old together.

  Damn Cullen Dunlevy. He’d never been married, and he didn’t have a clue what Liam was going through. Liam had to grind his molars to keep from spitting out his angry words at his boss.

  Instead, he watched Cullen stand there with a disappointed scowl turning down the edges of his mouth, and his eyes darkened with... With what? Anger? Disappointment? Disgust? Liam felt like the wayward brother about to be set straight.

  Dunlevy lowered his voice. “I know you’ve been through hell and back, but you have to get a hold of yourself. We’ve already had this talk, Liam.”

  “I understand,” Liam countered in a monotone. “But my private life is private. My time away from the hospital is mine. I don’t remember anything in my contract about fund-raising or bachelor auctions—”

  “There is a clause in your contract that talks about performance bonuses. But if money doesn’t motivate you, you know Joy would’ve wanted you to do this. She was one of the biggest proponents of the new pediatric wing.”

  Liam gritted his teeth harder. He had to keep from shouting or turning and punching a wall. Instead, he hissed the words in a low growl, “Dammit, Cullen, don’t you dare go there. You leave Joy out of this. I said I’m happy to make a donation to the cause, and I think that’s plenty.”

  “Do you?” asked Dunlevy. “You think that’s plenty? Even though you are the senior staff member of pediatrics, the department that this fund-raiser is supporting? You don’t think you should be there to represent it? I’m going to be there, putting myself on the auction block.”

  There was an edge to the chief of staff’s voice, and Liam knew he was pushin
g it. But, damn Cullen to hell, he’d had the audacity to bring Joy’s name into it. Because of that, Liam knew if he answered Cullen right now, Liam might come undone. Exactly how, he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to test the situation.

  So he only tilted his head. “What is this? Peer pressure?”

  Dunlevy heaved an exasperated sigh. “Look, I feel for you. We all feel for you. Losing Joy was...” He trailed off. His face softened, and he shook his head. “It was awful and unfair, but you can’t keep being pissed off at the world. I need you to come back to the team.”

  Liam found his voice. “I haven’t gone anywhere. I’m still here.”

  That look returned to the chief of staff’s eyes. “You’ve been here in body but not in mind and spirit. Liam, before this happened, you were an opinion maker. The others have always looked up to you. They still do. I could really use your help with this project.”

  Project? “You mean farce?”

  “Get off your high horse,” Dunlevy said. “You know this is all in good fun. And, most important, it’s for a great cause. We are seven single doctors. That alone is going to make headlines—we’re going to be on television. This auction will draw every eligible socialite in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They will bring their checkbooks to bid on bachelors who are doctors.”

  Liam knew it wouldn’t do any good to argue that he didn’t feel single. That his heart wasn’t single. That he’d tried trusting a woman too soon after Joy’s death and it had ended in disaster. But he knew the tactic the chief of staff would take. Cullen wasn’t asking any of them to get married or even take this bachelor auction debacle seriously. It was one night—well, two, if you counted the night of public humiliation and the ensuing date.

  “I’m going to lay it out plain and simple,” said Dunlevy. “You’re the most senior staff member after me. I’m not going to force you into this, but I’ll say it again—I really could use your help.”

  The words hung in the air between them, an unspoken ultimatum.

  Finally the chief of staff shrugged. “You think about it, Liam. Let me know when you’ve decided to be part of this team again.”

  Chapter Two

  Joy Thayer.

  Holy cow. It all made sense now, Kate thought as she stood in the empty break room of the Macintyre Family Foundation offices. She wrapped her hands around a mug of steaming-hot tea, letting the comforting warmth seep into her fingers and melt away some of the morning’s stress.

  Joy Thayer was Liam Thayer’s late wife.

  No wonder he was bereft.

  After the meeting, as she had been waiting for the elevator, she’d glimpsed a memorial plaque that was displayed alongside the pictures of the hospital’s board of trustees. She’d put two and two together as she was leaving the hospital, and had been haunted by the revelation ever since.

  As much as she’d prepared for the presentation to the hospital’s senior staff members, she hadn’t planned on hitting a land mine like Liam Thayer. She wished that Dr. Dunlevy had informed her that she had a widower in the bunch—and not just any widower, Joy Thayer’s widower—before she’d so exuberantly rolled out the bachelor auction plan at the meeting.

  Dr. Thayer had obviously still not come to terms with his wife’s death. Not that one ever fully recovered from something like that. Kate had experienced enough tragedy in her own life to understand.

  Even though she’d only met Joy Thayer once—when the woman had single-handedly organized a fashion show luncheon to benefit the pediatric surgical wing early in the process—Kate had been touched by Joy’s untimely death. The entire population of the Dallas metropolitan area had gone into mourning.

  Joy Thayer was the type of charismatic good soul that everyone wanted to know and loved instantly. She radiated warmth and charm. And, as if all that niceness and class weren’t enough, she had been gorgeous. One of the elements that Kate remembered best about Joy—besides her petite stature and fine-boned features—was the riot of strawberry-blond curls that hung halfway down her back. She had an effortless beauty that seemed to radiate from the inside out.

