The Icing on the Cake (19 page)

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” she
said.  She turned toward the door when a nurse entered.

“It’s time for us to take Mr. Lancaster
to surgery,” she informed.

Joe nodded and clutched his dad’s
shoulder.  When he bent and gave him a kiss on the cheek, Kristine’s heart
swelled.  Anyone could see father and son were very close.

“You’re going to be fine,” Joe said.

His father nodded.

Kristine gave him a reassuring smile. 
“We’ll see you soon.”

They left the room, just as the nurse
was securing his IV for transport.  Joe led her back to the waiting room, where
he crossed the room and sat down.  Kristine joined him. 

He leaned forward in the seat, rested
his elbows on his knees, and clasped his hands together.  He emitted a long,
weary sigh.

“He’ll be fine,” Kristine said, reaching
for his hand. 

He held onto her hand, even as he sat up
in the seat.  He regarded their entwined hands for a long moment.  “Thanks for
coming,” he said for the second time.

“It’s no problem,” she assured him.

“Hey, you drove three hours at the crack
of dawn to sit with me during my father’s surgery—a man you’ve never even met. 
I owe you.”

“You do not.”

“And…  You’re presently house and dog
sitting for me, for which I am also eternally grateful.  That Gracie can be a
handful.”

It was her turn to sigh.  She hated to
tell him about Gracie damaging his couch, but decided he’d given her an
opening, and that she’d better just get it over with.  “Joe,” she said wanly,
regretfully.  “About that…  Um…”

“What’d she do?” he said, unsuccessfully
biting back a smile.

“You won’t be smiling when I tell you,”
she said,

“Oh, really?” he said with a wince.  “Is
it bad?”

“Um, well, yeah.  And I’m sorry.  And
I’ll pay for the damage…”

“You will do no such thing!” he said,
incredulous.  “It’s not your fault Gracie is, as I said before, a handful.”

“No, I mean…  Well, if I’d been watching
her better, it wouldn’t have happened.  But anyway, my mom and sister happened
to stop by your place—sort of took me by surprise.  So…  I was dealing with
them and didn’t really think about Gracie…”

“Did she run past you when the door was
open?”

“I wish,” she murmured, averting her
eyes.

He squeezed her hand.  “Just tell me. 
It can’t be that bad.”

“Oh, it’s bad enough,” she mumbled and
ventured a glance his way.  She definitely had his attention now.  He was
looking slightly pale.

“Okay, I’ll just say it.  She chewed up
your couch,” she said the words in a rush and almost of their own volition, her
hands covered her face.  After a moment, she spread her fingers in order to see
his face.  To her surprise, he looked totally calm.  “Aren’t you angry?”

“I’m not especially happy with Gracie at
this particular moment, but Kristine, it’s a matter of perspective.  It’s a
couch.”  He gave a shrug and said under his breath, “A very expensive couch…” 
He gave himself a shake.  “But when your dad is in surgery, it sort of makes
you realize what’s really important.”

“I will pay for the damage,” Kristine
insisted, her face contorted in misery every time she saw an image of the
tattered armrest in her mind’s eye.

Joe rose to a standing position and
extended a hand to her.  She hesitantly reached out to him and he pulled her up
and into his arms.  He gathered her against him.  “Don’t worry about the
couch,” he whispered. 

“She also ate one of your throw pillows
and one of your slippers.”

He pulled back, his expression rueful. 
“
How long did you leave her unattended?”

When he saw the mortified expression on
her face, he burst out laughing.  “I’m kidding!  She’s still a puppy.  Puppies
chew on things.”

He held her for a long moment.  When he
released her, he searched her face.  “It’s okay,” he assured her.  “I’m not
worried about the couch.  If the damage isn’t too bad, I’ll simply have it
reupholstered.”

 Kristine refrained from mentioning that
Gracie had torn the fabric from the armrest and exposed the wood.  Her tooth
marks told the tale.

“I need coffee,” Joe said suddenly. 
“How ‘bout you?”

“Sure, but I’ll get it.”

She crossed the room to a coffee maker
and poured two cups.  She turned.  “Cream or sugar or both?” she asked.

