Once Upon a Proposal (8 page)

“Bobbie? This is Cheryl. I've been trying to reach you for hours.”

Cheryl was Fiona's secretary at the agency. “What's wrong?”

“Fiona. She collapsed in the middle of a meeting over at Cragmin's a few hours ago.”

Bobbie's knees went out and she sank onto the corner of her bed. “Is she all right? Where's she now? Does her family know?”
Does Gabe?

“I reached Mr. Gannon at the law office.” Cheryl named the hospital that Fiona had been taken to. “But I don't know what to do about the agency. Everyone here is asking what to do. We have a class of dogs that are supposed to graduate this weekend, and I know she also hasn't finished payroll. Nobody knows what to do!”

Bobbie exhaled. “Keep doing what you normally do,” she said simply. “Aaron's the head trainer. He knows what to do for the graduation. The match list of the recipients for the dogs is already done; I saw it on Fiona's credenza when I was there the other day.” They would all be present at the training graduation, when the dogs were handed over to their new partners.

“Should I call in someone to do the payroll, or what?”
Cheryl sounded only slightly less frantic. “I hate to even bring it up, but none of us can afford to miss a check. And I obviously can't go asking Mr. Gannon about it now.”

“I'll think of something, Cheryl.” Though she didn't know what. The office would be closing in little more than an hour. “Don't worry. Just tell everyone to keep doing their jobs. I'll get back to you before the end of the day. Okay?”

“Okay.” The other woman hung up, sounding somewhat less frantic. Bobbie, on the other hand, felt like her stomach had been tied into a knot. She called the dogs in and re-crated them with fresh food and water. “Your wet coats are going to have to wait this time,” she told them as she added fresh towels to the floor of their cage for them to lie on. As soon as they were settled, she was out the door again, heading to the hospital.

She'd barely gotten off the freeway when her cell phone rang. Not even glancing at where it sat on her console, she thumbed the speaker button and braked behind the long line of cars at a stop light. “Hello?”

“It's Gabe.” His deep voice came through loud and clear on the little phone.

“Gabe!” She tightened her hands around the steering wheel. “I'm on my way to the hospital. How is she? How are
you?
”

“She's going to be fine,” he said quickly. “I guess I don't have to ask if you heard.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

“Fiona's secretary called me.” She inched forward in traffic while one portion of her mind considered alternate routes. “What happened?”

“She had a mild heart attack.”

Bobbie sank her teeth into her tongue to keep them from chattering. She still remembered Harry's heart attack from a few years ago. And her father had died of one.

She'd just seen Fiona the evening before, dancing the night away in her yellow gown.

“Bobbie? Did you hear me?”

She nodded. Foolish. He couldn't see her. “I heard.” She swallowed past the knot in her throat again. “How mild?”

“If everything goes well, she should be out of the hospital by the end of the week.”

“That's good.” She took advantage of a break in traffic to change lanes, turning down a side street. She'd make faster time going through the neighborhoods than on the main streets that were clogged with construction and rush-hour traffic. “Is everyone there?”

“Yeah. Fiona wants to see you.”

She had to slow down for a school zone. “I'd have been there by now if not for this damn traffic.”

“You're fine,” he assured. “She's having some tests run right now, anyway.”

“You're sure she's all right?”

“Talked to the doctor myself. Obviously there are some things he wants her to watch, but she got immediate medical attention when it happened and the damage to her heart was minimal.” She heard a rustling and then his voice was less clear. “She thinks we're
really
engaged.”

Bobbie glanced down at the phone as if she could see Gabe's face. “What?”

“Stephanie told Renée, who told Astrid, who naturally told Fiona.”

Her fingers flexed around the steering wheel again. “That wouldn't have caused her—”

“No,” he cut her off. “That I can promise you. I left the party shortly after you did, but Fiona evidently knew last night. She told me just a little while ago that she had no intentions of going anywhere before she had the pleasure of seeing us walking down the aisle.”

“I
knew
this would blow up in our faces! Didn't I tell you it was a bad idea?”

“Don't panic. Everything will be fine. I just wanted you to know what she was thinking before you see her.”

“She should know better than anyone that we haven't been involved.”

“Yeah, well, I guess we were wrong in thinking that. From what she's said to me, she takes full credit for putting us together in the first place. I'll tell her the truth when I have to, but not until she's stronger and well again.”

“Of course.” The last thing Bobbie wanted was to upset Fiona in any way. She turned down another block and could see the tall lines of the hospital building in the distance. “Have you told Lisette and Todd about Fiona?”

“Stephanie did. She brought them to the hospital about a half hour ago.”

