by Kaitlyn Rice
She turned toward him, sending a silent appeal, then smiled softly when he gave a slight nod.
He could help her through this.
He intended to help her through this. Thank heaven.
GABE MOVED HIS HAND over Josie’s palm and squeezed gently, then let go. “Josie wanted to meet you for a specific reason,” he told Rick Blume. “She didn’t show up here to give you a hard time about leaving the family all those years ago.”
Rick lifted his eyes to Gabe’s. “All right.”
“She has questions about any health problems. One of her sister’s kids—Callie’s baby daughter, Lilly—has had a couple of seizures in the past two months.”
The old man sat forward in the chair, his expression intent. “Seizures? Is she okay?”
“We aren’t certain. The first might have been related to a fever, but the second wasn’t. She’s also showing other mild signs of a neurological disorder.”
“That’s awful.” Rick blinked those watery gray eyes. “I’m very sorry.”
“We all are,” Josie said. “But thanks.”
Rick nodded, moving the briefest glance to Josie before staring at his knees again.
“Josie’s wondering if you have any family history of seizure disorders,” Gabe continued. “Or if not you, then your parents or anyone further back.”
“I don’t believe so,” Rick said. “My parents lived long, healthy lives. I never heard of my grandparents having that kind of health problems, either. I can try to find out.”
“I’d appreciate it.” Josie stared at the old guy, but he still avoided her gaze. She leaned forward. “I’m not here only to get a health history, though,” she said. “I have tons of questions about everything. I do want to understand why you left us. But I realize that this might be tough for you. I can return another time if you like.”
Rick stood up. “I’m needing a drink. If you don’t want coffee, how about some tea? Or something else. I’m not sure what Brenda has in there.”
“Actually, that coffee sounds good about now,” Gabe said at the same time that Josie said she’d drink some hot tea.
Rick went into the kitchen and soon returned with two steaming cups on saucers, then made another trip to bring out a glass of water. He gulped half of it, then sat down and rested the glass against his knee.
Finally, he looked at Gabe again. “A while before I left, Ella and I had stopped living as a married couple.” He moved his gaze to Josie, but only for as long as it took to say those last two words.
Then he shook his head. “I felt I had to leave, but I was slow in going because I hated abandoning the girls. I wanted to find work first. Wanted Elly to keep our savings.”
A lot of men in Rick’s position might be inclined to list the various acts of selflessness prefacing their departure—especially if they struggled with guilt.
Hopefully, Josie would focus on the complexity of the situation rather than the failings of the man.
But Josie wouldn’t be Josie if she wasn’t direct. “Why would you think you had to leave the mother of your children?”
Rick’s head dropped forward. Gabe thought he might have fainted, until he noticed that the man was glaring at his knees again.
The movement must have frightened Josie, who shot halfway out of her seat and sloshed tea onto her jeans. Catching hold of her waist, Gabe pulled her gently backward until she was relaxing against him. He took her cup and set it on the side table. Then he rubbed a hand against her lower back for a few moments, comforting her.
“Your mother thought I was weak,” Rick muttered to Josie without meeting her eyes. “During those last weeks, she repeated the word dimwit so often I started to think that was exactly what I was—a dimwit. A dimwit to stay.”
Josie nodded, her face chalky.
Ella Blume had vilified men in general and the girls’ father specifically. Gabe had heard this via the Augusta grapevine and from all three of the Blume sisters.
Josie had often said that she wished her mother had lived to meet Gabe. That he would somehow prove the entire male population worthwhile.
For exactly that reason, he was sort of glad he hadn’t met Ella. The burden was huge. In fact, Ella had met Ethan, Callie’s husband and a great guy. She hadn’t liked him.
“If you were aware of Mother’s mental state, how could you leave Callie and Isabel with her?” Josie asked.
Rick didn’t hesitate. “She was strong. Sharp-tongued. But she was so smart. I guess she convinced me she could raise any child better than I could.”
