She just continued to heave without producing anything. While one hand held her hair his other reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Roxy, get the resort clinic to send a doctor to my house. Clarice is burning up and sick to her stomach. Tell him get here in ten minutes or find another job.”
“Rudy, I’ll get him there as quick as possible but you can’t threaten his job just to get him to your wife faster.”
“Sure I can, it’s my resort.”
Roxy laughed. “I’m on it boss, just don’t fire me too.”
Then she hung up. Rudy put his phone back in his pocket and scooped his still shaking wife in his arms and carried her back to bed. “Don’t Rudy, I’ll just end up back in there in a minute.”
Rudy shook his head as he laid her on the bed and grabbed the trash can from beside the dresser. “Stay in the bed. If you feel sick again, throw up in here.”
She nodded weakly and laid back. Rudy noticed she’d soaked her PJs clean through and he went to her dresser where her things had finally been unpacked and found a clean set. “Clarice honey, here are some dry pajamas. Put them on if you can. It can’t be good for you to lay there in those wet ones.”
“I’m so cold, Rudy.”
“I know honey, it’s because you’re running a fever. I called for the doctor to come see you. Now get changed. I’ll be back in a minute.”
He handed Clarice the dry clothes and went outside shutting her door. Then he walked down the hall and called Evelyn. “Rudy, what can I do for you?”
“It’s Clarice, she’s sick. I’ve called the doctor to come look at her; just wanted to let you know and see if there is anything you used to do for her that I can?”
“Do you want me to come take care of her? She can be a bit irritable when she’s not feeling well.”
Rudy thought about it for a moment. “I need to do this, Evelyn. Clarice needs to see I’m serious about the vows I took a year ago. It’s my job to take care of her now. I won’t say you can’t come, you’re her mom after all, but maybe wait a couple days. She needs to learn to rely on me if we have any chance at all of making this thing work.”
“Yes of course. If things are serious you’ll let me know?”
Rudy nodded even though Evelyn couldn’t see him. “Yes I’ll call you once the doctor’s seen her either way.”
“Thank you, Rudy. General things I do for her when she is sick are soda crackers, those square ones, Vernors ginger ale. I don’t know if you can get that here in Alaska. And homemade chicken soup. Don’t give her the canned stuff, she hates it. Oh and grape popsicles, no other flavor. Don’t ask me why, it’s just what she’ll eat.”
“Thanks, I’m going to get my staff right on finding that ginger ale. I don’t care if someone has to fly to the lower 48, she’ll have it. She’ll have it all and anything the doctor says she needs.”
“You are a good man, Rudolph Holliday. My daughter found herself a good husband.”
“I hope so, Ms. Reese. I hope she’ll see that and let me stay her husband.”
“Just keep showing her your love, Rudy. She’ll crack.”
There was a knock on the door. “Doctor’s here, I’ll call you later.”
“Thank you again, Rudy. Bye.”
Rudy hung up and opened the door escorting the doctor to where his wife was laying in the bed. Waiting to see what the diagnosis would be was the hardest part for him. He called Roxy and had her start getting the things that Evelyn told him made his wife feel better. Roxy told him she’d get right on it and have everything delivered to the cabin. “Clear my calendar for the next few days. I’m going to stay here and take care of her.”
“Sure thing, boss. Anything else?”
“Yeah can you call Wilderness Hotel Inari and cancel my reservation for tonight? Let them know I’ll rebook in the future.”
“Will do, boss.”
“Thanks Roxy, you’re a true gem. Judy was right, you are the perfect assistant.”
“Well you’re welcome, thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Oh the doctor’s done. I’ll talk to you later.”
Rudy hung up without waiting for a response and turned to the doctor. “Your wife has the flu, Mister Holliday. I gave her something to help reduce the fever, and a dose of Tamiflu to help shorten the life of the virus as well as another for the nausea. I’ll have some more nausea pills sent over from the pharmacy but mainly she needs to rest and stay hydrated. Nothing to eat until the fever breaks but cold compresses to her head and lots and lots of fluids. If she gets worse you can send for me again.”
