Million Dollar Marriage (16 page)

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” Holden said quickly, holding up both hands. “I don’t
think we’re talking about the same thing here. I never did anything
to hurt Lucy. Put her in a hospital? I don’t know what you’re—”

“Ah.” John waved a dismissive hand. “I
know
it was you. She didn’t tell me. I never asked, because I had no need to ask. My Lucy
was a good girl. She would not have let just anyone take advantage of her. But you…I
always knew she was weak where you were concerned, Fortune. She thought she loved
you.” He sniffed. “You didn’t even come to see her in the hospital.”

“I didn’t know she was ever in the hospital!”

John Brightwater crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Holden. Then, bit by
bit, the frown lines in his face eased. A hint of doubt appeared. “It would be just
like her not to tell you.”

“Then why don’t you tell me? Because I’m totally lost here.”

Still scowling, eyes narrow, he finally nodded. “I don’t know what happened between
you and my daughter, Fortune. Only that you took advantage of her. She was an innocent.”

Holden lowered his head. “It’s true. I had too much to drink one night and…hell, there’s
no excuse. I did it, and I’m ashamed of it. Lucy’s too good to be treated that way.”
He managed to look his wife’s father in the eye again. “For what it’s worth, I’ve
told her how sorry I am. And I think she’s forgiven me.”

“Has she forgiven you for the loss of her child, as well, Fortune?”

“Her…” Holden gulped in a breath.

“There was a child,” John Brightwater said. “My grandchild. But growing inside Lucy’s
fallopian tube,
rather than in the safety of her womb. When the child grew too large…”

“Oh, my God.” Holden came off the desk, dizzy, his knees shaking. “Oh, my God, I didn’t
know…”

“She bled inside. The fetus had to be removed, along with an ovary. Lucy’s chances
of conceiving again were cut in two because of that.” He lowered his head, shaking
it slowly. “Perhaps less than that, given her mother’s history of ovarian cancer.
Perhaps I’ll never know a grandchild.” He looked at Holden, his gaze steady as Holden
stood there, one fist clenched in his own hair. “My daughter may have forgiven you,
Fortune. But I do not know that I can.”

Holden sighed, dragging himself away from his thoughts long enough to feel defensive.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t,” he said. “But I swear to you, I did not know
any of this. And…and besides, she could have had ten kids by now and you wouldn’t
have known about it. If you care so much for your daughter, Mr. Brightwater, why have
you been out of her life for so long?”

This time, it was John who looked at the floor. “I failed her. So many times. I just
couldn’t face her anymore. I let her mother die, you know.”

Holden’s attitude softened immediately, along with his voice. “No, I don’t know. I
don’t think that’s true.”

“It is. I knew something was wrong. I should have made her see a doctor sooner than
she did. I should have—”

“No.” Holden shook his head, expelling his breath all at once. “There was nothing
you could have done. I’m sure of that.”

“I failed her as a father, as well. If I had been doing my job, I would have protected
her from men like you.”

Pursing his lips, Holden decided to let that one pass. “It’s history now. You can’t
change the past, John. Only the future. And I think your daughter needs you in her
life again. That’s why I sent that ticket, and asked you to come here.”

John’s head came up slowly, his eyes widening. “She’s not sick, is she? The doctors
warned us both that this cancer that killed her mother would be a risk for her. Some
even suggested she have the remaining ovary removed, to prevent it.”

“My God. The risk is that high?”

John looked at him steadily.

The most horrible thoughts were running through Holden’s mind. What if she was sick?
What if that was why she’d been so desperate to have a child that she would resort
to tricking him into getting her pregnant? He should have known there was more motivating
her than what she’d revealed. He should have known! No woman as good as Lucy would
play those kinds of games without a damn good reason.

“I would like to see my daughter now. Perhaps it is not too late.”

“It’s not. I promise you, it’s not.” He glanced at his watch. “She’ll be at the hospital,
just about to take a lunch break, I think. Come on, I’ll drive you there.”

“No need,” John began.

“Yeah, there is,” Holden said. “I have some business there myself.”

L
ucy sat in her office, munching a tuna salad from the hospital cafeteria, and grimacing
at the taste. The lettuce was wilted. Still, she forced it down. It was good for the
baby. Her side dishes included lukewarm string beans and a carton of milk.