He studied Gabe, then his knees, then the glass. He acted as if he was hiding something. Which made Gabe worry about what else Josie might learn today.
“Elly had some physical problems,” Rick said. “Female problems. Even if she was pregnant, I couldn’t have been certain that she’d carry the child. She lost a few babies early in the pregnancies. The muleheaded woman would never go to the doctor.”
“She would never go later, either,” Josie said. “My sisters and I suspected she was sick a few years back, but we never thought she’d have cancer. She lived so healthy.”
“Guess you never know.”
“Guess you don’t.”
Gabe decided to change the subject now, before Rick said anything else about the circumstances and timing of Josie’s conception.
“Josie isn’t the type to brag, but she’s a remarkable woman,” he said. “She works as an interior designer, and she’s done children’s rooms that have received national recognition.”
Rick shot another glance at Josie. “You’re creative, then.”
“Guess so.”
“Your mother was, too, of course.” The old cuss finally looked at Josie for longer than a few seconds. “I probably am a dimwit. You had to spell things out to me.”
“No. No, you’re fine.” Josie slid off the sofa and stepped forward to offer the old guy a hug.
A generous gesture that didn’t surprise Gabe a bit. Sometimes he wondered how any of the Blume sisters managed to be so loving, given their childhood situation.
Rick Blume lifted halfway out of the chair and clutched his half-empty water glass in one hand as he patted Josie’s back with the other.
“Thank you for seeing me today,” she said. Then she turned to Gabe and gave him a look he’d seen hundreds of times before.
She was ready to go home. Now.
“We’d better get going,” Gabe said, making a play at stretching before coming to his feet. “Josie and I both have a busy day ahead of us.”
Rick set his glass on the coffee table and walked them to the door. As Gabe slipped into his coat, he decided that the old gossip might have been false after all.
Thank God.
Josie had only learned that Rick hadn’t been aware of a third daughter. That he’d left when his wife’s pregnancy was still in doubt. She was unaware of the other stories Gabe had heard.
If the rumors had been true, Rick would have explained his departure more thoroughly. What man wouldn’t?
Gabe hoped Josie was satisfied with this meeting, despite her father’s unenthusiastic response to her. She might not have discovered a loving father pining away for his lost children, but she’d received the health information she’d sought.
Maybe that would be enough.
But when Rick opened the front door, Josie started to walk through and then hesitated, turning to Rick again and ensnaring his gaze before he could avoid hers. “Isabel is coming to Kansas in a couple of weeks, and she’s bringing her family for Thanksgiving. Would you like the chance to meet everyone?”
Rick stepped backward, bumping against the door and knocking it into the wall. The tired old face that had remained amazingly disimpassioned today had changed. Josie’s suggestion had stunned the poor guy.
Gabe knew the feeling.
Josie wasn’t finished with this? Hadn’t she noticed that the man had barely looked at her this morning?
Rick stared at Josie now, his expr
ession incredulous. Then he started hemming and hawing, saying something about Brenda and their plans, the dogs and the weather. His discomfort was so evident it made Gabe squirm.
“Think about it, okay?” Josie prompted. “You could visit on the Friday after the holiday. All of us girls would be there. All the kids, too. Of course Brenda’s invited, also.”
The old man’s face relaxed, as if he could at least fathom the idea with his helpmate attached to it. “I’ll talk to her about our plans for that day.”
Josie nodded. “Good.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Gabe ensnared Josie’s hand and led her outside, down the steps and to her vehicle. He opened her truck door, waited until she got in, then went around to the passenger seat. As soon as he sat beside her, he put a thumb on her chin and nudged her face his direction. “Isabel’s coming for Thanksgiving?” he asked.
“For that whole long weekend, yes.”
He dropped his hand.
“Does she know you’ve talked to Rick Blume?”
“Not yet.”
“Callie, neither, I suppose.”
