First Class Rescue (First Class Novels) (7 page)

By the fourth chapter of the current vampire novel, Beth
found herself finishing off one of the new bottles of wine.

“Great!” she said to Cleo. “I’m going to have to get pissed
in order to finish it!” She emptied her glass and turned the page.

By the time she’d started the second book in her never-ending
pile, Cleo was pacing to go out.

“Okay,” she sighed. “Let’s go.”

When she returned a few minutes later, her cell phone was
beeping. She had a voice mail.

“Hi. It’s Tim. Umm, I thought that maybe your sister was
leaving today? Anyway, I was hoping you’d let me take you to dinner one night
this week. Give me a call. K, umm, hope to hear from you.”

Beth put down her phone on the kitchen table and stared at
it. She didn’t delete the message. She didn’t call him back. How could she?
Emma had made it very clear what she thought of Tim and her mother would only
be ten times worse. It would be wrong to keep seeing him. If wouldn’t be fair
to Tim and it certainly wouldn’t be fair to her. She was already in love with
him and if she continued seeing him, that love would just grow deeper, of that
she was sure. No, it was better to end it now before she was put in the
unimaginable position of choosing between him and her family.

Sinking into the corner of the sofa the tears began to fall.
Burying her face in her hands she cried until there weren’t any tears left.
Cleo sat beside her, resting her nose on her thigh.

“I’m sorry,” she blubbered as she petted her dog’s nose. “I
know you love him too. We’ll get through it, you and me. We’ll be strong for
each other, k?” And then she cried some more.

Beth flew home for the holidays for the first time in six
years. It was both a relief to leave New York for a little while and depressing
to return to her family home and it only took a few hours of being there before
she longed to be back in her apartment. 

Emma, sweet thing that she was, had told her mother all
about Tim. Ann pointed out repeatedly that Beth should be aiming much higher
when it came to a husband. A blue collar worker like a fireman did not meet the
Collins standard and she and Beth’s father would never give their blessing in a
union such as that. After all, she’d said, they had their reputation to uphold.
How would it look? Plus, there were several suitable men right there in Surrey.
She’d happily pick one out for her daughter.

By the time the annual Collins’ Christmas party arrived,
Beth could recite all of her mother’s arguments before Ann had the opportunity
to repeat them…again. Her point had been made. Beth understood.

While the catering company delivered van loads of food, Beth
sat in her room and debated what to wear.

“Something sexy,” Emma offered as she barged into Beth’s
bedroom. “Mum has invited several eligible bachelors this evening.”

Beth opted for an over-sized knit sweater.

All evening long, her mother introduced her to men that she
approved of. Several of them were nearing their fifties and Beth had to control
all facial expressions as to not offend any of them. After a couple of drinks,
a tall reasonably good looking man handed her a glass of champagne.

“I think we are supposed to meet,” he smiled. “I was asked
to give this to you.”

“Thanks but I already have one,” Beth said holding up her
other hand with a half-full glass of champagne.

“Ah,” he smiled. “I don’t think your mother really cares
about the champagne…just about my introducing myself. I’m Gerald Clark. My
family comes from Cornwall. In fact, my great uncle was an Earl.”

“Fascinating,” she yawned.

“Why don’t we have lunch tomorrow at the Pig and Pony?”

“I’m sorry. I’m busy tomorrow.”

“The day after then?”

“I’m busy then too.”

“You know your mother would really like us to have lunch.”

“Fine. Lunch tomorrow at the Pig and Pony.”

“Brilliant. I’ll meet you there at twelve thirty.”

“Brilliant,” she sighed.

By the time Beth returned to Manhattan the week after New
Years’, she’d had lunch with Gerald four times and had promised to have dinner
with him when he came to New York on his next business trip. Gerald was a
partner in a law firm that had offices in London, New York, Chicago and Paris.
He said he’d be visiting the US in the spring. Ann Collins was ecstatic. Beth
was not.

*****

With winter upon them, the flu was in full grip of the
station. Tim, always extremely healthy, subbed several shifts a week for those
who called out sick. In fact, Tim hardly went home. For three weeks straight he
worked fourteen hours on, ten hours off, sleeping and showering at the station,
but once Christmas had come and gone, he realized he wasn’t going to be able to
continue at his current pace.

“You should find a hobby,” his mother told him.

