“Which one?”
“Yale.”
“Impressive. What was your major?”
“Economics.”
“Wow, followed by another wow. Big school. Big degree. What are your plans? Wall Street?”
“I’m not sure what I want to do with my degree.” No lie there.
Violet seemed to understand that. “What’s the hurry? You’ve spent most of your life in school. Why not enjoy a little down time? Do you want to travel?”
“I see a lot of it in my future.” Again, Gaige was telling Violet the truth. There were eight road games in an NFL regular season. A different city every time.
“I would love to see the world.” Violet groaned. “I never realized how often I use that word.”
“What word?”
“See. Or some form of it. I might have to rearrange my terminology. If… you know.”
Gaige weighed his options. Some people needed coddling. They couldn’t handle straight talk without falling to pieces. Something told him that Violet was made of sterner stuff.
“I would rather not pussyfoot around the whole blind thing. Do you mind?”
“It would be a relief. My parents. The nurses. Even the doctors refuse to use that word. As though saying it will make it true.”
“Exactly. You can’t stop using the word see, Violet. Do you think blind people eliminate it from their vocabularies? If you want to see the world, you will. Whether you have the use of your eyes, or not.”
“Young man! How dare you say such a thing?”
Sophia Reed stood in the doorway, a look of horrified shock on her face.
“It’s okay, Mom. I want Gaige to be honest with me.”
“I apologize, Mrs. Reed.” Gaige knew how his words must have sounded to someone just entering the room.
“Perhaps you should leave.”
“No. Don’t go.” Violet reached out for him, her hand flailing through the air.
“I’ll be back.” Gaige brought her hand to his chest, just over his heart. “Tomorrow. Same time. Same place.”
Violet smiled. “You won’t be able to miss me. I’ll be the girl in the terribly chic hospital gown.”
“You joke, but on you, it looks fantastic.”
Gaige left, carrying the sound of Violet’s beautiful laughter with him. Her mother had reason to worry. Though she didn’t know why. Gaige would return tomorrow. And he would continue to lie. He only hoped when the truth came out, Violet, and her mother, would understand.
CHAPTER THREE
VIOLET CONSIDERED HERSELF mature for her age. She had one year of college under her belt. Maintained a straight-A average and held down a part-time job at night and on the weekends. All of this without neglecting her social life. In her opinion, she was nineteen going on thirty.
Her parents refused to see it that way.
“Why do you insist on treating me like a child?”
“You are a child, Violet. Our child.”
“And I always will be. But right now, I need you to think of me as an equal.”
“Sweetheart—”
“Dad. Please. Your insurance will not cover my medical bills. That is a fact. And the expense is only going to get worse—no matter what the doctor says on Friday.”
“I don’t want you to worry about that. Your mother and I will handle it.”
“My point is you don’t have to.” Violet didn’t need to see her parents. She could picture them exchanging glances. Twenty-three years of deep, abiding love and respect often made words unnecessary. She needed them to understand. And words were her only way.
“I want to speak with the hospital administrator. I can apply for aid to help pay my bills. If I need an operation, or if it turns out I won’t be able to see again, it’s important to put the wheels in motion now. I don’t want to be any more of a burden on you than absolutely necessary.”
“What a thing to say. You could never be a burden.” Violet could hear the tears in her mother’s voice.
“Not emotionally.” Violet sighed. This was so much harder when she couldn’t see them. “Financially, this could take you under. I won’t let that happen.”
Gaige backed away from the hospital room door. He had heard enough. More than Violet would have wanted him to. But he was glad he caught the Reeds’ private moment. He knew what he was going to do. And the last thing he wanted was for Violet to find out.
There was a bank of pay phones at the end of the hallway. They were enough removed from the waiting area to give the user a bit of privacy. Gaige walked to the last one in line. He put in the correct amount of change and dialed.
“Gaige?” Walter answered after the first ring.
“You gotta love caller ID.”
“You’re making a joke so the news can’t be too bad.”
The news would come down on Friday. Fingers crossed, it would all be good. Gaige had no control over that. But there was something he could do—with Walter’s help.
“Walter, I need you to do me a favor.”
“I TOLD HIM I wasn’t feeling well, but he insisted on spinning that sucker round and round. The results were inevitable.”