“No. Callie, neither.” Josie shifted in her seat, eyeing Rick and Brenda’s modest house, then laughed heartily. With each chuckle, she seemed to expel a heartful of emotion. “My mother must be thrashing in her grave.”
“I’d say so.”
Josie turned her key in the ignition. “Go ahead, call me impulsive,” she said as she circled out of the drive.
“You are that, kid.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
Lord, did he hope so.
Chapter Six
“I’m getting stuffed. You want the rest of my burger?” Josie mumbled as she nibbled on one last French fry.
“No. I’m good.” Gabe crumpled his sandwich wrapper and tossed it into the large paper sack, then picked up his soft drink and sipped as he leaned against a pillar of Josie’s porch.
The drive from Woodbine had put them at Augusta’s city limits at lunchtime, and Josie had insisted on buying the meal to repay Gabe for his support.
He’d done well, butting in only when necessary. And he’d allowed her to wallow in silence all the way home.
This visit with her father had been as upsetting as the first, though in a different way.
“I can’t believe how much it’s warmed up today.” She stared out over a yard filled with sun-glistening yellow grass that didn’t look as though it had been frozen this morning.
“November in Kansas.”
Josie folded the wrapper around the remains of her sandwich and put it in the sack along with the French fry bag. Then she finished her cola and set the cup down.
A squirrel scampered across a tree limb and she watched it, wishing life didn’t feel so complicated right now.
Wishing her father had shown more remorse for his years of neglect. Wishing she’d felt that easy connection to him.
Josie wished things with Gabe could go back to easy, too. He couldn’t know how much it had meant to her to feel his hand on hers today. To feel his touch on her back. How much his presence had bolstered her courage.
She was supposed to be gutsy all by herself.
“You finished?” Gabe asked as he gathered the sack and cups. “I’ll take these to the trash.”
He’d been so patient with her. Trying to cajole her to talk. Allowing her to be quiet when his efforts didn’t work. Gabe understood her, maybe more than anyone.
Maybe more than she did herself.
He disappeared inside, and Josie leaned back on her arms and stretched out her legs.
This visit with her father had left her feeling more confused, rather than less. So much didn’t add up. She could be obsessing. Putting more meaning into Rick’s odd reaction to her than she should.
But she didn’t think so.
As soon as Gabe had stepped outside again, she said to him, “Did you notice that Rick wouldn’t even look at me this morning?”
Gabe sat beside her on the step and didn’t comment. He simply faced her, waiting.
Oh, yeah. He knew her.
“He looked at you, not me,” Josie said. “He acted almost as if he was…afraid. Of me! Can you imagine?” She laughed, but her attempt at breezy couldn’t have fooled Gabe. She sounded disturbed.
And she had a right to be upset. Her father had just rejected her in yet another way. Her father, who gave the appearance of being some harmless old man.
Had both her parents been unbalanced? The thought wasn’t encouraging. Josie already worried about becoming as set in her ways as Ella. Or an alcoholic like her father.
But Rick hadn’t given the impression that he had a drinking problem, had he?
Another thing that didn’t add up.
Gabe put his arm around her, tugging her close. “Aw hell, Josie. Who knows what Rick was thinking. Don’t let his behavior get to you.”
She leaned into Gabe’s warmth. His strength. Still, she shivered from an overflow of emotion.
“Remember when I hugged him?” she asked. “Just before we left?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“His body felt so skinny and foreign. I like Rick, but…well, it’s almost as if I’m having to dig to find some caring from him.”
She leaned backward to see Gabe’s expression, curious about his reaction.
His gorgeous blue eyes glowed bright with the concern she’d craved from her father. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “I felt as though I was hugging someone else’s dad.”
Gabe pulled her into his embrace and held her for a long time. He felt solid and good. Familiar. Interested in her the way no one else was.
“These things take time, Josie,” he murmured against her hair. “You’ll get to know Rick better and vice versa.”