Rudy sighed. “Thanks Doc, I appreciate it.”
The man nodded and then left and Rudy went in and carefully lifted Clarice and carried her sleeping body to his bed. He needed her to be near him so he could look after her. Then once he had her settled in he went and cleaned up the wet pajamas and her bathroom. Then called her mom back to let her know what was going on. Afterwards he went and climbed in bed beside her and lay there watching over the woman who owned his heart.
Chapter Eight
It had been a week since Clarice had awakened feeling achy and started vomiting nonstop. She’d been so cold and wet and weak when Rudy pulled her hair back out of her face that she couldn’t even complain to him to just leave her alone. Since then he’d been constantly at her side. Making sure she got medicine when she needed it, putting cold compresses on her head to help lower her fever. He’d even somehow gotten her favorite drink and popsicles for when she was sick and kept her hydrated and comfortable. Once the fever broke he even had the chef at the five star restaurant on the island make her chicken soup.
Almost against her will she had felt her protective walls crumbling with his care and concern. When she’d woken the second day she was in his bed and he was sleeping beside her. If she’d been stronger she would have moved to her own room but instead she watched as he slept. When she’d stirred he’d sat up and checked on her before going to refill her cold glass of Vernors ginger ale and bring her a grape popsicle.
Once the fever broke her mom had come and Rudy had run to the office. Clarice found out just how caring and loving her husband had really been. Her mom wasted no time in telling her he’d refused to let anyone else watch over her. He’d had his staff scrambling to find all her favorite comforts like the grape popsicles and soda crackers.
Evelyn even made sure she knew he’d made Roxy get on a plane and fly to Detroit and buy all the Vernors ginger ale in every store she could find. He’d literally bought out every Walmart and Sam’s Clubs supply in the greater Detroit area and had it all flown back to the island. According to Evelyn he’d had a shipping container brought in and it was full of bottles of her favorite soda. What kind of man did that, she had asked her mom. Evelyn had laughed and then patted her hand. “One with money who is head over heels in love with his wife.”
Now a full seven days from when she had been so sick she felt almost normal. She had yet to move back to her own bed and found that she didn’t even mind sleeping with her handsome husband. He always started so gentlemanly on the far side of the bed but in their sleep they both seemed to end up wrapped around each other. While she should feel guilty about it, instead she felt at peace and comforted by his presence. Now that she was well, she didn’t know how she was going to move back into her own bed alone. Yet unless she was willing to give up the walls completely it wasn’t fair to him or Winthrop for her to sleep in Rudy’s arms every night.
She rolled over to look for her temporary husband only to find a note from him. Clarice, there’s a problem at my manufacturing plant for the survival gear. Had to head there. Pack a bag, I have made plans for our anniversary since you were sick on the real date. Love, Your husband.
Under the note was a sweet hallmark card. She couldn’t help but smile. She would pack but she wondered where he was taking her. Neither the note or the card said. But she knew one person who would know. Roxy. She dressed and headed for the office building. T
hat girl would crack like a hardboiled egg and spill to her where Rudy was taking Clarice.
She dressed and realized she was still very weak. Just finding clothes, showering and getting dressed left her feeling tired. The doctor had warned her it might take her a while to snap back to normal. But she was going to make it in to the office. She needed to check in with Star anyway. She hadn’t talked to her best friend in a week.
Clarice knew Star had been told she was sick and Rudy had her direct any business to Evelyn so Clarice could rest but she needed to know what was happening with TLC.net. Plus, she just wanted to hear her friend’s voice. After a few minutes’ rest she got to her feet and headed across the field to the office center. She got upstairs just as Roxy was putting her coat on the back of her chair. A coat that looked a lot like Clarice’s, only in blue instead of red. “Nice coat.”
Roxy beamed at her. “I know; I was so surprised when Rudy handed me the box. I could never afford one of his top of the line winter coats on my salary.”
Clarice froze on the spot. “Rudy gave it to you?”
