Trouble Don’t Last Always (34 page)

“Of course, Jonathan. I’m sorry. I should have known.” Feeling helpless and not liking it one bit, Eleanor looked back at the empty doorway through which Kristen had disappeared.

“Forget it.” Jonathan touched her arm in reassurance. “Why don’t I go see what’s keeping her? I guess I don’t have to tell either of you not to gang up on her or try to push her. You’ll only make her more determined to bolt. No matter what, she wants your approval. But if you try to push, she can be as stubborn as either of you ever dared to be.”

“What’s your opinion of him, Jonathan?” Adam asked, his brows furrowed.

“Not good.” This time when he turned away he kept going.

Adam’s hand fisted impotently. “Damn. If I could see—”

“It wouldn’t change a thing,” his mother finished. “She’s growing up. We just have to be there for her.”

“You’re right.” He reached out his hand. “Let’s go find them.”

Lilly stayed where she was on the sofa. There was a distinct ache in the region of her heart, and she was sure it would remain there until the day she died. The pain had begun and spread with each breath ever since Adam’s comment on the length of time Kristen had known Eric. A few months. She and Adam had known each other less than that.

She had deluded herself. There was nothing special about Adam’s feelings for her. To him she was little more than a glorified companion.

Adam was troubled. Lilly hadn’t said two words since they left the clinic.

Not that she’d had much of an opportunity. His mother and Jonathan had taken turns drawing Kristen out about her plans, neither approving nor disapproving. It became obvious very quickly that, as she said, her plans had not been finalized. If any of them had anything to say about it, they never would be.

He’d never met Eric, but if Jonathan didn’t care for him that was good enough for Adam. But for the moment at least, they didn’t have to worry about Kristen. She still planned to return with them to his estate.

His immediate problem was the silent woman sitting next to him.

All during breakfast, Lilly remained quiet. He could understand her rationale not to interfere in a family matter, if that was what it was. He just wished he knew if that was the only reason for her silence.

Although she was mere inches away, he didn’t “feel” her. He couldn’t explain it any other way except it was almost as if she had shut herself away from him. It scared him. He felt a deep connection with her that he couldn’t explain. She’d become an important part of his life. When she was around, even in his darkness she brought a ray of hope. He didn’t plan on losing her.

“Lilly, are you finished?”

“W-why. Yes.”

He tried to figure out if she had sounded nervous or upset, then decided it didn’t matter. He’d find out what was bothering her very shortly.

He came to his feet, shoved his chair beneath the table, then closed his hand on the padded back of her chair. “Please excuse us. We’ll be in the gardens. Lilly?”

Her gaze refused to meet those of the others. “Excuse me.” Pushing her chair back, she stood and closed trembling fingers around the arm he extended.

Adam spoke when they walked onto the stone patio. “There’s a wooden bench by an arbor of bougainvillea. We can sit there.”

Lilly knew the place. She and Jonathan had strolled over the entire garden to escape Nicole’s possessive behavior. At the time, Lilly had thought she couldn’t feel more out of place or hurt. She had been wrong.

“Here we are.” Lilly stopped in front of the bench, then glanced at Adam when he made no move to sit.

“Ladies first.”

Her breath came in sharply. “Y-You can see?”

“I can feel you looking at me,” he answered simply.

She stared at him in openmouthed wonder and embarrassment and immediately thought of all the times she had watched him.

“Please sit down, Lilly.”

Head downcast, she sat and folded her hands in her lap.

Sitting close beside her, Adam crossed his long legs, leaned back, and placed his arms on the back of the bench. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing.”

“You may as well tell me,” he told her. “I’ll get it out of you sooner or later.”

His self-assurance hit her the wrong way. “Why? Because you’re so superior and I’m so stupid?”

“What kind of nonsense is that?” His face furious, he twisted toward her. “You’re not stupid, and I don’t ever want to hear you refer to yourself that way again. Now tell me what the hell is the matter with you!”