“Come with me to the shelter this week,” Janie suggested.

“Are you still doing that?” Tim asked.

“Of course I am,” Janie replied. “I love it. Plus, this way
I’m not desperate to have a dog. I get my fix at the shelter and then I come
home.”

Matt grinned. “It works out for everyone.”

“Yeah, okay,” Tim nodded.

Two days later as his two-hour shift at the animal shelter
came to a close, Tim had decided to come back and volunteer some more. He’d
cleaned a few kennels and had taken a group of rowdy but happy dogs for a walk.
He’d enjoyed every minute of it and felt like this was a good place to spend
some of his down time.

During his third week walking his assigned group of dogs, he
was on his way back to the shelter when he recognized the man sitting on the
bench under the tree at the entrance of the park. It was Rob Wheeler, the
firefighter who’d pulled Daniel from the burning building.

“Hey Rob,” he yelled.

Rob looked over at Tim, no expression on his face, nodded
and then turned his attention back to…to nothing that Tim could see.

Tim herded the dogs in the direction of Rob and jogged
across the grass. “How ya doin?” he asked as he stopped in front of the wooden
bench.

“Fine,” Rob said with no emotion in his voice.

Two of the dogs, Izzy and Patch, nuzzled up to Rob and
patiently waited for the stranger to pet them. Rob finally lifted his hands
from his thighs and rubbed their heads. The dogs reacted by trying to give him
kisses and Rob’s demeanor slowly began to change. A smile appeared on his face
and his rigid frame relaxed. He even talked to the dogs. Tim sat on the bench
next to him and eventually Rob began to talk.

“Doc says PTSD. I’m on medical leave.”

“Oh I had no idea,” Tim replied.

“I come here sometimes ‘cuz the wife doesn’t like me moping
around the house.”

Tim didn’t know how to respond to that. He let the dogs fawn
over Rob for a few more minutes and then excused himself. He had to return the
pups to the shelter. Rob said goodbye and returned to staring into space.

As Tim left the shelter after returning his charges, he made
a call to his brother Paul. When Paul left the Navy Seals he took a job in a
non-profit organization that raised money and awareness for wounded veterans.
Paul had already spoken at numerous fund-raising events in New York, Washington
D.C. and Los Angeles bringing awareness to the need of increased funding and
programs for those brave men and women who had served their country valiantly.
One of the programs Paul had told his family about was placing therapy or
service dogs with veterans suffering from PTSD. Tim had some questions for his
brother on that very subject.

*****

He’d done his research, pumped Paul for as much information
as possible and had enlisted the help of Rob’s doctor, Dr. Jenna Francis. She
was a therapist who specialized in diagnosing and treating Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder within the FDNY. Rob had been willing to be their ‘test case’ and Tim
hoped that soon there’d be dozens more with the help of the humane society.
That’s where Matt and his millions of dollars came in.

Because Matt and his company, MEL Holdings, was one of the
humane society’s biggest donors, when Matt asked for something, he usually got
it. Tim was going to use every advantage he could muster to get his idea moving
forward.

With Tim’s idea, Jenna’s credentials, Paul’s program data
and Matt’s money, they were able to begin their own program placing shelter
dogs with firefighters diagnosed with PTSD. Along with therapy and medication, when
necessary, after six weeks improvement was being seen, and felt.

Rob was back at work, Izzy at his side. Engine 23 had
adopted her as their official mascot. The shelter had been able to hire another
fulltime animal behavior specialist to identify which dogs would be appropriate
for the program and with the help of Jenna they matched up each firefighter
with their new best friend.

Even the fire department bigwigs were starting to take
notice. With a workforce that had as high as thirty-seven percent officially
diagnosed with PTSD, and probably many more that went undiagnosed, this program
could potentially save the department money, which was always a top priority,
and create a healthier group of employees; physically, psychologically and
emotionally. Tim had received a commendation and if this program continued to
go well, Captain was well within his grasp.

For weeks, every spare minute not on the job was devoted to
his new cause. He rarely went out for drinks after work and hadn’t been on a
date since he’d taken Beth and Emma to dinner before Thanksgiving, not that he
considered it a date. Jenna didn’t even tempt him. She was young and extremely
attractive but their relationship was strictly professional and even if he had
been interested, he would never have acted on it. There was too much at stake.
He would never risk the program that he was totally invested in.

