might have been a stroke. They’re still waiting on tests to come back.”
“Holy shit. Do you think she’ll be okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. I just need to be there. All of us are trying to fly in, and I’m the closest of the kids.”
“Yes, of course. Go as soon as you can. Give her my well-wishes. I’ll take care of everything with the medical gala.”
“Jake’s speaking tonight, and Collin will be there tomorrow to present his piece on neuroscience. We have an entire lineup of events for the convention. I emailed and faxed you the entire itinerary a few minutes ago.”
“Got it. Is there anything I can do to help outside of this? You’re taking the company plane, right?”
I felt horrible for Alex, even though I’d never met his mom nor had ever heard much about her. That didn’t matter. It was family, and family had to come before this company, or we’d all lose our minds.
“I’m already on a plane. I’ll keep you updated with texts.”
“All right, man. Take care of yourself. I’ll be here if you need anything.”
We hung up, and I tried to gather my senses while Avery sat at my side, rubbing my back supportively.
I looked over at her and gripped the back of my neck. “Are you up for making your first appearance as my lady?” I asked while I contemplated getting her into a gown and on the chopper in less than three hours.
“God dang, is everything okay?”
“My VP is backing out of a significant affair we’re having for the company. It’s a part of a conference we’re holding. He won’t be able to attend after learning his mom is in the hospital. I need to take his place and be in Palm Springs tonight and tomorrow night.” I bit my lip. “We can pick up and bring Addison if you don’t feel comfortable being that far from her. We won’t be that far, though, given we’ll be using my helicopter for transportation. I can have you brought back swiftly if there’s an emergency with Addy.”
“Slow down, Jim.” She had a look of amusement on her face. “Jesus, I’ve never seen you so worked up. Yes, Addy will be fine here. When would I be coming back again?”
“Late Sunday night.” I cringed at the idea of taking Avery this far away from her daughter. “We can easily bring Addy with us. The hotel is a resort that she’ll surely love.”
“And I’m sure she’ll dig the conference too.” Avery laughed. “Let me call Larry and let them know they can keep Addy until Monday. It’ll be easier for her to stay with them since we’ll be getting back late, and they’ll love having her a day longer. So long as Derek’s ass is in jail, then I’m not worried about leaving with you if you want me along. I have nothing to wear, though.”
“What size are you? Wait, I have an idea,” I said while Avery continued to look at me as if I’d completely lost it. I dialed Ash’s number. “Hey, kid,” I said when my sister-in-law picked up, “your friend that you shop with, does he have any internal connections to that boutique that he always insists you buy your gowns from?”
“The place on Melrose?” Ash questioned.
“Wherever it is. I need a dress for Avery, my girlfriend,” I said, winking at Avery. “We have to fly to Palm Springs before Jake has a coronary attack.”
“Funny, Jim. I’ll call the guys and see if they can get her a gown. They’re going to want eye-color, hair color, size, all that shit,” she said with a laugh. “And I’m very curious about this girlfriend comment coming from…” She paused. “Wait, Avery? The woman that you met in England? You’re taking her?”
“She graciously accepted the invite,” I said with a smile.
“Okay, perfect. Let me give the guys a call. They’ll have a dress for her in under an hour. They can even come up to the house and handle everything—”
“Why don’t you give them directions to the airport where we keep the planes and choppers. I’ll have them flown down. They can take care of Avery there. I’m on a time crunch to pull this off.”
“You have designers at your disposal; why would you want Clay and Joe involved?”
“They’re your friends, and I was quite impressed with how they managed your and Jake’s wedding. I know they’ll handle Avery’s last-minute needs for this event quite well,” I said.
“You and your damn heart of gold, Jim. The