The Reluctant Bride (16 page)

“And you'll give Jon your kidney if he needs it?”

She shook her head, then pressed the gas as the light changed to green. “I'll consider giving Jon my kidney, depending on the circumstances.”

“What?”

“You never told me if you placed Jon on the list. Max said to ask.”

Margot didn't deny it. “Everyone knows a family donor is better than a stranger donor.”

“But, Mom, you didn't even try.”

“There's still a chance you're compatible.”

“As I've said, I'm willing to step in if I'm a match and no one else is, when—if—he ever reaches the critical stage. But you need to explore all other options first.”

“Your father put you up to this, didn't he? And Max!”

“No. But Max and Dad have to be my first priority. Es
pecially Max. Have you told Jon he could live a long life without my help? Does his father know?”

“Stephan knows Jon's sick, but—”

“Did he approve of your coming to me? Answer the question, Mother.”

“This was all my idea.”

“Does he even know you're here?”

Margot flushed. “He's working. I could hardly ask him to drop everything, could I?”

“No, but you asked me.”

“Jon's my son! You're my daughter!”

“I haven't been your daughter for a long time, Mother. What I said stands. Put Jon on the donor list.”

“But he might only have months!” Margot insisted.

“And he might have a lot longer. Jon's traveled cross-country. He's traveled, ridden mules, hiked. I believe you lied to me about how sick he really is.”

“Months, years, who knows? Doctors aren't perfect! I can't take that chance.”

“Max warned me,” Karinne murmured. “I should have listened. He was right.”

“Darling…”

“Enough.” Karinne lifted her head and met her mother's gaze head-on. “
If
Jon's health starts to fail before they find him a match, then come to me.”

Margot rummaged inside her purse for a tissue and started crying again. “You want revenge because I left you.”

“No, Mom.”

“I swear, I wanted to take you with me!”

Thank God you didn't. Dad was right. Thank God Max stopped her. I would never have had a normal life.

Back at Karinne's apartment, Max told her Jeff had called and decided he didn't want company after all. Margot, with
Jon in tow, elected to go to a hotel, leaving Karinne and Max alone.

“You look like hell,” Max said. “Can I fix you a drink?”

“No, thanks.” She flopped down on the couch.

“Want to talk?” he asked, joining her.

“There's not much to say that you don't already know. Mom told Dad she wanted to take me with her. She was going to pretend we were both dead. You were right not to tell her where I was that day. Dad took the news pretty hard. I'm worried about him.”

“He sounded calm when I talked to him on the phone,” Max informed her.

“Thank heaven for that. Dad had divorce papers waiting. Mom walked in, he told her to sign them, and it went downhill from there. I stayed a while to talk to Dad, then came the drive home.”

“Another emotional scene?”

“Yes. Mom asked me to go to Mexico.”

“Why?”

“So I could have my lab work done in a country where Mom wouldn't worry about getting arrested. I refused.”

“I imagine Margot wasn't pleased about that.”

“She thought I was doing it for revenge.” Karinne wrinkled her nose with disgust. “It's not that at all. I'm still willing to be tested, but I told her I was a last resort. She hasn't even bothered to put Jon on the donor list. And his father doesn't even know where they are. Jon should be
their
priority. Instead, she takes the easy way out—asks me. I guess that shows where I stand on her list.”

“I think she really did want to see you, Karinne.”

“For Jon.”

“You're forgetting one thing. Margot could have avoided
trouble, avoided being charged with insurance fraud, by staying home. She took a risk coming here.”

“Thank you for reminding me of that.” Karinne willed herself not to cry. “I don't know what to believe anymore. But I
am
glad to know she's not dead. Glad she's had some happiness in her life. Thrilled to know I have a brother. I'll do the donor compatibility tests. But that's not going to change my plans. I'm quitting my job at the end of the month. After that, I'm moving up to the Grand Canyon. I'll find a new job somewhere—maybe with Flagstaff college sports.”