There was a tap on the office door. She washed her bite down with a gulp of milk,
and called, “Come in.”

The door opened, and the last person in the world she’d expected to see stood there.

“Dad?” She got up slowly. “My God, what are you doing here?”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I…” Then he shrugged. “I came to
say that…I’m sorry. And that I love you, daughter.”

The lump that came into her throat was so large, it nearly choked her. She couldn’t
speak. For him to show up now, of all times… She moved around the desk, went to her
father, and almost cried in relief when his arms came around her.

Holden watched from across the hall, as the two embraced in the open doorway of Lucy’s
office. Then he nodded, and went to the next office down. He’d already checked at
the nurses’ desk, and there was only one other OB-GYN in residence here at Red
Rock General. Dr. Karen Flemming. So she had to be Lucy’s doctor, right?

So she had to have Lucy’s records.

He tapped on her office door, went in when she opened it, tried to school his face
into a look of excited worry and said, “There’s a lady giving birth in the parking
lot! You’d better hurry!”

“Holy mother of…” was all he heard as she raced away, dragging a nurse in her wake.

As soon as she was out of sight, Holden looked both ways, and slipped into her office,
closing the door behind him.

Luck was on his side. The file cabinet was unlocked. He slid it open quietly, feeling
like a thief in the night as he rummaged through looking for “Brightwater, Lucinda”
for a full minute before he thought to look under “Fortune, Lucinda.” He closed the
top drawer, and opened the next one, found the
F
s, and finally, the file he wanted.

As he pulled it out, Holden closed his eyes, and whispered a silent prayer.
Please, God, don’t let me find the word cancer in here. Please…

Footsteps came toward the door. He closed the file drawer, stuffed the file into his
shirt, and took a seat, trying his best to look innocent.

The office door opened. “Dr. Flemming?” the nurse said, then scowled. “What are you
doing in here?”

“Uh…waiting for my wife? Isn’t this Dr. Brightwater…uh, I mean, Dr. Fortune’s office?”

She had the face of a bulldog, especially when she puckered it up like that. “No.
And you shouldn’t be
in here.” She did a quick scan of the place, her eyes lingering on the file cabinet.

“Sorry. I just got the wrong door.” Holden got to his feet.

“The name is on the door.”

“Well, I, uh, forgot my glasses, as well.”

“Humph,” she said, and stood there, holding the door wide, waiting for him to leave.
He did, and hurried toward Lucy’s actual office, but he ducked around a corner before
he got there.

Lucy would see to it her father was taken care of. Looked like the two of them, at
least, were going to be okay. But right now, he had to get someplace where he could
read through the file. Uninterrupted.

So he went back to his apartment in the city. And it was all he could do not to try
to read the damned thing as he drove. But then again, he was so dreading what he would
find when he pored over those pages, maybe it was better to put it off…just for a
little while.

Lucy spent the entire afternoon with her father, and slowly, it seemed her oldest
wounds were mending. She showed him around the hospital, then around Red Rock itself,
and later took him to dinner. It helped. Focusing on her relationship with her father
gave her an excuse not to think about how badly she’d screwed up her relationship
with her husband. And she knew that was simple avoidance, but she needed that right
now.

Dwelling on the dirty trick she’d pulled didn’t do any good. She couldn’t undo it.
And replaying Holden’s words about not wanting a child didn’t do any good, either.
She couldn’t change the way he felt.

No more than she could change the way she felt about him.

It was hopeless. All of it. So she just wouldn’t think about any of it right now.

During dinner she excused herself to make a call to Mary Ellen, who still knew nothing
about the blowup between her and Holden. She didn’t say anything about it, either.
Just mentioned that her father was in town, and got the exact response she’d hoped
for. A warm invitation. A promise he would be made to feel welcome.

As she thanked Mary Ellen and hung up the phone, Lucy thought she could easily come
to love that woman. And she wondered, briefly, if Mary Ellen didn’t realize it was
time she find some happiness of her own, a man to love her as she deserved to be loved.

Right. And she was one to give advice in that department.

