Where My Heart Breaks (24 page)

“I have no problem following Sam’s lead,” Millie said as her eyes rested on Sam who had just emerged from the kitchen, arms loaded with dinner plates.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be back down in a few minutes.”

As I breezed past the front desk, I saw that the message light blinked on the phone. I would take care of that as soon as I checked on Patrice. I took the steps two at a time up to the second floor and made my way to Patrice’s room. I knocked once before cracking open the door.

“Patrice?”
 

It seemed even dimmer in the room than it had earlier. When Patrice didn’t respond, I opened the door further. The air smelled like sickness. I had a sinking feeling that, despite Patrice’s protests to the contrary, she was getting worse instead of better. I heard the low rattling of air being sucked in and pushed out as I made my way across the room. So that I didn’t startle her, I flipped on the light in the bathroom, which gave me enough light that I could see inside her darkened bedroom.

At some point, Patrice had flung the covers off her body, and she was curled into a small ball on the edge of the bed. I saw the glass of water I left for her was untouched. There were more tissues on the floor beside the bed. I grabbed a trashcan out of the bathroom and picked them all up. After washing my hands, I went back to the bed.

“Patrice, I need to take your temperature,” I said softly.

Patrice still didn’t move. If I couldn’t see the shallow rise and fall of her chest, I would have thought that she was dead, which wasn’t a comforting thought at all. After a moment of hesitation, I reached out and put the back of my hand against her forehead. I drew it back quickly. I didn’t need a thermometer to tell me that Patrice was burning up. Now I was officially freaking out.

I slipped out into the hallway and dragged out my phone. I called the only person in Bleckerville I completely trusted to help me.
 

“Miss me already?” Reed said without a greeting.

Despite my panicked state, I smiled. I had left him in a state of limbo, and yet I didn’t sense any hard feelings on his part. If he was anxious about what I was going to do about us, he wasn’t showing it yet.
 

“Patrice is sick,” I said. “She’s running a pretty high fever and has been coughing a lot. I think she needs to see a doctor.”

“There’s an emergency room in Cheshire,” Reed said.

“I won’t be able to drag her out of her room to take her there,” I said. I could see that scene playing out in my mind and I shuddered. It wasn’t pretty. “She keeps insisting she’s fine.”

“Give me ten minutes,” Reed said. “If you can’t convince her to go, I’ll throw her over my shoulder, and she won’t have a choice.”

That scene was even scarier than the first one. But I knew that he was right. Patrice needed to see a doctor, and if she wouldn’t agree to go under her own volition, I’d have to force her hand.

“I’ll see you in ten,” I agreed.

Then I hurried downstairs. I caught Sam’s eye as he finished taking the order of a couple that just arrived that morning and cocked my head toward the kitchen. I found Millie pouring glasses of water and putting them on a service cart. Even though I was certain she had no idea what she was doing, she looked calm and collected.

I pulled her by her arm over to the side of the room out of Mrs. Edelbrook’s hearing, and Sam joined us a moment later.
 

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I need to take Patrice to the emergency room in Cheshire,” I said, deciding it was best not to beat around the bush.

“Do you need me to drive?” Millie asked.

“No, Reed’s coming out to take us,” I said.

I ignored the look of outrage on Sam’s face and the slow smile that spread across Millie’s. “I need both of you to work together to keep everything on track here. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Sam said. “Patrice has this place set-up to run like a well-oiled machine. We’ll be fine.”

“Sam’s right,” Millie said. “I’ll watch the front and do whatever he tells me to do back here.” She winked at him, and Sam looked uncomfortable.

“Thanks. I’ll call you with any news,” I said. I was aware of the minutes ticking by. “Thanks, guys.”

Sam put a hand on my shoulder as Millie turned away. “I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

I hadn’t realized until he said that how scared I was for my strong willed aunt who never showed the slightest sign of weakness. I was petrified. But she needed me to be the strong one now. I couldn’t break down into a puddle of indecisive goo.

