She drew in a frustrated breath. No matter what, she had to believe that she had done the right thing letting Tag know where she stood and how she felt. But if that was the case, why was doing the right thing making her feel so bad?
Five
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Dad. What do you mean Mom doesn’t want to see us?” Tag asked, completely baffled.
Michael Elliott met the confused looks of his four offspring. He’d known this conversation would be difficult but somehow he needed to get them to understand how things were with their mother.
“As you know your mother is being released from the hospital today and I’m taking her to The Tides to recuperate. She has requested that when we get there she be left alone for a while. She doesn’t want to see anyone. Not even the four of you.”
“What?” Tag, Liam, Gannon and Bridget exclaimed simultaneously in shocked voices.
“Are you sure that’s what she said, Dad?” Gannon asked, shaking his head, finding his mother’s request hard to believe, totally unacceptable.
Michael nodded sadly. “Yes, and I hope all of you can understand how Karen is feeling right now. She’s been through a lot, both emotionally and physically. She needs this time alone.”
“What she needs is time with her family,” Bridget said, her eyes huge, dark and hurt. “We need to do something if she feels that way. Can’t we call her social worker since it’s obvious Mom’s going through a deep state of depression?”
“I agree with Bridget,” Liam said. “There has to be something we can do to lift her spirits.”
“I agree as well,” Tag chimed in. “I’ll visit with Renee Williams to see what can be done.” Just saying Renee’s name caused pain to ripple through him. It had been almost a week since that day he had angrily walked out of her office. He knew she had visited with his mother a couple of times in the hospital but she’d done so when he hadn’t been around to run into her.
“How soon can you meet with Ms. Williams?” Gannon asked, regarding Tag thoughtfully.
“I’ll go and see her today.”
It was one of those days when Renee had needed to stay at the office after closing hours to get a few things done. She glanced over at the clock as she shut down her computer. It was close to seven o’clock. Normally, she would have left hours ago. Vicki, bless her heart, had hung around to assist Renee in finishing a report.
“I’m out of here,” Vicki said smiling, sticking her blond head in the doorway.
Renee returned the older woman’s smile. “Thanks for your help. I’m glad we’ve gotten everything finished for tomorrow’s meeting.”
“Me, too. I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t stay too late.”
Renee grinned. “Don’t worry. I won’t be too far behind you.”
Minutes later Renee had put everything she needed into her briefcase and glanced up when she heard the knock at the door. Thinking it was the maintenance crew to clean the office, she didn’t look up when she said, “Come on in, I’m just about finished and—”
She lifted her head and the rest of the words died on her lips when she saw that the person standing in her doorway was Tag. Suddenly, heat flowed through her body and blood rushed through her veins. He didn’t say anything. Neither did she. The silence between them stretched, weaving around them like a silken thread.
Renee breathed in a deep, shuddering breath. She hadn’t seen him since that day they’d had words and couldn’t help wondering why he was here. They had said everything that could be said and would never see eye to eye on things, so why bother?
Sighing deeply, she closed her briefcase with a click. Instinctively, she squared her shoulders, putting her protection gear in place since it appeared his entire expression was an unreadable mask. But even with that he was a very handsome man. She would always give him that.
“Tag, what are you doing here?”
He stepped into the room and closed the door. “I saw your secretary downstairs and she said you were still here. I need to talk to you.”
Renee shook her head. “I don’t think there’s anything else we need to say.”
“I don’t want to talk to you about us, Renee. I want to talk to you about my mother.” At her raised brow he added, “And that’s no lie this time.”
It was then that Renee noticed a couple of things about him. His rigid shoulders, the lack of spark in his eyes, the strain of controlled emotions in his features. She quickly crossed the room to him. “What is it, Tag? Has something happened to Karen?”
“No,” he said calmly, attempting a faint smile. “Nothing has happened to Mom.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
He cleared his throat, finding it still hard to believe and even harder to get the words out. “She told Dad that she doesn’t want to see any of us while she’s recuperating at my grandparents’ home.”
Renee slowly nodded, understanding. The last time she had met with his mother she could tell that Karen had begun slipping into a state of depression. It had been the same day the doctor had unwrapped her chest to show Karen how to go about caring for her stitches after leaving the hospital, although Renee knew that Michael Elliott had hired a private nurse for his wife.
“None of you should take your mother’s request personally, Tag.”
Tag’s eyebrows snapped together in anger. “What do you mean we shouldn’t take it personally? She’s our mother and—”
“She’s also a woman with a lot to deal with at the moment. Having both breasts removed isn’t something any female would take lightly. For a while, when her chest was bandaged, she was going through denial. But now since she’s gotten a chance to see the surgeon’s handiwork, reality has set in and she’s combating it the only way she knows how, which is with anger, fear and withdrawal. I was with her the day she became angry. Dr. Chaney and I were prepared for it. We were also prepared for the days when she went through stark fear, thinking that perhaps the doctor didn’t get all the cancer and it would return to other parts of her body and that she would be eventually lose those parts as well.”
