And they said shed never manage being wicked. Hah. She was just swallowing the last sip of wine when the doorbell rang.
She froze, then spun around, cracked her toe on a chair leg, winced, and then hobbled into the bedroom, yelling, Hold on! Ill be there in a minute! As fast as she could, she yanked on yoga pants and a sweatshirt, yelling out another promise at the top of her lungs, and then pedaled for the front door.
Because she was wickednot crazyshe naturally looked through the peephole first. Her jaw dropped even as she hurled the door open. Dad! What on earth are you?
She started to ask what her father was doing here, but since he was standing there with a suitcase, some kind of crisis was self-explanatory. The suitcase itself showed more proof of a crisis. It was one of those old-fashioned caseshard-shelled like a turtle, gray, the kind that was too heavy to carry but you just couldnt kill it off; throw it off a cliff and itd land without a dent. Only this one had three socks clamped in its teeth. One white, two black.
Dad? she asked more gently, by that time pulling him into the light by the front door.
Your mother kicked me out. She told me to get out and stay out.
There. Her worst nightmare. The reason shed stayed home so long and never moved away like every other self-respecting, independent adult woman. Only damn. Shed always feared her parents would argue each other to death if she wasnt there to play referee.
Come on, give me your coat. He was just standing there with the suitcase, looking at her like a lost soul. Luther Fitzhenry was a surgeon. Cardiac. One of the most brilliant at Mayowhich was saying something. Shed inherited her slight height and skinniness from him. He couldnt be over five-six and was built leaner than wire. But his heart was huge, and showed clearly in his gentle facial lines and soft blue eyes.
At the moment, he looked a lot more like a confused, lost puppy than a brilliant surgeon. She says Im never home. That Im always at the hospital. That were already strangers so I might as well just leave.
Okay, okay. Well talk about this in a minute, but first lets calm down.
I dont have anywhere to go, Lucy. If I could just stay here. For a night or two.
For a night or two, she echoed, trying not to feel panicked at the terrorizing thought that hed stay longer.
I wont be a problem.
I know you wont.
I just didnt know where else to go.
Uh-huh. She led him into the living room. He plunked ked down on her green microfiber sofathe unpaid-for sofa from Pottery Barnand looked around bewilderedly.
I love your mother, Lucy.
Would you like a drink?
You know I dont drink. He leaned forward with his long hands hanging over his knees. On second thought, I would. Chivas on the rocks.
Um, Dad. I cant afford Chivas. It has to be wine or beer.
Oh. He looked at her hopefully. If I gave you some money, could you go buy some Chivas? I dont want to put you to any trouble. Its probably too much to ask. Never mind. His thick, light hair was graying a little, and right now standing up in strange spikes. I dont need a drink. Just completely forget I asked.
Dad.
What?
Ill go out, get you the Chivas. Just relax now.
I love your mother, Lucy.
Yes, you said that. I know.
She says I never notice anything she does. That I was a spoiled young man and now Ive turned into a spoiled old man. That Im self-centered. That I never see her. I keep trying to figure out what brought this all on
Her birthday?
No. It cant be that. I bought her that Mikado watch she wanted for her birthday
That was last year, Dad.
Well, it wasnt that. It was something else. I thinkshe may have reupholstered the couch. Or bought a new chair. Something like that. I walked in and she just seemed to get madder and madder He looked at her pitifully. Whatever you do, dont go out just for me.
Okay. She went out, found a liquor store, bought his Scotch, came home. By then hed fallen asleepwith his shoes up on her couch. She pulled off his shoes, covered him with a down throw, and then jogged back to the spare room.
She had a bed and various odd pieces of furniture in there because her parents had pawned off all the furniture they didnt want when she moved out. But since she rarely needed a spare bed, shed tended to fill up the room with stuff. Unfortunately her dad could trip on things like the exercise bike and cross-country skis and snow gear, especially if he woke in the middle of the night, so it all had to be cleared out and cleaned up.
On the third trip to the garage, her stomach turned a triple somersault, making her stop dead. Not now. Not again. She hadnt had timeor shed forgottento call a doctor that day, but then she realized, she also hadnt had any dinner. Except for the truffle.
