A Hope Undaunted (46 page)

He gave her a slatted stare that sent heat to her cheeks before he casually strolled away with hands in his pocket, rattling his change.
And
her Life Savers.

She flew after him and jerked his arm to spin him around. “Okay, McGee, spill it. What do you want?” She smiled, well aware he wanted to continue the game from their past.

“Vindication, Katie Rose, for a ragtag little guy named Cluny McGee. An experiment – to see if you can say anything nice about him.”

A smile tugged at her lips as she folded her arms. “Something nice. About Cluny McGee?”

He chuckled, giving her a sideways glance. “Yeah. I want to see if being nice to the little beggar will crack your face.”

She squinted as if deep in thought while he reached into his pocket to produce the five rolls.

He bounced them in his hand with a little-boy glint in his eyes. “Come on, Katie Rose, this is our chance to clean the slate. You game?”

With a scrunch of her nose, she spun on her heel and headed for the door. “I don’t think so, McGee. Can’t shoot for the moon, you know.”

Luke blocked her, hand to her arm and a wicked grin on his face. He prodded her to the wall with a lift of his brow.

“One measly compliment, Katie Rose, and if Life Savers were money, you’d be a wealthy woman.”

It was meant no more than a tease, a game from their past to get her mind off the present, but all at once his heart started pounding and his mouth went dry. Those blue eyes blinked up at him, and basic instinct kicked in, sending heat through his veins. He grazed her arm with the pad of his thumb, and he knew his eyes conveyed more than they should. Hovering too close, he teetered on a dangerous precipice, eyes fixed on her lips. He was a friend who wanted to be a lover, and for the first time in weeks, the desire was so strong, he had to physically pull away. He took a step back.
God help me,
what I wouldn’t give . . .

She stared at him then with a lump in her throat, and her eyes met his piercing gaze with a soggy one of her own. “I’m already a wealthy woman,” she whispered, her voice so low he had to strain to hear it. “Cluny McGee is the best friend I’ve ever had.”

He blinked, the flow of air stilling in his throat. A bittersweet smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he took her hand and placed all five rolls in her palm. “Thanks, Katie Rose,” he said in a quiet voice. “I needed to hear that.” He looped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze. “Come on, kid, let’s get back before Gabe calls out the cavalry.”

“Katie?”

She glanced back, peering over Luke’s arm, which was snug around her shoulders. “Jack?” Relief echoed in her voice as she pulled away and hurried to give him a hug. “Oh, I’m so glad you’re here. I didn’t think you would make it.”

A frown shadowed his face as his gaze lashed to Luke and back. His voice was tainted by the slur of alcohol. “Come on, doll, you know I would be here at a time like this.”

“I know, but I just thought you’d be out till late and wouldn’t get the message I left.”

He brushed a strand of hair away from her face and gave her a kiss. “How’s your father?”

“Better, although we still don’t know what happened. We’re waiting on the doctor.”

His eyes narrowed as they settled on Luke. “What’s he doing here?”

Katie shot Luke a conciliatory smile, then turned back to Jack. “Luke was over to see Gabe when it happened.”

“Gabe? Or you?”

The smile faded from her tone. “What?”

Jack took a step forward with a glazed look, and even several feet away, Luke could see the red in his eyes. “I want to know why he’s always around.” He glared at Luke. “You trying to steal my girl, Soda Jerk?”

Katie pushed him back. “Luke is my friend, Jack, and Gabe’s. He comes to see her and to help me with homework, and that’s all.”

“Yeah, right. Then why was he hanging all over you when I just walked in?”

“Trust me, Jack, Katie and I are friends and nothing more.” Luke’s tone was hard.

“Trust you? Not on your life, Soda Jerk. I want you to stop hanging around my girl.”

A nerve twitched in Luke’s cheek. “That’s Katie’s call, not yours.”

“Jack, stop it – now!” Katie grabbed his arm, but he slung her off.

He moved toward Luke with hate in his eyes. “It’s my fiancée and my call, you slum rat, and I’m telling you for the last time – stay away from her.”

