“What do you think you’re doing?”
Oh, Grandma sounded good and angry now. He couldn’t care less. “I’m ensuring Gracie receives the proper care while she recovers,” he said as he turned to face Grace once more.
“By yanking her out of this hospital while she’s still in a delicate state?” She was fuming.
“I would never put her at risk. The staff reassured me she’s up to the move.”
“How dare you? Who do you think you are? Who gave you the authority to make such a decision?”
His brother had pulled strings and made a substantial financial offer. No hospital could resist the allure of such a massive amount of money. “I believe our discussion is finished.”
He started to walk away, but she grabbed him, surprisingly strong for a frail old woman with a supposed heart condition. “Don’t you dare walk away.”
“You don’t want any part of me. Why would you want to continue speaking? So you can berate me some more? I don’t think so.” He tugged out of her firm grip and brushed off his sleeve where she touched him.
“You won’t be acting like the lord of the manor any longer when you discover the truth,” Grace called after him. “Not when you discover she’s going to have another man’s baby.”
Increasing his strides, he walked faster, more than eager to get away from her. That she would be so uncouth as to yell such things about her granddaughter in the middle of a busy hospital hallway was testament to the fact that she was beyond delusional. Who did this sort of thing?
He felt like he’d landed in the middle of a
Jerry Springer
episode.
His cell rang, and he answered it, relieved to hear his brother on the other end. “You did it,” Hunter said. “Thank you.”
“I pulled a few strings. But you better hope Gracie signs off on all the paperwork. She needs to before they release her.”
“She will,” he said confidently, but inside he grew nervous. If that crazed grandma got to her, she’d try her hardest to put a kink in the works.
“Have you spoken to her this morning?”
“Not yet. I’ll be able to soon, though.”
“Thank Christ,” Alex muttered. He sounded stressed. “This wasn’t easy. I really had to pull out all the stops.”
“And I’ll owe you ‘til my dying day,” Hunter said. And he meant it.
“You don’t need to get all dramatic on me. Just…make sure this is going to happen without any glitches. I have a funny feeling about it.”
“It’s the grandma. I should’ve never told you about her.”
“I’m thankful you did. I don’t want her interfering. And I know you and Gracie parted on rocky terms so the chance that this could go south is high.”
“I refuse to let it,” Hunter reassured. “Don’t worry. I promise it’ll work out. Trust me.”
“Oh, I trust you. I just don’t necessarily trust anyone else involved in this endeavor.” Alex paused. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to mention this to you but you should know. There’s some trouble in your department.”
Dread crept over Hunter, making him weary. Now what? “What’s going on?”
“It’s Marcus. He claims you threatened him. He went to Becky and complained. She filed his complaint, and in her notes he suggested he might sue.”
“Sue for what?” God, he really needed to get his emotions under control. He was screwing up all over the place and he was supposed to be the one brother who remained calm under pressure.
When it came to Gracie, all bets were off.
“Oh, there’s an entire list of things he could sue you and Worth for. You can’t threaten him, no matter how much he pisses you off. I know you guys were friends but you have to watch what you say.”
“I know, I know.” Hunter sighed. “This is the last thing I need to deal with.”
“And that’s why I should’ve never mentioned it. Don’t worry, we have it under control. I’m meeting with him later this afternoon. I’ll smooth his ruffled his feathers.”
“What if you can’t?” Hunter asked.
“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
They spoke for a few more minutes, Hunter earning plenty of glares from various hospital staff. He finally hung up, shoved the phone in his front pocket and lingered outside the entrance to the ICU.
He contemplated what Gracie’s grandmother said. No way could the baby belong to anyone else but him. Her words were meaningless. She was looking for a reaction, and he refused to give it to her. Her motives were a mystery. He could understand wanting to keep Gracie around after not seeing her for so many years, but why would she go to such lengths to get him out of her life?
It made no sense, and made him wonder if she’d exhibited the same over-the-top possessive behavior with Gracie’s mom. Could that have been the reason Gracie’s mom ran away? A crazed mother who tried to control everything and everyone?
Now that made sense.
It also scared the hell out of him.
“What are these forms?” Gracie rifled through them, her exhausted brain having a hard time comprehending. There was so much to read, so much to take in, and she really didn’t want to deal with it this morning.
She wanted to see Hunter. Her grandma had stopped by earlier, agitated and not much of a conversationalist. She’d seemed angry when Gracie had told her she briefly saw Hunter last night, which Gracie found odd. Why would that bother her?
“They’re release forms, Miss Hayes.” The man who’d accompanied the shift nurse was older and wore a suit and tie. He looked important. “We need you to sign them before we can release you to Lenox Hill.”
“Release me? To Lenox Hill?” She thumbed through the forms once again, the lines and lines of tiny print making her vision blur. “But why am I being released from here?”
“It’s all been arranged by your employer,” the man explained, his voice gentle. “You’ll be flown to Lenox Hill this afternoon. The Worth family wanted to ensure you receive the very best care, and they want you close to home.”
Gracie took the pen the nurse offered and watched as she flipped the pages until reaching a spot for her to sign. Why would the Worths want to take her back to Manhattan and put her up at Lenox Hill? It was a private hospital—she couldn’t afford such an expense, and she certainly didn’t expect them to pay for it either. “I don’t understand.”
“Well, you are engaged to Hunter Worth, are you not?” the man asked.
“What?” she practically shrieked. The nurse winced, and Gracie clamped her lips shut, embarrassment by her mini outburst.
“I was informed by Alexander Worth that you are his future sister-in-law.” The man shifted on his feet and wrung his hands together. “We allowed him to overstep a few boundaries because we believed he is a family member of yours. Future family member, I should say.”
