She could put a lid on the sarcasm. “You probably didn’t notice,” he explained, trying not to sound patronizing, “but Meggy expects us back tonight. She’ll check, believe me. When I’m not back, she’ll send help.”
“But, Pete, your sister doesn’t know where we are.”
“She knows which trail we took.”
“That’s real specific.”
“It’s good enough. And better than you hiking by yourself.”
“C’mon, Pete. Think. We’ll be stuck here another night.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“No, but you need medical attention, and I’ve got school tomorrow. I can’t not show up.”
“They’ll excuse you when you explain you were stuck with a cripple,” he said, hearing his bitterness and hating it. “You’re not leaving here by yourself. End of subject.”
Sunny rose to her feet and adjusted the backpack straps over her shoulders as if she hadn’t heard a thing he’d said. “I need the keys to the pickup,” she said, holding out her hand.
He ignored her.
“Fine. I’ll hitchhike when I get to the road.”
“No!” That didn’t bear thinking about. If he couldn’t bully her into doing things his way, he’d have to try another tactic. Speaking from his heart, he said, “Please, Sunny, don’t go. I would go crazy thinking of you by yourself.”
Her face softened, and he felt such relief.
“That’s sweet.”
It was going to be all right.
“But, Pete, you really can’t go crazy in five hours, and that’s all it will take.”
Infuriating! That’s what she was. Who was she to say how he’d feel? Didn’t she care about his wishes at all?
“You’ll have my sleeping bag,” she said, patting his shoulder like he was a child, “and everything you need in the odd chance that something would happen and you had to spend the night here. I have what I would need in an emergency—my down jacket, food, water, matches, a knife.”
His jaw hurt, it was clinched so tight.
“By the time you take a little nap, the helicopter will be here. Especially if you give me the keys.”
Pete closed his eyes. If anything happened to Sunny, he’d never forgive himself. Yet, what choice did he have? She was going to have her way about this. He fished the keys from his jeans pocket and tossed them blindly in the air.
He heard her catch them, and he felt another kiss on his forehead. It may have seemed the same to her, but this kiss flamed his frustration. He closed
her out, keeping his eyes shut, his face expressionless, wanting her to know how upset he was.
Her feet crunched across the pine needles as she walked away.
He didn’t want his last words to her to be angry. “Be careful,” he said gruffly.
She stopped. He heard her turn and take one step back. That’s it. Stay. He sent the message silently, desperately.
“Please don’t be mad at me, Pete.”
She didn’t want to leave him—that much he could tell. But she was going to anyway, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.
When her footsteps died away and the only sounds were birds and the rushing creek, he opened his eyes and scanned the meadow. Sunny’s bright hair was easy to spot. Without him to hold her back, she moved quickly. He’d been through many bad times in the past two years, but he’d never felt like such a failure. If not for his stubborn pride, Sunny wouldn’t be alone on a wilderness trail.
He raised his eyes heavenward and prayed. “God, if you’re really there, I need to know it. So I’m asking. Please…take care of my girl.”
Chapter Eight
I
t was early evening when Sunny parked Pete’s pickup at the hospital and sprinted inside. The emergency room was teeming with activity and confusion. At the desk no one paid attention to her, and she wanted to scream. It had taken forever to get here, and she couldn’t wait any longer.
“Excuse me,” she said firmly in her best teacher voice.
A teddy bear of a man in turquoise scrubs looked her way.
“I’m looking for Pete Maguire. He was brought here by helicopter.”
“You a relative?” the man asked, munching on a powdered sugar doughnut.
“No, a friend. We were hiking together on Big Bear.”
“You can wait with his sister.” He pointed to a corner where a cluster of males wearing assorted hospital uniforms hovered around Meggy Maguire.
Sunny couldn’t tell if they were doctors, techs or what, but the E.R. couldn’t be too busy if that many staff members could attend to one very pretty brunette.
Meggy spotted her and broke from the group. “I’m so glad you made it,” she said, greeting her like a long-lost friend. “Thank you for calling me. Pete sure wouldn’t have.”
“How is he?” Sunny said, impatient to know.
“They’re checking him out now. His own doctor is with him. This is where they brought Pete when he was, uh, sick another time.”
“You mean when he had his accident?”
