Very Private Duty (10 page)

Ryan, deciding to ignore Jeremy’s acerbic tone, took a step backward and opened the door wider. “Please enter, sir prince.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes at his older brother and made his way slowly into the living room. He sat down on a deep club chair, placed his crutches on the floor and raised his left leg onto a footstool.

Ryan sat in a facing armchair and ran a hand over his close-cropped hair. “If you’ve come to see Kelly and the baby, you’re out of luck because they’re napping. However, if you’ve come to bitch and moan, then I’m all ears.”

Jeremy frowned. “Who’s bitching and moaning?”

“Pop.”

“What’s up with him?”

Ryan hesitated, then said, “You are.”

Jeremy groaned softly. “What now?”

“He’s going to sell the farm.”

“Sell or he’s threatening to sell?”

Ryan’s expression was a mask of stone. “Sell, Jeremy!”

“Pop is being manipulative.”

“Wrong. Pop is being Pop. I told you last year that he’s tired.”

Jeremy frowned in cold fury. “I know what
brought on his tirade.” He revealed to Ryan what he and Sheldon had talked about after he and Tricia returned from spending the night at the bed-and-breakfast.”

A slow smile formed on Ryan’s lips. “You and Tricia Parker?”

Jeremy smiled in spite of himself and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Damn, brother, you sure had me fooled. I thought you and Tricia were just good friends.”

“We started out as friends, but the year we turned eighteen something happened.”

“Was that little something called love?”

Before Jeremy could answer Ryan’s query, the telephone rang. Reaching for the phone on a nearby table, Ryan spoke softly into the mouthpiece. His expression changed as he stood up. “Stay with him, Tricia. I’ll be right there as soon as I call the hospital. No, don’t try to move him.” He depressed a button, then two others. The speed dial connected him to the local hospital.

Jeremy reached down for his crutches and was on his feet the moment he heard his brother mention “possible heart attack,” and Augustus Parker’s name.

“I’m coming with you,” he said.

“Try to keep up,” Ryan said over his shoulder as he raced out of the house.

“S
top beating up on yourself,” Jeremy whispered to Tricia for what seemed like the hundredth time since Gus Parker was wheeled into the emergency room.

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. “I should never have argued with him.”

Jeremy tightened his grip around her waist as they sat together on a love seat in a waiting area. “You snapped at me earlier about ordering you about, and now I’m going to do exactly that. I want you to stop blaming yourself for Gus’s heart attack. If it hadn’t happened now, there’s nothing to say it wouldn’t have happened after your return to Baltimore. Gus seeing your face once he comes out of surgery is certain to lift his spirits.”

Tricia nodded. She opened her eyes to find Sheldon sitting several feet away staring at her and Jeremy. Ryan had driven Gus to the hospital and stayed to confer with the cardiologist who was scheduled to perform open-heart surgery. Ryan then called Sheldon and informed him of Gus’s condition. Sheldon had driven from the farm to the hospital in record time.

Pushing off his chair, Sheldon stood up. “I’m going to get some coffee. Would either of you like some?”

Jeremy straightened and removed his arm from Tricia’s waist. “How do you want yours?”

Tricia seldom drank coffee, but this was one time when she needed a jolt from the caffeine. “Black.”

“Make that two blacks, Pop.”

Waiting until Sheldon walked away, Jeremy leaned closer to Tricia, held her hand and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “He’s going to be all right.” Gus had been in surgery for more than two hours.

Turning her head, she smiled at him. “I want to thank you for being here for me.”

“There’s…”

The cardiologist walked into the waiting room preempting whatever it was Jeremy planned to say. Tricia stood up on trembling legs as Jeremy came to his feet.

She bit down on her lower lip, gathering courage. “How is my grandfather?”

He offered her a comforting smile. “He has been stabilized and is in the intensive care unit.”

“When can I see him?”

“Not until tomorrow.”

A flicker of apprehension coursed through Tricia. “What aren’t you telling me, Dr. Lawrence?”

“It’s apparent your grandfather suffered a mild heart attack in the past which weakened the heart wall. He’s going to have to take it easy so the muscles can heal.”

“My grandfather never had a heart attack,” she argued softly.

“Perhaps he’d experienced chest pains in the past but ignored them. But I can assure you that there is evidence of some heart damage.”

“How long will Mr. Parker have to remain in the hospital?” Jeremy asked as he moved closer to Tricia’s side.