“Black,” he said, as he dropped into the
chair again.

She rejoined him and passed him his
coffee.  She took the seat beside him again.  He took a sip of the coffee and
then began fidgeting with the cup as he lifted the lid and replaced it.  He
repeated the action several times.  Next, his right leg began to jump. 
Finally, he turned toward her and his eyes widened as if he remembered
something he needed to discuss with her.

“Oh, Kristine, with all the commotion
lately, I forgot to ask, but what did Devon mean the other day when he said…?”

Kristine’s heart skipped a beat when she
understood what he was asking her.  When her phone rang, she felt incredible
relief.  It couldn’t have happened at a better time.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said with a wince. 
“Excuse me, please.  I really need to take this.”

Kristine stepped out of the hospital
waiting room and into the hallway to take the call.  She hoped she wasn’t
breaking any rules by being on the phone.

“Hello,” she said.

“Kristine!  I’ve been trying to reach
you!” Lori cried.  “Mom told me about the call from the Fire Marshal.  I’ve
been wracking my brain, trying to remember if I left a water bottle near the
fryer.”

Unsure how to respond, Kristine remained
silent. 

“Kristine, are you there?”

“I’m here.”

“I remember getting a water out of the fridge
in the back, but...  I don’t recall setting it down.  Could I have put it on
the shelf above the fryer?  Would I have?”

Kristine remained silent, allowing her
to process.  She couldn’t provide any answers, since she wasn’t at work the day
of the fire.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve helped
out at the bakery and I’ve been so distracted…”  She drew silent.  “No!  I
wouldn’t have left the bottle where it could have fallen in.”  She perked up. 
“Is it possible you may have left…?”

“No!” Kristine cried, aghast.  “Don’t
even
go there, Lori.  I’m not taking the blame for this.  I may have stupidly
covered for you when we were kids, but I’m done.  It’s time you took
responsibility for yourself and your own actions.”

She heard Lori sniffle at the end of the
phone line.  “I can’t believe this.  I think Mom believes I caused the fire—on
purpose!” she shrieked.  “You planted that particular seed, didn’t you?” she
accused.

“No, Lori, I didn’t.  But I’m afraid I
have to go now.”

“Kristine!  No.  Please.  I’m sorry.” 
She detected the change in her sister’s breathing.  It came in ragged puffs. 
“Oh, God, Kristine.  What if the insurance company won’t pay?  We won’t be able
to rebuild.”

“You don’t want to rebuild,” she
reminded her.

“That’s not true…  The truth is, I don’t
know what I want.  Branton’s has been a part of our lives since we were born. 
It’s not so easy to accept the idea that it may cease to exist.”

Kristine considered her words.  She
struggled to detect deception in her sister’s voice, but Lori was so practiced
at lying, there was simply no way to discern if she was being disingenuous. 

“I need to talk to Joe,” she said
suddenly.  “He’ll know what to do.”

The declaration took Kristine by
surprise, shocking her into silence. 

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’ll do,” she
said sounding relieved.  “We’re having dinner late this evening.  I’ll talk to
him then.”

Kristine felt as if she’d been slapped
in the face.  How could Lori lie so readily?  “Isn’t Joe still in Norton?” she
asked her.

“Uh, yes.  But he’s driving home for our
date,” Lori answered, sounding smug.  “It’ll be early morning before he gets
back to the hospital, but he says I’m worth the loss of sleep.”  She laughed
coyly.  

“Okaaay,” Kristine said.  “I’m staying
at his house, but he didn’t inform me he was coming home?  That seems odd.”

“Well, Kristine…”  She laughed
scornfully.  “You know how it is.”

“No, Lori, I really don’t.”

Having heard enough of her sister’s
lies, she decided to end the conversation.  She did make one parting
statement:  “You might want to have a conversation with Chad, rather than Joe,”
she suggested, “being as he’s an attorney…”

She heard Lori’s gasp of surprise.  “Do
you really think I need an attorney?”

She hung up the phone without
answering.  She remained standing in the hallway for a moment.  She realized
her heart was pounding and her blood pressure had risen.  She felt slightly
dizzy and breathed deeply, to slow her heart rate, as she struggled to calmly
revisit her conversation with her sister. 

