A Change of Plans (32 page)

“I’m not sure I’m going to like your kind of help,” he replied, watching the women stare out the restaurant window at us.

I
OVERSLEPT THE
next morning. The others had already gone out, so I went about my usual routine. After lunch, I returned to the previous day’s project of working my way through the unused rooms—cleaning, airing, changing sheets on the beds, and so on.

While vacuuming, I thought I heard something and shut off the machine. Someone downstairs was shouting. I wondered if it was Jack. He would erupt once in a while. He had a temper like a volcano, building up pressure and then releasing. Once he blew, it was over.

I listened for a minute, but this shouting didn’t sound like one of those episodes. I ran down the stairs to see what was wrong.

Owen stood in the open doorway, cool air blowing in. I could just barely see Ethan and Jack and a couple of men by a car with an out-of-state license plate. Jack yelled at them while Ethan tried to calm him down. I wondered where Emily
might be. She could usually get him to settle down. Then I remembered she had gone into town.

“Owen, what’s going on?” I asked as I walked up next to him.

At the sound of my voice, all the men turned toward us, and one of the visitors lifted a camera and took a picture, the flash blinding me. Owen shoved me back into the house, crowding in behind me, and slammed the door shut. I hit the step wrong, twisted my ankle ... and went down as excruciating pain consumed me.

I cried out and pulled in my leg, trying not to move my ankle. Owen dashed to my side. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He tried to help me up.

“No,” I moaned, pushing him away. “Give me a minute.” I clenched my fists, my eyes watering. Once the initial agony had passed and I could breathe again, I said, “Okay. Help me stand.”

He put my arm over his shoulder and supported my hops to the couch. I couldn’t find any position that didn’t hurt. Owen stood staring at me, his face an image of misery.

“I need some ice!” I groaned.

He fled to the kitchen and returned with ice wrapped in a towel. He put it gently on my ankle, but I still yelped at the contact. When he jerked the icepack back, I hissed, “Put it back! I have to stop the swelling.” I bit back a cry as he pressed the pack against the quickly bruising flesh. The numbing cold eased the pain to a manageable level.

Outside, the shouting continued. “Owen, can you see what’s happening?”

He ran to the door, and I shouted, “No! Look through the window.”

“Sorry.” He peered through the curtain. “I think they’re leaving now.” He looked at me over his shoulder. “I sure hope Jack didn’t hit one of them. We don’t need the police coming around. That would draw even more reporters.”

Reporters. My stomach sank. So much for the local photographer being safe.

When Owen returned and reached to check the ice pack, I held up my hands. “Don’t touch it! Go get Jack and tell him I need to see a doctor.”

Owen bolted to the window again and, seeing it was safe, yanked the door open and yelled, “Jack! We need to get Lyn to the hospital.”

Jack and Ethan raced into the house and to the couch. I flinched as Jack moved the ice. He swore and told Ethan to get the truck.

If I hadn’t been in so much pain, it would have been funny the way they danced around and argued with each other about how best to get me into the truck without jarring my ankle. Finally, with Jack in the driver’s seat, me in the middle leaning against him—which made shifting a little complicated—and Ethan in the front holding up my leg, we made the bumpy ride.

Fortunately, the emergency room wasn’t very busy, and they got me in to see the doctor right away.

“You’re lucky, Mrs. Randolph.” The doctor wrote something in my chart. “It’s just a sprain.” He looked up. “I know—is there ever
just
a sprain? But take it easy for a couple of days, and you should be fine. How are you feeling otherwise?”

I shrugged, but Jack said, “She’s had a touch of food poisoning she can’t seem to shake off.”

The doctor examined me further. “Now, didn’t you just come back after being in the tropics for a couple of years?”
That was a diplomatic way of putting it. “There are some pretty nasty diseases out there, so let’s test some blood just to be sure.”

Once a nurse had drawn a sample, the doctor returned with an air cast for my ankle and instructions to stay off it for a day or two. He handed me a prescription for pain medication and said we could go.

The men insisted on carrying me into the house. Emily had returned, and Owen had let her know what had happened. She immediately ushered me to Jack’s recliner and propped up my foot. Jack brought me some Tylenol and then sat on the coffee table in front of me.

“Who were those men?” I asked after swallowing the pills.

Jack growled, “Paparazzi.”

I laid my head back and closed my eyes. “So they’ve found out where I am.”

He studied me. “People are just curious, I figure. We don’t watch a lot of television around here, but we do watch some. To tell you the truth, we’ve kept it off, so you wouldn’t see how much you showed up.”

I sat up. “I should be old news by now.”

Jack shrugged. “I’ve been talking to Mal about it ...”

I clenched the pillow. “Not that again!”

Jack leaned closer. “You’re doing a lot better now. Maybe if you just agree to give an exclusive interview, everyone else will leave you alone.” He patted my hand. “Give it some thought. Do the interview and put it behind you.”

