The Patron

by Tess Thompson

  “Four wives later,” Garth said.

  Surprised by his tone, I turned to Garth. I hadn’t seen him this way before. He almost seemed dour, and I’d never heard him sarcastic before, either.

  He met my gaze and must have sensed my disapproval, because he apologized to his father. “I’m in pain. It’s making me grouchy.”

  “Not a problem. I deserve your disapproval.” Brian turned to me. “I’ve really had the lousiest luck with women. Since his mother, my ‘picker’s’ been off.”

  “Picker?” I asked.

  “How he picks women,” Garth said.

  “Oh, a picker. That’s funny,” I said.

  “She left us, so Mom wasn’t too good, either,” Garth said.

  I cringed at the hurt in his voice.

  “She had a breakdown,” Brian said. “Who could blame her?”

  “Me, I guess.” Garth pushed his paper plate aside. “Crystal, I’m changing my mind about the stronger pill. I think I’d like one, or I’m not going to sleep tonight. Dad, it’s good to see you, but I’m tuckered and should go to bed.”

  “Sure thing.” Brian’s dark eyes looked troubled as he glanced over at me. “Should I be worried about this?”

  “I’m fine, Dad. It’s just going to take some time to heal.” Garth looked toward the windows. At least five inches of additional snow had accumulated in the last hour. “Crystal, you’re staying here tonight. You’re not driving in this.”

  I didn’t argue, even though this meant a night where temptation would lead me right into his room. Was there a country song for that?

  “I don’t reckon I’d enjoy getting back in the car,” Brian said. “The roads were rough getting up here.”

  “You should stay,” Garth said to me.

  “I thought that was a foregone conclusion,” Brian said.

  I flushed. I’d wondered if he knew about Garth and me. That answered that question.

  “I need to make up the bed in the guest room for you, Brian,” I said. “We ordered everything today and it needed washing.”

  “Let me help you,” Brian said.

  “No, stay and relax. I’ll just be a moment.”

  I went to the laundry room and grabbed the sheets and towels from the dryer. By the time I returned, both men were up and standing at the bottom of the stairs.

  “The guest room and bathroom is the first one at the top of the stairs,” Garth was saying. “There’s nothing but a bed and empty dresser, but it’ll do for now.”

  “You bet it will,” Brian said as he held out his arms. “Here. Give me those sheets and towels. I’ll put the bed together myself.”

  I relented. Garth’s skin seemed pale and the slope of his shoulders told me how tired he was. I needed to get him settled. “It’s nice to meet you, Brian. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  He gave me a warm smile before patting Garth on the shoulder. “You both get some shut-eye. You’ll feel better in the morning.”

  “Thanks for coming, Dad.”

  “You know it.” Brian headed up the stairs.

  “Come on, let’s get you into bed,” I said to Garth.

  He nodded and followed me into the bedroom.

  11

  Garth

  I climbed into bed, exhausted. Crystal was in the bathroom doing her nightly routine. The sounds of her moving around, opening cupboards, brushing her teeth, and flushing the toilet comforted me. Over the months we’d started a habit of getting ready for bed in our own bathrooms. When we were done, one of us would text the other. Your place or mine? We’d switched back and forth in an unspoken agreement. One night I’d initiate the text. The next night, she would.

  How had we thought our relationship wasn’t going to become complicated?

  Crystal came out of the bathroom rubbing lotion into her hands and arms. Another routine she did every night. Her skin would smell very slightly of cocoa butter. She had the lotion shipped in from some boutique shop in California. “A lavish expense,” she’d told me once, seemingly embarrassed by the extravagance. I figured she didn’t have many. The time and money she gave to others far outweighed any small gift she gave herself.

  She drew back the covers on her side of the bed and climbed in. “I see we’re keeping to our sides of the bed?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” I’d always slept on the right side of the bed. The first night at Trapper’s house, she’d taken the left. Was that her usual side? It hadn’t occurred to me until now to wonder. “Did you always sleep on the left?”

