Have Bouquet, Need Boyfriend (26 page)

to her to propose and-“

“You proposed?”

“Yes, but-” he waved off her obvious surprise “-but she turned me down.”

“She turned you down?”

“Yes,” he ground out. “It seems the only thing she wanted out of me was

a baby.”

“I don’t believe you.” Her voice rose in indignation. “Rebecca wouldn’t

use anybody.”

Suzanne had left the door wide open, and Bert strode in, arms waving.

“What the hell is going on in here? I heard you two shouting all the way

down the hall.”

Suzanne aimed a warning look at Thomas. “He hurt Rebecca.”

“What?” Bert staggered back and grabbed the door. “Is she okay?”

“No, she’s so brokenhearted she can’t even paint.” Suzanne gave Thomas a

furious look. “And now he’s accusing her of using him, when it was the

other way around.”

“I asked her to marry me,” Thomas argued when Bert lunged forward. “I

wanted her to move here with me, but she refused.”

Bert froze, his body wobbling as he sank into a nearby leather chair.

Suzanne made a clicking sound with her mouth.

“Why did you ask her to move here?” Suzanne asked.

Insanity clutched at Thomas. Didn’t these people understand English?

“Because I love her, why else?”

Bert’s mouth flopped open, then closed. “Is she in love with you?”

“Yes,” Suzanne said.

“No,” Thomas said at the same time.

Bert glanced from one to the other, obviously perplexed. “I don’t

understand what’s going on here at all.”

Thomas was losing patience with them both. “Maybe that’s because you

haven’t paid very much attention to Rebecca lately,” Thomas said. “Or

maybe you never did.”

Bert’s head snapped up. “What’s that supposed to mean, young man?”

“It means you ignore her,” Thomas said, knowing he’d probably lose his

job, but for once he didn’t care. He had to speak his mind. “You dote on

Suzanne but you hardly even speak to Rebecca when she’s around. It’s so

obvious it’s pathetic. Maybe Rebecca is shy, but there’s nothing wrong

with that, and it certainly doesn’t mean she’s not as intelligent or

beautiful.”

Suzanne was watching him with a strange look on her face. He realized he

was babbling so he clamped his mouth shut.

“I…that’s not true.” Bert dropped his head forward into chubby hands,

emotions overcoming him. “Could Wiley be right?”

Thomas inhaled sharply, confused now himself. Suzanne twisted her hands

in front of her as if she was at a loss, too.

“I do love Rebecca,” Bert finally choked out. “It’s just…”

Suzanne edged toward her father and placed a hand on his shoulder. When

he sobbed out loud, she stooped down and patted him. “It’s what, Dad?”

Bert raised his head and glanced up at her, then at Thomas, tears

brimming in his eyes. “It’s just that she reminds me so much of your

mother.” A tear rolled down his ruddy cheek into his beard. “I was so

lost when your mother died, and Rebecca, she… every time I looked at

her, I saw your mother. It hurt so much sometimes I could barely breathe.”

Thomas swallowed, shocked at the man’s confession. Did Rebecca have any

idea how he felt? She had probably been vying for her father’s love all

her life.

Just as he had his own father. Had he thought becoming more successful

would bring his own father back into his life?

Bert dragged out a handkerchief and wiped at his eyes. “Rebecca and your

mama were so close. They were both quiet. They liked art and books and

then when I…” He gripped his hands into knots. “When we couldn’t save

your mama from cancer, Rebecca withdrew and I didn’t know how to help

her. How to reach her.” He had his hand on top of Suzanne’s.

“You were easy, you cried and let it all out, but Rebecca, she felt

everything so deep, just like your mother.”

Thomas sympathized with Bert. Every family reacted to grief in their own

way, and sometimes they let each other down in the process of recovery.

“Dr. Hartwell.” Thomas cleared his throat. “With all due respect, I

think you’re telling the wrong people here.”

“Huh?” He sniffed, dragged out a monogrammed handkerchief and blew his nose.

“You need to tell Rebecca,” Thomas said in a low voice. “She needs to

hear this, not us.”

Bert’s questioning gaze lasted a half second, then he nodded. “You’re

right, son. It’s time I fix my relationship with my daughter.”

Suzanne hugged her father, then turned to Thomas. “Now, what about you?

Are you going to fix your relationship with my sister?”

The day after her cousins left, Rebecca drove up to Pine Mountain to see

her grandmother. She’d thought the fresh country air and beautiful

scenery would help her regain perspective. She’d even brought her paints

and a new canvas, but they sat untouched in her car.

She kept remembering the last time she’d been here. The day Grammy had

given her the hope chest and she’d smashed into Thomas’s car.

The day their romance had begun. It seemed like years ago.

“But now it’s over, Grammy,” Rebecca said, hating the telltale quaver of

her voice.

Grammy plunked down beside her in the glider on the screened-in front

porch. The winter wind whistled

softly through the mountain, the dried leaves and bare trees mirroring

Rebecca’s empty, aching heart.

Grammy quirked a gray brow. “You say he proposed to you, child, but he

wanted you to be different?”

Rebecca searched her memory for Thomas’s exact words. “Well, not

exactly. But he’s ambitious like Daddy and works with him and-“

“And you think just because your father has these pretty wives on his

arm that your young man is just like him.”

“He’s not my young man,” Rebecca said.

“He can be if you want him.”

“But I do.” Didn’t Grammy understand a single word she’d been saying?