  Now that Kate had had a chance to digest the situation, she wasn’t surprised that Joy had been married to a handsome guy like Liam. They had probably made the perfect couple: good-looking, well-off, well connected, popular. His disposition left a lot to be desired, but he’d suffered a rough time in the grips of that profound loss.

  Kate swirled the English Breakfast tea bag in her mug, then tossed it into the trash can. How long had Joy been gone now? At least a couple years. But even though Kate’s encounter with the woman had been brief, Kate had a hunch that one didn’t easily get over Joy Thayer and move on.

  For that reason she would cut Liam some slack, even though his boss was being hard-nosed about it.

  As she made her way back to her office, she pondered how she could shift the fund-raiser to make Liam more comfortable. She didn’t want to turn down the publicity opportunity that being on Catering to Dallas would afford. And that hinged on the bachelor auction, which would be a good visual for television. Reaching that broad of an audience, they were bound to get generous donations from the television fans. Plus the other six bachelors seemed jazzed and ready to run with it. Before she’d left the meeting, some were even tossing about ideas for date packages and where they could take the lucky ladies who won them.

  She couldn’t think of a better way to make a dent in the remaining one hundred thousand dollars that she still needed to raise. Maybe it was for lack of a better idea—or maybe because six of the seven single, handsome doctors were ready and willing to auction themselves off—but they had to proceed with the auction with or without Liam.

  She knew it was the right move, the prudent business decision, but she wasn’t completely at peace with it.

  She closed her office door and sank into her leather desk chair. Moving her mouse to activate her computer, she stared at the dark screen until the machine woke up from its nap.

  I’m a widower with two teenage daughters.

  Liam’s words had echoed in the recesses of her mind all the way back to the office. If it were up to her, he would get a free pass. But she knew his boss wouldn’t be keen on that thought.

  After Liam had dashed off, Dr. Dunlevy had told her not to count Liam Thayer out. Whether that meant she should just count on the promised donation or his participation in the auction was still to be determined.

  Yet Liam had taken her card and had given her the green light to call him at the office.

  She would do that and pave the way. She just needed to come up with a plan that made everyone happy.

  At twenty-nine, Kate had never been married. But she’d watched her own father sink into a dark funk after her mother had died. It was a depression from which he’d never fully recovered. Kate and her brother, Rob, had felt responsible for their dad. It had been a sad time in their lives, but they’d gotten through it together.

  Dr. Thayer and Joy must have married young if his kids were teenagers. Yet he didn’t appear to be much older than Kate was.

  Kate’s baby would’ve been five later this year if it had survived. It was a memory she’d tried to suppress since the topic of death and kids had come up this morning.

  Actually she hadn’t been able to get it out of her mind, despite the way she’d tried to ignore the dull ache in her heart. All the more reason to find a viable way out of this plan for the good doctor. One that didn’t involve dates or leaving his kids at home.

  She clicked on her email account, glanced at the full in-box, but she couldn’t bring herself to open any of the correspondence. She swiveled her chair toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, stared out at the Dallas skyline and let her mind wander far away from the memory of the child she’d lost.

  Bachelor auctions. Think. Fund-raisers. Think harder.

  Cullen Dunlevy hadn’t been thrilled with Liam’s steadfast refusal. So completely letting him off the hook seemed out of the question. And Dunlevy hadn’t se
emed pacified by Liam’s offer to simply write a check. He wanted Liam to take an active role like his colleagues. She wasn’t sure why Dr. Dunlevy was so adamant about Liam participating, but she’d definitely observed some underlying tension.

  It didn’t really matter.

  Well, it shouldn’t anyway.

  But it did. To her.

  If someone as busy as Liam Thayer didn’t have the time—or the inclination—to auction himself off and go on a date, why was Dunlevy pressuring him? More important, what else could she come up with to make both men happy?

  Emceeing wasn’t an option because Maya LeBlanc, international chocolatier and supposed matchmaker, was fulfilling that role. But what to do with Liam?

  Too bad he was so adamant about not being in the auction. I would’ve bid on him, she mused as she meditated on the geodesic sphere atop Reunion Tower.

  Suddenly she had a thought; something that just might get Dr. Thayer off the hook, if he was willing to be a good sport and play along.

  She glanced at the time on the lower right-hand side of her computer. Since it was close to six o’clock, he was probably gone for the day, and she wouldn’t be able to reach him at the hospital. That was all right; it would give her some time to stew on the idea and make sure it was airtight. She’d give him a call tomorrow and see just how willing he was to put his money to good use.

  * * *

  Liam wholeheartedly supported the pediatric surgical wing—after all, the venture had been a project Joy was passionate about. But why did they have to do this asinine auction that would dishonor Joy’s memory, embarrass his daughters and make a mockery out of the loss and grief he’d suffered?

  He wheeled the car into the driveway and glanced at the glowing dashboard clock. It was nearly eight o’clock; darkness was creeping in and spreading over the sky like a stain. He’d stayed at the hospital making his final rounds later than usual. It was times like these that made him grateful he had dependable Rosalinda. Nanny, housekeeper and cook extraordinaire.