Nightingale Way: An Eternity Springs Novel (30 page)

He scooped her up and deposited her on the bed, and when she began to laugh, the sound bubbled through him like fine champagne. At what point the sex turned to lovemaking, he couldn’t say, but it did exactly that. He made love to her with his hands, his mouth, his entire being, and when he joined his body with hers, he gazed deeply into her eyes and wordlessly offered her his heart. Again.

Emotion swam in her soft green eyes, an emotion he had not seen there for so long. Hope rose within him, followed almost immediately by despair.

Her parents waited at Eagle’s Way.

Why now? Why at this sensitive moment when they were trying to find their way back to each other?

Afterward, he refused to look at her bedside clock, and lay on his back with Cat tucked against his side, her head resting on his chest. When a muted beep signaled an arriving text message on his cell phone, he uncharacteristically ignored it.

Cat lifted her head and gave him a questioning look. He kissed her hair, then nudged her head back down onto his chest. “I talked to Mac while we were in California,” he said. “Did you know that he and Ali separated not so long ago?”

She paused a long moment, then said, “I knew their marriage had weathered a rough patch.”

“Mac says that for him and Ali, life and love are sweeter the second time around. He says that they’ve rebuilt their marriage stronger than ever.”

A half a minute ticked by before she sat up, the sheet
clutched to her chest, and solemnly met his gaze. “I’m confused, Jack. What are you trying to say?”

In the end, it wasn’t difficult at all. “I love you, Cat. I love you and I need you to know that and believe it. That day at the park you told me you cared for me. Well, you know what? Whether you’re ready to admit it yet, I think it’s more than that. I think you still love me, too.”

“You’ve never lacked confidence.”

“Sure I have. I just bluff better than most. Look, I don’t know what awaits us up at Eagle’s Way—”

“My mother,” she muttered.

Jack grinned, grabbed her hand, and kissed it “—but whatever it is, I don’t want to lose what we’ve found over these past few weeks.”

“I don’t either, Jack. But we have so much standing in the way. Our relationship didn’t just hit a rough spot. It broke. My heart broke. It will take more than garter belts and hot sex to fix it.”

“It isn’t all about sex, Cat,” he said, annoyed.

“I realize that. I don’t mean to suggest otherwise. I’m just … unsure. I don’t think going forward will be easy.”

“When have you and I ever done what was easy?”

He repeated that thought an hour later when they arrived at Eagle’s Way to see George Blackburn in the front yard, throwing a tennis ball for Fred.

Melinda Blackburn watched them from the shaded area of the front porch.

From a wheelchair.

“Mom,” Cat said, gasping.

Jack reached over and took her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. Even through her shock, she took note of the slight tremble in his grip, driving home the fact
that in many ways, Melinda was as much his mother as her own.

Fred ran toward the SUV, barking a welcome. George tossed a look toward his wife, then crossed to greet Cat as she flew from the car. “Dad! What happened? What’s wrong with Mom?”

She couldn’t see a cast or brace or any outward sign of injury. Somehow, that frightened her all the more.

“Hello, Pumpkin,” her father said. He gathered her into his arms and wrapped her in a hug.

“Daddy?”

“Don’t be afraid, now. Let’s go up and let your mother speak to you.” Over her shoulder, he added, “Hello, Jack. Sorry to barge in on you this way.”

Jack sounded dumbfounded as he replied, “You are welcome anytime, George.”

Cat’s pulse pounded. She approached her mother, searching her face for a clue to what might be wrong. Well into her fifties, Melinda Blackburn could pass for ten years younger. She kept her hair a flattering shade of blond with just enough gray visible to give her authority. She was shorter than Cat at five feet five inches tall, but between her usual two-inch heels and no-nonsense attitude, people ordinarily believed her to be taller. Her jewelry consisted of plain gold studs in her ears, a simple gold chain around her neck, and a modest wedding set worn on her left hand.

Despite an excellent application of makeup, Cat detected lines in her mother’s face that she’d not noticed before. The sour frown was infinitely familiar, however. “Don’t look like that, Cathy,” she said in way of greeting. “I’m not dead yet.”

Typical Mother
. “Hello, Mother. This is certainly a surprise.”

