Texas Tango: Texas Montgomery Mavericks, Book 2 (12 page)

“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. Funerals are more for the living than the dead.”

“I know, but she’s my mother. This is her last request so I’ll do as she wishes. She made me read her will too. That wasn’t fun. But she’s taken care of Noah and Caroline financially.”

Travis knew he needed to say something about Caroline’s financial future being secure with him as her husband, but he’d reached his lie quotient for the day. He said nothing instead.

The two men stood quietly drinking coffee for a couple of minutes.

“Well, I guess we should go find Noah,” Patrick said.

“And that would be where?”

“The chapel.”

The two men took the elevator to the first floor, and as Patrick had predicted, found Noah in the chapel. He didn’t turn around to the noise of the door opening.

Patrick started toward the boy, but Travis held his arm. “I’ll go. I’d like to talk to him.”

“Fine. I’ll wait outside.”

Travis slipped on the pew beside Noah. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He hurriedly wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. “How’d you know where I was?”

“Your uncle told me.”

“Figures.”

“Listen, I’m sorry about your grandmother. She seems like a great lady. I know you’ll miss her.”

Noah scoffed. “Bullshit! What do you know? Your parents are still alive, aren’t they?”

Travis let Noah get away with cussing, but the kid was in some serious pain. “Yes, but—”

“Ha. What the fuck do you know then? You don’t know what it’s like. You’ve probably lived a perfect life. I bet you’ve got brothers and sisters too. Don’t you?”

“Two brothers and a sister, but my life has been far from perfect.”

Noah turned away. “You don’t understand a fucking thing.”

“That’s enough with the cuss words. We’re in a chapel. Got it?” His voice was stern and it apparently jarred Noah.

“Sorry. I’m just…” He gasped on sob. “You can’t understand.”

“I understand more than you can know. My wife died. She was everything to me. I was only twenty-six. She had breast cancer. We didn’t know until it was too late.”

Noah turned back to look at Travis. “That sucks.”

Travis nodded. “Yeah, it did.” He pressed his hands to his chest. “Losing Susan hurt so much I thought I would die from the pain. It felt like my heart would explode and rip me open from inside out. Some days I still miss her so much. It’s like I look and expect to see her and don’t. The loss will always be with you. You have to learn to live with it.” He leaned against the pew cushion, stretched his arms along the back and stared at the cross under the spotlight. “Losing your grandmother’s not fair, Noah. It sucks. It hurts. But do you think that your sister wouldn’t try everything in her medical knowledge to heal your grandmother if she could? Do you realize how much she’s in pain too?” He looked at Noah.

Noah crossed his arms. “It’s not the same. Caroline’s moved on. Grandma is all I’ve got.”

“You’re wrong. You’ve got family who care about you.”

“Caroline doesn’t.”

Travis’s brow furrowed. “Yes, she does. Why would you say that?”

“Then why didn’t she ask me to come live with her instead of dumping me on Pat and Leslie?”

He put his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “I’m sure she thought you would do better staying here where you have friends.” He hoped he was right. This wasn’t anything he and Caroline had ever discussed.

Noah didn’t reply. Travis wasn’t sure if the boy believed him or was too overwhelmed to talk anymore about the future.

“C’mon. Let’s get back upstairs and check on your grandmother.”

Chapter Seven

As Dr. Stewart had warned, Mamie Bridges’s condition had not improved in the time the men had been gone from the room. If anything, Travis thought she looked worse, but his opinion could have been influenced by the plastic cannula in her nose and the IV tubing snaking up her arm. But at least the intense coughing had stopped. He moved across the room to where Caroline sat at her grandmother’s bedside. Her hair was still twisted into a neat knot. Amazingly, the off-white suit still looked fresh. Stepping up behind Caroline’s chair, he put both hands on her thin shoulders.

“How is she?” He was impressed with her calm, professional demeanor given he knew what she was going through.

