Believe Me (Hearts for Ransom Book 3) (15 page)

Okay. Life was supposed to be easier now that he had both arms back in commission. So how was he to retrieve the book he dropped on the floor? He had tried wheeling his chair as close to it as he could, but the paperback ended up just far enough under his bed he couldn’t reach it—with either arm. And it was a man’s book, one Brody brought in for him during their last lawyer-friend meeting. Lots of shooting and wild horses, like westerns were supposed to have. He wasn’t quite halfway through it, and there was yet to be one single woman with a heaving bosom, longing for Chase’s touch. He’d never find out whether the ranger caught the cattle rustlers, though, unless he could figure out how to pick up the blasted book.

The familiar sound of his door opening announced a visitor before she spoke. “How are you today, Mr. Wright?” Jennifer, one of the nurses Mason saw five days a week, was there. “Doing okay without that cast on your arm?”

He swiveled his chair around to face her. “I can get around in my chair a lot better, but I dropped my book, and I can’t figure out how to get it.”

She smiled as she observed his predicament. “You need one of those pinch tools you can extend and squeeze to make it grasp objects, don’t you?”

He returned her smile. “Or a really nice nurse who wouldn’t mind picking it up for me.”

She sighed dramatically as she walked over to the bed and leaned down to retrieve the book. “My job doesn’t pay enough for these extra duties.”

“I’d give you a raise if I could.”

“Well, that makes two of us who agree.” She sat on a chair. “It’s a shame neither one of us has any clout with the people who sign the checks.”

“I know.” He sat still while she checked the pulse in his legs and feet. Then she stood up and examined his arm.

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt you to exercise this some. There’s a nice little gym down by the cafeteria.” She rolled her eyes. “You can eat all the fat-laden food you want, and then go across the hall and work it off. I’ll never understand why they designed some parts of this place the way they did.”

“I can go to the gym?” It would be great to go someplace besides this room and physical therapy.

“Sure.” She patted his arm. “As long as you let us know you’re going, and you don’t try to sneak out of the hospital, you’re free to roam the place. Just don’t go anywhere it says staff only.” She playfully shuddered. “You’re liable to see things that will give you nightmares or scar you for life.”

“Like what?” He’d play along.

“Let’s just put it this way,” she told him. “From the wrong end, a colonoscopy could scar you for life.”

Jennifer was Mason’s favorite nurse in this department. She was probably in her late forties, with short, brown hair and friendly, blue eyes, and if she had a bad mood, Mason had yet to see it. She almost always made him laugh with her keen observations.

“I’ll stick to the public domain,” he assured her.

She nodded. “I trust you. There’s a large waiting room at the end of Hall B, too. A window with a great view takes up an entire wall. It’s the next best thing to being outside.”

“Thanks.” He was officially excited about the prospect of getting out of this room and checking out the gym, and maybe a few other places.

“I’ll let you go, then,” she told him. “Don’t forget to check out that waiting room. With the snow starting to fall, it’ll be fantastic.”

“Okay.”

She held the door open as he awkwardly maneuvered his chair into the hall. Then she went back toward the nurses’ station while he started off in the directions she’d given him. Jennifer called it a small gym, but he bet it would be large enough to do laps without having to worry about ramming his feet into the walls.

A few minutes later, he was pleasantly surprised to discover the gym was larger than he anticipated. Mason aimed his chair and began a lap. By the time he turned the third corner, he’d found a rhythm and was in for a good exercise session.

His mind drifted to Claire. She was really a stunningly beautiful woman, but there was something else. He could see an inner strength. He admired her for choosing to keep Spencer, as young as she had to have been. And, especially during the past fifteen months, he noticed just how hard she worked to take good care of her kids. She shouldn’t have to work that hard. He could help her. He wanted to help her.

Even before the night they slept together, Mason was attracted to Claire. Maybe that was the real reason he was so quick to let himself believe she was equally attracted to him and just giving in to her feelings for that one night. And granted, most of the time they actually talked, it hadn’t usually been very pleasant, but he still found himself looking forward to their “chats” anyway.

And since that night, he felt different about her. Something deeper, like nothing he had ever felt before.

It hit him like a bolt of lightning, and Mason nearly ran his chair into the gym wall. He was in love with Claire. After spending most of his life scoffing at the notion of true love and marriage, he had gone and fallen in love with the last person in the world who would ever love him back. Look up ironic in the dictionary, and his situation would be there.