“I said, stop it!” Katie jerked his arm and stood in his way. “So help me, Jack, if you don’t apologize right now – ”

Luke had to fight the impulse not to knock the punk down. His voice was strained. “Katie, I’m going in to say goodbye to your family, and then I’m heading home.”

“Running away?” Jack’s voice was hard.

Luke cauterized him with a look that should have sobered him on the spot. “No, rich boy, I just care about Katie too much to cause a scene when her father is lying in there sick.” His gaze shifted to Katie and softened. “I’ll call you tomorrow to check on him, okay?”

She nodded and watched as he left, feeling strangely bereft when he disappeared through the double doors. She turned to Jack with temper singed. “How dare you come in here and make a scene when my father is sick!”

Humility came quickly at the sound of Katie’s voice. “Babe, I’m sorry, but that guy gets on my nerves.”

“And you get on mine, Jack Worthington, when you embarrass my friends.” She took a step forward and sniffed. “And you had the nerve to come here drunk?”

He pulled her close, contrition written all over his face. “Come on, Katydid, I’m sorry, but I came as soon as I heard, didn’t I?” He nuzzled his lips into the crook of her neck, and she felt herself relent.

“Yes, you did, and I appreciate that. But you need to go home.”

“But, babe, I came to be with you tonight.”

She stroked the side of his cheek. “I know, but you’re feeling no pain right now, and I’d rather you go home and go to bed, okay?”

“Okay, doll, whatever you say.” He kissed her again and molded her close, eliciting a silent groan in Katie’s chest when Luke walked by.

She held Jack tightly until Luke had time to leave the building, then pulled away and patted his arm. “Now, you go straight home, you hear?”

“I will, doll, I promise. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Jack ambled down the hall, and suddenly Katie was overwhelmed with the sense of being alone, swallowing hard when she realized it was Luke she missed and not Jack. Drawing in a deep breath, she headed back to the waiting room and the comfort of family, where hopefully, she thought with an ache in her throat, she would purge this awful loneliness from her soul.

Brady knocked on Evelyn’s door with loud, forceful strokes, his fury kindled on the ten-minute walk to her house. He loved Collin, closer than if they had the same blood in their veins, but right now it was all he could do to keep from bloodying that pretty face of his, a face that spelled trouble with women, ring on his finger or not. Collin had no business with this boy or his mother, a woman whose gratitude would obviously know no bounds. He blasted out another impatient sigh and bludgeoned the door once again before it swung open.

“Brady!” Evelyn stood there, the glow in her face the picture of hearth and home. She smiled, green eyes bright with surprise and wisps of auburn hair framing her pretty face, and for the very first time he noticed how much she looked like Faith. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes cut past her to where Collin sat on one side of a couch, hovering over a chessboard on a breakfast table between Tommy and him. Brady sucked in a harsh breath, ill-prepared for the sight before his eyes.

Tommy seemed so sallow and thin since he’d seen him last, his bony back hunched and propped against pillows on the side of the couch. Beneath the stilted table, his matchstick legs appeared flat and frail, peeking out beneath the remains of a blanket that had mostly slid to the floor. The boy looked up, and Brady’s heart wrenched in his chest. Dark eyes sunken in a pale face were surrounded by bluish-green circles that looked like shiners he’d gotten in a fight. His skin, almost translucent, gave him an eerie, ethereal glow, as if he were spirit instead of flesh and blood. Brady swallowed the shock in his throat at the sight of a purplish lump protruding from Tommy’s neck, and with a press of his jaw, he tore his gaze from the boy to Collin.

One look at his partner put all his fears to shame. The same haggard look in the boy’s eyes could be seen in Collin’s, right down to the hint of dark circles under his eyes, which now held an element of surprise. He straightened broad shoulders that had been hunched like Tommy’s and squinted at Brady from across the room. “What are you doing here?”

Brady’s gaze swept the room, taking in Evelyn’s mother knitting by the hearth where a fire crackled and spit, and Evelyn with an apron tied to her waist and the scent of apple pie in the air. He focused on Collin, his eyes full of regret. “They took Patrick to the hospital tonight – a possible heart attack or stroke. He appears to be doing fine now, but Faith needs you.”

