Sparring Partners (29 page)

"I imagine the asshole will be slinking
along any time now."

Jordon was wrong. The next white coat
through the door was older, taller and had better shoes. Since he
was carrying a medical chart with
I. MacDonald
printed on
the spine next to Irma's room number, Jordon let him stay.

In an unexpected show of support, Shay got
up and crossed the room to stand next to Jordon, crossing his arms
in front of his chest. Jordon smiled at the effect. Shay's biceps,
corded with muscle and sinew, strained against his short sleeved
t-shirt. He widened his stance almost imperceptibly. There was no
mistaking Shay's sheer animal strength, and Jordon was happy to
have him by his side.

Jordon had to give the doctor credit for
taking a step forward in spite of the physical threat he and Shay
presented, and were doing their damnedest to project. He didn't
offer his hand. If he had, Jordon wasn't sure good manners and
years of negotiating with people he didn't particularly like could
have made him take it. Lily Bennett's son just wasn't that
polite.

"I'm Jim Hooper, Hospital Administrator.
I've known Irma a long time. I don't need to verify her signature.
Sean Govern, her attorney, is a friend of mine as well. I'm the one
who sent Irma to get these POA's. I apologize for Dr. Minorik. He's
an obnoxious pain-in-the-ass, but he's good at what he does so I
keep him around."

Shay dropped his arms.

Jordon lowered his shoulders and held out
his hand. "Apology accepted. Jordon Bennett." Jordon shook the
doctor's hand and introduced Shay.

"This is Irma's friend –" Jordon glanced
over at Shay briefly then back at Dr. Hooper. "– and mine, Shannon
O'Shay." Shay shook Hooper's hand while giving the man a nod.
Introductions given, and apology accepted, Jordon cut to the
chase.

"What's Irma's status?"

Jim Hooper pulled a pair of reading glasses
from his pocket and opened Irma's chart. Jordon got the sense that
Hooper didn't really need to consult the chart to know Irma's
prognosis. He seemed to be looking for some magic elixir there that
might jump out at him and provide the answers Jordon and Shay
wanted to hear.

He closed the chart and slowly put his
glasses back into his pocket.

"The truth is we don't know why Irma slipped
into a coma." He set Irma's chart on the table by her bed and
folded his hands in front of him.

"This is her third bout with cancer. She
fought it off the first two times and she may fight it off for
awhile this time. But that's all it'll be. She may go into
remission, but the cancer will take her. Sooner, rather than later.
As for the coma...we don't know much to be honest. She could come
out of it anytime. Or...she could give up the fight and go in her
sleep. That might be more merciful. She's been in a great deal of
pain."

Jordon's stomach clenched and twisted with
the force of a vise grip stripping steel. The thought of Irma in
pain had him almost wishing she wouldn't wake up, but he wasn't
ready to let go yet, no matter how selfish he knew he was
being.

"Irma's not one to go silently into that
dark night, doc." Shay said.

Hooper smiled and nodded, his eyes kind.
"You're probably right Mr. O'Shay. We'll just have to wait and
see."

Jordon's hands fisted at his sides. Waiting
and seeing were two things he was just no good at.

Doctor Hooper seemed to read the energy in
the room and know both men needed to be alone. He picked up Irma's
chart and headed toward the door. He stopped when he reached it and
turned to Jordon questioningly. "Were you really going to sick
Anderson Cooper on us?"

Jordon didn't smile exactly, but his lips
curled a bit. "Yep."

Hooper turned with a twinkle in his eye.
"Good for you, son. Good for you. I'll be sure to let Minorik know
to keep what little hair he has left combed. Just in case."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Jordon replayed the conversation he had with
Shay in Irma's hospital room over again, wondering what made him
offer employment and what made Shay immediately accept.

What do you do for a living, Shay?

I work for Briggs.
Short for Briggs
and Stratton, an engine manufacturer in Milwaukee.

What do you do?

I build prototype engines for small
machines.

Like lawn mowers?