The truffle was fabulous. When it came down to it, there was no such thing as a bad truffle. But it did seem as if she had a tiny propensity to get in trouble with chocolate lately.
That sudden insight was so unpleasant that she immediately hurled it in her mental-denial bin and aimed for the kitchen. Because her dad was still napping, she did the mac-and-cheese thing, finished making up a fresh bed for him, and then made the usual nightly callsGinger, her sister. Merry, her best friend. Her cousin Russell miraculously managed to connect between her callssomething was new with him, she could hear it in his voice, but he didnt mention anything except stopping over soon. And finally, her mom got a turn at the phone lines.
Is he there, Lucy?
Yes. Do you want to
No. I dont want to talk to him. I dont want him to know I called. And I dont care where he is. I just Eve sighed on the other end of the line. Lucy could picture her mother, so beautiful, her blond hair never looked fussed-over but always wonderfully styled, makeup just so, elegant as roses. But angry. I just wanted to be sure he was all right. Thats all. Kick him out, Luce.
Mom, I cant
Yes, you can. Im sure hes talked you into staying tonight, so thats fine. But if you let it go on, hell suck all the energy right out of you, taking and taking and taking. Youre a grown woman. You dont have to take care of your parents. Were adults. Kick him out and dont look back.
It occurred to her around midnight that she hadnt had a chance to tell anyone about her promotion. God knew, she wanted to. There just never seemed to be a chance. She was just nodding off, so tired she hadnt even flossed, when a short, scrawny shadow showed up in the doorway.
Lucy, are you awake?
She jerked to a sitting position. Yeah, Dad. Whats wrong?
I just wondered if you had anything around to eat. I dont want you to bother. I dont need anything. Just tell me where to look. And then go back to sleep
If hed opened the fridge or cupboard, hed have found various kinds of food. But apparently hed done that. And nothing he found looked like grilled chicken and green beans and a baked potato, which was apparently what he was in the mood for.
I dont suppose you have any pistachio ice cream for dessert?
Nope. Ive got chocolate. And Cherry Garcia. And some cookies. And bananas
I dont suppose you have any pistachio ice cream for dessert?
Nope. Ive got chocolate. And Cherry Garcia. And some cookies. And bananas
Your mother always has pistachio ice cream.
Uh-huh. Dad. Im not going out after midnight for pistachio ice cream.
Good heavens, honey. Id never ask you to do such a thing
I have to work tomorrow. Ive got a big day. I have to get some sleep.
Me, too. Although I think Id better cancel my surgical schedule for a few days. Ive never done that, but I think Id better. Only every time I start thinking, I seem to get moreunsettled. Which is probably why I couldnt get my mind off the pistachio ice cream. I know its foolish. I know
Okay, she thought. Hed had a terrible, terrible day. He was afraid that Eve meant it this time. Lucy couldnt imagine her father surviving a divorce. He probably couldnt take a shower and find a towel on his own. He was brilliant in the operating room, but real life always seemed to bewilder him.
So she went out and found his ice cream.
It was past two when she tumbled back into bed, musing that this had been an extraordinarily wild day. Tumultuous. Filled with both exhilaratingly wonderful eventsbut worrisome ones, too. Still, through it all, shed barely spared a moment thinking about Nick Bernard.
That was progress, she thought.
Major progress.
Only thinking about him last thing before sleep meant, inevitably, that every darn single dream had him in the star cast.
CHAPTER THREE
EVEN THOUGH Nick drove the satin-black Lotus from the house to the labs, the dogs managed to beat him. He could have walked, but the whole idea of driving was to avoid the slobber and dog hair. He had a business flight at noon, was hoping to stay clean until then.
But that was silly thinking on my part, wasnt it, girls? he murmured when he opened the car door and was immediately assaultedlavishly, lovingly assaultedby the two tail-wagging dimwits. Baby was the kisser. Boo Boo was the devil incarnatetrying to climb in the Lotus, nearly killing them both, threatening the soft leather seats, then after kissing him senseless with her long, wet tongue, taking off with his driving glove. Two pawprints the size of footballs showed up on his gray slacks.
