Joe looked over his shoulder. Lisa’s head was poking out of the opening in the ceiling. “This looks small,” he said giving the musty-smelling fabric a shake. “Wasn’t Patrick bigger than me?”
“He just acted like it.”
Their gazes met. Joe wondered what she was thinking. She’d made love to both brothers. Was she remembering their anatomical proportions? Her face turned red, but that could have been because she was upside down.
“Anyone ready for lunch?” a loud voice called from the kitchen. Joe had heard his mother poking around back there, but had been too busy answering questions to check up on her.
Lisa’s face came back into view. “Did somebody say food? Hallelujah. Is my son here yet?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” Brandon said, following his grandmother into the main room from the kitchen. His tone was a little surly, but at least he was speaking, Joe thought.
He hadn’t seen much of his nephew since the big confrontation. Joe was glad the boy had come around and completed his course work for school. Whether that translated to no more drinking, he was hesitant to bet.
“Great,” Lisa cried. “We need someone strong to pass these boxes to. The junk I’m tossing out the opening, but the good stuff needs a bit more care.”
“Well, all of that can wait,” Maureen said. “I made beef stew and corn bread.”
Lisa smiled. “Bless you, but you didn’t have to. You’re retired, remember?”
Maureen shook her head. “I still have to eat, don’t I? And I don’t know how to cook for one.”
Joe hurried to the ladder, which, because of the uneven nature of the flooring, was a bit wobbly. He held it until Lisa was down safely.
“Thanks,” she said breathlessly.
“You’re welcome.” Then he motioned for his film crew to join them. “Come on, kids, the food is always the best part of filming.”
Lunch was a boisterous affair. Joe was pleased to see Brandon interact with the interns. He asked them questions about college and filmmaking and showed a real interest in how to operate the camera.
“I’ll show you how to run it after lunch,” Tim volunteered. “If that’s okay with your uncle.”
Brandon looked at Joe with what Joe took as cautious optimism. “Sure. Have at it.”
“Cool,” Brandon said obviously trying to tone down his enthusiasm. Joe remembered feeling exactly the same way when he’d worked with his first instructor at art school.
“You know, Brandon,” Joe said, “these guys are only here until two. Maybe you could take over from Tim when they leave.”
“Sure,” he said, his voice cracking just a bit.
Lisa, who was sitting at the end of the bar, looked at Joe with so much gratitude in her eyes he nearly choked on his mouthful of stew.
“So, Mom, I’m starting the interview portion of this next week. I notice you haven’t signed up, yet.”
His mother shook her head. “Now, son, you know I don’t like cameras.”
“But you’re the key to the past. You and Martin know where all the bodies are buried.”
Maureen moved away to refill someone’s bowl. “Then get Martin to talk to you. I have a wedding to plan.”
Joe didn’t think she sounded all that happy about the prospect, but he kept still. He was certain she’d come around eventually. The movie wouldn’t be the same without her input.
“Your mom told me that when you were little, you called the place ‘the far,’” Lisa said, appearing suddenly at his elbow. She was carrying a basket of crackers.
“Really?” Joe asked. “I don’t remember that.”
“She said you never liked it here, but Patrick always asked to go to work with your dad.”
She spoke softly for his benefit only. When he swiveled his seat slightly to look at her, his elbow brushed her breast and he felt a response shoot through is body.
Damn, he thought. I can’t go through the next few weeks lusting after Lisa.
“Huh?” he said, turning to look at her.
“Remember the birthday party your parents threw for you and Patrick down here?” Lisa asked. “That caused quite an uproar, didn’t it, Maureen?”
His mother chortled. “I’ll say. I think every parent on the boys’ list of friends called me.”
Brandon, who was on the other side of Joe, asked, “Why’d you have it here, Grams?”
“Your grandpa hired a band for the party. He was so proud of himself that it never occurred to him people would be upset,” Maureen explained. “And I forgot to put on the invitations that the party would take place out back. What a hoopla!”
Joe closed his eyes and tried to picture that party. Very few images from the day slipped into his mind until one hit like a wet bar rag in the face.
