DAC_II_GenVers_Sept2013 (12 page)

“Up yours, old man,” Jane barked out, enjoying Harrison’s rough laughter as he rolled out the door, going who-knew-where to cause more trouble.

After his exit, she sniffed back tears, the sound breaking the silence in the room.

“Come here,” Walter ordered, pulling her back up beside him and into his arms. When she was partially across his lap, he sighed as he dipped his face into her hair. “God, you smell so clean. And like you. You smell like you. I thought all I was ever going to smell again was smoke.”

Jane laughed through the tears, panic seizing her again. “Smell me later, Walter. Right now, you need to put your oxygen mask back on.”

“If I do, will you stay awhile?” Walter asked, moving his mouth to Jane’s cheek. He pressed his lips there without really moving them. It just felt really good to be so close to her without her scrambling away for once.

Gratitude that Walter lived clogged her throat with more tears, so Jane closed her eyes at the sensation of being kissed so sweetly. As she nodded, the cheek he wasn’t kissing brushed the front of his gown, reminding her where they were.

Walter’s huge sigh of relief in her ear cranked up the temptation to release the waterworks again, but it was not a good idea to do any kind of self-analysis at the moment. She felt his hand tremble slightly as he lifted the one with the IV in it to stroke her hair.

“Walter? Are you sure you’re okay?” Her whispered question was muffled by the scratchy fabric of what he wore. Or at least that’s what she was telling herself.

“Yes. I promise. And I’m a lot better now that you’re here,” Walter said, coughing as he spoke.

Pulling away, Jane picked up his oxygen mask, pleased when Walter dipped his head down to help her slip it on him.

“I’ll stay with you until Harrison gets back, but you probably need to try and sleep now,” she said. “They are not going to let you do much sleeping tonight.”

Grinning at her from under his mask, Jane watched Walter pat the space beside him on the bed. She shook her head vigorously, her hair swishing against her flaming cheeks. No way in the world was she climbing into bed with Walter while he was wearing nothing but a hospital gown. She had been all too aware of his physical reaction to just hugging.

But her mind made note of the possibilities.

What would Walter do if she ran a hand under his gown and explored their mutual interest in each other? He would without doubt take advantage of the situation, and she would end up taking advantage of him.

“I think I’ll move to the chair for a while. It will give you more room to lie down,” Jane said quickly, appreciating the reprieve when a new doctor came in to check Walter’s progress.

“Just remember—you’re not my mother,” Walter said again, his voice muffled through the mask.

“I thought the line was ‘Luke, I am your father’,” Jane teased, wincing when Walter’s fingers tightened. He had a grip like steel. “Don’t break my fingers for getting it wrong. It was a joke. You don’t really sound like an oxygen deprived space villain at all.”

“If you like to role play, let’s do Han and Leia after she rescues him,” Walter rasped, breathing deeply through the mask as he laughed.

Jane laughed too and squeezed Walter’s fingers, still tightly woven through her own. She pretended not to notice the doctor’s curious gaze over their linked hands. Or at least, she pretended that she didn’t care what the man thought.

“Han isn’t my type. Scoundrels are way too much trouble to date,” Jane said, way more pleased than she should have been to hear Walter coughing as he laughed.

Four days later, Walter walked under the ‘Welcome Back’ banner hung over the door of the office and found Amanda humming. The office was filled with vases and flowers. Come to think of it. . .he backed up and looked out at the sitting area. . .plants and flowers adorned every available surface. “I appreciate the warm reception, but don’t you think this is a bit much for people living on fixed incomes?”

“Don’t look at me or the residents here. Most of the flower shop is compliments of the adoring multitude of
Mr. March
fans that I had to run out of here yesterday. I let them hang the banner and leave the stuff, but told them they couldn’t wait here for you. You’re looking
much
better, by the way,” Amanda said a smile. “And lucky you, your hair even hides your stitches. You can’t even tell that a building fell in on you.”

Walter sank down into the chair across from her, thinking about all the times he had sat across from Jane. Hindsight was always 20/20. He should have told the chief to pull that damn photo from the second print run of the calendar. His energy level still hadn’t returned to normal yet. He had no resources to deal with all the stupid calendar publicity crap right now.

