Hourglass Squared (18 page)

"Brooke, it's nearly noon. Are you okay?" Penelope called from my bedroom. She had been pampering me like crazy, cooking us dinners and making sure my house was tidy so I could rest.

"Yeah, I just stepped out of the shower. I'll be down in a moment." I heard the door click shut, knowing it meant I was once again alone in my room. Josh had gone into work that morning, trying to get his spreadsheets and meetings in with the board so that he could take some time off after my surgery.

I pulled open my lingerie drawer, and my white lace bra caught my attention. It was the one I had bought for our wedding night. I grabbed the matching panties and quickly slipped them on, soaking in the womanly feeling of being sexy in a matching lace set. After committing the reflection in the mirror to memory, I walked into our closet, tugging a green summer dress off the hanger that I knew Josh loved. On my way out the door, I grabbed my nude heels and then made my way downstairs.

"Good afternoon, Penelope." I greeted her with a hug and kiss as I made my way over to the coffee pot. "I just have one errand today, and then I'm all yours. Did you want to go to that art museum before dinner?"

Penelope tossed the sponge in her hand to the sink and leaned against the sparkling countertop. "I'd be happy to go with you, Brooke. Let me just go touch up my make up."

As she turned to head to the guest bathroom, I called out to her, "Oh, Penelope, this is for work. I forgot to settle up a contract with a vendor, and they are pretty ticked. I'm going to go smooth things over. I'll be back in no time." My coffee splashed in the sink as I poured it down the drain. On my way out, I grabbed my purse and bolted out the door before Penelope could come up with a new plan or contact Hourglass.

My car slowly crept in to the large skyscraper's garage, as my nerves began to get the better of me. I knew I needed to do this, but it didn't make it any easier. As I waited for the elevator to arrive in the lobby, I shifted on my heels, anxious to get upstairs and get this done with.

The ding of the elevator had my eyes shooting up, watching as the doors rattled open. Once I stepped in, I turned around and pressed the button for the thirty-seventh floor. I waited as the doors slid shut, then the elevator rocketed upward, leaving my stomach below in the lobby. As I walked up to the receptionist desk, the young woman sitting there looked up at me with a smile.

"Good afternoon, do you have an appointment?" Her voice was so bubbly and friendly that I smiled back on instinct.

"Yes, I'm Brooke Worthington. I called about getting a will drawn up with Mr. Clark. He is expecting me."

"Of course, Mrs. Worthington. If you'll go ahead and have a seat in the conference room, I will go let him know you have arrived." She stood up and walked down the hall toward what I assumed were the offices, as I took a seat in the room she had pointed out. Staring out over the panoramic view, I was awestruck by the Denver skyline from that altitude.

"Mrs. Worthington," a deep male voice called, causing me to look up. A tall slender man in a three-piece suit came strutting in, his hand outstretched toward mine to shake. "I'm Mr. Clark. I've taken your request to mind and drawn up the documents for you to review. I must say I am impressed with your pro-activeness. Now don't let this all worry you too much. Many new parents have wills drawn up, just in case."

I nodded once as he slid me a manila folder across the wooden table. I caught it in my hands and flipped it open, reading each line of the documents enclosed. He had done a remarkable job. Most of my requests had been included verbatim, until I reached the final page. The most important one of all…

"Mr. Clark, this one is incorrect. Guardianship in case of my husband's death goes to Jake and Savannah Worthington, not Penelope. She was only to be noted if, by some strange reason, they couldn't."

Mr. Clark leaned forward, muttering to himself as he read the document. "My apologies. I'll get this fixed and back to you tomorrow for your signature."

"No, today. I need them today," I cried out. What if I didn't have a tomorrow?

Mr. Clark shuffled the papers around as he looked to me. "Let me go grab another paralegal and see if she can access the documents to edit them. I am very sorry."

"It's just… I have breast cancer and am having surgery tomorrow. I need to know that my baby will be okay. My husband may not be able to think of these things for some time as he grieves, and if I've learned anything, it's that life can be stolen in the blink of an eye. I just need it all to be okay just in case."

"I will get these fixed straight away. One moment please." He jumped to his feet and bolted out the door, returning in no more than fifteen minutes with the corrected document for me to sign. While walking me out the door, Mr. Clark passed the documents to the receptionist, instructing her to have them placed in their files immediately. He pushed the button for the elevator and then turned to me. "I am so sorry you have to fight this. My wife was diagnosed two years ago, and it's not an easy battle."

The elevator bell rang, and the doors slid open, letting me step inside to go home to my family.

By the time I pulled back into my driveway, Josh's car was sitting in its spot. I tucked away my copies of the documents until I could get inside and put them in the safe. I'd be sure to tell him and Savannah where they could be found before going back tomorrow.

"Hey, beautiful," Josh crooned, greeting me at the door with a kiss. "Sav and Jake said they'd meet us tomorrow, and my mom went to their place, so it's just you and me tonight."

I leaned my weight onto him and slipped off my heels then let them fall to the floor with a thud.

