Northern Rebel Daring in the Dark - By Jennifer Labrecque Page 0,122

a deep breath. She needed to ditch the attitude. It wouldn’t do anyone any good. This wasn’t about her. She was here to support Simon, not mix it up with his parents. So this man hadn’t exactly been the father of the year for Simon, but he was still his father. And Simon, despite their history and their obvious shortcomings as parents—definitely just her opinion—cared for them.

They were his parents, regardless of the fact that Simon deserved better ones. Of course, Simon could really use a better friend than Elliott, who’d needed intimidation to bring him here. Simon was sweet and tender and one of the finest men she’d ever met, and he deserved the very best life had to offer.

The man looked up as she approached, eyeing her blankly.

“Mr. Thackeray?” He nodded. “I’m Tawny Edwards, a friend of Simon’s.” She extended her hand and after a moment’s hesitation he shook it.

“Very good. Very good. Charles Thackeray.”

“How is Dr. Marbury?”

He passed a weary hand over his face. “Stable. She’s resting comfortably now that Simon’s here.”

His obvious weariness dispelled some of her harbored animosity. Good parent or bad parent, here was a man worried about the woman he loved.

“He ran almost six miles to get here.” She thought he should know.

He looked taken aback. “He ran?”

“Yes. Ran. In boots. The cabs weren’t running and I don’t own a car. He was worried sick.” She thought it best not to bring up being stopped by the police. Simon really could use a lesson or two in diplomacy. She’d known as sure as rain that he was about to mouth off at that cop, and the only place that would get them was possibly arrested. The only place worse than her apartment to be in a blackout.

“Oh. He didn’t say.”

Charles Thackeray struck her as an academic who immersed himself in other times and places and didn’t invest much in the here and now.

“No. He wouldn’t, would he?” she countered.

“No, I don’t suppose he would. Always been a bit of a loner, our boy. And a little standoffish.”

Tawny managed not to gape and literally bit her tongue to keep from mouthing off about the pot calling the kettle black and the apple not falling far from the tree. Instead she contented herself with saying, “You just have to work a little harder to get to know him, but he’s definitely worth the effort.”

He looked at her as if she’d just expostulated a new scientific hypothesis but didn’t comment.

“So it was definitely a heart attack?” she asked.

“Yes. Chest pains woke her around midnight. Letitia’s one of the most sensible women I know. She didn’t know if it was the heat, indigestion or a heart attack. Instead of ignoring it, she told me to bring her to the hospital. Said she’d rather be embarrassed if it was indigestion than dead if it wasn’t. Very sensible woman.”

“I’ve seen the statistics. A frightening number of women die unnecessarily each year from heart attacks because they wait too long to seek treatment or simply ignore the symptoms,” Tawny said.

Apparently Charles Thackeray wasn’t as together as he seemed. Tears welled in his eyes. Great, Tawny. Make him cry by driving home how close his wife had come to dying. She awkwardly patted his arm.

“I’m glad she’s fine now.”

Charles nodded. “Something in my eye. Yes, of course. Good thing she’s such a sensible woman. Let’s go in so she can meet you.”

Tawny thought that since she’d opened her big mouth about dying that he really just needed to reassure himself that his wife was, indeed, okay.

“I’ll just wait out here till Simon’s through visiting with her.”

“Nonsense. Simon will want to know you’re here and I’m sure Letitia will want to meet you.”

Short of making a big stink, which didn’t seem the thing to do, Tawny had little choice but to allow him to usher her into the room ahead of him.

In a quick glance Tawny took in the situation. Simon stood to the right of the hospital bed, looking terribly uncomfortable and self-conscious. She checked out his mother.

She’d mentally prepared herself for a Gorgonesque creature. She was quite surprised at how...well, normal the woman in bed looked, even though she was hooked up to the telemetry machine. A chin-length bob of dark hair shot through with silver framed an angular, wan face and eyes the shape and color of Simon’s.

“Letty, this is Tawny Edwards.” He paused significantly and then continued, “She’s here with Simon.”

Without thinking, Tawny moved to stand beside Simon