“Is she still there?” The thought of encountering Gabe's ex-wife again so soon wasn't palatable, but it also wasn't enough to keep her from going to see Fiona.

“She has to leave soon to get ready for some business dinner Ethan's got. She had a sitter lined up for them, but the kids don't want to leave.”

“Can you blame them?”

“I don't,” he assured mildly. “Getting their mother to agree is another matter, and Fiona doesn't need to hear us arguing about it now.”

“Of course not.” She turned another corner and nosed her way back onto the main street. The entrance to the hospital was fifty yards away. “I'll be there in a minute. Are you all in the emergency room?”

“She's already been moved to a private room.” He told her the number. “It's a little crowded up here, though, so I'll just meet you downstairs by the main entrance.” He didn't wait for an answer before he hung up.

Bobbie thumbed the end button on her phone and turned in to the parking lot. There were a half-dozen signs directing people to various areas and she found herself heading up the emergency ramp instead of entering the visitor's parking lot. Cursing under her breath, she turned around at the first opportunity and managed to get herself back where she belonged.

The parking lot was crowded there, too, and she had to park some distance from the entrance, which meant that several minutes had passed before she finally made her way through the automatically sliding doors.

She spotted Gabe right away. He was the tall, broad man in blue jeans and a gray flannel shirt swooping down on her, pulling her into a fierce hug despite the water clinging to her raincoat.

Her heart jumped into her throat as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. When she stood on her toes, her nose found a spot in the warm crook of his neck. “You told me she's going to be fine,” she reminded him huskily.

He nodded and she felt a deep breath work through his chest. Then he was pulling back a little. Enough to press a hard, fast kiss to her lips. “I'm glad you came.”

Quick or not, she still felt absurdly rocked by the kiss. “Of course I came.”

“For Fiona?” His voice was low.

She pressed her tingling lips together for a moment. “Yes.” Telling him she'd been concerned for him, too, would be as good as admitting how quickly she was getting in over her head with him. But she still couldn't prevent her hands from rubbing over his bunched shoulders. He could reassure her that his grandmother was going to be fine, but he was clearly still stressed. “How long have you been here?”

“A few hours. Dad called as soon as he heard. I was on my way out to a job site in Ballard and just turned around to come here. I called your house, but didn't want to leave the
news on your answering machine. Would have called your cell sooner, but I didn't know your number until I got hold of Fiona's phone.”

She grimaced. What believable couple wouldn't know the phone numbers of their beloved? “How many more things like that should we have thought of?”

“It doesn't matter. I have it now. And you have mine.” He tucked her head beneath his chin.

She closed her eyes, breathing in the warmth and comfort of him. “How long do you think it'll be before I can see her?”

“Shouldn't be long.” His chest expanded beneath her cheek. “We can go up to her room if you're ready.”

She wasn't sure she was, but she nodded anyway. He waited while she slid out of her raincoat, then took her hand and walked to one of the elevator banks. They rode up several floors and all too quickly he was leading her down one hallway after another, until they finally stopped at the end of one.

She could see into the rectangular room just how crowded it was with every Gannon
but
Fiona, and the low heels of her leather boots suddenly wanted to drag on the tile floor. But Gabe drew her through the opened doorway anyway. Her self-consciousness solidified when all conversation dropped as everyone turned to look at them.

It was Colin, Gabe's father, who broke the awkward lull. He stepped forward and took her hands before dropping a light kiss on her cheek as if it were perfectly natural for him to do so. “It's good of you to come. I know Fiona will be pleased to see you.”

“Thank you.” Gabe's hand on the small of her back was the only thing keeping her grounded. “I'll be glad when I can see her, too.”

Colin moved slightly to one side, looking at his wife, who
was sitting on the foot of the single hospital bed, a magazine open on her lap. “Astrid?”

The woman tossed aside her magazine and looked at Bobbie. “Hello, Bobbie,” she greeted, though her eyes were anything but welcoming. “That's short for Roberta, I presume?”

Bobbie kept her smile from dying through sheer grit. “Yes.” If she really
were
engaged to Gabe, she'd have been terrified of having the intimidating woman as her mother-in-law.

“Hmm. I suppose Bobbie suits you better.” Her tone was smooth, but Bobbie still had the distinct impression that Astrid hadn't meant it as a compliment.

“I think it does,” Gabe agreed, and his tone made it clear that it
was.
He picked up Bobbie's cold hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it.

Astrid's lips twisted in a mockery of a smile before she picked up her magazine again.

Bobbie was just relieved not to be under the cool stare of the woman. She nodded a murmured greeting at Gabe's brothers and their wives, who were perched on the only chair the room offered and the wide windowsill. “Where are Todd and Lisette?”