Melinda looked past her to Jack. “Jack, you’ll find a file on your desk that needs immediate attention.”

“Welcome to Colorado, Melinda.” He placed his hand on the small of Cat’s back, offering her unspoken support.

He did not immediately jump to do her mother’s bidding, leaving Cat flabbergasted. When was the last time Jack had stood up to her mother that way?

George walked up behind them and suggested, “Why don’t we all go inside. It’ll be more comfortable and we can have a talk. I could use something to drink. Your dog wore me out.”

Melinda nodded once, shot Jack an unspoken “back off” look of warning when he took a step toward her, then deftly turned the wheelchair around and rolled herself toward the front door. Upon reaching it, she waited like the queen she was for one of her minions to open the door. Jack, of course, stepped up.

As the familiar bitter thoughts swirled through her head, Cat stepped into the great room wondering just what the heck was the matter with her. For all she knew, her mother was about to confess some dire condition or the fact that she might be dying, and she couldn’t get past the old anger and resentment she felt over Melinda’s relationship with Jack? What kind of daughter was she?

“Take a seat, Cathy,” Melinda said, indicating the plush couch upholstered in earth tones, one of the few pieces of furniture in the house that faced away from the glorious mountain view. “Jack, I will join you in your office in a few moments.”

Jack, bless his heart, moved to stand behind Cat.

Melinda gave him a deadpan look. “Excuse us, Jack. This is family business.”

He rested his hand on Cat’s shoulder, and she had a sudden vision of him being as strong and unmovable as the mountains behind him. She sat up a little straighter.

Her father walked to the wet bar and filled one glass
with ice water and another with two fingers of bourbon. He handed the water to Melinda, who nodded her thanks, then met her daughter’s gaze. “Very well. Cathy, I have a tumor.”

A tumor. It took a moment for the shock to sink in.
A tumor. Oh, dear God, no
. Tears flooded Cat’s eyes and she blinked them back. Jack tightened his grip on her shoulder as she shifted her gaze toward her dad. He didn’t look devastated. The fact calmed her.

Melinda continued, “It is a completely benign, encapsulated tumor that is pressing on my spine. As a result, I am often dizzy and disoriented. I am at risk of falls, which is why I am restricted to a wheelchair. Surgery is scheduled for the seventeenth of next month.”

Her mother spouted this all off like statistics. Typical. She probably had the entire ordeal, surgery, recovery, and convalescence planned out to the tiniest detail. She might have sought her husband’s opinion, but not Cat’s. Never Cat. “Why so long?”

“Waiting will not affect the outcome. The surgery itself is not without some risk. Your father and I prefer to wait for a particular surgeon.”

“Dr. Hubbard is the best in the business,” George interjected. “Besides, this little break gives me and your mother time to do a few things we’ve been wanting to do.” He smiled and added with just a hint of curiosity in his tone, “Like visit our baby girl and our favorite ex-son-in-law.”

“Those are the salient points you need to know. So, now you know them. Jack, if you are through ruffling your male plumage, I wish for you to join me now in your office.”

Frustrated and angry and a little afraid, Cat snapped, “Mom, this is Jack’s house. You can’t order him around.”

“Yes, this is Jack’s house, but location doesn’t excuse
him from seeing to matters that require his attention.” With that, Melinda wheeled herself off toward the office.

Jack hesitated, obviously torn. Cat sighed, knowing it was a waste of time to fight the inevitable. She reached up to pat him on his hand. Only then did he follow Melinda into his home office. She heard her mother ask him to shut the door. It clicked shut, and Cat collapsed back against the couch cushions.

Same old thing. Even a tumor couldn’t keep Melinda from being Melinda. Then she turned a disapproving frown toward her father. “Why?”

He had the grace to look sheepish. “Why what?”

“Why everything! Throw in a few whats. A when or two would be nice.” She folded her arms and said, “Spill everything, Dad. Start with why you didn’t tell me.”

“You know your mother. She doesn’t know how
not
to play things close to her vest. She didn’t share her symptoms with me until it became obvious that something was wrong. She fell. Twice at our house. Apparently once at work.”

“Oh, wow. She must have hated that.”