When he suggested a marriage of convenience, she shot him down faster than a bullet. She’d probably die laughing if he tried to tell her he wanted to marry her and be her husband and children’s father because he loved her.

It was a hopeless situation. He would heal, go back to work, be Spencer’s big brother, and exist.

Mason sadly wheeled himself to the waiting room Jennifer had told him about. He sat and stared out the window at the falling snow.

“I thought that was you.”

He swiveled his chair around to find Betsy standing there. She looked like a different person, a pair of black jeans and shirt with
Newman’s Hardware
on it plainly visible beneath her unzipped coat.

She must have noticed what he was looking at.

“I don’t work at Trimble’s anymore,” she proudly announced. “I’m the secretary at Newman’s. Matt needed somebody and Jesse…” She blushed a becoming shade of pink. “Jesse introduced us to each other. I have a business degree, you know.”

“I’m really pleased for you,” he told her sincerely.

“So am I,” she said. “Matt and the staff treat me like a lady.”

“Matt’s the kind of guy who would do that.”  Mason considered Matt Newman to be a good friend.

“I’m not making as much money,” she admitted, “but it’s enough.” She stood a little straighter. “And I have my dignity back.”

“Good.” Then Mason couldn’t resist asking her. “So, you and Jesse?”

She blushed again. “We’ve been dating. Jesse is the nicest man I’ve ever known, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s so handsome.”

Mason thought of Jesse’s red hair and tall, lanky frame. He guessed beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

“What are you doing here at this time of day?” he asked.

“I took an early lunch and came to sit with Mom. I’m spending as much time as I can with her now because I’m going to Illinois with Jesse for Christmas. His parents told me I’m welcome to come, and they have an extra bedroom for me.” Her face was bright pink again. “Jesse is a gentleman.”

“It sounds like things are going great for you.” Mason thought of the picture of Jesse’s parents. The skinny, red-haired Rogers’ men must naturally attract busty, blonde women. Who’d have ever thought it?

“I see you have the cast off your arm,” she told him. “And you must be getting around pretty good if you could make it down here on your own.”

After his laps and the realization he had come to love a woman he could never be with, he was actually pretty tired. In fact, he was going to wait there for a little longer before he wheeled himself back to his room.

“I’m doing pretty good,” he admitted. At least physically.

“I’m glad.” She looked at her watch. “I’m sorry, but I have to go.” She leaned down and gave him a quick hug. “I’ll see you later.” She turned and walked away.

Mason turned his chair back around and looked out the window. He wished he could go back ten years and get a do-over.

Butlers was swamped, even for a Friday afternoon crowd. The place was packed with Christmas shoppers, and there was some sort of Christmas concert at the Deluxe Entertainment Center. It seemed like all her tables were full of people eating an early dinner before they went.

Except for the group at table sixteen. There were six of who had to be the snottiest women Claire had ever waited on—and she had dealt with some pretty big snobs before. One of her worst customers was the woman whose father owned Zimmers’ Jewelry stores. Claire could never remember her name, but she heard the woman had gotten married, given birth to twin girls, and then been divorced because her husband caught her with one of the guys who worked for her in the jewelry store she managed. If the rumors were true, the woman’s ex-husband had sole custody of his daughters, because she couldn’t even be bothered to give up her lifestyle to raise her own children. How sad a life she must live.

But those women at table sixteen? The one with brown hair had sent her entrée back three times, claiming it wasn’t what she ordered. Claire wasn’t perfect, and she was willing to admit she made mistakes sometimes when she placed orders, but she knew the woman ordered rice pilaf with her fish the first time. Then, when Claire delivered their meals to the table, she insisted she ordered the steamed vegetables. Claire quickly carried her plate back to the kitchen and had one of the cooks fix it so the woman could eat with her friends. Only when Claire placed the new plate of food on the table, her customer then claimed to have ordered pasta salad with her fish. Claire had gritted her teeth and gone to get her yet another entrée.

“I distinctly remember ordering steamed vegetables with my fish,” she now told Claire. “Didn’t I, Alexandra?” she asked one of her friends.

Alexandra made some noncommittal noises.

“I’ll just eat this,” the woman griped. “I don’t have all day to wait on you to get my order right.”

“I’m sorry,” Claire told her. “There won’t be any charge for your meal.” She would have to pay for it out of her own pocket since the customer claimed it was Claire’s mistake. She silently walked back to the computer to take care of the meal herself right then so she didn’t forget it. It took a chunk out of her tips, but she still had several tables of happy customers who might replace it.