“You know about that?” Meggy looked surprised.
“Is it a secret?”
“It shouldn’t be, but Pete’s weird about it. None of his friends have even seen him since—” She stopped abruptly, covering her mouth with her hand.
“Since The Face?”
Meggy’s blue eyes widened. “You know about that, too? Boy, you two must have gotten close.”
“Your brother… He’s quite a guy.”
Meggy heard the catch in Sunny’s voice and could have done a cartwheel. Sunny had fallen for Pete! Standing there in worn hiking boots, wrinkled khaki shorts and her heart on her sleeve, the woman looked wired and primed for one purpose, making sure Pete was okay. Finally fate had given her brother a break.
“Have you seen him?” Sunny asked, peering around the area.
“Just for a moment before he got them to kick me out.”
“He did that?” Sunny’s brow puckered.
“It’s standard. Pete hates to have people see him in a time of weakness. He turns into an old grouch.”
Sunny smiled. “You should have seen him when I insisted he lean on me to answer nature’s call.”
Meggy hooted so loud, the big guy at the nurses’ station warned her with a raised brow. Cowering for his benefit, she confided, “My brother loves to be the protector, and he’s very good at it. But when he becomes the ‘protectee,’ watch out. I’m surprised he didn’t bite your head off when you left to get help.”
Sunny chewed on her lip, not meeting her eye.
“He did bite your head off!” she said, instantly decoding that look. “Oh, Sunny, I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t mind,” Sunny said, her brown eyes earnest. “He was in a lot of pain. He could have yelled all he wanted if it would have made him feel better.”
This pretty redhead and her brother had connected! She looked at Sunny with potential sister-in-law eyes and liked what she saw. The copper-colored mane was a mess, there was a dirty streak on her cheekbone, a stain on her T-shirt and a scrape on her arm. She’d had too much sun and not enough sleep. But Meggy knew what her brother would see. He’d look into those big worried eyes, see the distress there and go straight to work, trying to make her feel better.
“When do you think they’ll let us see Pete?” Sunny asked. “He was so upset with me when I left him. I’ve got to see him. I really have to.”
The woman was a bundle of nerves.
“If I know my brother, he’ll ask for a No Visitors sign even before he gets a diagnosis. They won’t ‘let’ us see him.”
Panic flared in Sunny’s eyes.
Mercy, the girl was a mess. “Don’t worry,” Meggy soothed. “We’ll get in.”
Her new hospital friend, the intern with the intelligent, brooding eyes, strode purposefully toward them. “Your brother’s going to be fine. He’ll need some rest and a round of meds, but it wasn’t much of a setback.”
Tension left Meggy’s body in a gush, and she turned to rejoice with Sunny. But Sunny’s eyes were closed, her face upturned in silent prayer, “Thank you,” on her lips. Scruffy as she was, the woman looked positively radiant.
“They’ll be taking your brother up to ortho,” the intern said. Leaning toward her, he added for her ears only, “I’ll sneak you up once he’s settled in his room.”
She clasped his hand. “Thanks, Jon!”
“You were right about the No Visitors order,” the intern said.
“I knew he’d do it.”
She wasn’t about to let Pete hole up in his cave again. She knew his tricks, and she’d known he’d pull this.
“If there’s anything else I can do,” the intern said, “let me know. You have my pager number.”
“I really appreciate your help, Jon. I won’t forget it, and I’ll be calling you. You’re going to make a fabulous
Dream Date
contestant.”
Pete was glad to be out of the E.R. and into a private room where they could post a No Visitors sign. Tomorrow he’d check out of here and into that new rehab place, a private clinic where nobody could find him, not even Meggy. He’d sleep away the prescribed time of idleness, courtesy of some nice little pills.
He should have had them on Big Bear, though if he had, he might have missed Sunny’s bedtime story, and that would have been a shame. She was such a sweetheart. And funny, smart, brave…and something else. He couldn’t think for the painkillers were already doing their job. Oh, yeah. Sunny was a really good kisser.
And she said he was a good kisser. He guessed he was, given the right inspiration. Lisa must have thought he was a lousy lover, so bad she had to find someone else. Someday he’d introduce her to Sunny.