“You don’t care, so stop pretending!” she shouted and started to stand.

His hand caught her, and he came to his feet with her. “What has gotten into you? What happened between last night and this morning? Did Nicole call?”

“No, she didn’t call. It’s you.”

“Me?” He frowned, then released her arms. “My blindness never bothered you before.”

She pushed against his chest with both hands. He stumbled backward, then quickly righted himself. “Don’t you say anything so cruel and asinine. It’s what you said.”

Adam was lost, and it had nothing to do with his blindness.

He had no idea what he had done or said, but he knew he had better try to figure it out in a hurry. Lilly was spitting mad and she wasn’t going easy on him because he couldn’t see. Thank goodness.

“Could you give this cruel—unknowingly I might say in my defense— stupid man a clue so he can apologize?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m leaving when we get back.”

He was upon her so quickly she didn’t have time to move. “No! Talk to me. What did I do? Don’t leave me.” He pulled her into his arms. “Please.”

Stunned, she could do nothing. Then her arms came up around him and held tight. Without being told, she knew that Adam had pleaded for few things in his life. It tore her up to think of him frightened. She was being greedy again, wishing for something that could never be. “I won’t leave. I won’t leave.”

He couldn’t tell if it was him trembling or herself. “What did I say?”

She opened her mouth to say, “Nothing,” then snapped it shut. Adam was relentless when he wanted something. His single-mindedness was probably what had made him such an exceptional doctor. He’d hound her until she told him. But the truth would expose her.

“I have to know.”

She opened her eyes but refused to look at him. “You told Kristen she couldn’t possibly give up her plans after knowing Eric for only a few months.”

“And?”

Her head fell forward. “We’ve known each other less than that.”

He pushed her from him. His voice and hands gentled. “She hasn’t seen him at his worst and helped him to try and be the best. How could you compare them to us?”

“Us,”
reverberated in her mind over and over. “Us?”

His lips brushed tenderly across her temple. “Our lives aren’t what they used to be, but together maybe we can make them what they should be.”

“Adam—”

His fingertips touched her lips. “You have a legal matter to get past and I have to get rid of my cane.”

“I don’t care about the cane,” she said, her heart booming in her chest.

“I do.” His hand slid to her arm. “They’re probably ready by now and waiting on us.”

Lilly didn’t move. There was another concern they needed to discuss. “I don’t want a salary anymore. I have room and board. I use your kitchen for my business; I should be paying you.”

“We’ll talk about it after your legal expenses are paid. Private investigators aren’t cheap.”

He was right. Altogether she had spent over fifteen hundred dollars trying to locate Rafe with no success. “I’m thinking of forgetting about finding Rafe.” “Do you want to expose your soon-to-be ex-husband for the creep he is?”

“Yes,” she answered immediately.

“Then the investigation will continue and so will your salary.”

She shook her head. “But I don’t want it anymore.”

“I understand and it makes me admire your courage and conviction more, but sadly it takes money to gain your freedom. You’ve helped me gain mine; now let me help you.”

Adam understood her better than anyone else in her life. On tiptoes she kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

They had barely gotten inside Wakefield Manor before the phone rang. Kristen ran to pick up the extension in the hall. “Hello.” With an audible sigh of disappointment, she turned and held out the phone. “Lilly, it’s for you. A Mr. Powell.”

“Maybe the investigator found Rafe,” Adam suggested.

“Maybe.” Lilly didn’t think so. None of the phone calls from her lawyer had ever contained good news.

“Come on, Jonathan. Let’s get this luggage upstairs.” His cane in one hand and a small suitcase in the other, Adam continued toward the stairs. “It’s a good thing we went by the cottage to drop your luggage off, Mother. We can make this in one trip instead of five.”

“Make that six,” Jonathan bantered, following with a large suitcase in each hand and another one beneath his right arm.

“You two should go onstage,” Eleanor said, trailing behind.