Roxy nodded, unaware of the pit of ice forming in Clarice’s stomach. “Yes, when we got to the manufacturing plant. He pulled it out of the warehouse. Told me my coat wouldn’t hold up to the Alaskan winter. Isn’t that sweet?”
“Yes it is. Rudy’s just the sweetest, isn’t he? Did he give you gloves and an expensive scarf too?”
Roxy frowned at the too sweet tone Clarice was talking in. “Umm… No. I have good gloves and I don’t think he’d give me a scarf. Why would he?”
Clarice shrugged. “He gave you the same coat as he gave me. Figured he gave you everything else too.”
Roxy started laughing. “Oh my” she said when she saw Clarice’s face. “You’re serious. You don’t have a clue, do you?”
Clarice frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Roxy walked over to her and pulled her into the office and shut the door. “Clarice, you have nothing to worry about. That man has eyes for you and you alone.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes I do. You have no idea, do you? He’s in love with you, completely twitterpated as my granny used to say in Georgia. When you got sick he told the doctor to be at the cabin in ten minutes or get fired. Then he sent the entire staff out shopping. No one was to go home until he had a thousand grape popsicles and a hundred boxes of soda crackers, the square ones, nothing else. Except me. I was told to get on the helicopter and fly to the airport where a jet was waiting to take me to Detroit. I wasn’t to come home until I’d filled the plane with every bottle and can of Vernors original ginger ale it would hold. Clarice, he hired a driver and a fifty-foot U-Haul truck and made me fill the thing with your favorite ginger ale. There wasn’t a two-liter, sixteen-ounce bottle or can of the stuff in any store when I left Michigan.
“Then, if that isn’t enough the chef told him he wouldn’t make chicken soup because it was too pedestrian for him to prepare. Your husband told him make a pot and deliver it to the cabin himself or he’d never work as a chef again.”
“Why would he do all that?”
“Because, you lucky girl, Rudy Holliday is completely head over heels in love with you and only you. I’m his assistant. The coat I wore today I’ve worn since I got hired. He only noticed it today because it was so cold I couldn’t stop shaking.”
Clarice shook her head. “He can’t be in love with me. It was a mistake, Roxy. I don’t even remember marrying him. I thought we were divorced a year ago.”
“Oh honey, he doesn’t see me, or any other woman here. Any one of which, by the way, would give everything they have to be you. I’m Roxy his assistant, nothing more, not to Rudy. If I got sick, he might send me soup or have someone check on me. You, however, he put a million dollar sale on hold to take care of you. Does that sound like something a smart business man like your husband would do?”
“No. Why would he?”
“He told the client he’d fix the problem when his wife was well enough for him to leave her side, not one moment before. If his products weren’t the best the guy would have gone elsewhere. You are the only thing that matters to Rudy. Just you.”
Clarice was overwhelmed she didn’t know what to do with Rudy’s level of devotion to her, so she changed the subject. “Can you help me, Roxy? Rudy told me to pack but he didn’t say where we were going so I have no clue how to pack.”
Roxy shook her head. “OH NO! I’m not about to ruin his surprise. I’ll just say dress warm, arctic warm. Bring your passport and comfortable sleepwear. That’s all you’ll need. I will say this again. You are the luckiest woman in the world to be the object of Rudy’s affections. What he planned for you is a once in a lifetime experience most of us will only dream of.”
Clarice nodded, knowing she wouldn’t get any more out of the personal assistant than that. But she now knew every woman in the building wanted to be her and was jealous of her including her husband’s PA and she wanted nothing more than to get away from him. She wondered once again if it might not be worth it to just give in and let herself fall for the handsome billionaire, she’d accidentally married.
It was right around three that afternoon when Rudy walked through the front door of the cabin. Clarice was dress warmly and had a small pack with her pajamas and a second set of warm clothes in it. “You didn’t give me much direction in what to pack and your assistant wouldn’t spoil your surprise, so I hope one change of clothes is enough?”
Rudy smiled and walked up to her and pulled her into his arms for a hug. “I’m glad you are feeling better. I know this may ruin things but I don’t care anymore. I’ve resisted all I can.”
