Authors: Jodi Thomas
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Slate-gray sunset
P
ARKER
HEARD
THE
ambulances fly past the county offices but she couldn't stop the meeting she was having with several lawyers. When they found Tori, she wanted to have lawyers briefed and ready to fight for the girl's rights. There was no way her parents would get their hands on her again and try to make her out to be a mentally unstable girl who needed constant supervision.
She wouldn't allow herself to think that Tori wouldn't be found safe and sound. If she planned. If she organized. If she controlled all she could, then everything would turn out just fine. Clint was out looking with everyone else. As soon as anyone found Tori, he'd call in. Then Parker would be ready to help.
Thanks to her contacts, she knew the people to talk to in Dallas. Tori would never have to leave the state of Texas unless she wanted to. Her money might be tied up in court for years, but the money she made from now on would be hers. The little artist could live anywhere in the world she wanted to, even right here in Crossroads, Texas.
Pearly opened the door to the jury room, where Parker had been talking with lawyers.
“Miss Lacey. I thought you might want to take this call.”
“Who is it?” Parker tried her best not to act upset about being interrupted.
“It's a call from Yancy Grey's phone.” Pearly smiled. “It's Victoria Vilanie. She wants to speak to you.”
A cheer went up in the room and Parker ran to the phone. “Tori! Are you all right?”
“I'm fine. I'm with Yancy. I just got banged up a little. The ambulance is pulling up now to take me to the hospital in Lubbock. Will you come?”
“Yes.” Parker walked out of the room. “I'll meet you there.”
“I'll have Yancy text you all the information, but he's going to have his hands full when we get to the hospital.”
Tori sounded so sad, so exhausted. “It was terrible, Parker. A man kidnapped me so he could take me back. He hurt me.”
Parker closed her eyes, trying not to cry. “It's over now.”
“No, it's not. The professor saved me. He found me.” Tori's voice broke and the phone was silent for a moment. “Parker, he's been shot. Fifth went with him in the first ambulance. The deputy said he might not make it.”
Parker fought to keep standing. She felt light-headed. She thought of the night at LAX when she'd found Tori crying. She'd had to help, but she'd never dreamed that that one decision would change so many lives...or maybe end one.
Then, from nowhere, a strong arm went around her, holding her up, pulling her into his warmth.
“I have to get to Tori,” she whispered to Clint.
“I know. I just heard. I figured you'd need a ride.”
He didn't ask a single question. He just rushed her out and they were in his pickup before she had time to fall apart. All the way to the hospital she talked, telling him this was all her fault. She should have planned better. She should have guessed trouble would come. How could she have lost control? She'd built her world around always being in control.
Four hours later they were sitting in the waiting room while the doctor stitched up the cuts on Tori's hip and back. The artist had two cracked ribs, more bruises than she could count and an eye that probably wouldn't see light for a few days. Butterfly stitches ran the side of her face, but she couldn't stop smiling.
She was alive.
Gabe Santorno, on the other hand, was fighting for his life down the hall. The bullet had gone through his chest, missing his heart, but doing serious damage.
When Yancy stepped in the waiting room, Parker stood and hugged him as if she'd known him forever. “How is she handling all this?”
“She's fine. Talked to me the entire time they were stitching her up. I don't know how it happened, but being kidnapped almost seems to have made her stronger. She says no one, not even me, is ever going to push her around again.” Yancy shrugged. “I'd never push her around anyway, but she felt the need to tell me so just in case.”
“So, what happens next?” Parker grinned. Tori certainly was a different woman from that night at LAX.
“The doctors want to keep her a few days to run tests. Then she says she's going back to Dallas with you.”
“I told her I'd help her.” Parker saw how sad he suddenly looked. “But, Yancy, when this legal mess is straightened out, you do know she's coming back to you.”
Parker saw it in his eyes. He didn't know. He didn't believe. “She loves you, Yancy.”
“She'll forget about me no matter what she says now.” He tried to smile. “Besides, she's so full of painkillers she's talking out of her head. She told me when she looked up in the professor's eyes she saw my eyes. That pulled her out of her dark place, she said.”
“I'll go sit with her awhile. How about you go check on the professor?”
“Sure. I owe the man big-time.”
Parker watched Yancy walk down the hallway toward the surgery waiting room. It didn't seem fair that the man who had risked everything to save Tori might die alone.
Clint handed her a jacket. “You'll need this if you're staying over with Tori. Tell the nurse you'll need a blanket, too. The chair's not bad to sleep in and it's no problem to get an extra tray delivered for meals.”
Parker didn't ask him how he knew about hospitals. She had a pretty good idea what the answer would be. They'd talk about it when he was ready, but knowing Clint, that time might be never. “Thanks. I'm staying with her until we leave for Dallas. I'm going to be with her until this is over.”
He nodded, as if understanding what she wasn't saying. His hug said all the words neither of them seemed able to say.