When Lucy walked her father through the front door that night, Mary Ellen was there
to greet them. Clasping John’s hand in hers, she said, “You must be Lucy’s father.
It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you. I’m Mary Ellen Fortune, Holden’s mother.”

“John Brightwater,” he said in his deep voice. “And the pleasure is mine. I told Lucy
I’d be perfectly comfortable in a hotel, but—”

“Nonsense! You’re family. You’ll stay right here. We have so much to talk about, and
this will make it much more convenient, don’t you think?”

He looked slightly embarrassed by her warm welcome. Likely because he hadn’t been
expecting it. As Lucy recalled, her father had never had a very high
opinion of the Fortune family. Maybe that would change now.

“How was your day, Lucy?” Mary Ellen asked, switching her focus. “You’re feeling all
right, I hope?”

“Fine. Seeing Dad was just what I needed today.” She smiled up at her father as she
said it, and received a loving gaze in return. “You must have a sixth sense, Dad,
to show up just when I needed you.”

“Nothing quite that mystical,” her father replied. “It was your, uh, husband.”

Lucy felt the blood drain from her face. “Holden brought you here?”

Her father nodded. “Tracked me down, and bought my plane ticket. Right now, Lucy,
I have to say, I’m glad he did.”

Lucy couldn’t answer. That Holden would do this…reunite her with her father, in spite
of everything…

“And where is Holden?” Mary Ellen asked.

That question brought Lucy up short. She didn’t have an answer that would fool her
mother-in-law. But she gave it a try anyway. “Um…he had a lot of work at the office.
I think he said he might be staying at the apartment tonight.”

Mary Ellen’s smile seemed to freeze in place, but worry showed in her eyes. She shook
it off, though, recovering quickly and turning as Sally, one of the maids, came into
the room. “Well, Mr. Brightwater, I’m sure you’d like to freshen up. Sally, will you
show Mr. Brightwater to the guest room?”

“It’s John,” Lucy’s father said. “I’ll go to the car and get my bags.”

“Not necessary, John, I’ll have them brought right up.” She glanced at Sally, who
nodded, smiled at John, and led him away. “I do hope you’ll join me in an hour or
so for a nightcap, John,” Mary Ellen called as he left.

He nodded back at her, and then obediently followed Sally up the broad staircase.

When Mary Ellen’s gaze returned to Lucy’s, her smile was gone. She took Lucy by the
hand and pulled her into the smaller sitting room, closing the door behind them.

“What’s happened between you and my son, Lucy?” she asked.

With a sigh, Lucy sank onto the ottoman nearest her. “I don’t know. Everything went
wrong, Mary Ellen.”

“Such as?”

Lucy swallowed hard.

“Come, Lucy, out with it. We have enough troubles in this family without adding the
breakup of a brand-new marriage to the list. Did you tell him about the baby?”

“No. But I told him the truth. That I’d planned to get pregnant, and how I’d changed
my mind once I saw the man he truly was.”

Nodding slowly, Mary Ellen paced a few steps away. “And he was angry.”

“At first, yes. But he got past it. I think he was willing to forgive me for scheming
that way. But then…then he said…” Her throat swelled, and Lucy lowered her head, pressed
her fingers to her lips to prevent the sob from escaping.

Mary Ellen crouched beside her instantly, hands to
Lucy’s shoulders. “There. It’s all right. Tell me, what did he say?”

Sniffling, Lucy lifted her head. “He said…he was glad I didn’t go through with it.
That he didn’t…didn’t want a baby…and…and—”

“Oh, Lucy.” Mary Ellen’s arms went around her, and she held Lucy gently as she cried.
Soft, strong hands smoothing her hair. “Poor darling. That was the last thing you
needed to hear.”

“I don’t know what to do. If he doesn’t want a child, then—”

“Come now, Lucy, he didn’t tell you he didn’t want a child, did he?”

Taking a deep breath, Lucy shook her head. “No. He just said not now.” Her eyes squeezed
shut. “But, Mary Ellen, I may not get another chance. I only have one ovary, and I
need to have it removed soon. And yet, I love Holden. I don’t want to lose him.”

Mary Ellen softened, her breath escaping her in a rush. “If you love him, Lucy, then
give him a fair chance. He doesn’t know the entire situation, don’t you see? He doesn’t
know this may be your only chance to have his child. He doesn’t know how desperately
you want this baby. And, unless I’m mistaken, he doesn’t know you love him. Does he?”