Shay laughed.
No. Like go-carts. Very
fast go-carts.

You make a good living building racing
go-carts?

Enough to eat steak when I want.
Shay
shrugged and smiled.
I just past twenty years last month. I can
retire anytime now, but I'm having fun and the economy sucks, so I
guess I'll stay.

Jordon didn't know why he said what he said
next except that he trusted Shay and it felt good to have him at
his back with the doctor, even though it wasn't necessary. It just
felt right.

Do you want to come work for me?

Doing what?

Security. You'd be helping Henry with
surveillance, but for the most part you'd be attached to me.

Don't you already have people for that?

I do. But there's no one besides Henry I'd
rather have with me and the people at Potters Woods.

When do I start?

Jordon wasn't quite sure what made Shay
agree, when they hadn't even discussed pay or hours or work load.
He had a feeling it was Potters Woods and it's residents that Shay
was interested in looking out for more than Jordon's hide, but that
was okay. If their positions were reversed Jordon would have felt
the same.

...

Finn managed to hide in her workshop when
she wasn't helping Charlie with screening volunteers from their day
program for roles in his fall production of
A Midsummer's Night
Dream
. She didn't know how they were going to pull off this
particular play given the average age of the people trying out, but
some of the auditions surprised her. More life equated to a greater
range of talent than she expected. Even Peter agreed to play a
role, as long as Charlie didn't try to usurp his painting time for
play practice.

For the first few days that she spent
forging a new statue, Finn kidded herself that she was simply
creating art, while her muse danced beside her.

After five days, her muse began to take a
familiar shape.

Finn cut the fuel to her torch, pulled off
her welder's helmet and wiped the sweat away from her forehead with
the back of a dirt stained glove before it rolled into her eyes.
Methodically, she put away her equipment, avoiding her newest
creation until there was nothing left to lift, clean or put away.
Tightening the straps on her denim overalls as she went, Finn
crossed to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of iced tea.
Closing the refrigerator door, she turned around and leaned against
it as she slowly sipped the tea.

She'd worked pretty much non-stop for five
days and she'd come up with a four foot miniature of Henry wearing
fairy ivy. Only enough to cover what she knew firsthand was as big
as one might expect from the rest of him.

The full-sized version chose that moment to
push through her door. Today was the first time in five days she
hadn't locked it. Five long days since he'd retreated to the house
to sleep and nap and whatever else he did without her.

Five days since she'd seen him naked.

Henry shut the door, spotted her newest
masterpiece and stopped cold. His eyes flashed to Finn, to her
statue, and back to Finn. She stayed where she was while taking
another sip of tea.

"What the hell is that?"

"A garden nymph. How much do you think I can
get for him?"

"What's scrap metal worth?"

Finn set her glass on the counter and took a
few steps closer to him. She stopped just out of reach and eyed
mini Henry in plant drag. It really was a remarkable likeness. She
hadn't started out with a definite plan of what to create, she just
worked and this is what came out.

"You're right. I probably shouldn't sell
him. Not with that lecherous grin on his face. I've got just the
spot for him. Right out front, in the flower bed by the mail box.
That way everyone who comes here can enjoy him."

"That's practically indecent. His entire ass
is hanging out in the wind and those leafy things are barely
covering his...his..."

Finn smiled warmly, slowly curling her lips
into a wide, open grin enjoying Henry's temporary lack of
vocabulary and wild gesturing.

"Nether regions?" She suggested.

"Cock." He said at the same time.

"I'm not sure that nymphs have 'cocks'. I
think what he had, perfectly covered in ivy by the way, not leaves,
is better described as his –"

"Watch it –"

"Brain."

Henry didn't take the bait. He didn't seem
to be enjoying her humor either.

"You put that thing out there and I'll steal
it."

"I'll sink
him
in concrete first with
an inscription that reads,
Henry's Folly
and today's
date."

"I'll run
it
down with Jordon's new
minivan. Damned thing's gotta be good for something."