It was over. She'd miss him every day of her life that she had left, but she couldn't stay. She had to help Tori.
And when that was over, she'd go back to Dr. Brown and the hospital. There were some things in life that she couldn't run away from, not for long.
She'd rather be alone on her last days than see Clint have to endure watching her die. The thought of her cowboy's chestnut eyes turning dead with sadness would break her heart. He'd get over a breakup now. Maybe even remember their few nights together with a smile now and then.
Dear God, she loved this man. He was stubborn and didn't belong in her world any more than she belonged in his. But no one had ever loved her so gently, so tenderly, so completely. For a long while, they just held each other.
She wanted this one last hug to be enough to last her through what was to come. She prayed the memory of her would give him comfort and not pain.
When she pulled away, she didn't look up at him. She simply turned and walked away, knowing she was leaving her heart behind.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Y
ANCY
FELT
LIKE
a zombie haunting the halls of the hospital as he moved between Tori's bedside and the waiting room outside intensive care. He liked to visit her early, relieving Parker so she could go home and shower. Then he'd come back in the afternoons for a while and listen to them talk about all their plans. Parker wanted to do a special gallery show of the work Tori had painted at the farmhouse.
Tori said it would take time to get the paintings in shape. She'd need an apartment and a loft to work.
Parker seemed to be constantly making lists and talking on the phone. Yancy just held Tori's hand. He realized he couldn't dream as big as her. He thought of when he'd got out of prison and all he'd wanted was a warm coat.
Tori's dreams were grand.
Every night he'd drop in and watch her sleeping. Slowly, the bruises were fading; she was growing stronger. He loved her and he knew she loved him. That was enough for now.
On the fourth morning, the hospital released Tori and also moved the professor to a regular room.
While Parker packed up Tori's room, Yancy sat on her bed and held her close, trying to think of how to say goodbye. “You sure you don't need a coat? I could loan you one,” he whispered.
“I'm fine. Parker says it might hit eighty today. Besides, I'll be in the car.” Tori kissed his cheek. “Don't worry about me. You watch over Gabe. He'll need you by his side. No one should be in the hospital alone.”
“I know. I'm kind of getting attached to the guy, now that he saved your life. The Franklin sisters are sending sweets every day, even though he's not awake long enough to eat many. I'm trying to eat them before they go bad.”
Tori looked down. “No one has told me what happened to the man who kidnapped me. I need to know.”
“Fifth shot him, then fought like crazy to keep him alive. He ended up sharing the ambulance with the professor. Fifth rode up front with the driver.”
“Did he live?”
“Six hours,” Yancy said. “Fifth cried but he said he'd done what he had to do.”
Tori nodded. “That man hurt me and didn't seem to care, but I didn't wish him dead.”
“If Fifth hadn't fired, we might have all been killed.”
She held Yancy's hand in both of hers. “I have to go to Dallas. Promise me you'll take care of Gabe.”
“I promise,” Yancy said as the nurse told Tori it was time to go.
“Don't walk me out, Yancy, or I don't think I can leave.”
He kissed her and whispered, “I love you.”
“I'll be back, Yancy, I promise.”
He nodded, but he didn't believe her. He watched from her window as she was loaded into a car, his heart breaking. Then he walked back to the professor's room.
The guy had been talking out of his head for days. Yancy just played along. He couldn't see arguing with a guy who had one foot in the grave. But for once, the professor was resting, so Yancy sat down in the chair next to him and closed his eyes. He wanted to dream awhile that he was back in his workshop, with Tori by his side.
It was almost dark when the sound of Gabe's voice woke Yancy up.
“I'm sorry, son. I never got you a birthday present. I should have bought you one every year. And tons of Christmas presents. A ball, a bike, I don't know. I never knew.”
Yancy patted his arm. “That's all right, Professor. It would be just more stuff to carry around.”
“I would have loved you.”
“Thanks, Professor, but I'm not really into that kind of thing.”
Gabe shook his head. “No. A father should love his son.”
“Oh, that kind of love. Well, Professor, if you were my dad, I'd be honored to have you, but my dad's dead.”
Gabe opened his eyes. “No, he's not. I'm right here. If I'd known about you, son, I would have found you.”
Yancy saw the truth in the professor's eyes. “You've got gypsy eyes,” he whispered. “Just like me.”
“I've got gypsy blood, too. Just like your mother did. I loved her, you know. I always liked to say her name fast so âJewel Ann' sounded like one word.”
Yancy couldn't breathe.
“How'd she die, son?”
Yancy fought back tears. He'd never once looked for her. “I don't know that she did. I ran away when I was fourteen. She was too stoned to notice, I'm sure.”
Gabe nodded slightly. “Well, that settles it. I'm going to live. I've got to go find her.”
Yancy frowned, wondering if living or dying was ever much of a choice. “You do that, Professor,” he whispered. “You do that, Pop.”
The professor drifted off then, leaving Yancy to think. At midnight, when he woke, Yancy had his questions ready.