“Stephanie took them down to the cafeteria for a drink,” Renée supplied. She gave her a look. “She'll be back.”

It was more of a threatened promise than a friendly warning.

Bobbie glanced around the crowded room. Renée was still filing her long fingernails. Diana was busily texting on her BlackBerry. Paul and Liam were leaning against the wall in the corner, talking quietly as if they were anywhere other than a hospital room. Only Colin looked truly concerned for his mother. His suit coat was abandoned, his red tie was loosened and he'd folded his shirtsleeves up his arms.

She decided that she could maybe like Gabe's father after all.

She slid her arm through Gabe's, and looked up at him with a smile. “Why don't we go find them,” she suggested.

He looked surprised but then nodded. Before leaving, Bobbie looked back into the room. “Can we get something for anyone?”

Colin just shook his head and did another three-pace circuit. Bobbie figured nobody else would respond—as if it were a crime against the one they figured Gabe
should
be with—and bit back a faint sigh.

“I'd love a coffee,” Diana announced before they stepped out the door.

Bobbie looked back, surprised. The other woman had slid her BlackBerry into her case and was watching Bobbie with a vaguely puzzled look. As if she couldn't figure out why Bobbie had made the offer.

“Sugar or cream?” The woman looked as if she hadn't partaken of either pleasure in a decade.

“Artificial sweetener,” Diana said. Then she smiled a little. “Thank you.”

“Sure.” Bobbie glanced around, but Diana's words hadn't managed to break through any significant dam with the others. She and Gabe left the room and she slid her hand into his, feeling his warm fingers weave with hers.

Considering there was nothing permanent—nothing long-term—about her engagement to Gabe, she knew she had no business feeling a spurt of victory at even the smallest sign of acceptance from his family.

No business at all.

D
espite the doctor's assurance, it was hours before Fiona finally returned to her room. By then, Gabe's brothers and sisters-in-law had departed, as had his mother. Colin remained, though, and Bobbie knew better than to suggest Gabe go home and get some rest.

He had managed to convince Stephanie to leave the children at the hospital with him, however, while she went off to her husband's business dinner.

Bobbie had fully expected another dose of Stephanie's vitriolic attitude, and had been surprised when none had been forthcoming at all. Maybe it was because the children were there, listening, or maybe it was because they were in a hospital. Whatever the reason, she'd been relieved when the other woman had suddenly capitulated and left the kids in Gabe's care.

Unfortunately, that meant that Lisette and Todd had been forced to sit around for hours, too.

And even if they'd badly wanted to see their great-grandmother, the long wait had definitely been taking its toll on their patience.

When Fiona was delivered in a wheelchair back to her hospital room, only the fact that the children were there kept Bobbie's tears at bay. Her dear friend had never looked so worn. And for the first time, it was almost easy to believe that Fiona had just turned eighty-five.

Once the nurse had gotten Fiona situated with the various wires and tubes tethering her and departed, Fiona let Todd use the buttons to raise the bed more until she was sitting up to her liking.

“Can we do it again?” he asked hopefully, holding the controller.

“It's not a video game, dummy,” Lisette scoffed.

Fiona grinned, though her eyes were tired. “I'd rather be playing video games right now,” she assured him. “You can play with this darn bed all you want tomorrow if you get to come and see me.” She eyed Colin. “Go home and get some rest. You look like
you're
the one ready to have a heart attack.”

“Don't joke,” he chided, bending over to kiss her cheek. “You gave us a scare. I've been telling you for several years now that it was time you cut back. Those dogs don't need you working yourself to death.”

“Don't exaggerate. And it's not the dogs I do it for, as you well know.” She patted his cheek and looked at Bobbie and Gabe. Despite her health crisis, there was still a glint in her eyes. “Soooo. Some mischief has been afoot? I suspected there was more going on than repairs over at the carriage house and once I saw you together last night, I knew I was right.”

Bobbie felt her cheeks go hot. “Fiona—”

“We can get into all that later,” Gabe assured, giving his children a pointed glance.

Fiona rolled her eyes, but she dropped the subject easily enough. “Payroll isn't done. Bobbie, you have a key to the office. Could—

“Mother—” Colin started, but she just waved his protest aside.

“—you go to the office and bring me the checkbook? It's locked in my desk, but you know where the key is. I'll sign the checks. All you have to do is fill in the same amounts for everyone as the last pay period and get them back to the office for Cheryl to hand out before the end of the day tomorrow.”

Bobbie stared. She'd pinch-hit any number of tasks at the agency over the years, but never had anything to do with the nine paid employees' compensation.