Max took her in his arms. “You can't just walk away from your mother and brother.”

“I think Mom's going to disappear again as soon as she can get two plane tickets.”

“Then stop her,” Max said. “You love your mother. Lord knows how long it'll be before you see her again. And Jon. Don't let her leave yet, Karinne. Ask her to stay.”

She sat up straight on the couch, slipping out of his loving embrace. “This is a sudden change of heart.”

He twisted a strand of her hair. “I've been wrong, too. One of the reasons I love you so much is your loyalty to your family. Despite Margot's treatment of you and your father, you care. And you offered to help a boy you've only known a few days. You're a strong woman, the kind of woman I admire. I can't disapprove of your actions when I want those same things, that same strength, for
our
family.”

Karinne took a deep breath. “Are you willing to marry me?”

Max exhaled, gently touched her face, and laid her cheek against his chest. “Yes.”

He kissed the top of her head and stroked her hair. “You should call your mother.”

“No. In my life, you come first.”

Their lovemaking chased away the harshness of the past and renewed their connection. They fell asleep in each other's arms. Only when Karinne woke later, refreshed in heart and soul, did she pick up the phone. The front desk of the hotel had a message for her.

“I'm sorry. Mrs. Lazar asked us to tell you that she'll wait to hear from you by phone regarding your donor status. She and her son have flown home to Mexico—she said they wanted to avoid any potential problems. Mrs. Lazar said you'd understand.”

In other words, Margot had skipped bail and run away again. Max held Karinne in his arms again as she cried all the tears she'd held back as a child. After that she vowed she'd never cry over Margot again.

 

M
AX DIDN'T LEAVE
Karinne's side during the next few days, although she assured him she was fine.

“Don't you have to get back to work?” she asked him as she helped Anita pack up her belongings for the move north. Anita had found a job as an accountant at one of the banks just outside Grand Canyon Village. Cory had rented an apartment for them topside, and he was busy moving his things out of the place he and Max had shared for so long.

“We'll go back there together,” Max said, “as soon as you're done with your business in Phoenix. I've hired a temporary worker to help Cory with the week's scheduled raft trips. I've also talked with Jeff, and we've met with my lawyer. We're going to see what he can do to have embezzlement charges against your mother dropped due to family hardship. At least that way she'd be able to travel back and forth from Mexico to Arizona to see you. Plus she'll need to show up in court for your father to get his divorce. And to attend our wedding, which, by the way,
isn't going to be in November. We'll get married as soon as possible at the Grand Canyon. Margot will want to be there.”

Privately, Karinne thought Margot would never be coming back, but she said, “Thank you, Max. Dad deserves some closure.”

Max frowned, as if he knew what she was thinking, but he said nothing on that topic. “I've also made an appointment with a Realtor, like you asked.”

Two days earlier, Jeff had finally admitted to Karinne that it was time to move. She recalled the conversation…. “I've been holding on to the house all these years because of the memories. Now…” He'd sighed shakily, and Karinne had realized how old her father had become. “I'm tired of rattling around in this big house. It was never the same after you left.”

“Do you want to stay in Phoenix, Dad?” she asked.

“No. If you're going north with Max, I'd like to find a place there. Unless…unless you and Max would feel I'm crowding you.”

“Dad, I could never feel that way! Nor Max, either.”

Jeff's voice quavered slightly. “You should've married him years ago. I held you back, Karinne. I'm sorry.”

Karinne grasped her father's hand, his arthritic fingers safely within her own. “I held myself back, Dad. You're not to blame.”

“You always had a big heart, Karinne. Can you—” Jeff broke off.

“What, Dad?”

“Can you forgive your mother? She ran out on you—again.”

“I know. But she left me a long time ago. And she can't do Jon any good if she's in jail, Dad.”

“Hard to believe Margot has a son. And now Max is
trying to get the charges against her dropped on compassionate grounds.”

“But I thought that was your idea, too!”

Jeff sighed again. “I'm ashamed to say it wasn't. It was generous of Max to say so, though. He's a better man than I am.”