Galen Yancy Stanley's eyes were clear as he answered every one of his son's questions. He told the truth, the complete truth, for the first time since he'd climbed in the truck heading for Denver the night he'd been beaten. It was dawn before the professor finally leaned back and closed his eyes.
Yancy smiled. “You know, Pop, you didn't have to get me any Christmas or birthday presents. You piled them all in one when you saved Tori. I don't hate you for leaving me. I'm just glad you came back.”
An hour later, Yancy called Tori and told her his news.
Tori didn't sound surprised. She simply said, “I already knew it. I saw it in his eyes.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Summer orange
C
LINT
M
ONTGOMERY
STORMED
the doors of the Dallas hospital. He'd waited six weeks for Parker to call and she must have lost his number. He'd called her assistant at the gallery so many times they'd be exchanging Christmas cards come December.
Finally, he bullied Yancy enough to give him Tori's number. Then the minute he got the artist, Tori started crying and saying that Parker had checked herself into the hospital and wouldn't tell her what was wrong.
Clint was in his truck before the line went dead. He was finished waiting around for Parker to figure out that they belonged together. He didn't care if she was in the hospital or on the moon. He was going to her and talking until she realized they were meant to be together. If she wouldn't come back to the ranch, he'd pack the horse trailer up and move to Dallas. He planned to tell her how he felt about her in words that left no doubt. After all, what did he have to lose? She already wasn't taking his calls.
“Sir! Sir!” A chubby little nurse trotted along beside Clint. “You can't come in here with those things on.”
He faced her. If she thought she was going to keep him from seeing Parker, she had another think coming.
“You have to take them off.”
The nurse jumped back when he growled, “I'm here to see Parker Lacey. I was told she's in 403.”
“Right.” The nurse straightened to her height of five foot nothing and pointed down at his boots.
“I have to take off my boots. Hell, this place is worse than the airports.”
“No, sir. You have to take off the spurs.”
“Oh,” he said, feeling like a fool. “Of course, miss.”
Clint figured he might as well get used to the feeling of being an idiot; it was probably going to happen again any minute. Unless Parker was sedated she'd probably start yelling at him at first sight. Parker had told him from the first that what they had wouldn't be a forever kind of thing. Only he hadn't listened, because it wasn't what he wanted to hear. It still wasn't. He wanted her. Whatever was wrong with her, they'd deal with it. He wanted to be with her the rest of her life, whether it was counted in weeks or years.
He glared at the nurse. “What's wrong with Parker Lacey?”
“I can't...” the nurse began. “Unless you're her immediate family?”
“I'm all the family she's got.” Clint lifted his left hand that bore the wedding ring he'd never taken off.
“She was scheduled for a knee replacement, but the doctor canceled it. He said he had to deal with a more urgent matter first.”
“Hell.” Clint handed his spurs to the nurse. “I've heard of folks coming into a hospital with one problem and catching another.”
“I don't know about that, sir. Maybe you'd better ask your wife.”
“I plan to do that. Hang on to my spurs. I'll pick them up on my way out.”
“Okay, cowboy. Room 403 is the second room off the elevator.”
“Thanks.” He ran.
Three minutes later when he walked into Parker's room, she was crying.
He didn't need to ask. He knew the diagnosis must be bad. All the fight went out of him as he walked to the side of the bed and pulled her into his arms.
For a while he simply rocked her while she cried. All the things he'd thought he had to say could wait.
When she finally settled in his arms, he said, “I don't care what it is, Parker. I'm here and I'm not leaving. We'll fight this together.”
To his surprise, she smiled. “All right. We'll fight, but it might be hard. It could bankrupt us, wear us out, drive us nuts. We're not young, Clint. I'm thirty-seven and you're forty-three.”
She was still smiling, and he considered the possibility that her illness could be mental. “Whatever this is, we'll fight it together.”
She must have been on heavy drugs. Parker just kept smiling.
“All right. I'll take you up on your offer to help, but it'll be a twenty-four-hour fight for years and years. I'm pregnant.”
Clint Montgomery did something then he'd never done in his life.
He fainted.
When he came to, he held her and they talked for hours. He told her how much she mattered to him. The sight of her the day she bought his slice of land had pulled him out of a hell he'd been in for months. The night he watched her at the gallery and decided to make sure her little farmhouse was ready for her when she needed to run. The night he'd made love to her so completely.
They talked of the next six months. Her doctor had said she had a problem with her back and knee. She would have to wait for surgery while she took it easy during the pregnancy. “He almost cussed me out for running away from the hospital before I left for Crossroads and not having surgery before I got pregnant.”
They talked about where they'd live and where they'd raise their child.
Finally, Parker told him her greatest fear. “Laceys don't live long. I worry about bringing a child into the world.”
“Marry me, Parker,” Clint whispered.
“Didn't you hear me? Laceys don't live long.”
He kissed her gently. “I heard you. Laceys don't live long, but Montgomerys do.”