Lori lied so easily.  What was she
thinking, telling her Joe was in town?  If she was going to tell such brazen
lies, she might want to do some fact checking first. 

It obviously hadn’t even crossed her
mind that Kristine might drive to the hospital in Norton to sit with Joe during
his father’s surgery.  She probably believed the lie was a safe bet, and that
Kristine was currently at Joe’s house. 

With a steadying breath, she was about
to reenter the waiting room when a nurse walked past her.  She hurried in
behind her. 

“Mr. Lancaster,” she said.  “Your
father’s surgery is going well.  We’ll continue to keep you updated.”

“Thank you,” he said, relief etched on
his face.

The nurse left and Kristine took the
seat beside Joe again.  She prayed he wouldn’t remember the question he had
asked just before she had taken the phone call.  Lest he bring it up, she began
talking first, as a diversionary tactic.

“That was Lori,” she told him.  “Mom
told her about the Fire Marshal’s call.”

“Oh, wow,” he said, making a worried
face.  “How’d she take it?”

“Not very well.  She doesn’t recall
leaving a water bottle anywhere near the fryer.”  She gave a defeated shrug. 
“If only I’d gone into work, none of this would have happened.”

“They say, ‘everything happens for a
reason,’” Joe said.

“But what possible reason could there be
for Branton’s burning down?” she said glumly.

“I don’t know,” he admitted honestly. 
“But I do know you’re now in a position to consider your options.”

“I don’t feel as if I have any,” she
said sadly.

He watched her speculatively.  “The
world is your oyster, Krissy.”

“How so?”

“Well, you’re young, talented,
beautiful…” he listed.

She laughed.  “Sure.”

He turned and held her gaze.  “Have you
… considered … well, settling down someday?”

She laughed.  “I guess I really haven’t thought
much about it since I’ve had so little free time.”

“But … don’t you want a family, kids … a
… husband?”

“Yes,” she said readily. 

He grinned and took her hand.  “That’s
good,” he said, a smile enlivening his handsome face. 

“I mean, if we rebuild Branton’s, I’ll
be busy, I imagine—with the redesign and such.  And when we reopen, I’ll
probably be working around the clock…”

Joe emitted a haggard breath.  “But…”

“What?” she said.

“How will you have time for anything
else?”

She shrugged.  “I don’t know,” she
answered honestly.

“But … there’s a way,” he assured her. 
“If you do rebuild, why not hire additional staff?  Perhaps only work a
specified set of hours and stick to it.  You really can have it all if you set
some boundaries and learn to say ‘no.’”

“You could be right,” she said.

“I know I’m right,” he said, smiling. 
“I used to be you.  I worked day and night.  When Dad got sick, it made me
reevaluate my priorities.”

“I can understand that,” she said. 
“When my dad died, Mom fell apart.  Lori had moved home, but…”

He nodded, mentally filling in the gaps
and urging her to continue.

“Anyway, I guess I realized if I didn’t
do what needed doing, it wasn’t going to get done.”  She shrugged.  “If I’m
being really honest with you, I’m really tired.  I don’t know how much longer I
could have kept up the pace, but I felt like I had no choice.”

“Because you were on your own, as far as
help from family goes?”

She nodded and her eyes misted with
unshed tears.  “If we don’t reopen Branton’s, it will be heart wrenching.  The
building itself is on the historical registry.  Branton’s is such a mainstay in
Cooper Glenn.  Frankly, it’s been my life.  But if it turns out that we decide
not to rebuild and reopen, I was counting on my portion of the insurance
settlement to move on.  I’ve realized I can’t live at home forever, nor do I
want to any longer.  It’s funny how once you have time on your hands and
thereby time to actually think, you gain some clarity about your life.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

She sighed and sought his gaze.  “Joe, I
don’t want to believe Lori had anything to do with the fire,” she said.

“You mean, any deliberateness on her
part.”

She nodded.  “What if the Fire Marshal
believes there was foul play?”

“Like we discussed before, it would be
difficult, if not impossible to prove.  Accidents happen.”

“That’s true,” she said.  “Lori wouldn’t
do anything to harm the bakery,” she added, willing it to be true. 