Plus, he still thought about Beth all the time, even though
he’d stopped calling her after Christmas. She’d never answered and she’d never
returned any of his messages.

For several weeks he’d gone over in his head what he could
have possibly done to offend or hurt her. The only thing he could come up with
was his run in with Amanda, but he’d explained all that and he thought
everything was fine between them. The only other reason that he could think of
was that Emma didn’t like him and she’d convinced Beth that he wasn’t right for
her. He was beginning to think that that was probably the more likely of the
two.  

At the end of March Tim had been approached by the FDNY and
was asked to present an award to the humane society at their annual benefit the
last weekend of April. The fire department was honoring the organization for
their generous donations of animals to serve as therapy dogs for their employees
in the PTSD program. Tim was honored to do so and willingly accepted the
assignment.

Tim stood at the front of the ballroom talking to his
brothers. His whole family had arrived to support him as he gave the award to
the humane society. Matt and Janie were the last to arrive.

“Paparazzi are everywhere,” Matt sighed as he kissed his
mother and hugged his father.

“They only want pictures of you,” Paul replied. “They aren’t
interested in the rest of us! We’re not important enough,” he laughed.

“Of course they want a picture of you,” Janie smiled.
“You’re looking mighty fine this evening Mr. Lathem.”

Matt pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her soundly.
Tim watched the embrace with a tinge of envy.

If the past few months had taught him anything about
himself, it was that he was lonely. His existence was meaningless unless he had
someone to share it with. He wanted to come home from work and have a smiling
face greet him. He wanted to wake up with a warm body next to him every
morning. He wanted someone to take vacations with. He wanted to run his fingers
through long silky blonde hair. He wanted what had been denied him. It had
taken him months to figure it out, but now he had, he couldn’t deny it any
longer. The problem, however, was that the woman he dreamed about, was not
available to him. Of that, she’d made herself clear.

The lights dimmed and everyone took their seats. The Lathem
family had two of the tables at the front of the ballroom. At his table were
his parents, Matt and Janie, Mark and Katy, and Ben. At the table next to them
was Andrew and Rory, David and Lindsey, Paul and Nic, and Tyler and Derek,
Katy’s son. The only one missing was Adam, Janie’s son, and he was working in
the ER and couldn’t get away.

“It’s wonderful to see so many people here,” Maureen
whispered. She had long supported the organization and had badgered Matt into
donating years ago. Since then, the entire family had leant their support in
time, money, or whatever else was needed. She was proud to see her youngest son
now invested in the family tradition.

*****

Beth stood in the bathroom in front of the vanity finishing
up her makeup. The door flew open and she almost poked her eye out with the
mascara wand.

“I need your help with these buttons,” whined Emma.

Emma had arrived for a quick visit the week before. She had
basically used Beth’s place as a hotel, spending most of the time out with some
friends she knew who were also visiting the city. Beth didn’t mind. She
continued with her work and got to visit with Emma when she had gaps in her
social calendar.

It was Emma’s last night in Manhattan, she flew home the
next afternoon. They had been invited to attend a benefit with Gerald. He was
also in town. Emma had had lunch with him a couple of times but Beth had managed
to avoid him up until now.

They’d emailed a few times over the past couple of months.
Well, Gerald had emailed Beth and on a couple of occasions she had replied. She
really didn’t want to encourage him…her mother was doing enough of that, but
she also didn’t want to appear rude. She did have some manners, after all.

Gerald had called a couple of days before and said their
firm had a table at a benefit and seeing as though she had promised to have
dinner with him, and seeing as though it was his last night in New York, she
couldn’t say no. So she didn’t. She agreed to go and then he’d invited Emma to
join them which eased her nerves as they wouldn’t have an opportunity to be
alone.

It was actually kind of fun to get all dressed up and unwrap
the diamond earrings that she had inherited after her great aunt’s death. Every
girl liked to dress up once in a while, right?

Emma had purchased an exquisite gown earlier that day and looked
like the belle of the ball. Beth helped her with the tiny pearl buttons and
stepped back to admire her baby sister.

“You look lovely,” she smiled.

“Thank you,” grinned Emma. “You look good too.”