Women, he muttered, although he really didnt mean to disparage the gender. Not when the female gender was found in dogs, anyway. Women were another story entirely. Some days it just didnt pay a guy to get up, you know? Linnie had called that morning.
Their conversation was still sucking the energy out of him. When he first met her, Linnie had seemed every guys daydream. She had no morals. No inhibitions. Money of her own. Nothing was too wild for her, in bed or in life. She was fun, crazy, unpredictable. Hell, when she dressed for a party, you never knew if even her critical parts were gonna be covered.
It had been an entertaining, worthless, fun affairuntil hed broken it off. It never occurred to him that shed care. Shed never hinted at wanting more than an occasional good time. There were other guys in her life, he knew, and that was totally okay with him. He only called it off because he was so damned busy, really didnt have time to do the planning, the partying, couldnt just take off and vacation whenever she had the whim. He never thought itd be a big deal to her. He just thought calling a friendly halt was being honest.
Apart from the ear blistering shed given himand that was several months agoshed kept calling ever since. She needed an escort for something. Then a favor about something else. This morning was another one of those something elses. And when he couldnthe honestly couldntshe did the ear blistering thing again.
All his lifeas of kindergarten anywaygirls had chased him. All his life, hed liked it.
Only lately, he felt like he was batting a zero. Nothing he did with women was right. Including you girls. He crouched down to scrub both Baby and Boo Boos heads before straightening again. You cant go into the greenhouses. You know that.
They went up to the door anyway, wagging their tails, expectant. They knew Lucy was in there.
So did Nick.
Not a good idea to see Lucy when he was already having a bad-woman day, but there was no help for it. The new project loomed like a mountain in his mind. They needed to figure out how they could best work together, talk about both the details and the big picture, establish some timetables, put a plan on paper. Possibly Lucy didnt need every possible t crossedbut he did. Either that or he was going to drive himself bonkers worrying about it.
The truth was, that guilt had chewed on his nerves ever since the nightaround seven weeks agowhen shed called him with the news about her experiments success. Until that night, hed had no measure of how strong her crush on him was. Until that night, shed never been this awkward around him.
Hed screwed up. Nick took all the blame because it didnt matter what Lucy had done. What mattered was that hed been in a far better position, life-wise, to anticipate and cope with certain kinds of awkward problems. She was naive. He wasnt. It was as simple as that, and although hed been ultracareful around her ever since, it hadnt helped. If they got a good working arrangement agreed on, though, he had high hopes theyd click a ton more naturally.
Right?
Right.
He pushed open the door, still mentally coaching himself into an upbeat frame of mind. She wasnt expecting him for another half hour, but he knew she always got in early. With any luck, they could get this conversation finished before she was really busyor he had to leave for his flight.
The lobby was empty and silent except for the pitiful moans of the Great Danes left outside the door. The lobby, predictably, was empty, but right after that came the long hall to the offices. Lucys was empty, but he heard the sound of her voice from the coffee room down the hall.
Reiko, the young mom of a four-year-old boy, seemed to be counseling her. I just think you should go home. Get some rest, Lucy. Youre obviously exhausted.
Honestly, I would if I could get any rest at home. But he didnt go into work today, so I know hes still there.
Nick hesitated just outside the door. He didnt want to eavesdrop, but he also didnt want to interrupt some personal, traumatic conversation. His pulse gave an unexpected buck at the idea of some man living in Lucys housesomeone keeping her up all night, somehow making her afraid to go home.
You dont think he had an affair? Reiko questioned.
No, no. Hed never do that. Lucys voice sounded wearier than a lead weight bell. I just couldnt sleep all night. He was up every hour, needing something
You cant work all day and take care of him all night, Luce.
I know. But I couldnt turn him away in the middle of the night! And I dont know whether to try to help the two of them. Or stay out of their problems. Whether to let him stay, or insist he find another place. So far its only been the one night, so I just cant see doing anything until he gets his head on straighter.
You stayed with them forever. The cadence of Reikos voice had a hint of her Japanese mothers. There was a musical softness, a rhythm and gentlenesswith steel behind it. Where my father grew up, a child was responsible for his or her parents their entire lives. But this is America. There should only be two people in a marriage.