They sat silently for several moments,
lost to their thoughts.  When his father’s surgeon entered the waiting room,
Joe leapt to his feet.  Kristine rose along with him and laid a hand on his
arm.

The surgeon smiled broadly.  “Your
father is fine.  The surgery went off without a hitch.  You’ll be able to see
him in recovery in about an hour.”

Joe thanked him profusely and dropped
back into his chair when the doctor left.  He tipped his head back and ran his
hands along the sides of his face.  He turned to Kristine, grinning.  “Thank
God,” he said.  “And thank you for being here.  I would have been a wreck without
you.”

She returned his smile.  “I’m glad I was
here too.”

Later, after visiting his father in
recovery, he rejoined Kristine in the waiting room.  He checked his watch and
seemed to be considering the time.  “I was going to ask if I could take you to dinner,”
he said, “but I think you’d better start back.  It’s a long drive.”

“Yes, and Gracie is probably wondering
where I am.” 

He watched her for a long moment and
shifted awkwardly on his feet.  “I wish you didn’t have to go.”

She smiled at the sentiment.  “When will
your father be able to come home?”

He spread his hands.  “I don’t know. 
I’ll probably know more tomorrow when the surgeon comes in to see him.”  He
sighed and checked his watch again.  He searched her face.  “You’re not too
tired to drive, are you?”

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

“If you are, I’d be happy to…”

She waved off any offer that was
forthcoming.  “I’ll be fine.”

“Will you call me when you get back to
Cooper Glenn?”

“The minute I arrive,” she assured him.

“Okay, then.  I’m going to walk you to
your car.”

“That’s not necessary.”

He wouldn’t be deterred and they walked
together along the hallway and to the elevator.  They rode down together and he
escorted her to the parking lot.  She directed him to her car and he
accompanied her to her door.

There, he took her in his arms and held
her close.  “Thanks again for coming,” he said.  “I can’t tell you how much I
appreciate it.”

She smiled into his eyes and watched as
his eyes turned to liquid.  He leaned in and claimed her lips in a kiss so
sweet she hated for it to end.  But it did.

With a long sigh, her squeezed her again
and then pulled open her car door.  “Be careful.  Please.”

“I will.”

***

Just shy of three hours later, Kristine
arrived back at Joe’s place.  She yawned as she climbed out of her car and was
still yawning as she let herself into the house.  She hurried out back, in
order to let Gracie in.  When she arrived at Gracie’s dog run, she gasped. 
Gracie was gone.

She ran toward the center of the back
lawn and searched the space.  There was no place to hide really.  Though the
yard was beautifully landscaped, there were few shrubs tall enough to hide a
large dog. 

Kristine felt sick to her stomach.  What
if Gracie had jumped over the fence again?  She could be anywhere now.

She hurried into the house and out front
of it.  “Gracie!” she cried.  “Gracie!”

To her utter relief, Joe’s neighbor
Maeve came hurrying toward her, with Gracie on a leash.  “Oh, Kristine, I’m so
sorry,” she said, even before reaching her.  “I meant to watch for you, to
catch you before you noticed her gone and became worried.”

“That’s okay,” she said.  “I’m just glad
she’s okay.”

“I’m afraid Gracie started barking and
just wouldn’t stop.  Joe gave me a key in the event of an emergency.  Anyway, I
just adore Gracie and Joe said I could bring her over to my place anytime I
wished.  She’s so good.  She just lies at my feet and watches television with
me, or keeps me company when I read a book.”

Kristine smiled widely.  “It’s sweet of
you to watch her for Joe.  I know he appreciates it.”

She smiled ruefully.  “I’d keep her if
he’d let me.”  She cocked her head slightly.  “I’ve always been so afraid of
pit bulls or even breeds mixed with pit bull, but Gracie has changed my
opinion.  I don’t think I’ve ever met a sweeter animal in my life.”

“I agree,” Kristine said, dropping to
her knees in order to give Gracie a hug.  “She’s a sweetheart.”  She rose and
gave her a mock stern look.  “If she hadn’t chewed up Joe’s couch, I’d say she
was nearly perfect.”