Handing Lilly the phone, Kristen bounded up the stairs behind them with her laptop. “That’s telling them, Mother.”

“Hello.”

“Mrs. Crawford, I’ve been trying to reach you since Saturday,” came the very perturbed voice of her lawyer.

“I was out of town. What happened?” she asked, watching Adam slowly trudge up the stairs with one hand on the rail, the other clamped around the handle of her borrowed suitcase.

“Your court date has been set. It’s July eighth.”

Her attention jerked back to the lawyer. “What?”

“Your court date is July eighth,” he repeated. “The judge took into consideration your going to college and set the date for the Monday following your final exams.”

In three weeks she’d be free of Myron. “Have you been able to find anyone who would testify on my behalf?”

“No.”

“Pastor Fowler—”

“Is a character witness for Mr. Crawford. So is half the deacon board and the women’s auxiliary.”

Lilly leaned against the wall. She had hoped one person might remember her as a kind, giving person, but apparently not if it meant going against Myron. “What time should I be there?”

“Eleven sharp at the courthouse,” he instructed. “Whatever you do, don’t be late. Wear something conservative. Summer school going all right?”

“Yes. My first test is this week.”

“Study hard. We’re going to need all the help we can get. Next time you go out of town, let me know.”

“I’m sorry. I will.”

“Good-bye.”

“Good-bye.” She replaced the receiver in the cradle. Kent Powell had sounded tired, annoyed, and defeated. He might have given up, but she hadn’t. Myron was going to lose.

“Why am I not surprised to find you here?”

Lilly didn’t glance up from pouring a can of stewed tomatoes into a bowl that already contained several other ingredients. “Because in a couple of hours it’ll be time for dinner. Is Jonathan staying?”

“No. When he called his service one of his mothers had gone into labor. Kristen and Mother both are resting. Or supposed to be. They’re both in Kristen’s room.” Folding his arms, Adam leaned his back against the countertop and stiffed. “Onions.”

“For the stuffed bell peppers. We’re also having cabbage, candied yams, and corn bread.” Setting the can aside, she picked up a wooden spoon. “You aren’t tired?”

“I haven’t felt this energized in a long time.” Lifting his glasses, he looked out the window over the sink. “You can’t imagine how good it feels to see light, if only in shadows. When my sight returns, we’ll go back to San Francisco and I’ll show you around.”

Her hand paused. She was at a loss as to what to say. Thankfully, she didn’t have to say anything.

“You ever been to the opera or the ballet?”

“No.” Little Elm didn’t have a theater for live performances.

“You will. The San Francisco Ballet is America’s oldest ballet company. And the Dance Theater of Harlem is a Bay Area favorite. There’s not a city in the world like San Francisco. It’s a visual feast. You’re about finished?”

“Yes. You need me to do something?” Picking up a hollowed bell pepper, she spooned the meat mixture into it.

“I was going to read the possible test questions to you if you’d like and help you study for your exam tomorrow.” He made a face. “If you don’t mind waiting for the computer.”

“Thank you. I’d like that.”

He nodded. “I’ll see you in my study.”

Sprinkling croutons on top of the stuffing in the bell peppers, she tried not to think of what would happen if Adam didn’t regain his sight.

Jonathan hoped no one in Wakefield Manor looked out their window toward the cottage and saw the headlights of his car. It was almost midnight. Two births had kept him tied up at the hospital until eleven. He didn’t like sneaking around, but if it was the only way to have Eleanor he could live with it. She had enough pressure with Kristen’s interest in a man they both thought totally unsuitable.

Then there was Adam’s unwavering belief that his vision would soon return and his making plans as if it would. On the flight back from San Francisco, nothing would do but for him to call Samuel from the air and remind the gardener to start working on plans for the flower garden in front of the house.

Switching off the motor, Jonathan got out of the car. The front door of the cottage swung open and Eleanor ran to meet him. Opening his arms, he rushed to her and caught her trembling body securely against his.

