Her Unexpected Affair (The Robinsons) (26 page)

“Let’s get a selfie here.”

A giggled worked its way up her throat. The wine had certainly loosened him up. Come to think of it, she’d loosened up as well. “You do selfies?”

“This will be my first. Let’s see if I can figure it out.”

By the time he figured out how to click the photo one handed, they leaned against one another in laughter.

“So very dignified, Mr. Lin.”

Shan snorted in a manner she’d never expect from him. “Dignity can be over rated at times. Although I try not to mock it in public.”

Meilin herself snorted. Seemed like every time she thumbed her nose at dignity it was unfortunately very much in public. Turning around to see if anyone had witnessed their silliness, she saw a young man wheeling two cases of wine out to the parking lot. “Looks like us.” She grabbed Shan’s arm. Why did they have to be so fast with the delivery? Every moment out here was one further away from having to decide whether or not to sleep with him. She waved to the man who was looking around for them, letting him know they were on their way to the car. He waved back and stopped, waiting for them to catch up.

Shan spun to look around and orient himself, saw the man with the hand truck, and started forward. Only he skipped the path and tripped over a rock used to mark the way and protect the landscaping.

Meilin felt her mouth form an astonished O as Shan fell face first into a small garden of rocks and succulents. There was nothing she could to do break his fall. Despite that, she rushed around the rock he’d tripped over, hoping to do something. Anything. But the sound of his head hitting a smaller pile of landscape rocks made her wince and cry out.

“Shan!” She knelt by his side and reached for his neck. Right. Like she knew how to search for a pulse?

The winery employee ditched the wine and ran in their direction while calling out over his shoulder for help.

In a daze, Meilin knelt at Shan’s side until someone pulled her up and out of the way of the people trying to help. They got him rolled over and a compress on the large, bloody, swelling area on the right side of his forehead. Smaller abrasions dotted his cheekbone, jaw line, and arms. In fact, his right wrist didn’t look quite right at that angle.

Paramedics arrived along with a police escort about the time Shan started coming around. In a daze she let an officer lead her to a seat on a rock and answered all his questions, making sure she let him know it was Shan’s own mistake that led to the accident. She wanted the winery to know she held them blameless. And all the while, inside, deep within the concern for his health, a very teeny bit of her sighed in relief.

Shan wouldn’t be up to sex tonight.

Drew had just popped open a fresh beer and settled into his favorite backyard lounge for an after dinner nap when his cell phone rang.

He’d escaped from the school for a night and just wanted to soak up an hour of setting sun before jumping into the spa on the far side of the pool to boil for an hour or two. Anything to relieve the stress knotting up his shoulders. He figured Meilin and her fiancé were probably getting dressed for dinner by now. All day he’d been following her Facebook updates with their locations. The last had been Mumm Napa, about five hours ago. Was she too distracted being wined and dined to update her status?

He answered his phone on the fourth ring.

“’Allo?”

“Oh, Drew, thank God.”

Drew’s brow’s shot up, his heart kicked into high gear at the breathless sound of Meilin’s voice. Was she crying? He sat up straight, all thought of relaxing vaporizing.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh my God, Drew, it’s awful. I didn’t want to sleep with him, but I never imagined Fate intervening on my behalf this way! I don’t know what to do. Shan’s making a fuss and being a bully.”

“Slow down,” he said cautiously. “What’s going on?”

By the time she got the story out between sniffles and hiccups, his gut relaxed with relief. The man not only had a concussion, complete with black eye, badly bruised cheek, and a couple bruised—possibly cracked—ribs, but he’d broken his arm and ankle as well. And he wanted to sue everyone from the winery to the nurse taking his vitals. Since Meilin wasn’t there to see him, Drew didn’t hold back his grin. Served the arsewipe right. Still, this he could help with.

“You say he’s threatening to sue everyone?”

“It’s awful. He tripped over a rock, ignoring the path, so it’s his own fault, but really. He was a little tipsy. Not enough for a DUI, the cops did a breathalyzer and the hospital did a blood alcohol test, so he’s not being charged, but those people did everything they could to help him. And now he’s demanding I find his lawyer. He shouldn’t be trying to sue them. Good God, they acted in good faith! I can’t talk him down from it, Drew. Do you think you can talk some sense into him? How fast can you make it up here?”