“Especially since I opened my big mouth and invited him to a dang dinner I wasn’t planning. Why do I forget that I don’t cook big meals?”
“Do you want me to come to the dinner?”
She edged away. “Don’t you usually work the day after Thanksgiving?”
“Usually,” he said. “But I could—”
“No. I’ll be fine,” Josie interrupted. “I need to see him without you being there to save me. Maybe Rick…maybe my father and I will establish that missing connection if we don’t have you around to smooth our awkwardness.”
“Your sisters will be there.”
“He needs to connect with them, too.” Josie heard a ringing from inside. “That’s my phone.”
She got up and swung past the screen door, catching the kitchen phone on the third ring.
“Josie?”
It was Callie.
“Yes, Cal. Everything okay?”
“Where’ve you been?” Callie asked, her voice abnormally husky. “We’ve left messages, tried your cell phone. Ethan was going to find a computer so he could e-mail you.”
Josie shoved this morning’s newspaper off the answering machine and realized it was blinking a six. She’d had six messages, presumably from Callie and Ethan.
“Sorry, Cal. I went out with Gabe this morning. Guess I neglected to check the machine when we got home. What’s up?”
“Lilly had a seizure this morning,” Callie said. “Another bad one that lasted a half hour.”
Josie leaned against her counter. “What happened?”
“I noticed her staring into space during her morning bath, and then she started convulsing. We took her to the E.R. right away.”
Josie realized she was trembling. “Is she okay?”
“She’s sleeping now, and we’ve consulted with the Kansas City neurologist over the phone. He said he’d give her more time on this medication, but up the dosage. They’re keeping her at the hospital to run an EEG and some other tests.”
“My God, Cal. This is awful.”
“I know.” Callie spoke in a low tone. Josie could tell she was very upset. “We’ll see the new neurologist in his office the week after Thanksgiving.”
“Good. Is Luke there with you?”
“No. We were going to have you watch him, but got hold of a neighbor first.”
Josie cast a gaze around the kitchen, searching for her truck key. “I’ll be right there.”
“No. Don’t come,” Callie said. “The nurses probably won’t let you in the room, anyway. We’re keeping Lilly very quiet.”
“Then I’ll go get Luke and wait at your house with him. He’ll probably feel better at home.”
“Hon, no. Leave Luke be. He’s playing with the neighbor’s kid—something he usually does on Saturday afternoon. If we have to stay overnight, I’ll call you back.”
“Should I telephone Isabel?” Josie asked.
“I’ve already talked to her twice.”
Josie felt useless.
She could do one thing now, though. A very small thing. It was time to tell Callie about Rick. “I’m sorry about Lilly, Cal. And I have something to confess.”
“What is it, Josie? I only have a minute or two.”
“I went to see our dad.”
“Josie, what?”
“Gabe went with me this morning. Rick Blume lives in Woodbine, north of here. And, well, I’ve been there once before.” Josie heard the hospital intercom and recognized this wasn’t the time for details. “Don’t worry, it was okay. I’ll tell you about it later. I just thought I’d tell you he doesn’t have a seizure disorder, and he doesn’t believe there’s a family history of them.”
“Thanks for finding out.” Callie hesitated, then said, “I have to go, hon. Ethan’s waving at me from the hallway. We’re fine. We have each other.”
Josie hung up, then pushed the answering machine’s play button and listened to her sister and Ethan’s messages, starting just a few minutes after she’d left with Gabe this morning.
Why was her life so troubled lately? Josie hated to think about Lilly, suffering. Hated to see Cal and Ethan go through such an awful time.
Hated too many unanswered questions.
She felt a presence behind her. Gabe.
“You okay, kid?” he asked.
She didn’t turn around. “Callie telephoned about Lilly,” she said, hearing the tremor in her own voice. “She had another seizure. Worse, I guess. They’re at the hospital. They’ve been calling all morning.”