Renee sighed deeply, knowing she had to get Tag to accept his mother’s present state of mind. Accept it as well as understand it. “Now she’s going through withdrawal. She doesn’t want to deal with anything or anyone, even those whom she loves. If she could, she would block your father out as well but he won’t let her do so, although trust me she has tried.”
Tag closed his eyes, not wanting to believe what he was hearing. His mother had always been the strong one in the family. Like his grandmother, she was the one who could always hold things together in a crisis. Now she was going through her own personal crisis and he was finding it hard to conjure up even a little bit of the strength his mother always seemed to have had.
He leaned back against the closed door, suddenly feeling exhausted. “So what are we supposed to do? Let her continue to wallow in self-pity and do nothing?”
Renee shook her head. “No. To start with, you should all honor her request and give her the space she needs right now, while working together behind the scenes and doing something that can and will lift her spirits.”
“Like what?”
Renee shrugged. “Anything that will make her appreciate the fact that she’s alive. I understand she enjoys working with her charities. You can arrange for her to continue to do so even while she’s convalescing. Remember, she’ll be going through both physical and emotional healing. The most important thing is helping her to get beyond her ordeal and concentrate on something else.”
Renee studied Tag’s expression and knew he had absorbed her words. His next question, however, surprised her. “Will you help, Renee?”
She shook her head. The last thing she needed was complications, and Tag was nothing if not that. “No, I don’t think that’s—”
“Please.”
Renee nervously gnawed the insides of her mouth. Could she handle doing what he was asking? She let out a small breath. Yes, she could
handle it if it meant helping Karen. Over the past few weeks she and Tag’s mother had developed a relationship that had gone beyond social worker and patient. She admired Karen for all the good things she did for others, especially all her charitable work.
“Will you do it, Renee?”
She glanced into Tag’s face and saw the heartfelt plea in his eyes. And then she knew what her answer would be. “Yes, Tag, I’ll help out with your mother any way I can.”
Both relief and appreciation shone on his face. “Thank you, Renee. Are you willing to meet with my sister and brothers and explain everything to them as well? Tomorrow night we’re having dinner together at Une Nuit, a restaurant owned by my cousin Bryan. Is there any way you can join us there?”
Anyone living in New York had heard of Une Nuit, the restaurant whose patrons oftentimes included a number of celebrities. Now that she had agreed to help him lift Karen’s spirits, Renee knew she had to move forward. At least she and Tag wouldn’t be dining at the restaurant alone. She wasn’t sure how many times she could be alone with him without wanting to comfort him and assure him that everything with his mother would be all right. But she knew to comfort him meant she would also want to kiss him, take his pain away, touch him….
A sexual awareness she only encountered when she was around Tag tried taking over her mind, but she fought it. “Yes, I’ll be glad to meet with you and your siblings tomorrow night.”
Tag nodded. “I’ll pick you up around seven.”
“You don’t have to do—”
“Yes, I do. I don’t want you taking the subway to meet with us. Okay?”
She sighed, knowing his stubbornness was coming out and to argue with him would be pointless. “Fine.”
He smiled. “Good. And do you need a ride home now?”
“No, I’m meeting Debbie at a restaurant not far from here. She’s leaving in the morning for an assignment in London so we decided to make it a girls’ night out. I’ll be fine.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.” She’d never met a man who was so concerned for her well-being. Tag was so thoughtful, caring and attentive.
“Then the least I can do is walk you there.”
She knew telling him that wasn’t necessary would only be a waste of her time. Clutching her briefcase, she walked out with him, stopping to turn out the lights. Moments later they stepped into the elevator and as the car descended she couldn’t help hoping that busybody Diane Carter had left for the day. The last thing Renee needed was to run into her in the lobby. No doubt she’d get the wrong idea about her and Tag.
When the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open, Tag stood back to let her step out. “You really don’t have to walk me to the restaurant, Tag. It’s only a few blocks from here,” she said, stepping into the hospital lobby. “I’m sure you have more important things to do.”
“No,” he said, slanting her a sideways glance. “There’s nothing more important.”
Darkness enfolded them as they stepped outside and began walking. The sidewalks were congested and more than once he gently pulled her closer to him to avoid her getting trampled by someone hurrying past.
When they reached her destination, she turned to him. “Thanks.”
“And thank you, Renee, for everything. I’ll see you tomorrow night at seven.”
“All right.”
She quickly entered the restaurant and when she glanced over her shoulder through the window he was still standing there, looking at her.
Tag leaned forward on the conference table with his palms down as he stared at the man and woman sitting at it. “I want anything and everything you can find on Senator Vince Denton, especially his activities over the past year. No one walks away from politics after thirty years without a good reason, especially someone that close to the present administration.”
“He gave us his reason. He’s been in politics long enough and wants to return to his farm in South Carolina and live the rest of his days in peace and harmony. Sounds like a damn good plan to me,” Peter Weston, Pulse’s special edition editor, said, carelessly throwing out a paper clip. Peter was responsible for Pulse’s campaigns, opinion polls and surveys.