“In the beginning, they were concerned about it being a poison of some sort. That’s why we thought your situation might have been connected to hers. It was the fog of war, so to speak. We just weren’t sure what was going on.”

“Wait a minute. Did Jack know about this?”

“No. She told him there was a threat against her, but that’s as much as he knew.”

Mollified by that much, anyway, she said, “So, they’re certain it’s benign?”

“Yes. And as far as the surgery goes, I will be honest. The tumor is situated such that there is some risk of paralysis. However, the surgeon we have chosen is truly the best in his field, and he told us that while he couldn’t
guarantee anything, he’d put the chances of that at less than ten percent.”

“Mom would rather die.”

“Yes, I believe she would.”

Cat thought about the things her father had revealed, and tried to work out the one thing that still made no sense. “So, why the trip to Colorado?”

“We thought it best to tell you the news in person.”

“Why not call me back to Washington? I’m not in danger anymore. There’s no reason I couldn’t have gone. All you had to do was ask.”

For the first time, her father looked a little less than certain. “Well, your mother had something work-related to discuss with Jack.”

The file she’d put on his desk
, Cat thought. That probably meant he’d be leaving again today on some spy task.
It better not be too far away. The wedding is right around the corner
.

Or maybe there was another explanation. Maybe she wanted an excuse to see what was keeping Cat in Colorado and whether she and Jack were getting close again.

“Plus,” her father continued, “we wanted to visit Eternity Springs. It sounded like such a lovely spot, and your mother and I decided we needed to get away for a little while. I have time before the semester starts and she’s on leave. The more Celeste told us about Angel’s Rest, the more it sounded like the perfect place for us.”

Shocked and stunned, Cat took a moment to process what he’d just said. Holding up her hand, she said, “Wait a minute. Celeste? You’ve been talking to Celeste Blessing?”

“Yes. Such a lovely, friendly lady. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“You’ve been talking to Celeste Blessing,” Cat repeated. She’d never said a word. One word.

“We have a cottage reserved there beginning tonight.”

“You and Mom are staying at Angel’s Rest!”
Beginning
tonight? “For how long?”

“Our reservation is open-ended. Celeste assures us that there are plenty of activities to keep us busy. She and your mother have gotten to be quite chummy.”

Celeste chummy with Melinda.

The world had tilted on its axis. This just wasn’t right. The child in Cat wanted to whine,
But they are
my
friends. She can’t have them, too!

Her father was no dummy, and he must have sensed what was going on in her mind. He came and sat beside her, draped an arm around her shoulder, and gave her a hug. “Look, I know it probably seems like your mother and I are butting in on your new life. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have dreamed of coming out here uninvited. But I have to tell you, Cat, something downright strange happened when your mother was talking to Celeste. Something about Angel’s Rest touched a chord inside her. Celeste talked about a healing energy in the valley, and I swear, I almost think some of it came through the phone lines to your mother.”

“I thought you said the tumor is benign.”

“It is. It is. Truly, you need not worry about that. I’m talking about something, well, spiritual, almost. I’ve heard your mother laugh more in the last week than she has laughed in years.”

“Mom? Laugh?”

“Yes.”

“How long has she been in the wheelchair?”

“Ten days.”

“That’s very strange.”

“Strange, perhaps, but wonderful, too. Your mother deserves some time to be carefree. For the last thirty years, she has worn the weight of the world on her shoulders.”

“By her own choice.” Cat worked to keep bitterness
out of her voice. “Please, let’s not have this conversation again. I know she’s patriotic and dedicated and all of those things. I respect that. But what I cannot and will not respect is the attitude that we’re all supposed to jump when Melinda Blackburn barks an order. Look how she treated Jack! In his own house! After he stopped his life to help me out, she acts like he’s her servant.”

“Catherine, that’s not fair. Their roles are defined. She’s his—”

“Boss? Superior? Dictator? What?”

“Cat, please.”

She folded her arms, her temper rising with every minute that ticked by with her lover and her mother ensconced in the office. Since her dad insisted that her mother’s illness wasn’t life-threatening—and her father never lied to Cat—then Melinda didn’t get a bad behavior pass as far as Cat was concerned. Shoot,
she
was the one whose life was being threatened—the life she was trying to put back together with Jack.