That afternoon he’d seen Patrick kiss Lisa.
Details came back to him. He’d been indoors trying to compose a note to Lisa—something witty and clever that would make her like him more than she liked his twin—when someone had told him his brother wanted him to come outside. Thinking it was time for cake, Joe had hurried through the storeroom, accidentally bumping into a couple locked in an embrace.
It had taken several heartbeats to realize the two were Patrick and Lisa. The instant Lisa had seen him she’d pushed Patrick away and stormed off. Patrick had laughed and boasted, “I’m gonna marry her someday.” Joe hadn’t doubted it for a minute and the thought had ruined his afternoon. Was that what Pat had intended?
FOUR HOURS LATER, Joe was filthy, tired and his shoulders felt like someone had driven over them. For the past two hours, he’d done nothing but ferry boxes from the attic to the storage room behind the bar.
“Isn’t it beer time, yet?”
Lisa, who looked just as grimy as Joe felt, laughed. “Sure, why not? I think you earned it.”
She walked to the hole where the ladder stood.
“Wait,” Joe said. “Let me go first so I can hold the ladder for you.”
She paused for half a second then shook her head and disappeared backward down the opening. Just as she had a dozen or more times that day. He chuckled under his breath.
Lisa was safely on the ground looking up. “Thanks for the offer, but you know me—the independent type.” She’d taken off the cotton scarf she’d tied around her head and was using it to wipe some of the grime off her face.
Joe heard a muffled voice, then a second later she looked up at him and said, “Brandon wants to practice filming an action shot, okay?”
The college students had left several hours earlier and Joe had put Brandon in charge of keeping the log. A boring job, but an important one. “Sure. Tell Martin to starting pouring that cold one. Here I come.”
He kicked the square hatch that fit into the frame closer to the opening, then lowered his feet to the second rung of the ladder—not the top, recalling Lisa’s stern chastisement to the interns earlier.
Once he had his balance, he tugged the hatch in place and paused to catch his breath.
“There,” he said. “Good as…”
He had no sense of falling until he hit the floor with his shoulder and cheek. His neck made a horrible sound—or was that cracking noise from the ladder that fell on him?
All he truly was aware of was Lisa’s frightened cry, “Joe. Oh, God, no. Joe…” Then, her hands were touching his face. He liked her touch. He liked her. Why hadn’t he told her that?
The hubbub that ensued included arguing over who would ride in the ambulance with him. Joe settled that by not letting go of Lisa’s hand—even when the paramedics told him he had to. Joe pretended to be unconscious.
He was pretty sure he was going to live, but the horrible throbbing in his shoulder could mean something was broken. And his head was ringing, too. He wasn’t looking forward to the pain he’d feel after the shock wore off, but, at least, Lisa was by his side.
“Joe,” she said in a soft voice, her lips nearly brushing his ear. “Can you hear me, sweetheart?”
&nbs
p; Sweetheart? Had she ever called him that before? No, he didn’t think so. God, maybe he was worse off than he thought.
Her grip on his hand tightened. “Listen. I know you’re going to be just fine, but when something like this happens it makes a person realize that anything could happen and what you planned to do or say somewhere down the line might not get done or said.”
Huh? He mumbled something equally unintelligible.
“I’m not making sense, am I?” She sighed and pressed a tender kiss on his cheek. “I’d planned to tell you this after your mother was married. She’s been through so much and then this stuff with Brandon…”
Joe’s breathing stilled. Was she going to tell him that she cared for him? Maybe she still loved him. Maybe she wanted to finish what their kiss had started. Maybe they could…
“He could be yours.”
Joe opened his eyes. He had to blink twice to focus against the bright light. His heart had stopped beating and he didn’t have any air in his lungs to make his words come out, but somehow he managed to croak, “What?”
She moved as close as possible given the cervical collar around his neck and the presence of the paramedic beside them and whispered, “Your mother said something to me a few weeks ago that led me to question whether or not Brandon is really Patrick’s. If he isn’t, then you’re the only other possibility.”
