“Thomas North.” He returned the handshake, liking Jackson’s easygoing manner. “And is that really necessary?”
“In this family, you bet. I’m Laila,” his wife said, taking Thomas’s hand next after handing off a foil-covered bowl to one of her sisters. “It’s nice to finally meet the man who’s been making my little sister even more bubbly than usual.”
“We’re all your little sisters,” the woman standing beside her said. “Even if Annabel has the market cornered on bubbly. Hi there, Thomas,” Abby said. “This is my husband, Cade Pritchett.”
Thomas shook her hand first and then her husband’s. “Nice to meet you, Cade.”
“You’re looking a little shell-shocked, North.” Jackson Traub grabbed a beer from a nearby ice bucket as his wife and Abby moved away to fuss over the food table. “I remember the feeling well.”
Thomas was surprised by the frank assessment. “Is it that obvious?”
“Only to someone who was in your shoes this time last year.” The man headed for the barbecue, but then turned back. “Hey, thanks for all you’ve done for my cousin. The entire family appreciates the surgery you did on Forrest.”
“I haven’t heard from him in a while. Hope things are going well.”
“Me, too,” Jackson replied, his voice a bit cryptic as he joined the men grill-side.
Soon the three were debating loudly the finer points of cooking over an open fire, with both an oversize spatula and tongs being used for emphasis.
“Come on, doc,” Cade said, grabbing a beer for himself. “We should probably join them. Just in case medical attention is needed.”
Thomas took his iced tea with him just so he’d have something to do with his hands, and walked across the patio with Cade.
Minutes later, the noise level grew as the conversation switched from cooking to the current standings of their favorites baseball teams. Jackson was the lone holdout with his assurance of the Texas Rangers being play-off bound, but his opinion was voted down so boisterously that Thomas decided just to keep his mouth shut where his Dodgers were concerned.
The men shot statistics and scores back and forth until finally Jackson bet a prized saddle against one of Zeke’s horses on the outcome of the World Series.
“I won’t hesitate to take that beauty off your hands,” Zeke said. “Doesn’t matter if you’re married to my daughter or not.”
“And I’m looking forward to adding that stallion to my growing collection,” Jackson shot back. “In fact, I might take him out for a run after dinner. Thomas, do you ride?”
Surprised at the question, Thomas glanced quickly at the feet of all four men. All wore cowboy boots that looked well loved and lived in. Not quite the same as his Italian leather loafers.
“Ah, I haven’t in a while,” he finally said, realizing he still hadn’t answered the question. “Not since my days at boarding school.”
Silence filled the air for a moment before Evelyn called out, asking for the status on the meat as everything else was ready. Thomas stepped back as the men all turned to the grill and in fluid movements that showed they’d worked together before, quickly gathered the food that was fully cooked.
Soon everyone was seated around the largest table; a radio perched nearby was tuned to the local country-music station. After shooing Smiley out of the way, Annabel patted a chair next to her for Thomas to take, handing him a plastic plate and a matching set of silverware. Platters of meat and bowls of salads were passed around and he was encouraged to take whatever he wanted as arms reached back and forth across the table.
Someone spilled a drink, good-natured insults followed and a couple of flying pretzels joined in the mix. The banter flowed from sports to the economy to politics. Everyone talked at once, speaking over each other with no one afraid to voice their opinion no matter what the topic.
Thomas didn’t know what to make of it all.
His childhood family dinners had been made up of classical music playing softly in the background, artfully arranged food served on the finest china and dinner conversation with one person speaking at a time. Even now when he dined with his parents and grandmother the evenings were exactly the same.
This…this was chaos.
“Hey, we’re going to pull together a game of flag football after dinner,” Brody said, elbowing Thomas from where he sat on the other side of him. “You want to join us?”
“Somehow I don’t think rolling around in the grass chasing a leather-covered ball is something Thomas would be interested in,” Jazzy said, with a wink.
“Do you like football, Thomas?” Jordyn Leigh asked. “I warn you, it’s pretty much a prerequisite to joining the family.”
“No, it’s not,” Annabel protested. “Besides, his favorite team is the Broncos.”
“Is that right?” Zeke asked, his eyes bright.
Thomas nodded, feeling as if he’d finally scored points with the man. “Yes, sir.”
“Hey, do you feel that?” Cade lifted his beer in a mock salute. “I think the balance of power has shifted ever so slightly.”
“What are you talking about?” Laila and Abby asked in unison.
“There’s always been six women sitting around the Cates family table, but now we’re up to five men.” Cade leaned over and clinked his bottle against his father-in-law’s. “All we need now is to get your last two daughters married off and the majority power will be all male.”
“Amen to that,” Zeke offered with a wide smile.
Laughter, jeers and catcalls filled the air but all Thomas felt was the rising panic at how everyone at the table already had him walking down the aisle while Annabel said nothing to ebb their train of thought.
Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe, his chest and throat tight. The need to escape was so overwhelming Thomas almost missed the ringing of his cell phone. He reached for it, trying to ignore the hard lump in his gut, and peered at the display.
“I need to answer this,” he gasped in Annabel’s ear. “Is there somewhere I can go that’s a bit quieter?”
“Of course.” She wiped her hands and rose to her feet.
Thomas did the same and addressed the table. “Please excuse me. I need to make a call to the hospital.”
The lively talking paused for a moment, then started back up as they walked away, diminishing slightly as they entered the cool interior of the house.
Annabel waved him into the kitchen, but stayed by the door as he walked farther away and hit the button that would connect him directly to TC General. As he listened to the call, the lump in his gut grew.
Damn, not the news he was hoping for.
After a few minutes he ended the call and walked back to her. “I’m sorry. I have to leave.”
“What’s wrong?”
He paused, weighing exactly what he should say. “It’s Maurice Owens.”
“Oh!” Her eyes filled with concern. “That poor, sweet man. Is it bad?”
Thomas knew Annabel had come to care for his patient over the past week, often stopping in to see the old man even without Smiley, but he couldn’t go into the details with her. “Serious enough that I need to say my goodbyes and get to the hospital right away.”
They went back outside. Thomas explained he’d had an emergency come up and offered his apologies for having to leave early. He returned her father’s handshake, thanking the man for having him in his home and again read concern in her mother’s eyes when Annabel grabbed his hand and insisted on walking him to his car.
“Will you call me later?” she asked and hurried to keep up with his quick strides. “I’d like to know how Maurice is doing.”
Thomas glanced at his watch as he opened the driver’s side door. It was after six already. “I don’t have any idea how late that might be.”
“I’ll be up
.” She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “I can come over, too, you know, later on. If you need me.”
He didn’t know if it was her offer or the heat of her lips on his that caused that hard lump in his gut to rise up to his throat.
Unable to spare the time to figure out which the correct answer was, he shoved the thought from his head and slid behind the wheel. His focus right now had to be solely on his patient. “I can’t make any promises.”
“I know that, I was just…” Her voice trailed off as she stepped away from the car. “Please drive safe.”
* * *
Eight hours later, Thomas finally dragged his tired self inside his home. Alone. It was after two in the morning and he was dead on his feet.
Maurice Owens had suffered a series of seizures and they were still trying to find the cause. The last one had been so strong they had no choice but to place the man in a medically induced coma to prevent brain damage.
The elderly gentleman had been doing so well ever since Smiley had started to visit, his recovery progressing much faster than estimated that Thomas had almost been willing to admit—
No. He shut down that thought, refusing to go there.
Not now. Not tonight.
Thomas had sat in his office for the past two hours going over the man’s medical records and test results, certain that he’d missed something. A leg with multiple fractures wasn’t good for anyone, least of all a man who was close to celebrating his one hundredth birthday. And the chances of someone Maurice’s age not suffering any additional side effects from the seizures or the coma were slim at best.
Eyes glazed over and a headache on the edge of erupting, Thomas had finally noticed the time. Realizing he’d never called Annabel, he decided to head home. His place was so quiet after the craziness at Annabel’s and the constant noise of the hospital. The silence seeped into his bones and he realized just how tired he was.
Heading upstairs, he toed off his shoes and socks and stripped off his shirt. He undid his belt and yanked down the zipper on his pants, pausing when his gaze landed on the multicolored quilt folded neatly over the back of a chair in the corner of his bedroom.
It was the same quilt he’d found in his living room the morning after they’d made love the first time. Annabel had brought it back with her last night, insisting he keep it as the blanket’s muted shades fit perfectly in his home’s color scheme.
Besides, she’d said, she was always cold, despite the warm summer night, and they’d cuddled beneath the quilt until soon the soft material was the only thing protecting their bare skin from the cool air-conditioning.
Thomas grabbed the blanket off the chair, brought it to his face, and breathed deeply. Annabel’s scent filled his head, but soon memories of this afternoon and tonight did, as well.
Her family’s comments linking him and Annabel, the sight of Maurice’s body flailing uncontrollably, the soft blue eyes offering to come to him when he called, the aged, unseeing gaze, clouded with confusion, pain and then no expression at all….
Thomas still didn’t know what he missed when it came to his patient’s health, but he knew one thing.
If he hadn’t been spending so much time over the past three days with Annabel, thinking about her when they weren’t together, and anticipating when he was going to see her again, he would have seen this coming. He should have known his patient was heading down the wrong path, a path that could take the man’s life.
Tossing the blanket down, Thomas turned and headed for his bed, ignoring the urge to call Annabel even at this late hour.
He was not going to pick up that phone.
No matter how much he wanted to.