“Mother,” Colin said again, this time with enough steel in his voice that Bobbie had a sudden impression of him in a courtroom. “You do
not
need to be signing those godforsaken paychecks,” he said flatly.

But Fiona eyed Colin with just as much steel, proving where he'd come by the trait. “I'm the only signer on the account,” she pointed out. “And when I want your opinion, I'll ask for it.”

He gave an irritated sigh and turned away from the bedside. “Talk to your grandmother,” he told Gabe, who was standing at the foot of the bed. “She listens to
you
.”

“Bobbie can sign your name for you,” Gabe told her without hesitation. “At least this once. Nobody's going to come charging after anyone for fraud, after all. And I'll get new signature cards from the bank tomorrow so you can get someone else added on to the account.”

Fiona crossed her thin arms over the pale-blue hospital gown that she was nearly swimming in. “Fine. Bobbie?”

She lifted her shoulder in a shrug, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. “I'll do whatever you need, Fiona, you know that.”

Fiona suddenly smiled benevolently. “Yes, I do know that,
my dear.” Then she looked at Todd. “You can push the button to lower the bed now. After all the poking and prodding I've had, I want some sleep, assuming I don't get caught in the web of wires they've got going here.” Her gaze went back to the adults as the motorized bed started to lower. “Now, go on and get out of here. I'm told I probably won't kick the bucket tonight, so you can come back and see me tomorrow.”

“Mother,” Colin chided in a tone that told Bobbie he knew he was fighting for a lost cause, but he leaned over and kissed his mother's cheek again. There was no doubt of his affection for his mother, even if she did exasperate him. He gave Bobbie a smile and clapped his hand over Gabe's shoulder as he left.

“All right. You, too,” Fiona looked from Bobbie to Gabe and back again. “The last place Todd and Lisette want to be is hanging out in some musty old hospital.”

It was a poor description of the comfortably modern, high-tech institution. “You're not gonna die, are you?” Todd wrinkled his nose. He was still holding the remote control for the bed, his fingers stroking the sides of it.

“Heavens, no. Not today,” Fiona assured him. She reached out her arms. “Give this old lady a hug. You, too, Lissi.”

Both kids easily bent over their great-grandmother, hugging her as enthusiastically as she hugged them.

Bobbie blinked hard and looked down at the floor. A moment later, Gabe's hand closed around hers.

Startled, she looked up at him. But he wasn't looking at her. He was watching his children hug their great-grandmother with a stark expression on his face.

She knew in that moment that it no longer mattered what her reservations in the beginning had been regarding the wisdom of their little deception. She couldn't stand by and not do something to help him.

Her hand squeezed his and his gaze slowly came around to
her. “It's going to be okay.” Her words were nearly inaudible. But she knew he heard.

And when he lifted their linked hands and brushed his lips across her knuckles, she also knew that no matter what their brief future together held, she was never going to be the same.

When she managed to drag her gaze away from him, it was only to find Fiona's attention focused squarely on them. She looked decidedly satisfied and Bobbie felt warmth begin to creep up her throat. She vainly willed it to stop.

The children finally moved aside and Gabe let go of Bobbie's hand then, to get his own hug in. Then it was Bobbie's turn, and she kissed Fiona's gently lined cheek. “Don't scare us like this,” she whispered.

Fiona patted her hand. “Don't you waste time fretting about me when you've got much more interesting things to concern yourself with.” She glanced past Bobbie and her smile widened. “Like all of
them.
”

“I…right.” The flush sped up unstoppably and she quickly changed subjects. “Don't worry about the agency, either.”

Fiona leaned her white head back against the pillows. “I'm not. Now off with you.” She flapped her hands as if she were shooing flies. But there was still a faint smile on her lips, even as she closed her eyes.

Bobbie gathered up her purse and long-dry raincoat and followed the children and Gabe out of the room.

“Can we go back to Bobbie's?” Lisette suggested when Gabe asked what they wanted to do about dinner.

Todd, who'd run ahead of them to punch the elevator's call button, started nodding, too. “We could have pizza and play with the dogs again!”

Bobbie bit back a smile and tried to pretend she wasn't ridiculously touched. “I think Zeus and Archimedes are the
real draw.” They all stepped into the empty elevator when the doors slid open.

“Bobbie might have other plans for the evening,” Gabe said mildly and she suddenly found herself the focus of two sets of very anxious eyes.

“No.” She smiled a little shakily. “No other plans at all.”

Todd gave his father a “duh” sort of look that amused Bobbie so much she forgot all about that tender shakiness. “What?” She tugged lightly on Todd's ear. “You think there's no way on earth I might have something else to do?”