He tilted his head down and captured her mouth in a sweet kiss. “I know you want to protect your heart. I know I promised to not push anything physical but you are my wife and I’m going to kiss you from now on unless you tell me not to.”
Clarice knew she should tell him not to but after her talk with Roxy and then listening to Star agree with the woman, she just didn’t have it in her to resist. Star had even gone so far as to call her an idiot for keeping her heart locked away from the man whom she’d married. “Do you think Winthrop would have done any of that for you, girl? What is wrong with you? I think that Roxy has it right. Any other woman would give her left ovary to change places with you. I know I would.”
She bit her lip and then wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m not giving in Rudy, but I will admit kissing you and being held by you is nice.”
“Then I’ll kiss and hold you anytime you want and probably more.”
He leaned down and dove into her lips again and she melted against him almost without thinking about it. Why was she fighting this so hard, she wondered? Everyone thought they were the best match, her mom, Roxy, Star, Rudy, even her own company’s algorithm. The only person holding back was Clarice and her hardened heart. All because she didn’t want a match that reached into her and made her weak. But was her mom weak? She’d risen from the ashes of the worst day New York had ever experienced and their own personal loss to grow a company that was quickly becoming the top in their field. So maybe letting herself fall in love with her husband wasn’t the worst thing she could do. But was it the right thing to do? She didn’t know and now wasn’t the time to find out. She stepped out of his arms.
“Enough of that, Rudolph Holliday. Have I packed enough or not?”
He shrugged. “If not, we’ll just go shopping, I hear wives like to do that on occasion.” He smiled but it was forced. “At least my mom does.”
“Your mom?”
“Yeah Mara is her name. She lives in your city, in a condo.”
“You don’t talk about her much.”
Rudy shook his head. “No, she isn’t very motherly. I try to see her as little as possible.”
“Why?”
“Because every visit cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s all she wants from me, expensive gifts.”
“I’m sorr
y. Let’s talk about something else. Where are we going?”
“Well I had a very special trip planned for our first anniversary but you weren’t in any condition to go. So I moved it until you were.”
“I’m still kind of weak, Rudy. I want to go but I’m not sure if I can do a lot of physical things.”
He walked close holding her coat and helped her into it, then wrapped her scarf around her face while she pulled her gloves on her hands. Once he had her all bundled up he bent down and scooped her into his arms. “That’s perfect, it gives me an excuse to carry you everywhere.”
Her body heated at being so close to him and she giggled like a love struck girl. Because part of her felt like one.
He kissed the tip of her nose which was the only thing sticking out of the scarf. “I like holding you in my arms.” He reached down with one hand and grabbed her backpack and then straightened up, heading out the front door.
Soon they were in the helicopter and flying toward the airport where the family jets were housed. Again Rudy scooped her in his arms and carried her up and sat her on one of the soft Corinthian leather couches and then proceeded to take her coat and scarf off and hand them along with his to the flight attendant. The same one from Clarice’s first flight. She smiled and brought Clarice a sealed bottle of Fillico water. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Mrs. Holliday, and happy belated anniversary.”
She retreated to the front and then they were racing down the runway while Rudy leaned into her space and kissed her like he couldn’t wait another second. She couldn’t help but sigh as her husband held her close and made out with her like they were newlyweds. They were interrupted by the pilot who came over the intercom. “Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Holliday. The flight crew wishes the two of you a happy belated first anniversary. I’ve been told not to mention our destination but will tell you that it is an eight-hour flight and we will arrive around midnight. I’ve been instructed to allow you to sleep until noon if you wish. Then your next form of transportation will meet you at the hanger we are assigned to. Your flight attendant will serve you dinner in about an hour. Chef Henri hopes his tasting menu is to your liking and he said that a small Persian love cake was for dessert and you should save room. Until then we are in for a smooth ride with no bad weather predicted. Enjoy your anniversary trip.”
Rudolph's Runaway Bride (Holliday Islands Resort Book 9) Page 8