Chapter Eleven
“Please, I need to see him.” Annabel leaned over the counter, doing her best to persuade the nurse on duty, who happened to be an old high school friend, to bend the rules just a little bit. “I need to know if he’s okay.”
After waiting for hours with no phone call from Thomas on Maurice’s condition, she’d finally fallen asleep around two this morning. When she’d woken up and still didn’t have an update, she’d taken a quick shower and headed for the hospital, determined to find out what was going on.
“I’m sorry, but only family can visit patients in intensive care,” Jody replied, her voice a low whisper. “You know that, Annabel.”
“Maurice Owens doesn’t have any family.” A sense of hopelessness weighed heavily on her shoulders. She glanced at her watch, noting she needed to be at the library in forty-five minutes for a mandatory budget meeting. “He’s over ninety years old and he’s all alone in this world. Smiley and I have been by to visit him a few times last week and I’ve come by myself even more often. He was doing so much better. I don’t understand—”
She broke off when the tears threatened, but pulled in a deep breath instead of letting them overpower her and forced herself to continue. “Jody, please. Can you at least tell me how he’d doing? Why he was moved here from his regular room?”
Jody’s fingers flew over the keyboard in front of her for a moment, then her expression changed from stern to surprised. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to his room.”
“You will?” Shock radiated through Annabel. “But how? You just said I couldn’t go in.”
Her friend smiled as she rose and walked around the desk. “Your name just appeared on the approved visitors list. Believe me, it wasn’t there a few minutes ago when you first asked. The attending physician must have made the change. Doctor’s orders.”
Doctor’s orders.
Thomas’s orders.
He had to be the one who granted permission for her to follow the petite nurse through the security doors into the hush of the intensive-care area.
Did he somehow know she was here this morning? Was he here?
The urge to look around and see if he was nearby flowed through her, but she kept her gaze firmly on her friend as they walked down the long corridor.
“Okay, here we are.” Jody stopped outside a glass door, her voice a hushed whisper. “All I can tell you is Mr. Owens suffered a series of seizures last night. As far as I know the doctors don’t know why yet, but he is currently in a coma in order to keep him stable.”
The tears threatened again, but Annabel held them off as she nodded her understanding.
“You only have fifteen minutes until the morning’s visiting hours are over,” Jody continued. “But you can come back later.”
Annabel leaned in and gave her friend a hug. “Thank you, Jody, so much.”
Entering the room, Annabel’s eyes were drawn right away to the elderly man lying so still in the bed. She walked to a chair next to him and sat down, instinctively reaching out to grasp Maurice’s hand. His skin was almost gray in color, wrinkled, and covered with age spots, but until now his grip had been strong whenever she’d held his hand.
“Hey there, Maurice.” Annabel’s heart ached for her new friend, but she kept her voice light. “Boy, when you said you were ready to get out of that room upstairs I don’t think this is what you meant.”
She swallowed hard and kept talking. “You know, they’ll never allow Smiley to come into the ICU. You’re going to have to get better so you two can spend some time together again. You promised to play catch with him, and Smiley just loves to chase a ball….”
Pressing a hand to her mouth as her voice faded, Annabel closed her eyes and offered a quick prayer for this very special man. A man who’d fought valiantly for his country during both the Second World War and the Korean Conflict. A man who often spoke of his wife, who he’d fallen in love with long after he thought his ch
ance at happiness had passed him by, and how much he missed their simple home while being stuck in the hospital.
“You rest and get better, Maurice,” she whispered. “I’ll be back to see you very soon.”
Rising, Annabel released his hand and leaned over to place a light kiss on the elderly man’s forehead. After leaving his room, she walked out to the main corridor, her mind once again filled with thoughts of Thomas.
She still didn’t know why he hadn’t called her last night to give her an update on Maurice’s condition. Not even a message on her cell phone. He had to know how worried she’d be…how much she’d wanted to make sure that Maurice was okay.
That he, too, had been okay.
As thankful as she was that he’d added her to Maurice’s visitors list this morning, she still had no idea what was going on with Thomas. Deciding there was no time like the present to find out, Annabel quickly took the stairs up to the second floor, her high heels echoing on the polished linoleum as she made her way toward his office.
She had no idea what she would say to him once she got there, but she wasn’t worried. The words would come. They always did. Except for yesterday when her family had so easily lumped her and Thomas together.
Heck, the way they’d carried on during the barbecue, they practically had them married!
While she had pleaded with them beforehand to make Thomas feel comfortable and at home, she’d never expected her brothers-in-law to go as far as they did.
As much as she liked the tingling that filled her bones at the idea of someday being Mrs. Thomas North, she’d known she needed to say something to downplay their teasing. Something along the lines of how she and Thomas had only been on a few dates, while leaving out the part about the great sex over the past three days for her parents’ sake.
She’d been about to do just that when Thomas had gotten the call that forced him to leave early.
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