Caroline turned to look over her shoulder at him. Her wrinkled brow and the dark shadows under her eyes reflected exhaustion and stress. “Resting. I took a glance at her medical records. Seems as bad as I thought she was, she was worse.” She sighed. “I can’t leave her right now.”

Beneath his fingers, her shoulders were taut. Reflexively, he gently massaged the knots he could feel drawing up her muscles. “Of course not. I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Why don’t you call for the limo? The driver can take you to the hotel for the night. At least you can get a good night’s sleep.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not leaving you. I will call for the car so we can get our luggage. If we are going to be here all night, I’d rather be in something a little less formal.”

The memory of the deep, bone-crushing pain of watching a loved one slip away hit him like a sledge hammer. Leslie was comforting a sobbing Noah, her arms around his shaking shoulders, her blouse absorbing his tears. At the same time, Patrick was rubbing his wife’s back.

Who would hold Caroline when the time came? He feared no one if he weren’t here. He couldn’t leave her to face Mamie’s death alone. She wore such a strong persona, he doubted the others would see through it to her shredded interior.

He’d always respected Caroline even if he hadn’t known her that well. This short experience had shown him a whole new side to her. Professional doctor, sure, but more importantly, a loving woman suffering a loss no person should shoulder alone.

She covered his hands with hers. “Thank you. You don’t have to stay, but I appreciate your doing so.” She squeezed his fingers, which made his heart pinch. “I’d love to change clothes.”

“Say no more.”

Their driver must have parked in one of the hospital lots while waiting for them, because no more than five minutes passed before he was lifting their luggage from the limo’s trunk. Travis handed money to the man, enough to cover their bill and a sizable tip.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry about your wife’s grandmother.”

“Appreciate it,” Travis replied.

Other than being able to retrieve her luggage, Travis felt useless until he walked back into Mamie’s hospital room and a smile bloomed on Caroline’s face. He straightened and returned her smile.

“Oh, thank you,” she gushed. “I am so ready to get into more comfortable clothes.” She stood and reached for her luggage. “My knight in shiny cowboy boots.” She gave him a quick kiss and whispered, “For our audience.”

“Of course,” he said aloud and hugged her tight. “I’m sure we should stay here tonight.” She opened her mouth to speak. “Now, don’t say another word, wife. It’s settled. Go change.”

With her back to her family, she rolled her eyes and mouthed, “Thank you.” She snatched her bag from his hand and hurried to the bathroom.

“Leslie and I feel bad about you both staying here on your wedding night,” Patrick said.” We’ll stay. You two go on over to the hotel.”

“Caroline would never rest away from Mamie tonight. I appreciate your concern, but as you said earlier, either you or Leslie have been here every night. You two go home and get some rest. Besides, I seriously doubt I could dislodge Caroline from here with rope and a winch.” Travis grasped Patrick’s shoulder. “Go home. I know you’re both exhausted. We want to stay here. We’ll see you in the morning. Okay?”

Caroline opened the bathroom door. “I heard all that and I agree. I’m not leaving Mamie tonight.” She stepped out. “You too, Noah. Go home and get some sleep.”

“I’m not leaving either,” Noah growled. “And you can’t make me.”

Caroline went to where her brother sat in a corner chair. “Nobody is going to make you leave. If you want to sit here with us all night, of course you can.” Then as if realizing that maybe she overstepped her bounds, her gaze snapped to Patrick. “I mean as long as it’s okay with Patrick and Leslie.”

Travis leaned over to Patrick. “Can I speak with you outside?”

Travis, Patrick and Leslie moved into the hall. “Let him stay. I think he and Caroline need this time together as brother and sister. If Mamie’s condition worsens during the night, it’ll be better if he’s here. I’ve been through this. I know.”

Leslie nodded. “I agree.” She looked at her husband. “Let him stay. He needs to know everything is being done for your mother. He’s young and impressionable. It’d be awful if he were to go through life wondering if something else could have been done. This way, he’ll be sure your mother got the best of care. Okay?”

“Okay, but if Mother’s condition does worsen, will you make sure I’m called?”