She took a few minutes between orders to clean off a table. A couple sitting at the next table over caught her eye when he leaned over and kissed the woman. Claire realized she didn’t just want a husband to help her. She wanted it all. She wanted love.

Could she and Mason ever love each other? Was Mason honestly capable of loving only one woman? Could she ever let herself trust him enough to love him? She was honest enough to admit she was very attracted to him. If they were to get married, she would expect fidelity. It would be unrealistic to expect either of them to live together in abstinence. She wasn’t going to kid herself. If she married Mason, she would sleep with him.

Alma’s voice pulled her from her musings. “You have six diners at table thirteen.”

She walked to the prep area and fixed the water and menus on her tray for the table. When she approached it, she recognized the customers. Besides Logan and Emily Taylor, Brody and Abby Gaines were there, and so were Bo and Jan Daniels. She didn’t know any of them very well, but each one of the men was a Slammer, and they each had a “little brother.” Only Bo’s little brother was now his adopted son. That thought jarred her memory, making her think of something Mason said.

“Good afternoon,” she greeted them. “What drinks can I get you started with?”

“Well, hi, Claire,” Emily greeted her warmly. It looked like Claire had somehow managed to get herself back in the other woman’s good graces.

“Hello.” Claire stood with her pen poised over her order pad, waiting.

“We’re going to the concert,” Abby told her excitedly. From what Claire had observed, Abby did just about everything with a ton of enthusiasm.

“Several of our customers are.” Claire didn’t want to be rude, but she had an order that could be up at any moment. “Do you know what you’d like to drink, or would you like a few minutes to look at the menu?”

“I’m sorry.” Emily smiled ruefully at Claire. “You’re busy, and here we are, trying to visit with you.” She glanced at the menu. “I just want Sprite.”

Abby grinned mischievously before she ordered a Coke. Then Jan ordered a Coke, too. All three men ordered sweet tea.

“I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

Just as she reached the preparation area, she heard her order called. She rushed over and picked up the food and took it to table three. The four people there were all content, their glasses still nearly full, and each of them receiving what they ordered.

As she rushed back to get the drinks for Emily’s table, somebody ran into her from the side, jolting her.

“I’m so sorry.” Jan Daniels placed her hand on Claire’s shoulder as if to steady her.

“That’s okay,” Claire assured her. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Neither was I.” Jan smiled warmly.

Claire looked around. This might be the only opportunity she had to ask what she wanted.

“If I’m being nosy, just tell me to mind my own business,” Claire said, “but Mason mentioned something about you and Bo…and Seth.” They had to be the friends Mason referred to—marrying to keep their son.

Jan smiled. “Yes, it’s true. Bo and I got married to keep from losing Seth. But we’re very much in love and have a perfect family with Seth and our little girl.”

“How…how could you marry Bo when you didn’t love him?”

“I’m not sure I didn’t already love him,” Jan answered. “I think I may have fallen in love with him the day he showed up at my house with Seth. But he wasn’t available, you know, so I didn’t let myself think of him that way. We were just friends taking care of Seth together. Then one day it hit me. I knew I loved him. And thank heavens, he loved me, too.” She gave Claire a puzzled look. “Can I ask why you’re so interested?”

Claire thought it was only fair since Jan had shared such personal information with her. “Mason…Mason has asked me to marry him so he can adopt my children. We don’t love each other. I’m not sure what to do. The whole thing just—”

Jan started chuckling and rolled her eyes. “Those Slammers. What is it with them? They want to get married first and date later!” She shook her head. “Listen, Claire, Bo and I didn’t feel like we had a choice. We thought we had to get married right away, or we would have lost Seth. Unless there’s something I’m not aware of, you and Mason aren’t under any kind of pressure like that. So, why don’t you take it slow, and do it the traditional way? Date first…hopefully, fall in love…and then get married and enjoy your family together.”

What had she been thinking? “I feel stupid,” Claire admitted.

“Please don’t,” Jan told her. “We’re willing to do crazy things for our children, aren’t we?”

“Thank you for telling me about you and Bo…and for your advice.” Claire felt much better about everything.

“I’d better get to the bathroom and back before Bo sends Emily or Abby to make sure I haven’t gotten lost.” Jan patted her shoulder. “Good luck.”

“Thanks again.” Claire walked over to get their drinks. She had a plan and somewhere to go right after work.