Karinne studied her father—the wrinkles on his face, the gray hair, the blue veins that stood out under the skin of his hands. She couldn't bear to see him so defeated.

“As a father, you have nothing to be ashamed of, Dad. I think Mom's disappearance was even worse for you than it was for me. I had you, Grandma and Max and Cory and their parents. You had no one except Grandma.”

“Wrong, Karinne. I had you.”

They both smiled, still hand in hand both letting go of the past and the bitterness. Jeff finally wiped his eyes.

“What comes next?” he asked.

“I get married,” Karinne said simply.

“Is your mother coming? If you want her there, I'll be all right with it.”

“I don't know what's going on with Margot. I haven't heard from her since she left. But I'm going to the hospital tomorrow to be tested as a possible donor. Max is driving me.”

“Max told me what you said to Margot, that she should put Jon on the anonymous donor list first. If she finds a match there, I hope that isn't the last you hear from her. If you don't see her again, will you be okay?”

Karinne glanced around at her old home, childhood memories of Margot clinging to the familiar walls. Ghosts of the young Jeff and Margot and a little girl rose up, a happy family that had suddenly gone wrong.

“If she doesn't come back here, I'll go see her and Jon
in Mexico. She's my mother. I Iove her, Dad. I know she still loves me.”

He nodded. “I have one thing to be grateful to Margot for—you.”

“Now it's my turn to ask you, Dad. Are you going to be okay?”

“Of course I am,” Jeff said brusquely. “I'm planning on dancing at your wedding and spoiling my grandchildren. You
are
going to give me grandchildren, aren't you?”

“It's definitely in the future.” Karinne smiled. “Tomorrow, Max and I are getting our blood tests for the wedding.”

Max and Karinne went to the hospital lab the following day. In addition to the routine lab test required for marriage, Karinne's lab work included the donor compatibility test and a full scan. Margot had brought Jon's file to the transplant department before running south. Karinne was upset that her mother hadn't made time to say goodbye, but managed to drop off paperwork before her departure. She kept quiet about it. She stared at the bandage over her vein and wondered how Jon was doing. She'd had far too little time with him. But Max had bought Jon the promised cell phone and Karinne had the number. She planned to stay in touch.

“When will the results be in?” Karinne asked the lab tech.

“A few days.” He threaded the labeled tubes of blood through the holes in the carrying tray. “There's a number you can call. They'll give it to you at the front desk.”

“Thank you.”

Max took her other arm. “Ready?”

“I am.” Karinne pictured Margot and Jon.
I've done all I can.

“Where now?” Max asked.

“I thought we could get something to eat, then I should go see my boss. I need to extend my medical coverage, do my exit interview, and say my goodbyes.”

“Want me to come along?”

Karinne shook her head. “It won't take me long. But I'd like to go alone, if you don't mind.”

“Of course not. You can drop me back at your apartment,” he said.

 

K
ARINNE'S BOSS
was regretful but resigned. “We're going to miss you, Karinne. I hate to see you give up a good career for marriage. It seems so…old-fashioned.”

“I'm a photographer. I'm not giving that up,” she said. “Just changing locations and settling down, that's all.”

“Well, if you're sure…”

“I'm sure.”

Her boss sighed. He rose from his desk to shake her hand. “Good luck. And you can always come back if living up north doesn't agree with you.”

“Thanks.” She shook his hand, then spontaneously hugged him. “I've enjoyed working here.”

After a number of emotional farewells, she made her way outside to the parking lot and her car. She felt sad, but mostly she felt exhilarated, ready to face a new future. Perhaps she and Max should go out and celebrate tonight. Fresh starts should be marked like the milestones they were.

Her plan didn't happen. Max rose to meet her as soon as she walked in the door, his voice urgent. “You didn't answer your phone.”

“I set it to voice mail when I went in to work. I guess I forgot to turn it back.” She rummaged in her purse and pulled up her cell. “Yep, it's still on—”