A thousand questions crashed into his mind, but Joe wasn’t given a chance to ask them. The rear doors of the ambulance opened and four hands yanked the gurney out of the vehicle. “It’s show time,” one of the orderlies said.
Joe watched helplessly as Lisa was directed to the waiting room while he disappeared into the E.R.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I just said that,” Lisa mumbled under her breath as she watched the gurney carrying Joe disappear behind a set of double doors marked Authorized Personnel Only. “What have I done?”
“Lisa?”
Lisa spun around so fast she almost tripped over her heavy boots. “Mom. What are you doing here? You don’t work E.R.”
Constance rushed forward. The concern on her face did little to ease Lisa’s trepidation. If anything, her mother’s presence made Lisa more nervous. What if Joe blurted out Lisa’s revelation? If they gave him pain medication, he might say anything. Lisa wasn’t ready for the whole world to know about her secret.
“I’m filling in for a friend. I left you a note.”
Lisa made a gesture of futility. “I haven’t been home. We came straight from the bar. Joe fell off a ladder. The paramedics just took him. He might have a broken shoulder or a concussion.”
Her mother enfolded Lisa in her arms. To Lisa’s surprise, the gesture felt honest and real, not just a nurse caring for a patient’s needs. “Oh, you poor baby. You just can’t catch a break, can you?”
Lisa wasn’t sure what that meant, but she didn’t reply. It was nice to be comforted. Something Lisa hadn’t experienced in a long, long time. Most of the time growing up, Lisa had felt like the adult in the house.
“Let’s go check on him,” Constance said, drawing Lisa toward the emergency room doors. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’s a tough nut.” She patted Lisa’s shoulder and added, “When a person has something to live for, he generally recuperates a lot faster.”
Lisa stopped suddenly. “What does that mean?”
Constance put her forehead to Lisa’s and whispered, “He’s attracted to you, silly. Smitten, I believe his mother called it. Isn’t that a cute, old-fashioned word?”
She smiled, then added, “Joe isn’t going to want to look like a wimp by hanging around in bed for weeks on end. He’ll bounce back.”
“Maureen said that?” Lisa repeated. “When did you talk to her?”
“At your graduation. She said she just wants to see you both happy. If you could be happy together then…” Constance gave her attention to pressing a certain combination of numbers on the door’s keyless entry.
Lisa put her hand over the buttons. “Wait. That’s crazy. Joe and I are just friends.” She tried to make the words sound as though she meant them. Hell, she’d been telling herself that for so long it should sound real. But, obviously, her mother wasn’t buying it.
Constance removed Lisa’s hand and quickly punched in the code. “That’s not true, Lisa. It’s never been true, but if you want to delude yourself into believing that, then there’s nothing I can do.”
What could anyone do? Lisa thought, following her mother into the brightly lit room. The nurses’ station to the right was busy. Constance joined the activity seamlessly. Considering all the rumors and scandals Lisa had heard over the years, she’d expected to see more of a division—like in the soap operas she’d once watched religiously.
Constance asked a few questions, looked at a chart and returned to Lisa. “They just called for the portable X-ray unit. His blood pressure is a bit high, but he’s not complaining of double vision or terrible pain. Probably his shoulder took the brunt of the fall.”
Lisa started to ask if she could see him, but a loud buzzing noise made her jump. Constance turned expectantly toward the door and a moment later Maureen and Brandon walked in.
Oh, lord, Lisa thought. She had to have a minute alone with Joe before his mother and Brandon saw him. She had to beg him to keep her secret a little bit longer. Just until they had some kind of game plan in place. Preferably until his mother was safely on her honeymoon.
She grabbed her mother’s arm. “Where is he? I need to see him.”
Constance’s eyes widened at the intensity of Lisa’s plea, but she nodded to her left and said, “Exam room four, the first door—”
Lisa cut her off mid-sentence, then looked at Maureen and Brandon and said, “Wait here. I’ll check on him.”