Todd's cheeks went crimson. Bobbie laughed out loud and caught the boy's face in her hands, giving him a smacking kiss on the forehead. “I'm just teasing you,” she assured. “I would like nothing better than for you all to come over. And I'm sure that Zeus and Archimedes will be very happy to see you, too. But maybe we can come up with something a little more nutritious than pizza.”

He went from red-cheeked to looking suspicious in a heartbeat. “I don't like spinach,” he warned hurriedly. “Or anything else green.”

“Todd,” Gabe inserted, “you'll eat what's put in front of you. Even green vegetables.”

Bobbie bit back another grin as the boy's expression went from suspicious to purely horrified. “What about carrots?” she asked.

Todd gave the matter some consideration. “I guess they're okay.”

“Then I think maybe we can manage something.” She didn't know what, considering the yawning caverns that masqueraded as her kitchen cupboards, but fortunately, she could call Tommi on the way home for some advice, and nobody would be the wiser. “What about you, Lisette? Anything you don't like?”

The elevator arrived at the ground level and they stepped
off. Lisette tucked her pale hair behind her ear and handed Bobbie her backpack while she put on her jacket. “I don't care what we eat as long as we get to sit on the floor. Mother
never
lets us sit on the floor.”

Compared to the former Mrs. Gannon—witchy attitude aside—Bobbie figured she'd more often than not come up short. “Well, if I
had
a kitchen table at all, I can assure you that we'd be sitting at it.” She returned the backpack.

“Then I'm glad you don't have one.” Todd was matter-of-fact. He trotted ahead of them toward the automatic door and his backpack—camouflage-green in comparison to Lisette's pale-blue—bounced between his shoulders. “It's more fun.”

Only because it was a novelty to them, she figured, as they followed Todd outside where it was still raining.

“I'm parked in the north forty,” Gabe said. “Wait here while I get the truck. Then I'll drive you to yours.” Not waiting for an argument, he set off at an easy jog, his long legs eating up the distance.

She couldn't remember the last time someone worried that she might get wet walking to her car. Had someone—other than her mother—ever worried about that?

She dragged her thoughts together and looked back at the children. “What do you usually do for meals at your dad's house?”

“We go to restaurants mostly, 'cause the only things he can cook are tuna sandwiches or steak on the grill.”

Bobbie grinned. “I don't want to alarm you, but my repertoire doesn't include much more than that.”

Todd rocked back and forth on his shoes. “Can you make macaroni and cheese?”

She nodded.

“Out of a box?” Lisette gave her an intrigued look.

“Well. Yes. I can make it in the oven, too, though.” Tommi had given her a recipe for it that used about four kinds of
cheese and took hours to prepare. She'd made it once and promptly decided that if she ever wanted it again, she'd go to her sister's bistro and order it.

“The box kind is what I want,” Lisette said with certainty. “I had it once when I was at a sleepover with my friend Ellie Roman.” She leaned closer. “We made it ourselves.” She whispered it as if it might have been a crime.

“Was it a long time ago?”

She shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ear again. “Before Christmas. But then their cook found out and he got mad and told Ellie's mom he was going to quit if she didn't keep the nuisances out of the kitchen. That's what he calls Ellie and her little sister. The nuisances.” She let out a breath. “I never cooked anything before. It was fun. Until we all got in trouble. Louisa—that's
our
housekeeper—says the Romans' cook is a—” more whispering “—lunatic.”

Bobbie wasn't certain that she didn't agree. It was also inconceivable to her how the things she considered everyday were not part of Lisette's and Todd's world at all.

She tucked her arm through the girl's. Even at twelve, Gabe's daughter was nearly as tall as she was. “My sister Tommi was cooking in the kitchen before she was Todd's age. Now she owns her own restaurant.”

Lisette's eyes rounded. “Cool.”

“I've always thought so. Maybe we'll all go there sometime.”

“Tonight?” Todd asked just as Gabe pulled his truck up to the curb and pushed open the passenger door from the inside.

“Not tonight. She's closed.” Bobbie nudged them forward and they darted across the sidewalk, scrambling up into the back seat of the big truck. She brought up the rear, and once inside, pointed out the location of her car to Gabe.

“Why don't we leave it for now,” he suggested. “I'll bring
you by later to get it after we go by the agency to do the checks for Fiona. No point in having us both driving when we'll have to backtrack this way, anyway.”

Bobbie was fully aware that it was feeling too much like a cozy family inside his truck, with his long-fingered hand casually resting on the console just a few inches from her arm and his kids squabbling over the video game that Todd had in his backpack. No matter what she'd agreed to help him with, she knew it would be smarter to find some distance. To go to her own car, even if it did mean a little extra driving in the rain.