Beth had worn a dress that had hung in the back of her
closet for several years. The last time she’d worn it had been at her
engagement party to Edward. Her parents and siblings had flown in from London
and they’d rented out a large suite at the Ritz. She’d been happy that day.
Well, happy was a relative term. She
thought
she’d been happy. Although
she’d been
happier
the day she’d broken off the engagement. 

Beth studied her reflection in the mirror. Her dress was
made of burgundy silk. It hugged her body like a glove and she felt good in it.
She actually felt a little sexy, but she wasn’t wearing it for Gerald. She was
wearing it for herself. She’d been pretty glum the past few months and she’d
realized that she needed to snap herself out of it. This night out was her
first step in returning to the land of the living, not just trying to survive.

Gerald was to pick them up at six thirty and by six twenty
both women were ready. Cleo was spending the evening with Jerry and Vince so as
to not get dog hair all over them. Precisely at six thirty Beth’s cell phone
rang.

“Hello?”

“It’s Gerald. We’re down stairs waiting.”

“We’re?” Beth was confused.

“’I’ve brought my associate Evan with me…to round out the
group. We’re in the limo waiting.”

Real gentlemanly!
Beth thought.
What would mum
think of that?
She rolled her eyes.

“We’ll be down in a moment,” she said and hung up.

The two women left the apartment and rode the elevator down
to the lobby. Gerald wasn’t there so they exited the building and stepped onto
the sidewalk. Gerald wasn’t there either. The driver jumped from the limo and
raced to open the door for them. He helped each of them, with their long
dresses, into the back of the car. Gerald and Evan were laughing and drinking.

“Good evening,” Gerald said in his most regal accent and
held his glass in salute. “This is Evan. Evan this is Beth and Emma.”

They exchanged pleasantries as the driver pulled into
traffic. Beth sat back and watched the men fill their glasses again and she was
mortified as Emma flirted with both of them at the same time.

Eventually they arrived at the benefit and had to wait as
the limos in front of them deposited their guests at the foot of the red
carpet.

“Oooh look Beth!” exclaimed Emma. “That’s Matt Lathem!”

Beth peered through the tinted glass to see an incredibly handsome
man in a black tux pose for the paparazzi with a beautiful woman at his side,
his arm protectively and loving wrapped around her hips.

“That’s his wife!” Emma noted. “A sad day when he went off
the market,” she sighed.

“He’s not cattle!” Beth frowned, but she had to admit that
he
was
gorgeous and would make any woman swoon. Mrs. Lathem was a very
lucky woman. “And how do you know all about him?”

“I read the papers and the magazines. He was New York’s most
eligible bachelor for several years a while back, but then he got married. I’d
marry a Lathem,” Emma sighed wistfully.

“We don’t know any Lathems,” Beth said. “And he might be an
only child.”

“Too bad,” Emma sighed again.

“You do know your dates are sitting right here and can hear
you?” Gerald snapped.

Neither sister responded.

Their limo pulled forward and the driver once again came to
her rescue by opening the door and helping her from the car. The photographers
didn’t appear to be very interested in her group so they moved across the
carpet and into the hotel quickly.

Once inside, Beth tensed as Gerald grabbed her elbow to
guide her through the throngs of elegantly dressed people to their table. It
was towards the back of the massive ballroom and off to the right. There was a
tent card in the middle of the table that read
24 – Linton, Clark &
Davies, Attorneys at Law.

“Here we are,” stated Gerald and pulled out a chair for her
to sit. He sat to her right and Emma chose to sit next to Gerald instead of
next to her. The table seated eight.

“Are there others joining us?” Beth asked.

“Probably,” Gerald replied, trying to get the waiters’
attention so he could order a gin.

Beth sat back and watched the sea of color. The dresses were
glamorous and the men all looked like penguins in their black and white
ensembles. As the lights began to dim, everyone settled in at their assigned
tables and the program began.

The Executive Director of the humane society welcomed
everyone and outlined the program portion of the evening which was to be
preceded by dinner and followed by dancing. The waiters and waitresses began
delivering the first course of the meal and the hum of voices began to rise.
All through dinner a slide show was being played of all the animals that the
organization had taken in over the past twelve months. Before and after shots
of neglected and starving dogs and cats were heartbreaking and heartwarming at
the same time. Flea infested carcasses had blossomed into healthy happy playful
dogs that had seemingly forgotten the atrocities inflicted on them by their
former owners. 