Lisa found Joe without a problem. Fortunately, the other two beds in the room were empty. Joe was lying unattended, his body covered by several white blankets—either to keep him from going into shock or to ward off the unnatural chill that was making Lisa wish she’d grabbed her sweatshirt before hopping aboard the ambulance.
She approached him cautiously. What did one say to a person after delivering what was probably the greatest shock possible?
Joe must have sensed her presence because he opened his eyes. And, after a tiny hesitation, smiled. “Why do they keep it so cold,” he asked. “Trying to prepare people for death?”
Instead of smiling, as she was inclined to do, she walked straight to his side and asked, “Is everything a joke to you?”
His smile faded. “Not everything. And since you never kid around, I have to assume you meant what you said in the ambulance.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry I just dumped that on you. I’d planned to tell you after the wedding. Just the two of us, sitting down, face-to-face.”
“A paternity summit.”
Lisa put her hand to her brow. “Don’t be flip, Joe. Not now.”
Joe wriggled his arm free from beneath the layers of blankets and reached out to take her hand. His was warm, hers ice cold.
“Sorry. I had somebody—a school counselor, I think—tell me humor is a defense mechanism. Patrick defended himself with his fists. I used jokes.”
She relaxed slightly. His hand was strong yet gentle. He had to be as shaken up as she was, but you couldn’t tell by looking at him. Something that had always pissed her off. If he’d cared for her as much as he’d claimed to that night they’d made love, why had he never once acted jealous or possessive or even passionately interested in her when she’d been dating Patrick?
Lisa pulled her hand away and stuffed it in the pocket of her jeans. “Brandon and your mother are outside. I’m begging you, Joe. Don’t say anything about this matter until we’ve had a chance to talk. Please.” When he didn’t respond, she stepped closer and lowered her voice. “There’s so much to explain. But you have to believe me that I didn’t know.”
“How is that possible, Leese?”
“Think about
it. Think about Patrick. You weren’t the only creative person in your family. When it came to lies, Patrick was a true genius. He told me Brandon had to be his because you’d suffered some kind of fever when you were a kid and couldn’t father any children. I didn’t have any reason not to believe him. Unlike me, he’d been faithful,” she added softly.
Joe started to lift up, but Constance walked in at that moment and said sternly, “No, no, no. You don’t get up until I say you can.” She looked at Lisa and grinned. “That’s not the best way to keep a man in bed, but it works in a pinch.”
Lisa tried to bottle up her emotions so her mother wouldn’t ask too many questions—now or later at home. She wasn’t ready to talk about this issue with anyone but Joe.
“Only one visitor at a time is allowed with a patient in the exam rooms,” she said, giving Lisa a curious look. “Maureen is very anxious to see her son.”
Lisa looked at Joe, her plea in her eyes. His face was inscrutable. Oddly, he looked more like Patrick at that moment than she could ever remember seeing. His jaw was set, whether from pain or tension, she didn’t know. After a few long seconds, he moved his head a fraction in what seemed like a nod.
Lisa tried to smile, but wasn’t sure she pulled it off. “I’ll be outside.”
Maureen met Lisa in the hall and after a quick hug hurried into the exam room. Brandon, who was sitting on a padded chair that appeared to have come from the nurses’ station, was hunched forward with Joe’s movie camera cradled in his hands.
“What on earth is that doing here?” Lisa cried.
He looked up. “I didn’t dare leave it behind. It’s freakin’ expensive. But, Mom,” he said, his voice quivering with what she realized was excitement, “you won’t believe it. I caught Joe’s fall on tape.”
She nearly stumbled. “You what?”
He motioned her closer. “I did. Really. It happened so fast, I wasn’t sure, but I took a chance and looked. Wanna see it?” He sounded both proud and amazed. “You helped break his fall, Mom. If he’s not hurt too bad, he can probably thank you.”
“Really?” Lisa couldn’t remember touching Joe on the way down. She’d thrown out her arm to stabilize the ladder, and sort of remembered feeling his body rush past her. “I don’t think I did anything.”
His Real Father (Harlequin Super Romance) Page 12