“I’m here, honey. I’m here.”

Her hold was as desperate as her words: “Will he see again?”

There had been no time to talk privately since they’d left the hospital with Adam that morning. “Only God knows.”

She shuddered.

Picking her up, he went inside. He kicked the door shut with his foot and sat on the couch, Eleanor still in his arms. “Scott is the best. He does the surgery while looking into the eye with a microscope. Various miniature instruments are placed in the eye through tiny incisions in the sclera. He’s performed vitrectomies before, but there’s always the risk of retinal detachment. A detachment could require another surgery to repair, and if that fails, the eye will continue to lose sight and blindness will occur.”

She whimpered. She knew this better than he, but she needed to face the reality.

“Then there is the complication of cataract from the vitrectomy and the retinal detachment that can occur when you go in to repair the cataract. The way Adam sees it, if his vision clears by itself, he doesn’t have to worry about complications.”

Jonathan paused and plunged ahead. “If he has the surgery, he runs the risks of complications then and in the months to come. The retina could detach then, five months from now, five years from now, or never. The cataract, if it occurred, would grow slower, but surgery would still be needed and more complications could occur, including detachment. If Adam gets by those possible complications and if the macula, the central retina area, is normal and there are no blind spots, he can return to neurosurgery.”

“So, you think the odds aren’t in his favor?” Eleanor asked, her voice low and frightened.

Jonathan’s large hand reached out and turned her tearstained face to his before he answered. “I never thought you’d be in my arms, but you’re here. I never thought I could love so deeply, but I do. No one knows what the future holds. All we can do is pray and trust in a higher power to get us all through this.”

Her hand covered his. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“So am I.” His head bent and he covered her lips with his.

Adam had been smiling all Tuesday morning. Hearing the doorbell, he sat forward in his chair and placed both hands on top of his desk. Brent was coming today because they had missed Monday.

Kristen had waited to let the instructor in; then she and her mother were driving into town for lunch and, if he knew them, doing some shopping. Perhaps he should have asked his mother to pick up something for Lilly. She deserved nice things.

“Good evening, Doc. Why the frown?” Brent greeted Adam as he entered the study.

“Just thinking.” Just as soon as he got rid of Brent, he’d call his mother on her cell phone.

“Nothing heavy, I hope. Your sister is as beautiful as her mother. How was San Francisco?”

“Thanks, and San Francisco was wonderful, as usual.” Adam heard Brent’s heavy weight settle in the chair in front of his desk. “In fact, something miraculous happened while I was there. So much so that you won’t be needed anymore.”

“You’re discharging me?” Brent asked incredulously

Adam’s face split into a wide grin. “My vision is returning.”

“Doc, that’s wonderful.” He clapped Adam soundly on the back. “How long before your vision returns completely?”

Adam’s smile wavered. “We’re not sure.”

“Doc, you wouldn’t be trying to get rid of me beforetime, would you?” Brent questioned, laughter in his deep voice.

“I see no reason for continuing the lessons when my sight is clearing.” Why did people refuse to believe he’d regain his sight?

“What do you see?”

Aggravated, Adam clenched his fists. “Shadows.”

“Then why didn’t you blink or react when I waved my hand in front of your face just now?”

“Because the light is bad in here.” Adam shoved up from his desk and walked to the fireplace. “I was going to say I’ll miss you.”

“Where’s your cane?”

“I don’t need it.”

“You don’t want to need it,” Brent countered.

“I’ll see,” Adam said defiantly.

“Tell me what I’m doing.”

Adam folded his arms. There was nothing but a blur. He twisted his head to one side without any clearer defining of objects. “I’m not playing some silly game. You can’t be this hard up for patients.”

“Patients might give up on themselves, but I don’t give up on them,” he said, unperturbed.

“I’m not giving up. I’m going to see!”

“Adam?”

He switched his attention toward the soft, hesitant voice. His arms dropped to his sides. “Lilly, you’re back early. Is everything all right?”