“Absolutely. Caroline has your number?”

“Yes,” Leslie answered. “I’m going to go back and tell Caroline and Noah bye and get my purse.”

“Thanks,” Patrick said. “I hated to admit how exhausted I am. I need to get some sleep.”

Travis clapped him on the back. “We’ll call if anything changes. I swear.”

When he went back into the hospital room, Noah stood beside Caroline. She was explaining about the oxygen, her grandmother’s condition and the fluids in the IV bag. From what he could hear, she wasn’t sugarcoating the situation. As a fat tear rolled down Noah’s face, Travis knew Noah got it…their grandmother was going to die, and it might be soon.

Sometime around midnight, Noah finally dropped off to sleep on the small pullout sofa. All the teenage angst and anger slipped from his face while he slept, leaving only an exhausted, scared child. Travis spread a blanket over him.

“Poor guy,” he said.

Caroline looked over at Noah. “I know.”

Travis pulled a chair up beside Caroline. “Why aren’t you taking him with you? Why leave him here?”

She exhaled a long breath. “I just can’t uproot him again. He needs the stability.” Her voice dropped into a quiet whisper. “I know Mamie was having some trouble with him. I think being with Patrick and Leslie will be good. They’ll make sure he gets to church and does his homework. By staying here he’ll have his friends, be in a familiar place. I move too much, work long hours. I couldn’t give him the supervision he needs right now.”

“And your parents?”

“If you’re asking if he could go to where they are, sure, but what fourteen-year-old boy wants to move to Rwanda with parents he hardly knows? Leslie said they’ve been in contact with Mom and Dad and they think this is the best solution right now.” She glanced at her sleeping grandmother. “We’ll all miss her so much. I wish you could have known her.”

They watched Mamie’s steady breathing for a couple of minutes. He remembered everything from Susan’s final days. Watching her chest rise and fall. Watching her sleep. Wrapping her in blankets when she was cold. Wiping her face and neck with cool cloths when she was hot.

Right now, he wished there was something he could do for Caroline. He wasn’t family and really, other than recently, he hadn’t had that much personal contact with her. He wasn’t sure what, if anything, she needed.

He felt so impotent, so useless, which made his mind work overtime to find some way to help.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked. “Coffee? Tea? Something to eat.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“Why don’t you take the recliner and get a little rest. I’ll sit with your grandmother.”

Again, she shook her head. “I’m fine,” she repeated. “Why don’t you take it? No sense letting it go to waste.”

No way was he was going to take the recliner and leave her sitting up in a chair. He could wait her out because if her half-slit eyes were any indication, she was close to nodding off.

True to his prediction, Caroline laid her head at Mamie’s side and fell asleep within thirty minutes. Once he was sure she was completely out, he picked her up to carry her to the recliner in the room.

She wrapped her arms around his neck then nuzzled her nose under his ear. Her perfume filled his senses. Her body heat soaked through his clothes. Inside, a flare sparked. She mumbled a couple of words, her hot breath blowing in his ear, sending sparks shuddering down his spine.

For Pete’s sake…he was getting aroused. Bad idea. A minor attraction to Caroline he could handle. A major attraction would complicate everything.

With minds of their own, his arms pulled her tight against his chest. He dipped his nose into her hair. He allowed himself one sniff. Okay, two sniffs. That was it.

She wiggled a little, her curvy bottom rubbing against his forearm. He shut his eyes and stood statue still. He couldn’t stop himself from resting his cheek on her soft hair. She felt so good in his arms.

Besides, walking across a room with an arm full of female and jeans tight with an erection would be hard for any man.

The distance between bed and recliner seemed to have grown by miles. With mixed emotions, he placed her carefully in the seat and pushed the recliner until she was supine. After tucking a blanket over her legs, he crossed the room and sat in Caroline’s now vacant chair. Taking Mamie’s hand, he whispered, “Judge Bridges. That’s some granddaughter you raised.” He swore he felt her fingers move.