  She stacked her two pillows, then settled on her side. “No. I always had right side when I was married.”

  “Did it seem strange to you?” I turned my head to look at her. Usually when we talked, I faced her, but tonight it was impossible because of my cast being on my left leg.

  “No stranger than being with you. Not strange in a bad way,” she added, quickly. Had she seen the flicker of pain her words had caused me? “I mean, simply because you were the first person after Patrick.” She smiled as she reached over to push a lock of hair from face. “I’m still embarrassed about our first night.”

  She’d cried in my arms afterward. I’d filled with sympathy and empathy sorry for her, knowing what it was like to venture out into the dating world after my divorce.

  “You were very gracious,” she said. “Still, I didn’t think you’d ever want to do it again after that.”

  “I understood more than you realized.”

  “I’ve never asked you. Did you date much after your divorce?”

  “Nothing more than a few casual flings.” Which is what I’d thought Crystal would be. Had I only known how deep my feelings would become, I might have had the sense to stay far away from her.

  “Do you ever talk to your ex-wife?”

  “God, no. We could barely speak civilly when we were married.”

  “I can’t picture you having a lot of conflict with someone.”

  “She brought out the worst in me,” I said. “She was the type of person who was incapable of seeing any perspective but her own. Which makes it hard to have a loving relationship.”

  “What made you fall for her in the first place?”

  “I was young. I hadn’t dated much because I was always busy training. When we met in college, I didn’t know constant drama wasn’t normal. Why do you ask?”

  “I don’t know. I was thinking we really haven’t talked about our pasts. I guess we were too busy with the other thing between us.”

  “And now that I’m injured, we’re forced to talk.” I chuckled. “God has a sense of humor.”

  “How do you feel about your dad’s divorce?”

  “That would take all night to explain.” The complex feelings I had about my father and his women were hard to understand, let alone explain it to someone else.

  “Try.”

  I looked back up at the ceiling. “I guess I’m torn between wishing he could find the right person and frustration by the ones he chooses. For one thing, none of them have been age-appropriate. It’s suspect, given his wealth.”

  “Do you think they marry him for his money? But what about the prenups?”

  “I don’t think they go into the marriage thinking it will end in divorce.” I hadn’t in my own marriage, even though it was quite clear now how unsuited we were. “My dad never does. He has such faith in the goodness of people. All three of them after my mother were awful.” The first had been someone he met at the bar after one of my ski competitions. She was so obviously looking for rich men, but he couldn’t see it.

  “What happened with wives two and three?” Crystal asked.

  “Wife two divorced him and took half his money. She was in it for the cash all along. Honestly, I think she was a grifter. She targeted him. I’m sure she picked up on how lonely he was. At that point, he was accompanying me on all my ski competitions. This was before the Olympics. He learned his lesson after that. Wife three and four both had prenups.”

  “And number three?
”

  I groaned. “That was a mess. She was still in love with her ex-husband and married my dad to get back at the guy. She started messing around with the ex and got pregnant. Paternity test and everything. Thank God the kid wasn’t my dad’s, or he’d have had to pay for a child being raised by someone else. He’s a wealthy man. I don’t know if I mentioned that before.”

  “How wealthy?”

  “Not like you.” I reached under my head to adjust my pillow. “But he’s in the top one percent. Investments in everything. He can make money out of nothing. Nothing sketchy. Just smart investments. He’s on the board of multiple companies. They pay him for consulting, basically.”

  “I feel bad for him,” Crystal said. “He wants to be married.”

  “You should’ve seen him after my mother left. It was ugly. If it hadn’t been for my sport, I’m not sure what would’ve happened to him. After my brother died, my mom hardly came out of her room. He was out at bars every night. Then, one day, she left. Dad had to step up and take care of me. Which he did. I guess we can thank my mother for that at least.”