“Professor Higgins let us go early.” She had been afraid of this. Adam refused to even entertain the idea that he wouldn’t regain his sight. She prayed that he was right, but what if he wasn’t? “Maybe you should continue the classes until your sight does come back.”

“You, too.”

It was crushing to see the disappointment in his face, hear it in his voice. “Me, too. I care about you, just like everyone else.” She took a step closer to his belligerent stance. “You don’t expect a flat tire, but you carry a spare just in case.”

He lifted a heavy brow. “If you had a flat, you wouldn’t know how to change the tire.”

She placed her hand on his chest. “No, but I’d try. I wouldn’t feel lost and helpless like I did when I first came here. You helped teach me.”

“Me?”

Her smile was sad. “You had so much taken from you, but you fought back to regain it, moment by moment, day by day. You refused to let life keep you down.”

“Oh, Lilly.” He held her hand and leaned his forehead forward to touch hers. “I was a mean-tempered, arrogant—”

“At first. Not now,” she interrupted.

He sighed. “You see so much in me.”

“Just like you do in me.”

“Brent?”

“Yo, Doc.”

“Drag out the whip.” Adam’s mouth twisted wryly. “I hope you’re aware of what you’re putting me through, Lilly.”

“I just finished a horrendous pop quiz in marketing because you insisted I finish my degree.”

His face intent, Adam grabbed her arms. “How did you do?”

She grinned. “Aced it. Just like the earlier one in business.”

His arms circled her, lifted her momentarily off her feet. “That’s my girl.”

She flushed with pleasure; her heart drummed in her chest; her hands went around his neck. Love flooded her.

“I better get to the kitchen. We had to do a business proposal last week for my marketing class and I did my pies. When the class found out today, I promised to bring a couple to class tomorrow.”

“Pies? What pies?” Brent asked, excitement in his voice.

“Don’t tell him.”

Lilly snatched her hands from around Adam’s neck. She’d momentarily forgotten about Brent.

“Come on, Lilly. Doc, have a heart,” Brent pleaded.

Adam looped his arm around Lilly’s shoulders. “How sweet the sound of an arrogant man begging.” He chuckled. “Lilly makes the most decadent pineapple praline pie in the universe. She’s developing quite a thriving business selling them. If you’re nice to me, I may let her bake you one.”

Brent let out a mournful sound. “I’ll never get one.”

Adam threw back his head and laughed.

He’d be all right, she thought. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

“We do already,” Brent said. “Doc misplaced his cane.”

“Adam.”

Silently Adam went to his desk, bent down, and came up with the cane. “I guess I found it.”

“Doc, you really are something.”

“Ain’t I just,” Adam said.

Brent’s mouth opened and nothing came out.

“I think you did the impossible, Adam,” Lilly said. “Brent is speechless.”

“I’m sure it’s only temporary. Unfortunately,” Adam quipped.

“All right, Laurel and Hardy, that’s enough,” Brent finally said. “Go bake some pies while I see if Doc has forgotten what he’s learned.”

“I’m going.”

More at ease than she had been on the drive back from her campus, Lilly left. Like Mother Crawford had always said, it was all right to pray to God if you were in a sinking boat, but you’d better not stop bailing water.

Adam was bailing water.

Kristen and Eleanor chose an Italian restaurant. Both loved garlic breadsticks, salad loaded with fresh bacon and croutons, and white and red sauce. They each ordered a different entrée so they could share and handed the waiter the menus.

“I’m glad you came back with us,” Eleanor said, trying to feel her way into the conversation.

“Adam needs us, but he’s getting better.”

“Yes, he is.” Eleanor took a sip of red wine, refusing to give in to her fear.

“Is there something between him and Lilly?”

“If you mean romantically, I’m not sure.” Eleanor paused as the waiter placed their salads before them. “I am sure his relationship with Nicole is over.”

Frowning, Kristen picked up her fork. “But they seemed so perfect together.”