“Sorry about Daniel having to pull double shifts for a couple of weeks,” he said, watching Amanda shrug off his apology.

“Don’t even go there. Clinton’s out for six months to a year, but Eric will be back in two weeks when you are. We’re just glad you’re all alive. No worries—truly. We’ll deal with a few long shifts,” she insisted.

Walter nodded, feeling gratitude that she and Daniel were in his life. “So, Harrison said you took great care of the place while I was out.”

Amanda smiled again, fighting back a giggle this time. “Yes, I have. I even survived Dorothy Henderson’s offer to feel her fake breasts. It was fine. I’d always wanted to touch a set to see what they felt like anyway.”

“Oh, God. I forgot to warn you about how proud Dorothy was of her enhancements. Sorry,” Walter said, groaning at the thought of the older woman making such an offer to Amanda. “Glad you aren’t easily offended. That would definitely not work around here.”

“Yeah, I get that. Harrison filled me in on why she offers, and then told me a hilarious story about some guy’s girlfriend catching him in the process of checking them out. It’s crazy some days, but I do love it here. Even when we lose one. I guess Harrison told you that the resident in Willow #34 passed away. Her family is coming by next week to collect her things,” Amanda reported, refusing to think about how different she would have been feeling if Walter hadn’t made it out of the fire. And Daniel. . .that just didn’t bear thinking about. Daniel and Walter were as tight as most brothers.

“People dying around here is just one of the many things I don’t like about the people side of this business. Did Jane. . .” Walter paused as he drifted off.

He closed his eyes and called himself stupid for caring. Jane had come to see him that first day in the hospital, but hadn’t returned at all for the three days after. Not that he blamed her for staying away with his mother camped out in his room with him. His father has slept at his place, but even Harrison hadn’t been able to get his mother to leave his side. His parents had finally flown back to DC the day he was released. Now that the whole hospital thing was behind him though, he had to ask about the one person that hadn’t stayed in constant contact. Hope about her was all he had to keep him going. God, he was so lovesick it hurt.

“Did Jane Fox happen to call to say if she was coming by North Winds today?”

Amanda wrinkled her forehead. “Call? Why would Jane call you? She’s already here.”

“
Here? Jane’s here? Like at North Winds?
” Walter repeated, sitting up straighter.

“Yes. . .she is here,” Amanda answered slowly. “Are you sure you’re okay, Walter?”

“Of course. Why would I not be okay?” Walter asked.

“Because Jane’s been here every day, all day. I assumed you two had arranged it. She said she was working with you on your renovation projects. The architects certainly think she’s got the right to tell them what to do.”

“Jane? Yes, well she
is
working with me,” Walter confirmed. “I just thought. . .I mean, I didn’t know she was here. . . already.”

He had been worried he’d scared her away in the hospital. Instead, she’d been here—taking care of him in another kind of way.

“What’s she been doing with the architects?”

“Stalling until you get back. . .from what I can tell anyway,” Amanda said, shrugging. “She’s been trying to keep things from moving along too quickly, but at the same time, she’s been helping the architects make their final decisions about where to put the geo thermal pools.”

Walter stood. “Where is she now?”

“Out for coffee with Brenner, but they should be back shortly. They never stay gone long,” Amanda said.

“Brenner? Tall guy with long hair who thinks he’s God’s answer to every woman’s prayers?” Walter asked, bringing the image of the lean, confident architect to mind.

Amanda giggled. “Pretty sure that would be the one. Are you actually jealous of him being with Jane?”

“No. What makes you think I’m jealous?” Walter asked.

“Because you’re worried about Brenner, which means you have no clue,” Amanda said.

“No clue about what?” Walter demanded.

He frowned when Amanda laughed without explaining her comment. “It must be the lingering effect of the concussion. You’re making no sense,” he said.

“Understandable. I’m giddy because you just helped me win a bet. I told Daniel the woman you were crushing on was the woman at the restaurant, and that I was pretty sure she was the same one coming by work. If you’re getting that serious about Jane Fox, you need to introduce them. Daniel’s your best friend,” Amanda chastised, her attention going back to the computer screen to complete her task.