I threw a pillow at him, missing. “Easy for you to say!”

Grinning, he picked up the pillow and tossed it back at me. He didn’t miss.

J
ORI CAME
by that evening after hearing in town about my accident. He brought flowers and stayed for dinner.

“Hey, Mr. Virtanen,” Owen said, as they cleared the dinner table. “I hear you’re leaving early this year.”

Jack was helping me into my chair, and I jerked my head around to stare at Jori.

His eyes met mine. “I’ve got a big show in New York in April. They’ve been working on it for a year.”

“Will you be back?” I asked, settling the pillow behind my head.

He shook his head. “I’ve got two shows scheduled in Europe right after New York.”

Until I knew he would be leaving, I hadn’t realized how important his friendship had become to me. “Fine. Go gallivanting all over Europe and leave us with the cows.”

“Hey!” Jack closed a button on his jacket, preparing to check on his stock one more time before bed. “Don’t go badmouthing my cattle until you’ve spent more time with them.”

When Jori and I were alone, I asked, “Will you write?”

He sat on the coffee table in front of my chair. “Of course. And call.” He leaned forward and tugged at a strand of my hair, reminding me once again of my brother. “You can visit me, if you’d like. It would be fun to show you Finland.”

The idea appealed to me, but I wasn’t sure if I was up yet to traveling outside of the States.

Jori stood. “If not this year, then next. And I’ll be back here next spring.” He put on his jacket and leaned over to kiss the top of my head before leaving. “Don’t go tripping over anything else.”

CHAPTER 33

I
TRIED WALKING
with the air cast the next day. Being careful, I could hobble around enough to help with simple chores. As I worked, I considered my situation and Emily’s comment that I could help out with the next calving season.

This family felt like a part of me, and I had grown to love them. I could imagine making my home here. We thought alike and connected on an emotional level. But a lot of it was because of Braedon. My dream in Great Falls hadn’t been that far off. He
was
everywhere on the ranch.

It wasn’t just the photos of him and Aislinn that covered the walls, but the memories the others had of him. He had worked on or designed so many things. Or certain spots had been his favorite places to ride or his preferred trail to hike.

But should I make my permanent home here? It made me happy to putter around the house and help out where I could, but I didn’t fool myself that I was doing anything other than healing, which I couldn’t do for the rest of my life.

The phone rang as I helped Emily sort through some fabric scraps for a quilt. She got up to answer it.

“Lyn, it’s for you.” She carried in the cordless receiver.

“Did Jack forget something?” I took the phone she offered. “Hello?”

“Mrs. Randolph?”

“Yes.”

The woman identified herself as the nurse for some doctor I had never heard of.

“I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re talking about. What test?”

She paused and I heard paper shuffling. “From your emergency room visit. Your blood test was positive.”

I remembered the doctor saying something about tropical diseases and swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. “For ... for what?”

“Your pregnancy test, Mrs. Randolph. You’ll want to schedule an appointment soon. And don’t take any medication without your doctor’s approval. Congratulations.” She hung up.

At the beep-beep sound from the phone, Emily rushed to my side and took it from me. “What is it?”

Why would someone do that to me? My heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest. “That was a sick joke.”

Emily pushed some buttons on the phone. “That’s the hospital’s number. You said something about a test.”

My knees went wobbly, and I had to sit down. “A pregnancy test.”

“When did you have your last period?” Emily asked, her voice calm.

My mouth opened and then snapped shut. I hadn’t paid attention. “I haven’t had it since we left the island.”

My heart raced. Could it be true? “Maybe it wasn’t food poisoning after all,” I breathed, touching my abdomen tenuously.

Her eyes danced. “No, honey. It wasn’t food poisoning.”

A baby. Braedon’s baby. My entire body flooded with joy; I felt giddy and euphoric. I clutched Emily’s hands. “This can’t be true. I’ve wanted it too much!”

The roar of Jack’s truck as he pulled up outside brought us to our feet. I continued to grip Emily’s hand as we faced the door, not knowing if I could say the words, as if speaking them aloud would make it a mistake.

Jack hesitated at the open door, watching us, seeming to know something was up. He shut the door against the cold, never taking his eyes off us. “Out with it.”

Emily beat me to it, releasing my hand and clapping hers together. “The rabbit died, Jack!”

He stared at me for a second before raising a finger. “That blood test!” He ran over, a huge grin on his face as he swept me off my feet and twirled me in a circle. When he set me down, he put his face inches from mine. “Are you happy?”

My answer was to burst into tears.

T
HAT NIGHT
we had a party of sorts. I had called Elle earlier and told her to go over to Aislinn’s house that evening so we could talk to everyone at once. I think they were as stunned as I was at the news.

Jack hung back as everyone else went up the stairs to bed, leaning against the fireplace. I joined him there.