The nurse finished settling him into the room, and he asked her to draw the curtain. A veteran at this, he knew how it was. The staff forgot and left the doors open, then people peeked in when they passed. Why wouldn’t people respect a person’s privacy?
In the E.R., Meggy had slipped in and driven him nuts, wanting to hold his hand, fussing over him. She knew he hated it when she got weepy, but did she keep the waterworks under control? She did not. As often as she got her way, it seemed he ought to get his when he was the one in the hospital.
Of course, he understood her fears. He’d even
shared them. When his doctor said there wouldn’t be any permanent damage, he’d about cried himself. Two weeks of bed rest and some pills, that’s what the doctor ordered. It could have been so much worse. Maybe he had a guardian angel of his own.
God, it’s a step of faith for me to believe You’re listening, but I think You must be. I don’t know how much You had to do with this, but it had to be a lot. And You’re still taking care of Sunny, right? I know this isn’t much of a prayer, but I’m grateful.
He felt better, praying that prayer, though he’d never done much of it. The Maguires said grace at meals. That was about it.
He was glad Sunny had her faith. She needed all the help she could get with that family of hers.
In the E.R. they’d told him Sunny was there and wanted to see him. He would have liked to see her, too, but only in a room with one of those trick mirrors where he could see her and she couldn’t see him. He’d give a lot for the sight of her pretty red hair and that thousand-watt smile. Throw in a good view of her gorgeous legs, and he’d donate cash to the hospital.
He’d tell them to buy everybody a bed as comfortable as this one. It was the best bed ever, though the stuff flowing through his IV might have something to do with it.
“Is he in here?”
He heard that and, even though it was a whisper, he knew that voice. His bloodhound sister had tracked him down.
“Over there, behind the curtain,” said a man, his voice soft.
Footsteps—three sets. One, rubber soles that squeaked on the tile; another, maybe sandals; and the third, boots that clumped, but not heavily. A hand wearing Meggy’s class ring pulled on the curtain. Pete closed his eyes and tried to look comatose.
“Is he all right? He looks so pale.”
That was Sunny! Bless her heart. If he wasn’t such a bear about wanting his privacy, he’d perk up and reassure her himself.
“He’s on some pretty heavy meds,” the male said knowledgeably. “He probably doesn’t even know we’re here.”
That was probably a young intern who’d bigshotted his way around the No Visitors order. He’d bet Old Red that Meggy promised to put the doc on TV.
“He knows we’re here,” she said. “His eyelids just fluttered.” She jostled his shoulder. “Pete…”
He could fool her, especially if he just rolled his eyes back and let his jaw go slack. Well, not too slack, not with Sunny watching.
“Maybe we shouldn’t disturb him,” Sunny said. “But I wish we could have talked for a minute.”
“He’ll talk to us,” his sister said with confidence.
“I don’t know,” the intern said. “Maybe later. He’s pretty out of it.”
“No, he’s not,” she argued, sisterly wisdom turning her into a real smart aleck. “Pete, you old faker…” She swatted his arm. “Open your eyes. You’re not asleep. You know I can tell.”
She could. It was true. And she’d never give up.
He opened his eyes and saw a vulnerable, weary Sunny who had done all she could to make sure he’d
be all right. Her face was flushed from too much sun, and her big, brown eyes looked so uncertain of her right to be here, it almost broke his heart.
He reached out to her, and she slipped to his side, taking his hand. He rubbed his thumb over her long, slender fingers and remembered the way she’d laced them through his last night. He spread his fingers so she’d do it again, and, of course, she did.
“How are you?” she asked, her eyes searching his face.
“Don’t worry ’bout me,” he said, sounding gruff though he didn’t want to be, not with her. “Are you okay?” he asked, trying really hard to be sweet.
Her smile was the great big one that he loved. The zing in his gut startled him so much, he gasped.
Meggy laughed out loud.
“What’sa matter with you?” he asked Meggy, surprised that his words came out drug slurred.
“You should have seen your face.”
When she was like this, the only thing to do was ignore her. “Sisters,” he said apologetically to Sunny.
Sunny stroked his forehead. “She was worried about you. We both were.”
They didn’t need to worry. He was going to be fine, and he wanted to tell her that, but he was so sleepy. Sunny’s fingers were soothing, and he liked having her touch him.