I gave him a short nod. To Mrs. Edelbrook, I gave a benign wave and thumbs up sign as I passed her on the way to the back door. She looked at me suspiciously but then Sam caught her attention asking for two more of the night’s specials. I scampered out the screen door and made my way to the driveway. Two minutes later, Reed’s truck appeared in my view. He parked off to the side and then got out.

The first thing he did was gave me a kiss that took my breath away. Then he said, “We can take your car.”
 

My thoughts fuzzy from his kiss, I nodded. I led him around the front and up to Patrice’s room. She hadn’t moved since I left her. I knelt down beside the bed. “Patrice, we’re going to take you to the doctor, okay?”

I saw her lips move, but I couldn’t make out what she said. I looked up at Reed and wasn’t comforted by his expression of alarm. He gently pushed me to the side and then bent down to lift Patrice into his arms. Patrice barely even moved.

I followed Reed down the stairs and around the side of the house and had the foresight to point him around the opposite side of the house, which didn’t face the dining room. Most of the week’s guests were occupied with dinner, and we could hopefully make our escape without any prying eyes seeing us go.

I opened the door to the back seat of my car, and Reed leaned over and set Patrice inside. She seemed small and lifeless against the tan interior. One eye opened, and I could see that she was trying to gather her wits about her.

“I don’t need to go the hospital.” Her hoarse voice and wheezing gasps for air betrayed her.

“Hush, Patrice,” I said. “You’re going and that’s that.” It’s something my mother would say, but I added a layer of warmth to it that was far beyond my mother’s ability to be comforting.
 

Patrice closed her eyes then, and I thought for sure that she had fallen asleep. Then I heard a whispered “
stubborn
” float to my ear, and I shook my head ruefully. As if Patrice had any room to talk.

I barely registered the drive to Cheshire. I kept twisting around in my seat to check on Patrice, who didn’t move the entire time. What kept me anchored and calm was Reed’s hand on mine. Occasionally, he would reach over to stroke my cheek or my hair, but otherwise he kept his fingers interlaced with mine on the console between us. I had never had a man be so attentive and utterly present for me the way that he had been that afternoon.
 

I knew then that my heart was reserved for him if he ever wanted to claim it.

When we pulled up outside the Cheshire hospital emergency room, the skepticism must have been evident on my face.

“I was born here as were most of the people in Bleckerville,” Reed said with an amused grin. “It may be a small compared to what you are used to, but there are good doctors here.”

I got out and saw an orderly already on his way out with a wheelchair. I hoped that Reed was right. I opened the back door and was surprised to see an unsteady foot move to the ground. I could see the effort required for Patrice to lean over and grasp the door handle. I moved to help her, but she waved me off. The orderly, however, wasn’t so easily dismissed.

He put his hands under her arms and maneuvered her into the wheelchair. I looked through the passenger door window at Reed. He had his arm flung over the back of the seat watching the scene unfold in front of him. The window came down a few inches.

“Go on,” he said. “I’ll park the car and then find the waiting room.”

Nodding gratefully, I caught up with the orderly. I could hear Patrice’s raspy voice trying to bark orders. We approached the nurse’s station, and I quickly ran over Patrice’s symptoms with the nurse behind the desk. She handed me a stack of forms and then we were escorted to a small bed on the other side of the room behind a white fabric divider.

I dropped into the chair and started to make my way through the first form. After Patrice seemed to figure out that she was stuck whether she liked it or not, she finally piped down. Grudgingly she answered the questions I didn’t know on the forms. It was strange. Over the next fifteen minutes, I found out more about Patrice’s health than I knew about my own parents.

The doctor finally arrived, and it became obvious that he was going to do a more rigorous physical exam that included removing some of Patrice’s clothes, I offered to step to the other side of the curtain. I handed him the forms and then made my escape. I wasn’t interested in seeing any more of her than I had already seen, and I could tell that Patrice was equally relieved.

I saw Reed parked on a small bench just inside the emergency room doors. He offered me a small wave, and I made my way to him. Even under the harsh fluorescent lights, he was the handsomest man I had ever seen.

“How is she?” he asked.

“Definitely more lucid,” I said. “That was scary earlier.”