“At least a week,” Dr. Lawrence replied, “followed by a minimum of six weeks of limited activity. After he’s reevaluated, then he will have to undergo physical therapy that will help him regain some endurance.” He stared at Tricia. “Is there someone at home who can take care of him?”

“I’ll take care of him,” she said, not hesitating. Her grandfather’s heart attack meant she would not return to Baltimore as planned. “I’m going to need medical documentation to take Family Leave.”

“You can pick up a form at the business office in the morning.” The cardiologist patted her shoulder. “Go home and get some rest. We’ll make certain
your grandfather receives the best medical care available today.”

She managed a weak smile. “Thank you, Dr. Lawrence.” He nodded, turned and walked away.

“Gus can move into my house,” Jeremy said close to her ear. “I already have the hospital bed and a wheelchair.”

Tricia gave him a startled look. “Where will you sleep?”

“I can sleep on the daybed while you can use an upstairs bedroom. I’ll make certain someone will keep Gus’s place clean and aired out until he’s able to live alone.”

She was puzzled by Jeremy’s offer to open his house for her grandfather’s convalescence. “Why are you doing this, Jeremy? You and my grandfather have never been fond of each other.”

“How Gus and I feel about each other is irrelevant, because he is still a member of the farm’s extended family. Just like you are,” he added in a soft tone. “And you know we always look out for one another.”

Tricia nodded. “You’re right.” She managed a weak smile. “Thank you.”

His gaze widened. “There’s no need to thank me. I would do the same for anyone at Blackstone Farms.”

Tricia did not know why, but at that moment she did not want Jeremy to offer his home to Gus just because the elderly man had been a long-time em
ployee of Blackstone Farms. She wanted it to be because he still felt something for her beyond their sleeping together.

She had promised to give him the next three weeks when in reality she wanted it to be the rest of her life. The harder she had tried to ignore the truth the more it nagged at her, for it had taken only one night of passionate lovemaking to conclude that she still loved Jeremy and would love him for the rest of her life.

Sheldon walked into the waiting room as silently as a large cat. He stopped, watching the interaction between his son and Tricia. Clearing his throat, he moved closer as Tricia and Jeremy sprang apart. “If there’s anything you need me to do for you and Gus, just ask, Tricia.”

Tricia smiled at Sheldon. “Thank you, but Jeremy has offered to let Grandpa stay in his house until he’s able to live alone again.”

Sheldon lifted an eyebrow, stared at his son and wondered if Jeremy and Tricia had made other plans that perhaps he should know about. Maybe, just maybe, he would be given the opportunity to retire, gain another daughter-in-law and, if he was lucky, another grandchild.

His gaze shifted to Tricia. “Never forget that you’re family, Tricia. Everyone connected to the farm is family.” He lifted the cardboard container cradling three foam cups. “Let’s go somewhere and get some
coffee that doesn’t come out of a vending machine looking like mud.”

Turning, Sheldon led the way out of the hospital, Tricia and Jeremy following.

“Why don’t we finish this some other time?”

Sheldon’s voice broke into Jeremy’s thoughts, his sharp tone filled with annoyance. “No, Pop,” he countered. “Let’s get it over with now. My recommendation is that you sign for a short-term, high-interest loan to ease your cash flow. Once you sell the mares you can pay it off interest free.”

Sheldon nodded. “In other words I would use or borrow the bank’s money at no cost to me.”

“Exactly,” Jeremy concurred, smiling. “Borrow a little extra because you may see some stock you hadn’t planned on buying.”

“Now you sound like Ryan.”

“I’m not into horses like you and Ryan, but I do know horse farms need an infusion of new bloodlines every three to five years. And what Blackstone Farms needs is a three-year-old who will be eligible for next year’s Kentucky Derby.”

Nodding in agreement, Sheldon closed the ledger, pushed it aside and watched his son massage his forehead with his fingertips. “Do you still have headaches?”

Jeremy lowered his hand. “They come and go.”

“Do you want me to go back to your place for your medication?”

“No. I’ve stopped taking it.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t like not being in control of what I do or say.”

Sheldon gave him a long, penetrating look. “You can tell me it’s none of my business but—”

“But you’re going to say it anyway,” Jeremy countered, smiling.

A rare smile deepened the lines around Sheldon’s eyes. “Yes, I am going to say it anyway.” He sobered quickly. “What’s going on between you and Tricia?”

Jeremy did not move, not even his eyes. “There’s nothing going on?” Nothing except that they were lovers once again.

“Do you love her?”

“I’ll guess I’ve always loved her.”