"I'll make more. Dozens more. I'll sell them
on E-bay. Ninety-nine dollars plus shipping and handling. I might
even put
him
on my website as my new logo. Just think how
many thousands of people will see
him
then. This could be
really big for me.
He's
the best commercial piece I've made
in years."

Henry looked at her, a gamut of emotions
flit across his face before angry befuddlement took hold. "You are
an evil woman." He said, before walking to the door and closing it
quietly behind him.

Apparently he'd forgotten why he searched
her out in the first place.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Reed slept like the dead.

Weird dreams of dark caves inhabited by
hairy eight-legged creatures with fangs, wearing ropes of
glittering diamonds and too much perfume, stinky perfume, permeated
her subconscious. She awoke to Jordon sitting on the edge of her
bed trying to drape a cold cascading noose of necklace around her
neck.

Reed bolted upright and screamed.

Henry came crashing through the door, hair
sticking out at odd angles like he'd been pulling it. If Reed's
heart wasn't pounding as painfully as it was, she would have
smiled. Henry was always so well put together, elegant even, in a
rough-and-tumble masculine type of way. If she had smiled, the
menacing black gun in his hand, as he surveyed the room, would have
wiped it from her face. Her heartbeat kicked into higher gear,
visibly racking her chest.

Jordon grabbed the necklace where it laid
like a nest of sparkly snakes in her lap.

"I knew this would get a reaction." He
looked at her sardonically. "That wasn't the one I was hoping for."
He looked at Henry. "It's all right, Henry. I now know the lady
doesn't like diamonds."

Henry said nothing, he simply slid the gun
into his waistband at the back, nodded to Jordon, and left them
alone, closing Reed's bedroom door behind him.

Reed felt like she swallowed her tongue.

Jordon brushed the hair out of her eyes with
his free hand. Catching sight of his watch, Reed grabbed it. "It's
two o'clock. I've been asleep ten hours. I'm not packed. I have to
make Jesse's lunch. I have to shower, feed the dogs and Freya's
supposed to go to the vet – when did you get home?"

Jordon dropped the necklace on the bed,
cupped her face in both hands, and kissed her. It was a sweet kiss,
but it lasted long enough that Reed became painfully aware of the
fact that she hadn't brushed her teeth in sixteen hours. She pulled
away slowly and Jordon's hand dropped to her chest.

"You're heart's beating out of control. Calm
down, sweetheart. What were you dreaming about?"

Reed closed her eyes. It was only a dream,
but Finn had taught her, as had her mother, not to ignore omens,
especially when they make no logical sense.

"I don't like diamonds." Reed said, skirting
his question.

"I can see that. Finn warned me you might
have a negative reaction. She didn't say anything about
screaming."

Jordon held up the
Cartier
necklace
and Reed shrunk back. "Now I'm glad I only rented the damned thing.
I'll be right back." He said, getting up from the bed, thankfully
taking the necklace with him. It looked like a chandelier and Reed
had no doubt it would feel just as heavy around her neck.

Reed felt better, more at ease, the second
Jordon left the room with the necklace. She'd never really thought
about diamonds, one way or the other, except for thinking them
pretty, in a general color-lacking-but-sparkly kind of way, until
she learned Jordon bought them for his willowy ex-fiancé`, Giselle.
That, and her dream of hairy people eating things draped in them,
made her glad she didn't own any. Now that she thought about it,
she couldn't remember her mother or Finn owning any either.
Weird.

By the time Jordon got back, there were no
diamonds in sight, Reed's heartbeat returned to normal, and she
could breathe again. Jordon closed the bedroom door and leaned
against it, his hands behind him.

"You're not going to scream again, are you?
I don't think Henry could take it."

"I guess that depends on what you have
behind your back."

"No diamonds. I promise."

"As long as it doesn't have eight legs or
slither, I won't scream."

Jordon pulled out a gold chain and let it
swing from his fingers. There was a small circular pendant attached
to it. It sparkled as it caught the light streaming in through the
bedroom window, radiating a rainbow of color and positive energy.
Reed was intrigued.