“I’ve had a few scares these last few years with my mom,” Reed said. “Considering the patient, I think you’re doing great.”

I wanted to hug him, but then I heard the doctor call my name. Reed sat back and gestured for me to go. The doctor motioned for me to join him on the other side of the divider.

He looked at Patrice first, who was definitely more alert than she had been earlier. “Ms. Collins, I’d like to keep you overnight for observation.” Patrice began to squawk, but the doctor shook his head. “No arguments on that.”

Then he looked at me. “Your aunt appears severely dehydrated and is running a fever. I would like to rule out pneumonia or anything else more serious. I think it’s a case of stress and exhaustion, but I’ll know more in the morning.”

I patted Patrice’s arm. “Don’t worry about a thing, Patrice. I’ve got everything covered at the Willoughby. You just focus on getting some rest.” I said the words with more confidence than I felt. There weren’t any other options. I saw that realization in Patrice’s eyes as well.

“You have to call in the weekend catering first thing,” she said. “And don’t let Mandy cut any corners on the weekly linens. That girl needs a firm hand otherwise she’ll do shoddy work.”

“I know, Patrice. I got it,” I said. “I guess I’ll check back in the morning then.”

Patrice looked so unhappy that I couldn’t resist leaning down and giving her a small hug, which surprised both of us. Then I left before she could see my confidence falter.

Reed stood up as I approached. “What’s the verdict?”

“They are keeping her overnight,” I said. “We’ll know more in the morning.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing serious,” Reed said. “Patrice is tough. Nothing will keep her down for long.” He put his arm around me, and we walked out to the parking lot.
 

As he drove me home, I stared out the window and wondered how long I would have the responsibility for the Willoughby on my shoulders. Even if they did release Patrice the next day, I guessed that she would have to rest for a few days. There was another dinner event on Saturday, and this one was on the lawn. It required a tent rental and everything. I started to gnaw on my lower lip as all of things that could go wrong started to stream through my mind.

“You look like you just found out somebody died,” Reed said.

“If I let everything at the Willoughby go to hell, Patrice will kill me,” I said with a heavy sigh.

Reed reached over and took my hand, which drew my eyes to him. “I’m glad you called me today.”

“Me too,” I said simply. “About us, or whatever is going on between us…”

Reed shushed me and then pushed a lock of hair behind my ear. “That’s not important right now. What is important is that your aunt gets better and that you focus on running the Willoughby exactly the way that she showed you to run it. I’m not going anywhere.”

It made me melt the way that he understood so perfectly what I needed. What he missed though was that to make that happen, I needed him too. “Patrice wanted those shutters on the third floor fixed this week.”

“Consider it done,” he said solemnly.

We laughed quietly. Everything felt as if it would be all right. With Reed by my side, I thought that the impossible was definitely possible.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

It wouldn’t have worked if Millie hadn’t been here. As I surveyed the debris on the lawn of the Willoughby in the early Sunday morning light, I felt more exhausted than I had ever felt in my life. Millie, on the other hand, was positively perky.

She had a clipboard in hand and directed the efforts of the gardening staff as they began the transformation of the outside corporate event venue back into the quaint, expansive back lawn of the Willoughby. It didn’t take me long to realize that event planning was in Millie’s blood. Of course, it would be given her upbringing in Manhattan’s society circles.
 

Patrice was in the hospital for two days. I was pretty sure they were as ready to see her backside as she was ready to get out of there. Extreme dehydration and exhaustion was the official cause of her illness. Under doctor’s orders, she wasn’t supposed to go back to full-time work for at least two weeks. Since she lived at the Willoughby though, that meant that almost immediately from the time I brought her home she was regularly under my feet.

Sam stepped up and helped me with all the nuances of the kitchen and catering staff that I hadn’t had a chance to learn in my brief tenure at the Willoughby. Much to his chagrin, as soon as I realized how much knowledge he had in his head, I promptly turned the management of the dining room and kitchen over to him. I think the only reason I didn’t have a full out revolt by the staff was that everyone, including Sam, knew that the move was only temporary.