Beth watched the screen, neglecting her salad of frisse,
bleu cheese and pears. Horror filled her as she wondered what kind of people
could treat animals with such cruelty, her mind immediately thinking of Cleo.
She couldn’t fathom doing anything to harm her best friend.

Another photo appeared on the screen of a mastiff with its
collar embedded in its neck. It was a gruesome sight.

“In poor taste,” grumbled Gerald. “We are trying to eat
here.”

“Sometimes the shock of seeing this…this brutality will help
the viewer to understand the need that’s out there. I believe that these people
rely solely on donations to run the shelter,” replied Beth.

“And we write our check every year for this blasted event,”
Gerald all but yelled. “They get my money! I don’t need to be indoctrinated
like this.”

“Plus it’s a great tax write off and we get good PR from
it,” added Evan. He wasn’t even watching the slide show.

“So that’s it?” Beth asked. “Tax deductions and PR?”

“What else is there?” Gerald huffed. “We have to take pro
bono cases and we have to have a
cause
,” he said, using air quotes
around the word. “One of the secretaries suggested this one, so that’s what we
do. If someone has a better idea next year then we’ll do something else. We
just have to give some money away to make us look like we care about the
community.”

“Wow,” Beth mouthed. She decided to eat her meal in silence.
She couldn’t stand to hear anymore.

Tomato Bisque was the next course served. Beth carefully
lifted the spoon to her mouth as to not spill down her dress. That would be
mortifying. Gerald refused to eat it because tomato soup was not what he had paid
ten thousand dollars to eat. It was certainly not up to his standards.

“It cost ten thousand dollars?” Emma gasped.

“For the table,” Evan clarified.

Nobody else had joined them. It was just the four at them at
the table. If this was what Gerald was really like, Beth wasn’t surprised that
no one had shown up to be stuck with him after hours. She doubted they were
paid enough to be subjected to the additional torture.

Finally the main course was served. Beth had chosen the chicken.
It was delicious. Gerald had the beef. He didn’t seem to care for it much.

“It’s full of gristle,” he complained to the waiter assigned
to their table. “Bring me another.”

The young man quickly disappeared with the plate, leaving
Gerald to continue muttering about the food. In just a matter of minutes, a
fresh plate of beef and potatoes was placed in front of him.

“I suppose this is better,” he admitted grudgingly.

As guests finished their meal, they began milling around the
room, visiting other tables and introducing themselves to each other. Nobody
approached the Linton, Clark & Davies, Attorneys at Law group.

Beth wasn’t really surprised. Her mother had pushed this
match since the Christmas party and Beth had almost resigned herself to the
fact that she may as well accept her fate and let herself be pushed into a
loveless union to make her family happy. But two courses into her dinner and
she had changed her mind. She couldn’t spend her life with Gerald. She’d prefer
to be alone than with him. Her mother could be disappointed. She didn’t care
anymore. Life was too short to be spent being miserable, and that’s what Gerald
was – miserable!

The lights in the ballroom flickered again and the applause
began at the front of the room and worked its way back ‘til everyone was on
their feet clapping for the man who stood at the podium. Beth recognized him as
the star of the new action film that had just opened to rave reviews and a
record setting box office take in its first weekend. He waited for everyone to sit
and then told his story, with photos behind him on the big screen, of his three
dogs that he’d adopted from a local shelter in Los Angeles. There were pictures
of them all in bed together, of them playing on the beach, and of them swimming
in his pool. It was very sweet.

Next up was a man who the program claimed to be a rapper.
Beth didn’t recognize him as she never listened to rap music. His mouth was
full of gold teeth and he had more tattoos than Beth had ever seen on one
person. She wondered if he’d borrowed some clothes from a homeless man because
his jeans were too big and falling off his ass and his shirt had holes in it.
His very white high-top sneakers didn’t have any laces in them either. She
snickered at the thought of a homeless man behind the hotel in a tux.

What little of his speech she could understand, she’d
surmised that he’d rescued some pit bulls from a friend who was going to use
them for fighting and had credited the dogs with keeping him sober for the past
three weeks.

“Hmm,” she sighed.
It would be a lovely story if only,
she thought.
If only his jeans weren’t almost to his knees. Just as well his
t-shirt is too big and he’s standing behind a podium,
she snickered to
herself.