  “It must have hurt a lot to have her go.”

  “I was completely blindsided.” I told her how I’d come home and found the note on my bed. “I can recite exactly what it said. ‘Dearest Garth, I have to go. Just for a little while. Until I can get my head straight. I love you no matter what. Love, Mom.’”

  Crystal placed a hand on my arm. “I’m sorry.”

  “She never came back. Not really, anyway. Then Dad and I started traveling a lot for my competitions. The visits were fewer and fewer. It’s like she wasn’t interested in me any longer.”

  “I wish things had been different for you.”

  I lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “It was all a long time ago. My dad made up for it. We’re super close.” I paused for a second to combat the ache in my throat. “I often wonder what our family would’ve been like if Christopher had lived. Like would my parents have stayed together? Or was their marriage always doomed?”

  “Statistically, it’s hard for people to stay together after they lose a child. Do you ever remember them fighting? Brandi says her parents used to fight in their bedroom as if that would keep her from knowing.”

  “If they did, I can’t remember it. She was always quiet and shy. More sensible and timid than my dad, who was a dreamer and obviously the life-of-the-party type. With him, though, she came alive. He could make her laugh and laugh. At least, before we lost my brother. The transformation was like a light suddenly being shut off. Poof, darkness.”

  “I can remember having daydreams about my dad suddenly appearing. We’d have this wonderful reunion, and my parents would fall in love. Then I’d have a dad who lived with us like the other kids.”

  “Have you ever thought about doing one of those DNA tests?” I asked.

  “Why?”

  “To find out who your father is.”

  She flinched as if I’d flicked her nose. “I didn’t want to make a big fuss about it all.”

  “Why not?”

  “Wouldn’t it cause us both more harm than good? This man never even knew I existed. Then one day, he wakes up to find he’d fathered a daughter thirty years ago? He probably has a family and a wife. My presence would mess up his life. There’s the money, too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It would be impossible to know if he wanted a relationship with me or just wanted access to my wealth.”

  I hadn’t thought about that angle before. “Like lottery winners? Long-lost relatives come out of the woodwork.”

  “Right. We should get some sleep. This was a long day.” She sat up and drew closer to kiss my cheek. “I hope you get some rest and wake up feeling much better.”

  My arm instinctively wrapped around her waist. “Thanks for everything.” Her scent made me light-headed.

  “You were a trouper,” she said, sounding slightly breathless.

  “We have furniture and beds, thanks to you.”

  She traced my jawline with her thumb. “This is dangerous.”

  “Being in my bed?”

  “Your house. Your bed. As if I were a regular fixture in your life.”

  “It’s too late for caution,” I said. “For me, anyway. The drugs may have loosened my lips, but what I said earlier is true. I’ve fallen in love with you. I want you here. I don’t want you to ever leave. But my dad’s here now to look after me. You’re free to go if you want to.”

  She briefly closed her eyes as a wave of pain crossed her face before opening them to look directly into mine. “I need a little time to sort myself out, but I don’t want to leave. I’m not sure I can at this point.”

  “What does that mean?” My heart skipped a beat. Could I dare hope? Was she falling for me?

  “It means that my feelings for you run deeper than I’ve let on. Your accident proved that to be true. The thought of losing you triggered everything all over again. I’m scared. That’s it, plain and simple. Scared to lose you and scared to claim you.”

  “But you feel it too? This connection between us?”

  “I’ve felt it from the first night I ever spent with you. I need a little time.”

  “I’ve got nothing but time, City Mouse.”

  “Thank you.” She tossed one of her pillows to the other end of the bed, then switched off the lamp on the bedside table. I felt her lie down next to me. Through the darkness, she found my hand and slipped her fingers around mine. “Good night.”

  “Night.” I closed my eyes, wishing my cast was off and my ribs weren’t busted and I could pull her to me and remind her of what she’d be missing if she walked out of my life. Instead, I settled for the fact that she was here with me. If the snow kept falling, maybe I could keep her here longer. Eventually, perhaps she’d decide to stay forever.