Walter shook his head as he walked out of the office to look for the woman who wasn’t in his life enough to introduce her to anyone yet. When he found Jane, she, Brenner, and the other two architects had their heads bent over a tiny computer tablet lying on top of the rock wall surrounding the resident swimming pool.

His elation to see Jane dressed in clothing that covered her from head to toe had his jaw relaxing. She was wearing a pair of her signature baggy pants today, with a white blouse straining across the front of her, and a sweater that was stretched to its limits while doing its best to help cover her breasts as well. He watched Brenner’s gaze lift from the tablet to Jane’s face as she talked, her hands illustrating whatever point she was making. The memory of holding her in the hospital while she cried in relief over him rushed in to offer reassurance. It helped him believe that Jane was interested in him very differently than she was in the accomplished architect.

“Hey—geo thermal pools dug yet?” Walter joked, his heartbeat accelerating at Jane’s instant, happy smile when she looked up and saw him. The woman could excite him with a glance.

Brenner walked around the others and held out a hand. “Good to see you, Mr. Graham. Jane told us what happened. How are you doing?”

“Much better—thanks,” Walter answered, thoughtful as his gaze moved from Brenner to Jane and back. “Call me Walter. Mr. Graham is my father. And my grandfather. They love that formal stuff, but I’m not into it. So has Jane been keeping things going?”

Brenner smiled broadly and nodded. “Yes. You have a great partner there. The only thing lacking is your approval of a plan. Jane insisted we not commit any of them to paper until you’d seen the workups. There are actually three to choose from.”

Walter nodded, not amazed at how much had gotten done without him. Or at least not amazed now that he knew Jane had been there all along. “Great. I’m excited. Can I see them now?”

“Sure,” Brenner said with a smile, his head inclining toward the group.

Walter walked over, deliberately standing behind Jane and as close as he could get to her pants covered rear. Grateful he’d worn his jeans today, he bumped her gently from behind. Her nervous grunt and surprised scoot back against him had him grinning and rubbing her arm in mock apology. Harrison would have said he was marking his territory so the other males would know how things were. That was as good an explanation as any. What he really wanted was to turn her around and kiss her until she was moaning in his arms.

“You are amazing, lady. Thanks for taking care of things while I was out,” Walter said softly, peering over Jane’s shoulder at what was on the screen.

“No problem, Walter. See what you think of this,” Jane said, cursing her suddenly shaky fingers as she swiped the screens back to the beginning of the last plan they had drawn up. She had let Brenner have free rein to keep him occupied, but also so there would be some comparison with the more moderate ones.

At each screen switch, Walter listened patiently to Brenner’s spiel about possibilities. The plan they were viewing would require more land use than he had first imagined, but it might be worth the sacrifice over time because it would reduce the total number of geo thermal pools needed. It was more short term suffering for the residents and his budget, but there was a lot of long term gain. In fact, Brenner and Jane had come up with several eco renovation ideas that hadn’t even occurred to him.

For example, relocating the resident’s swimming pool was one cost he hadn’t counted on, but the more he thought about it, the idea of putting a new resident pool in the middle of the housing units seemed like a great change for North Winds. It would also be a draw for new residents.

A greener version of the new swimming pool could incorporate a steam room and sauna, not to mention new safety features like a permanently affixed chair that would allow physically challenged residents to be lowered into and lifted out of the water. Yeah, he liked the idea of adding that feature. Harrison might even be able to use the pool again. His grandfather had always loved swimming.

He was so used to his mind taking creative side trips, that Walter hardly processed his imagination drawing over the existing lines being shown on the screen to show him an even bigger picture of what could be. It was Jane’s hand on his arm that brought him out of his musings and back to the present.

“So? What do you think?” he heard her ask.

But he found her hand rubbing his arm in mild concern to be so distracting it was hard to formulate thoughts, much less words. Did she know that she was doing it? Brenner and the other men were looking at her strangely. Walter had a sense that all three were aware of his multiple inner struggles. It took him a couple of moments, but he finally pulled his attention off Jane’s hand stroking him.