Drew was already on the move. “What hospital?”

“Queen of the Valley, in Napa.”

“I’ll find it.” He strode into the house and to his room. “I’ll try to make it in an hour. Keep your phone on so I can find you. Do you need help with his car? Should I bring Birdie to drive mine back?”

“No, no, I can drive him home. They want to keep him overnight. He really should stay longer, but, well… The way he’s throwing around his lawyer’s name, everyone will be happier if he’s at home with personal care.”

If the man was being that much of a pain, yeah, the hospital staff would love to see the last of Shan. “What about you? Did you, don’t you, have reservations?” In his room he switched his phone to speaker and tugged off his swim trunks, changing into jeans and a T-shirt, then tucking his wallet into a pocket and slipping his feet into socks and cross-trainer shoes.

“We had, have, reservations in Calistoga. It’s a little far from the hospital. So I probably should call and cancel. He’ll probably expect me to stay overnight…”

“No, don’t stay at the hospital. You’ll need all the rest you can get if you’re to drive him home tomorrow.” Drew grabbed his keys from the dresser and threw open his bedroom door, surprising Birdie, who was leaving the steamy bathroom wrapped in a robe with a towel turban around her head. “I need the car,” he said shortly.

“Wait a minute!” His sister protested. They’d already flipped a coin and she’d won the toss to take the car for the evening. Not that he’d cared much, he hadn’t been in the mood to go out, but they’d had to play the game.

“Emergency trumps fun time. Ask Mum to borrow her car.”

“You ask her.” Birdie stomped behind him to the hall leading to the foyer.

“Meilin.” Drew returned his phone to private. “I’ll call when I get close. I’ve got GPS, so I’ll find the hospital. Just hold his hand”—Drew winced at his own advice—“and try to keep him calm. You’ll have to tell me how to find you when I get there.”

Drew paused at the living room, looking toward the reading nook where the parents were cuddled on a love seat, each with a book in hand, but neither were reading. “Let me get on the road and I’ll call you back.”

“Okay,” she whispered. “And…and thank you.”

“No thanks necessary. I’m on my way as soon as I let the family know where I’m going. Hang in there, love.”

No sooner had he disconnected than his family stood around him demanding answers.

“Meilin’s fiancé, your friend Shan, had some sort of fall, knocked himself wonky, and broke a few bones.”

Silence fell immediately, his father looking at him shrewdly. “And she called you because…?”

“We’ve become…friends. She was the substitute teacher a couple weekends ago. She’s stopped by a few times to tutor and to help with homework. The professor is a cousin of hers. Anyhow, it’s not important. I need to get going. They’re at a hospital in Napa, and she wants my help talking him down from making litigation threats.”

Dad’s eyebrow rose a little more. Randi’s soft hand landed on his arm. Birdie snorted and crossed her arms.

“We had a deal,” his sister reminded him. “You usually get the car. This time it’s my turn.”

“You can take my car, Drew,” Randi said and squeezed his arm. “We’re staying in tonight and not going anywhere tomorrow. I assume at this hour they’re keeping him overnight?” Everyone glanced at the clock on the mantel. Eight o’clock in the evening.

“Yeah, she said they wanted to keep him over,” Drew confirmed.

His father dug out his wallet and separated several bills from it. “Here. You’ll probably need to find a place to sleep or get some food at least. This should get you through the night.”

“Right.” Randi squeezed past him and headed for her purse on the kitchen counter.

“Thanks, Da.” Drew shoved his keys and the money into the front pocket of his jeans. “I’ll be going. I’ll call once I find out something.”

Randi met him in the foyer and passed over the keys to the new car, a gift from his father. One with real power, Mum’s brand new Jag. Birdie hadn’t been given the option of driving it yet, and he could see it roasting her arse that he got to drive it first. Too bad. He didn’t have time to fight about it. “Ta, Mum.” He bent to kiss her cheek, then headed out to the garage.

“Take care of my car,” she called after him. “No tickets!”

He tossed a wave over his shoulder before letting the door bang shut. He’d do his best, but he wasn’t making any promises.