Closing her eyes again, Lucy shook her head.

“Now don’t you think you should tell him all these things before you condemn him?
Lucy, you’ve spent time with my son. You’ve come to see the goodness inside him just
as I always have. You must know, somewhere inside you, that he would cherish this
child as much as you do.”

Lucy shook her head. “I don’t know. I just don’t know…”

“He said the wrong thing at the worst possible time for you, Lucy. But he didn’t know
the whole situation. Please, darling, give him another chance.”

“It…would feel like I was trying to…to trap him.”

“Oh, no. Lucy, Holden Fortune is not a man who would let himself be trapped. Do you
know how many women have tried?”

Again, Lucy lowered her head. “Maybe…”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, daughter.” Mary Ellen gripped Lucy’s arms, and pulled her
straight to her feet. “You are a glorious female. You are life-giving woman, in all
her splendor. Now act like one. Stiffen up that spine, haul your tail over to that
apartment, and fight for your man.” Lucy stood a little straighter, and Mary Ellen
smoothed her hair. “Fight for your baby’s father, Lucy. If you truly love him, it’s
worth the effort. Believe me.”

Slowly, Lucy nodded. “All right. All right, I—I can do this.”

“You can do this.”

“My father—”

“Don’t you worry about your father. He and I will have a lovely visit while you’re
gone.”

“He…doesn’t know about the baby.”

“And he won’t, not until you and Holden announce the news to him together, side by
side, just as you should be. Now go.”

Brushing at her still damp eyes, but feeling suddenly empowered, Lucy nodded harder
this time. “I will.”

Holden couldn’t believe what he was reading. But it was all here in black and white.
Lucy’s history. He didn’t understand most of the medical terminology, but her doctors,
several of them over the years, had made notations that explained it all. And one
of them, dated on the day after the doomed christening party, shook him to the marrow.

“Due to the presence of precancerous cysts, and given the patient’s family history,
I’ve recommended the immediate removal of the remaining ovary. Patient extremely reluctant
to consent.”

“My God,” Holden whispered. “My God, no wonder she so desperately wanted a baby.”
But why the hell hadn’t she told him?

His buzzer sounded. He sent it an irritated glance and ignored it. And in spite of
that, a few seconds later, someone was knocking at his apartment door.

Setting the folder aside, he went to the door and flung it open.

Becky Sue Monohan stood on the other side, cleavage spilling out of the lowcut neckline
of the dress she wore, big blond Texas hair spilling over her shoulders, and legs
damn near up to her neck. He’d dated her not too long ago. Looking at her, now, he
couldn’t see a thing that might have appealed to him then. “How the hell did you get
up here? I didn’t buzz you in.”

She shrugged. “Someone else came in, and I just followed. I’ve been calling you for
days, Holden,” she said with a pout. “Where have you been?” As she spoke, she shouldered
past him and closed the door.

“On my honeymoon.” He said it clearly, quickly, leaving no room for misunderstandings.
He didn’t have time for this.

“Your… B-but… You got married?”

“Yes. I got married. And I’m kind of busy right now, so if you don’t mind…”

“Oh, no. You’re not getting rid of me that easily. If you’re married, then where is
your wife? Hmm?”

“At the house. Now will you please go, so I can—”

“If she’s at the house, why are you here?” She looked around the place, smiled smugly.
“Humph. It’s one of
those
marriages, isn’t it? She’s cold, but socially acceptable. Not like me.” She slid
her palms up the front of his shirt. “It’s all right, Holden. We can still—”

“No, Becky Sue, we can’t. I happen to be in love with my wife.”

She blinked, and stuck her lower lip out further. But seeing he wasn’t going to give
in, she finally turned and flounced out the door, slamming it behind her.

Sighing in relief, Holden started back for the file folder lying open on the coffee
table. But then he paused, and a slow smile spread across his lips. “I love my wife,”
he said very softly. And it was suddenly so perfectly clear to him. He hadn’t been
tempted by Becky Sue in the least. He only wanted Lucy. “I’m a one-woman man. Hell,
I’m
nothing
like my father.”