Unfinished Business - Nora Roberts Page 0,49
gave her a huge hug. “Bye, Mom.”
“You’re a sneaky bunch.” Ham had to take out his handkerchief. “Well, Loretta, I guess we’ve got ourselves a honeymoon.”
“Not if you miss your plane.” Joanie, always ready to worry, began to push them toward the limo. “Don’t sit in the sun too long. It’s much more intense down there. Oh, and whatever you buy, make sure you shop around and bargain first. You can change your money at the hotel—there’s a phrase book in the carry-on. And if you need—”
“Say goodbye, Joanie,” Jack told her.
“Oh, shoot.” She rubbed her knuckles under her damp eyes. “Bye. Wave bye-bye, Lara.”
“Oh, Ham. Gardenias.” Loretta began to weep again.
With shouts and waves from the entire town, the limo began to cruise sedately down Main Street, followed by the clang and thump of cans and shoes, and an escort of running children.
“There they go,” Joanie managed, burying her face in Jack’s shoulder. He patted her hair.
“It’s okay, honey. Kids have to leave home sometime. Come on, I’ll get you some potato salad.” He grinned at Brady as he led her away.
Vanessa cleared the lump in her throat. “That was quite a send-off.”
“I want to talk to you. We can go to your house or mine.”
“I think we should wait until—”
“We’ve already waited too long.”
Panicked, she looked around. How was it that they were alone again so quickly? “The party— You have guests.”
“Nobody’ll miss us.” With a hand on her arm, he turned toward his car.
“Dr. Tucker, Dr. Tucker!” Annie Crampton was racing around the corner of the house. “Come quick! Something’s wrong with my grandpa!”
He moved quickly. By the time Vanessa reached the backyard, he was already kneeling beside the old man, loosening his collar.
“Pain,” the old man said. “In my chest … can’t breathe.”
“I got Dad’s bag,” Joanie said as she passed it to Brady. “Ambulance is coming.”
Brady just nodded. “Take it easy, Mr. Benson.” He took a small bottle and a syringe out of the bag. “I want you to stay calm.” He continued to talk as he worked, calming and soothing with his voice. “Joanie, get his file,” he murmured.
Feeling helpless, Vanessa put an arm around Annie’s shoulders and drew her back. “Come on, Annie.”
“Is Grandpa going to die?”
“Dr. Tucker’s taking care of him. He’s a very good doctor.”
“He takes care of my mom.” She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. “He’s going to deliver the baby and all, but Grandpa, he’s real old. He fell down. He just got all funny-looking and fell down.”
“Dr. Tucker was right here.” She stroked Annie’s flyaway hair. “If he was going to get sick, it was the best place for it. When he’s better, you can play your new song for him.”
“The Madonna song?”
“That’s right.” She heard the wail of an ambulance. “They’re coming to take him to the hospital.”
“Will Dr. Tucker go with him?”
“I’m sure he will.” She watched as the attendants hurried out with a stretcher. Brady spoke to them briskly, giving instructions. She saw him put his hands on Annie’s mother’s shoulders, speaking slowly, calmly, while she looked up at him with trust and tears in her eyes. When Brady started after the stretcher, Vanessa gave Annie a last squeeze.
“Why don’t you go sit with your mother for a minute? She’ll be scared.” How well she knew, Vanessa thought. She remembered the fear and despair she had felt when they had taken her own father. Turning, she rushed after Brady.
“Brady.” She knew she couldn’t waste his time. When he turned, she saw the concern, the concentration and the impatience in his eyes. “Please let me know how—what happens.”
He nodded, then climbed in the rear of the ambulance with his patient.
It was nearly midnight when Brady pulled up in front of his house. There was a sliver of a moon, bone-white against a black sky studded with stars as clear as ice. He sat where he was for a moment, letting his muscles relax one by one. With his windows down he could hear the wind sighing through the trees.
The fatigue of an eighteen-hour-day had finally caught up with him on the drive home. He was grateful Jack had brought his car to the hospital. Without it, he would have been tempted to stretch out in the lounge. Now all he wanted was to ease his tired body into a hot tub, turn on the jets and drink a cold beer.
The lights were on downstairs. He was glad he’d forgotten to turn them off. It was