“Have you told her how you feel?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Jeremy shrugged a shoulder as he continued to massage his forehead. “We’ve been apart for too long. I’ve changed and she’s changed. If we had reconnected ten years ago or even last year, then I believe things would be different.”

“Why would you say that?” Sheldon asked.

“Look at me, Pop. Whenever I have the flashbacks, I feel as if I’m losing my mind. Tricia remembers me whole and sane, not crippled and crazy.”

Sheldon leaned forward. “You’re not a cripple.”

“Get real, Pop. The doctor says I’m healing nicely,
but he knows and I know that I’m through with undercover assignments.”

“I’m going to be honest when I say I’m not sorry about that.”

“That’s because you never supported my career choice.”

“You belong here, Jeremy. You should’ve come back after you graduated from college.”

“I couldn’t come back.”

“Why not?”

Sheldon sat silently as Jeremy repeated what Russell Smith and Gus Parker told him that fateful night fourteen years before. “I’ve spent years beating myself up for breaking up with Tricia. I wanted to hate her, but every time I came back to the farm I prayed she’d be here.”

“Has she forgiven you?”

A smile inched its way through the uncertain expression on Jeremy’s lean face. “As much as she can, given the circumstances. Before Gus’s heart attack she said she’d give me three weeks.”

“Is that what she said?”

Jeremy nodded. “Loud and clear.”

Sheldon ran a hand over his face. “Damn. She’s as stubborn as Gus,” he drawled. He angled his head. “I stopped dispensing fatherly advice after you and Ryan became men, but there comes a time when it is necessary. Put aside your pride and grovel.”

Jeremy stared at Sheldon, complete surprise on his
face. “I know you’re not talking about pleading and begging.”

“If it comes to that.”

There was a moment of silence before Jeremy’s expression hardened noticeably. “Do you want me to patch things up with Tricia because you want to retire?”

Sheldon’s eyes darkened like angry clouds as he pushed back his chair and stood up. “My decision to retire is not predicated on your love life.” He spat out the word. “So, don’t delude yourself, Jeremy. It’s just that I’ve been where you are right now. There were people who did not want me to get together with your mother, but at seventeen I had more of a backbone than you have at thirty-two.”

Jeremy’s expression was thunderous as he watched his father walk out of the room. What did Sheldon expect him to do? What more could he do? He couldn’t force Tricia to remain at the farm if she chose to leave.

More important, he was unable to tell Tricia he still loved her, because he did not want to become that vulnerable again. And given his present emotional state he did not think he would make it back from the brink of madness this time if he offered her his heart only to have her reject him.

However, there was one thing he knew for certain, which was that time was on his side. The longer she stayed the more time they had to regain each other’s trust.

Two days after Gus was wheeled into the intensive care unit, he was transferred to a private room. Although oxygen flowed into his nostrils, an intravenous feeding tube was taped to the back of his right hand and his vitals were closely monitored by the electrodes taped to his chest, he was resting comfortably. His color was ashen, and what was left of his sparse white hair appeared brittle.

Tricia squeezed a dab of moisturizing hair cream into her hand, massaged it gently into his hair and scalp before she combed his hair.

Gus opened his eyes and stared up at Tricia. The last time he remembered seeing her was at the bungalow. The minute lines around his eyes deepened as he managed a tentative smile. “Hey, grandbaby girl.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Hi, Grandpa. How are you feeling this morning?”

“Good.” He let out an audible sigh. “I’m sorry if I gave you a scare.”

“There’s no need to apologize. In fact I was pretty cool,” she lied smoothly. There was no way she was going to admit to Gus that she was almost hysterical by the time Ryan came to the bungalow to take him to the hospital. At that moment her medical training fled, leaving in its wake a woman who feared losing her last surviving relative.

There came a light knock on the door. Tricia turned to find Jeremy and Sheldon in the doorway. Sheldon cradled a large bouquet of flowers against his chest.

Her gaze met and fused with Jeremy’s. Over the past three days they hadn’t seen much of each other. She dropped him off at Sheldon’s house in the morning, then drove to the hospital to spend the day with Gus. She returned to the farm at night, picked Jeremy up from his father’s house and drove him back home.

They shared a bed but hadn’t made love since the night they’d checked into the bed-and-breakfast, and Tricia had come to know a very different Jeremy. Whenever she cried because she feared losing her grandfather, he held her while offering words of comfort and encouragement. She had promised Sheldon that she would take care of his son, but the roles were now reversed because now Jeremy took care of her.