* * * *

Meilin paced the floor outside Shan’s room, impatient for Drew’s call. Yes, she’d asked him for some legal advice, but if she were honest with herself, she just wanted him here. His level head, his calm presence. Everything that Shan had not demonstrated upon his injury. At least Shan was out of it. The doctor had ordered a sedative, and everyone had breathed a sigh of relief when Shan had slipped into sleep.

The fracture of his ankle, while bad enough to hurt, was a simple break easily straightened, then encased in plaster to keep it straight. Same with the broken arm. The worst part was both breaks were on his right side, a double inconvenience he’d already noted. Even without those breaks, the injuries to his head and ribs would have sidelined him from driving anyway. Either he’d have to let Meilin drive his car home, he’d observed sourly, or he’d have to hire a limo and a tow truck. She’d met this comment with a raised brow that had shut him up. For a bit. From there he’d complained of the pain in his head, knee, arms and any other place he could think of. Thankfully the pain pill had kicked in, further pulling him under so he’d mostly sleep through the hourly checks by the nurses.

The simple fact Shan hadn’t yet grasped—but the doctor had been frankly clear about with her—was he would be out of commission for several weeks. He was going to either need to stay in the hospital a few days, or he’d require competent nursing care around the clock. Preferably in bed. And since he couldn’t use crutches with the broken arm and the injured ribs, it would mean using a wheel chair during recovery. The doctor provided her with the name of an ambulance service who could get Shan home, and a nursing service who could care for him once he got there. Obviously the doctor wasn’t going to insist Shan stay for a few days. She didn’t blame him a bit.

What concerned Meilin most was how awful he’d acted to every single person trying to do their job, helping him. From the moment he’d awakened on the ground at the winery, to the moment he’d fallen asleep, he’d grumbled and loudly complained, even snapping at her, brushing her off when she tried to comfort him. Talk about a grouchy patient. Not that she had much experience with trauma that involved ambulances and emergency rooms, but she had a feeling the people staffing the rescue positions didn’t deserve his ire. Not when he’d tripped all on his own.

And then he’d had the nerve to demand the nurses find a cot for her to sleep in his room. The last very thing she wanted to do. Had he been sweet, or at least calm and reasonable, she wouldn’t have hesitated. To be ordered about… No, that she could not abide. If it weren’t in poor taste, she’d set his ring on the table and walk out. But while she wouldn’t stand for his verbal abuse, neither would she dump him while he was down. That wouldn’t be any nicer than how he treated everyone working so hard to see to his comfort and healing.

One thing this day had made crystal clear—she had zero desire to marry the man. She couldn’t see herself spending her life with him. No more waffling on that topic for her.

And if he thought she’d let him bully her about getting back to the city in the morning, he had another think coming. She’d happily stuff him into a limo, then drive his precious car home. By herself. She should have let Drew bring his sister along to drive their car back and he could ride with her for the two hour drive to the city. And that was only if traffic was light.

The more she thought about it, the happier she was she’d called Drew first. Of course she’d also called her parents. Shan’s parents. His assistant and housekeeper, who were both focused on getting home care set up by noon tomorrow. She’d even called Jack because of his recent law degree. If anyone in the family counted as a personal injury lawyer, he sure did. He’d also approved of her calling Drew, as he couldn’t reach the hospital in less than five hours. Another glance at her watch, the clock on the wall over the nurses’ station, and her phone, revealed the same truth. Barely an hour had passed since she’d spoken with Drew. He could arrive at any moment now. Right?

At the end of the hall, she turned around and began pacing back the other direction, wanting nothing more than to fall into a comfortable bed and sleep. The wine buzz had worn off long ago. Right about the time the adrenalin had kicked in as Shan was still falling. A sight and sound she’d never forget. Although it had happened very fast, within a matter of a second or two, it kept playing over and over in her head in excruciating, slow motion.

Hearing the impact of Shan’s head in her own made her wince yet again. The man was lucky to have most of his brains intact. Hopefully he’d see that soon. There was little the medical staff could do for him beyond pain relief. She’d already helped reposition his broken leg and arm a dozen times. Once more she mentally thanked the staff for sending him off to la-la-land.