  My wish didn’t come true. The snowfall ceased while we slept. We woke to a bright, sunny day. However, Crystal didn’t say anything about going back to Brandi’s except to check in on her. She convinced Dad to go with her to town for groceries. I had piles of work to take care of, so I parked myself on the couch with my laptop.

  I’d just gotten off the phone with a client when I heard a car in the drive. With the aid of my crutches, I hobbled over to the front door to see who it could be, expecting the delivery truck with more of the items we’d ordered. A black sedan with tinted windows came to a stop in front of my garage. I could hardly believe my eyes when my mother got out of the car. She clutched a blue purse against her side as she looked around my front yard. I could almost see the tension in her shoulders. What was she doing here? Had she driven from Montana? The sedan didn’t appear to be a rental car. Stunned, it took me a moment before I opened to the door to greet her.

  She held up a hand and headed toward me. “Don’t come any farther. The gravel will be terrible with those crutches.”

  I obeyed, waiting for her to climb the stairs to the covered porch. Slim and straight-backed, she was dressed in an elegant black coat and riding-style boots. Her dark hair was cut into a short bob that framed her heart-shaped face.

  "Mom, what are you doing here?"

  “You sounded weak on the phone. Frankly, you scared me. I decided to come visit, even if you didn’t want me.”

  “Why would you think I don’t want you?”

  “You said not to come.” She clutched her purse to her chest. If it were possible, she’d become thinner than the last time I saw her. A good hug might break her in half.

  “You didn’t want to come,” I said.

  “Obviously, that’s not true,” Mom said softly. “I didn’t want to hear you say no, so I didn’t ask.”

  “Dad’s here. Not at the moment, but he’ll be back.”

  My mother smiled stiffly. “I’m staying at the lodge. We can avoid each other.”

  Her appearance had shaken me to the core. I thought about my dream. Christopher had said they should be together again. Had my accident done just that? Brought
them under the same roof?

  She touched my arm. Even through my sweater her hand felt ice cold. “You look well. I don’t know what I expected. The word concussion had me worried.”

  “I’m fine. Better today than yesterday.” I nodded toward the door. “Let’s go inside. It’s cold.”

  I let her go in first and followed with my clumsy gait. She smelled of her perfume, just as she had when I was young. She shrugged off her coat, revealing a light gray sweater over black leggings. Despite the essence of sadness that seemed to float about her head, she’d aged well. Mom gasped when she saw the front room and view. “Garth, it’s spectacular.”

  An image of her small, dingy apartment in downtown Bozeman flashed before my eyes. Thinking of her there all alone depressed me. “Thanks, Mom. It’s not decorated much, obviously. It wasn’t before the fire, either. I’d only just moved in when it was destroyed.”

  “What a thing to have happened.” Mom set her purse on the dining room table.

  “Would you like coffee or tea? Did you drive all the way from Bozeman?”

  Her black boots clicked on the hardwood floor as she crossed over to the bank of windows that looked out over the valley. She spoke with her back to me. “No, I left yesterday and stayed overnight at the halfway point. A little motel in the middle of nowhere. Don’t ask me where.”

  “I’m not crazy about the idea of you traveling all alone,” I said as I came to stand beside her. In the light from the window, I could see the fine lines in her small face.

  “Don’t be silly. I do everything alone.”

  Your choice, I thought.

  “When will your father be back?” Mom fidgeted with the cross that hung around her neck. “I don’t want to be in the way.”

  “Within an hour, I’d guess. He and Crystal went to town for groceries and to raid her kitchen store for supplies.”

  She gave me a quizzical look. “Who’s Crystal?”

  “A friend. She lost her house too.”

  “Right, I remember the name now.”

  I nodded and gestured toward the road. “We share the long driveway. They haven’t started on hers yet.”