Grammy wrapped Rebecca’s hands into her age-spotted ones. “Do you know

why I think your father keeps marrying these showy women?”

Rebecca shook her head.

“Because they are the exact opposite of your mother, dear.”

Rebecca frowned.

“I believe your daddy loved your mama so much that he never got over

her. Him being a doctor and all, he just couldn’t get past the guilt of

not being able to save her.”

“But the doctors did everything possible, didn’t they?”

“Yes, of course. Emotions aren’t always rational, you know.”

Hers certainly hadn’t been lately, not since the day she’d received her

hope chest and slammed into Thomas’s car.

Grammy pursed her lips. “Sometimes doctors, especially men, think

they’re supposed to save the entire world. And when they can’t save

someone they love, they become more driven.”

Rebecca remembered the pain in Thomas’s voice when he’d confided about

his brother. Her father and Thomas were so much alike….

“But your father’s marriages haven’t lasted, because they’re not built

on love. They’re filled with empty hopes and business functions and then

he soon realizes that, and the woman gets the money she wants and they

split up.”

“How sad for Daddy,” Rebecca said, really considering the extent of his

devastation over her mother’s loss for the first time since she was

little. And then he’d been left with two daughters to raise alone.

“Now, if your young man is as wonderful as you say he is, I have a

feeling he meant it when he confessed his love.”

Rebecca’s heart gave a funny little flutter.

“Don’t let pride, or the fact that you’ve always been shy, stop you from

going after what you want, Rebecca.” Grammy made a tsking sound.

“Sometimes you have to take a chance and put your heart out there.”

“But I did that and look what happened. He wanted me to be someone else.”

“Did he?” Grammy’s eyes sparkled with wisdom. “Or did he see something

wonderful in you that you may not have realized? You know, the best

mates are the ones who challenge us to be all we can be. That may take

us out of our comfort zone, but it’s because they love us that they see

under the surface. That means they understood our fears, too, but they

have confidence we can overcome them.” She patted Rebecca’s

hand. “Just remember,” she said in a low voice, “true love comes around

once in a lifetime. Isn’t it worth making a few sacrifices for?”

Rebecca hugged her grandmother, analyzing their conversation as she

started back to Sugar Hill. Could she sacrifice the life she’d built in

Sugar Hill, her family and friends and her work for the chance of a new

life with Thomas?

And if she could, would he even want her after what he believed she’d done?

Before Thomas could reply to Suzanne’s question or decide how to make

things right with Rebecca, his receptionist tapped on the door. “Excuse

me, Dr. Emerson, but you had a phone call from your old office in Sugar

Hill. Dr. Tippins thought you’d want to know that a Mr. Lackey called.”

“Yes?”

“The Lackey baby had to have emergency surgery. She figured you’d want

to be there.”

Panic seized him. After all the couple and that infant had endured, they

had to face another surgery, more waiting. He gave Suzanne and Bert an

apologetic look. “I have to go. We’ll finish this talk later.”

Suzanne frowned but Bert nodded, and Thomas rushed out the door. They

couldn’t lose the Lackey baby now, they just couldn’t.

The next three hours were excruciating. Thomas sat with the Lackeys,

offering them reassurances when he had no idea what the outcome for

their baby would be. Not being involved in the surgery himself gave him

an entirely different perspective on the case and the emotions the

parents faced while waiting. It also resurrected those old haunting

memories of losing his baby brother and feeling helpless.

The only thing they could do was pray.

It humbled him to realize that Rebecca was right. Although the surgeon

had excellent credentials, no one could predict the future-no one except

God.

He watched the Lackeys cling to each other and turn to their faith, and

he prayed along with them, the minutes on the clock ticking by as if in

slow motion. When the surgeon finally appeared in the doorway, he had to

steady Mr. Lackey as he stood to greet the other doctor.

“The baby is fine,” Dr. Lowenbrau said in a thick New York accent. “The

surgery was a complete success. Barring fever or complications, you

should be able to take your son home with you in a few days.”

The Lackeys hugged and whooped with joy, both crying deliriously.

Lowenbrau shook Thomas’s hand. “It’s a good thing that couple had you on

their side when the baby was born. You saved that little boy’s life by

getting him to us so quickly.”

Thomas nodded, although he knew the Lackeys didn’t share that sentiment.

He even understood their frustration and their need to blame.

But Mr. Lackey turned to him and swiped at tears. “Doc, I owe you an

apology.”

Thomas waved it away with a hand. “That’s not necessary.”

Mr. Lackey cleared his throat. “Yes, it is. I said some harsh words

right after little Tyler was born. I was hurt and angry and I lashed out

at you. I…I’ve been ashamed ever since.

Thomas’s throat closed.

“My wife and I, well, we appreciate you taking care of our son that day,

and coming to us now.” Mrs. Lackey dried her tears on her husband’s

handkerchief. “Most doctors wouldn’t take the time to do what you’ve

done for us, to sit here and wait with us.”

“You’ve been more than a doctor, you’ve been a friend.” She threw her

arms around him and hugged him.

Moisture pricked Thomas’s eyes. He’d been searching for recognition and

love in his career, and his job had brought him to the town that could

give him both.

And to the woman who could give him the love he had always needed so much.

Rebecca claimed that Sugar Hill needed him more than the people in the

city did, and she was right. He

needed them, too. But he’d already turned in his resignation. Had Hannah

replaced him?

Worse, was it too late for him and Rebecca-had she only wanted him for