Tag met the man’s nonchalant expression. “I don’t care how good it sounds, I’m not buying it and I suggest you don’t either.” He sighed. It was time Tag and his father had a serious talk about Peter’s lack of interest in his job. Peter had worked for Pulse for over fifteen years, starting out as an investigative reporter—one of the magazine’s best—and working his way up through the ranks. Lately, it had been noticed by a number of co-workers that he lacked the hunger, instinct and drive he used to have. Peter had been placed on paid administrative leave on two occasions when his work habits had begun declining and it appeared things were beginning to go downhill again.
Rumor had it that Peter was involved in an affair with a Radio City Rockette and was sacrificing everything, including a good marriage, to be at the woman’s beck and call. It was Tag’s opinion that what Peter did on his free time was one thing. What he did on Pulse’s time was another.
Peter’s interest in Pulse had started waning a few years ago when Gannon had gotten a position that Peter evidently thought should have been his. He was of the mind that Gannon’s name and not his hard work had gotten him where he was, which was not true.
“I thought his resignation was rather strange, too,” Marlene Kingston said, scanning the notes she’d taken from an earlier meeting. At twenty-seven, she had been working for Pulse since college and always had a good eye for the news. Currently she edited the analysis pages and wrote editorials. “I find it odd that he would resign right before next week’s vote on that big oil bill,” she added.
Tag liked the woman’s sharpness. However, he could tell by the glare Peter had given her that he did not. “That’s a good point, Marlene, and one we should look into. Just make sure whatever you have to report is accurate and from a reliable source.” He sighed deeply then added, “Pull out all stops and let’s dig to see what we can find. Make plans for us to meet in a few days, same time, same place, with some answers.”
Half an hour later Tag was poking his head in the room where the smell of ink teased his nostrils. Making his way past old issues of Charisma, canisters of ink and reams of paper, not to mention numerous pictures of Elizabeth Taylor plastered on the wall, he made it to the workstation of Edgar Rosewood and sat down in the chair next to it.
The man sitting at the desk looked up at him beneath bushy eyebrows. Edgar, who would be celebrating his seventieth birthday in a few months, had been hired by Patrick within a month of EPH opening its doors, and to this day refused to call it quits by retiring. That was fine with Tag since Edgar had been Tag’s father’s mentor as well as mentor to Gannon, Liam and himself when they’d come through the ranks. Tag always had and always would consider the man someone special and an asset to Pulse. To this day, one thing Edgar retained was a sharp eye for headlines that were so well buried that even a hunting dog couldn’t find them.
“What’s bothering you, kid?” Edgar asked, his tone rough, his frown deep. “Personal or business?”
Another thing Tag liked about the old man was that he knew how to cut to the chase. Not wanting to delve into his personal problems, not even with Edgar, Tag said, “Business. I think there’s more to Senator Denton’s resignation than meets the eye.”
Edgar swung around from his computer. “So do I.”
Tag lifted a paperweight off the pages of last month’s magazine. He felt good knowing Edgar was also on to something. “I just hope we can find out what it is before Time does.”
“We will, as long as you let Marlene Kingston do the digging. She has a nose like a bloodhound. If Denton’s not clean, she’ll find out just what’s dirty. Personally, I like her.”
Tag couldn’t help but smile. “Why? Because she reminds you of a young Elizabeth Taylor?”
The old man smiled. “Yeah, that’s one of the
reasons. The other is that she’s a good newswoman. The best thing you can do is get her from under Peter and have her work with Wayne Barnes. Peter has been taking credit for Marlene’s hard work long enough. The only interest he seems to have these days is a pair of breasts pouring out of a Rockette costume. He’s doing nothing but stifling Marlene’s growth.”
Tag had to agree, which was something else he needed to talk to Gannon about.
Edgar looked at him, studied him. “You sure there’s nothing else bothering you?”
Tag shrugged. “Of course this thing with Mom is constantly on my mind.”
“That’s understandable but I think you might have another problem.”
“What?”
Edgar gave him a pointed look. “The absence of a good woman in your life.”
Tag smiled. Edgar had given him and Liam that same speech after Gannon had announced his engagement to Erika last month. “Still trying to marry me off, are you?”
“There’s nothing wrong with settling down. I’ve been with my Martha for over fifty years and have been involved in a secret love affair with Elizabeth for forty of those fifty.”
Tag chuckled and raised his eyes to the ceiling. “In your dreams.” He stood and checked his watch. A part of him couldn’t wait to see Renee later. He had been thinking about her all day. Gannon, Liam and Bridget were anxious to meet with her tonight as well, to hear what she had to say.
“Time for me to get back to work,” Tag said, walking toward the door. He paused in the doorway and stared at the huge poster of Elizabeth Taylor on the wall next to it. “What do you think about when you look at her?” Tag asked Edgar over his shoulder.
He could hear the old man chuckle softly. “Passion and desire.”
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