She stared at the man in disbelief. Future family member? This was all so…surreal.
“He is most definitely not her future family member.” Grandma stood in the doorway, her expression fierce. “These Worth boys have overstepped themselves for the last time. I refuse to let Gracie leave this hospital.”
“Oh dear,” the nurse whispered.
Grandma slowly walked into the room, approaching Gracie’s bed. “That Hunter Worth hates me and now he’s trying to take you away from me, Gracie.”
“He would never…”
“Oh yes, he would,” Grandma interrupted. “He told me so earlier. After all these years we’ve been apart, he’s trying to break us up. And I can’t believe you’d let him do it so easily. Don’t you love me?”
Gracie set down the pen. Why couldn’t anything be easy? And why did her grandma have to say such ridiculous things? This was the sort of thing she’d dreaded when she thought about searching for any of her long-lost family. And now it had all come true. “He doesn’t want to drive us apart, Grandma. He’s not like that. He’s a firm believer in family.”
Grandma snorted. “So he claims.”
“He wouldn’t lie,” Gracie said softly. She grabbed the pen once more and signed her name on the line, then leaned back while the nurse found the next page for her signature. “I know Hunter. He would never do that to me.”
“Why didn’t you tell him about the baby, Gracie?”
Gracie jerked her head up. Why did she have to go and bring that up in front of strangers? She really was taking this too far. “Can’t we talk about all of this later?”
“No, we absolutely cannot. If we wait any longer, you’ll be gone and I’ll never see you again.”
“Now you’re just being dramatic.”
“He knows about the baby. In fact, he even denied it was his.”
A chill shivered down Gracie’s spine. “How did he find out?”
Her grandma lifted her chin. “Never you mind that. You need to focus on the fact that he doesn’t believe it’s his baby. You need to rid yourself of him. He’s no good for you.”
“I can’t believe he would ever say that.” Gracie signed the final piece of paper, and the hospital staffers made a quick exit. Not that she blamed them. This was erupting into full-on family drama that even she didn’t want to deal with. “Why are you interfering in my life and trying to stir things up?”
“I’m trying to protect you from an overbearing man who will take great pleasure in bossing you around for the rest of your days, if you let him.”
Why did the idea of Hunter “bossing her around” fill her with warmth, not dread? Maybe it was the “rest of her days” part that held even more appeal. Besides, she always gave as good as she got when it came to Hunter. “He’s not like that, despite what you think.”
“Then he has you perfectly snowed.” Grandma sat on the edge of the bed, reaching out to pat Gracie’s arm. “Don’t become so easily influenced by others, Gracie, especially smooth-talking men. Stand strong and be yourself.” She shook her head, made a soft
tsk
ing noise. “The same thing happened to your mom, you know.”
“What are you talking about? What happened to my mother?” Suspicion crept over Gracie, leaving her chilled to the very bone.
“Why, a handsome older man came into her life not too long after you were born and took her and you away from me. After all that we’d gone through, I finally had everything in order. You and Angie living with me, three generations in one house, it was going to be perfect. But then
he
came along.” Grandma screwed up her mouth so tight, her lips practically disappeared. “I tried my best to keep her here. I tried to keep you with me too, but she wouldn’t allow it. She believed all the sweet lies that man told her and ran away with him. Look where she ended up.” Her grandma sniffed, her eyes watery with unshed tears. “I hate to see the same thing happen to you, Gracie.”
It all made sense now. Her grandmother’s overprotective nature, all the worry and the nagging probably drove Gracie’s mother out of the house. Not that it was her grandma’s fault, what eventually happened to her mom, but she’d contributed to the drama.
Gracie refused to be pushed around. She wanted her grandma in her life, but if she wasn’t going to approve of Gracie’s choices, then she could function perfectly well without her. She’d done so already most of her life. The family connection was important to her, but not if it damaged her relationship with Hunter.
“Oh, Grandma. That’s not happening to me. My mom was just a kid and didn’t know any better. I’ve known Hunter for quite a while and I know what sort of man he is. I—I think I’m in love with him.” The realization made her dizzy with happiness.
“Well, I doubt very much he’s in love with you.”
There went the happiness. Gracie was afraid she said that out of spite, nothing more. “Why do you dislike him so much?”
“Because he wants nothing more than to take you away from me! After all these years of wondering where you were, I finally get you back here and now he’s whisking you away again. Most likely for good, if he gets his way.”
“It’s not like that. I think he only wants the best for me. He’s rather—overprotective.” She smiled, thinking of all he’d done to ensure she received the very best in medical care. And how much Alex must’ve done as well. She’d never felt so protected.
So loved.
“So am I, I’ll have you know,” Grandma said with a huff.
Gracie smiled gently. “And you’re both clashing over that, over
me,
which is the last thing I want to happen. I’d love it if we could all get along.”
“I don’t know if I can do that—get along with that, that thief.”
That her grandma called Hunter a thief was secretly amusing. He abhorred any sort of stealing, especially after what happened with the former marketing vice president of Worth Luxury. The betrayal still stung. “He doesn’t want to steal me. If you’re nice to him, he’ll be nice to you.”
Grandma lifted her chin. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I know you don’t, but I’m going. It’s already been decided.”
“Don’t you hate that you didn’t have a choice in the matter? That he just up and did this without consulting you first?’
“He did it because he cares too much. This is his way of showing it.” He wasn’t much for flowery words, she knew this. Hunter was much more of an action type of man. And his actions were definitely speaking louder than his words. “He only wants the best for me.”
Realization dawned, and her heart squeezed. They say a near-death experience changes a person. Helps them see what’s truly important in life.