The news obviously depleted what energy Collin had with a quick sheen of moisture that sprang to his eyes. His throat worked hard as he stood, his gaze settling on Tommy. “I have to go, bud, but I’ll see you in a few days, okay?” He squatted to carefully embrace the boy, and Tommy clutched him tightly around the neck.

“I love you, Collin,” he whispered, and Brady shifted on his feet while emotion stung in his eyes.

“I love you too, bud,” Collin said in a hoarse voice. He ruffled the boy’s hair as he rose to his feet. His eyes lighted on Evelyn and then on her mother. “Thanks for dinner. I’ll see you tomorrow, Evelyn.” He moved toward the door and lifted his coat from the rack, glancing at Brady out of the corner of his eyes. “You’re sure he’s okay?”

Brady gripped Collin’s shoulder with a reassuring squeeze. “We think so. The nurse said he’s resting comfortably.”

Collin nodded and slipped out the door, letting Brady close it behind him. They walked in silence for several blocks before Collin ever uttered a word. When he did, his voice was raspy and nasal, and Brady suddenly realized he’d been weeping. “I’m sorry you had to come get me, Brady. What happened tonight?”

Brady filled him in on the little he knew while Collin listened with a dead stare ahead.

“How’s Faith?” he whispered, his pace picking up as they approached the front doors of Sacred Heart Hospital.

“Worried about Patrick . . . and you.”

Collin heaved the doors open and started to sprint down the hall, ignoring the look of surprise on the night watchman’s face. Brady nodded at the man and loped behind, following Collin into the waiting room as he heaved the door wide.

“Collin!” Faith jumped to her feet.

In several long strides, she was in his arms, his head buried in her neck. “Forgive me, Faith, I am so sorry I wasn’t here.” He jerked back, his arms still clutching hers. “How is he?”

She studied the worried gray eyes now spidered with red, and her heart swelled with love, nearly trumping the hurt she harbored inside. “He’s weak, of course, the doctor said, but he expects him to recover with lots of rest. The good news is he suspects something he called ‘angina’ rather than a heart attack, which he says results from a lack of oxygen to the heart. Once the demand for oxygen abates, so do the symptoms, apparently, and no permanent damage is done. Mother saw him briefly before they shooed her out. He’ll be here for a week, which is going to rile him something fierce.”

“Are they sure it’s not a heart attack?” Collin’s tone begged reassurance.

Faith stroked his cheek at the look of fear in his eyes. “No, not 100 percent, but reasonably so. The doctor feels a regimen of less stress, reduced activity, and nitroglycerin to reduce his blood pressure will help, and hopefully in a few months, he can return to a near-normal lifestyle.”

His shoulders slumped in a weary sigh as he rubbed her arms. “Near normal, eh? Knowing Patrick, there’ll be no ‘near’ about it. Your mother’ll have her hands full, I’m afraid.”

“I heard that, Collin McGuire,” Marcy said behind his back, and he turned to face her, one arm still cradling Faith. Marcy snatched her coat from the back of the chair, and then her purse, her jaw as tight as Faith had ever seen. “After the scare Patrick O’Connor gave me tonight, I’m afraid it will be him who will have his hands full. There will be no work for three months, no steps to scale, no activity if I can help it, and no argument.” She gave Collin a thin smile as he helped her on with her coat. “I suggest everyone go home and get some rest. We have a monumental task ahead with your father.”

Mitch grabbed Charity’s coat and held it while she slipped it on. “No work for three months? During this financial crisis?” A smile hovered at the edges of his mouth. “You may need a length of rope, Marcy, to tie the man down.”

She buttoned her coat with a tight press of her lips, which held just a hint of a smile. “Don’t think I won’t.” Her eyes lighted on Sean. “Bring rope home from Kelly’s, will you, Sean? The strongest hemp you have.” She walked over to Steven and put a gentle hand to his cheek. “And you – you’re forgiven, but only if you develop a passion for chess with a tightly bound man. Now, let’s go home – I’m exhausted.”