"Wow, you have a hot date?" Josh teased as he stood back and checked me out.

"I sure do, and I'm in his arms now."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and stretched up on my tip toes. He moaned as I pulled his lip between my bottom teeth.

After catching on quickly to what I was after, he skimmed his hands up my ribs to my face.

I brought my fingers up to his lips. I stilled our movements for a moment while I was feeling brave. As Josh waited and watched, I bent down and grasped the hem of my dress, pulling it up and over my head with one final tug.

Josh's jaw hung agape as he ogled me standing in our foyer in just a bra and panties.

"Look familiar?"

His eyes scanned my body again, and heat flooded through me as he did. They lit up as he pointed at my lingerie.

"Our wedding night," his throaty voice crooned, and he let his knuckles skim along my bare skin. "I say we go reenact the honeymoon right now." In a flash, Josh bent down and scooped me up, holding me close to him as he carried me up the stairs to our room. It felt like my entire world would end tomorrow, so for tonight… tonight I would make love to my husband, let him worship every inch of my naked body, and feel like a whole woman.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Savannah

I
T WAS TEN
till six in the morning, and Jake was speeding through traffic on his way to the hospital, me in the passenger's seat and Penelope holding on for dear life in the back.

"Jake, slow down, please. You're going to cause an accident."

He yelled back at his mom, and I knew he wasn't trying to be mean; he just wanted to get his point across. "Mom, just stop. I know how to drive. We can't miss Brooke before they take her back. Savannah needs to be there, and I don't want Josh all alone. He needs us."

His mom sighed but continued on regardless, "Sweetie, I know, but you don't need to risk the lives of your wife and unborn children in the process."

Jake reached over and gripped my hand, knowing that lately the mere mentioning of someone dying caused my heart to lurch out of my chest.

I had to do my best to fight back the tears. I squeeze his giant hand and looked over at him, my eyes smiling when my mouth couldn't, thankful that he knew me so well.

Jake sped into the curbside valet, and we all poured out of the car. He tossed his keys to the attendant as we rushed through the sliding glass doors. Josh had sent us a text with the room number, so we were able to avoid dealing with the front desk and the wait that came with it.

I was the first one to fly through the door, unable to believe that I'd beat Jake.
Maybe my pregnant running skills aren't so bad after all.

Brooke lay there in the hospital bed in a light blue gown, her hair pulled to the side and no sign of makeup on her face, but she was still smiling.

Her nurse glanced up at me. "I'm sorry. You'll have to wait outside. We are prepping her for surgery."

But Brooke cut her off, "It's okay. She's my sister."

I stepped into the room and up to Brooke's bedside, opposite of Josh who was clinging to her hand for dear life. I wanted to hold her hand, but instead, I threw myself down next to her and wrapped her into a hug, not able to hold back the waterworks that escaped my eyes.

She squeezed me tight. "No tears. I need you to be strong."

I stood and wiped the falling drops, doing my best to force them away, but it was so hard. She was minutes away from a life-altering surgery, and there was nothing I could do to help her. The worst part was remembering the doctor had warned us that it may not cure her cancer. She'd still need radiation and chemotherapy. But Brooke had refused, at least not until she'd delivered a perfectly healthy baby. Which, in turn, meant she could spend the next few months getting worse.

I pressed into Jake as his arms wrapped around me, and he kissed the top of my head then let me go and leaned over Brooke, both of his hands resting on the guardrails of the bed. "Look, sis, you're going to beat this, you hear me? You've got way too much to live for, including your pain-in-the-ass brother-in-law who needs his ass kicked by someone other than his wife every now and then."

The tears welled in her eyes as she worked overtime to keep them from spilling down her cheeks. She reached up and pulled him down toward her, hugging him tightly. "I love you, Jake."

"Love you, too," he whispered back to her, before he stood, his hands finding my waist and pulling me up against him.

Penelope was next up and then Josh. He looked over to the three of us. "Would you give us a minute?" he pleaded.

We slipped out of the room, and Jake pulled the door closed behind him. The hallway was filled with nurses who were just coming in for the morning shift, and doctors were busy making the rounds checking in on their patients. They were all buzzing around with clipboards and charts in tow, smiling as they discussed the weather or whatever it was they were talking about. All the while we were standing there, sending my best friend off to surgery that would change the course of all of our lives.

A dainty nurse walked up to the door and knocked on it, not waiting for an answer before stepping in. A few seconds later, Brooke's bed was being wheeled out by the nurse, who was met by two others and Dr. Rothchild.

Brooke gave us all one last smile as the doctor gripped Josh's arm. "I'll take it from here. She's in the best possible hands. I can assure you of that."

They began wheeling Brooke down the hall as the four of us stood there, looking on. Once the elevator opened, the nurses turned her bed and wheeled her into the elevator backward so she was facing all of us. Her hand lifted to her mouth, and she blew us all a kiss, mouthing the words
I love you,
just as the elevator closed. Within the blink of an eye, she was gone.

I did my best to hold it together, but my heart was literally crumbling inside of me.