Gaige chuckled. Violet’s animated telling of her disastrous carnival date was one he would remember for a long time.
“You threw up?”
“All over him.”
“Serves him right.”
“In all fairness, I knew better than to get on the Whipper Snapper after I’d eaten two hot dogs, a diet root beer, and three bags of popcorn.”
“You warned him. I say he deserved what he got.”
“No one deserves a lap full of sick. But I appreciate you being on my side.”
“Always.”
Violet started to say something, but the nurse chose that moment to show up to take her temperature. Just as well. The more Gaige looked at her mouth, the more he wanted to kiss her. But he didn’t know how. He could ask. All signs pointed to Violet saying yes. She smiled so sweetly. Her voice held what could only be called affection. Plus, she told him she liked him.
Yet, Gaige hesitated. She couldn’t see him. Would he be taking advantage of her? She thought he was a nice young man. She didn’t know the dark side of his family.
The longer he waited to tell Violet the truth, the harder it became. Gaige justified his silence, telling himself it didn’t matter. They were friends. But it was a temporary situation. He was headed to Seattle. Violet back to college. She had so much to deal with. Why dump his problems on her?
Then his feelings for her changed. Gaige began to imagine a life with Violet beyond the walls of the hospital. So he justified his silence by reminding himself that she needed to maintain a positive attitude. Why upset her before she found out her prognosis?
For a man who prided himself on facing every challenge head on, Gaige’s lies by omission weighed on his conscience. However, today was the day. Friday. No matter what, he would confess everything. He hoped Violet would understand.
“There you are. I have been looking for you everywhere.”
“Walter?” Gaige couldn’t believe his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“After our last conversation, did you really expect me to do your bidding without coming here first?”
“Yes.”
Walter blinked, obviously surprised at Gaige’s emphatic, one-word answer.
“Then your Ivy League education was a waste of time. That’s a lot of money you want to part with, Gaige. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t make certain you weren’t throwing it away under duress.”
“I’m an adult. And it’s my money. I don’t appreciate you treating me like some feeble-minded child. When I ask you to do something, I expect it to get done.”
“No questions asked?”
“You can ask, Walter. But you had your chance when we spoke on the phone. You left me with the impression that you had no problem with my request.”
With one hand, Walter smoothed back his thinning hair. His dark
eyes narrowed. Gaige knew when his agent was weighing his words, picking just the right ones to sway a client to his way of thinking.
“Save your breath. I’m not changing my mind.”
“I have one question. This Violet Reed. Are you paying her medical bills out of guilt?”
“What?” Gaige frowned. “Why would you think that?”
“Then you don’t know? I didn’t think so.”
“Know what? Spit it out, Walter.”
“She’s the woman your father ran down with his car.”
Gaige felt the words like a sucker punch to his gut—unexpected and unprepared. They almost sent him to his knees.
“No.” Gaige shook his head, refusing to believe it. “I’ve repeatedly asked about her. I tried to find out how she was doing. They wouldn’t even tell me her name. But she was always referred to as a girl, not a woman. And I was told she was being treated at a different hospital.
“Sit down.” Walter urged Gaige toward the waiting area. “When you told me to find her and pay all of her medical bills, it didn’t take long to discover her name. The same name as the other woman whose bills you wanted to take care of. Naturally, I was confused.”
“Jesus.” Gaige dropped his head into his hands. “This can’t be happening. Why didn’t you call the second you found out?”
“Take a deep breath.” Walter patted him on the back. “I wanted to do some digging before contacting you. I thought we might have our signals crossed. When I confirmed my information, I hopped on the first plane.”
Gaige waited for the rubble from Walter’s bombshell to settle, but the mess was too much for him to comprehend. All this time he hadn’t been falling in love with a random young woman. No. Not falling. He was in love. No doubt about it.
The obstacles he thought they would face were nothing compared to this. His father was the reason Violet might never see again. How was he going to tell her? And when he did, would that be the end?
“I know this is a shock.”
“That’s putting it mildly.” Gaige looked Walter in the eye. “It doesn’t change anything. Arrange to have her medical bill paid in full.”
“Gaige.” Walter used his, I know what’s best, agent’s voice. “You don’t know how long she’ll be here. Or what further treatment she might need. Don’t commit yourself, or your money, until we take a look at the bigger picture.”
Gaige rounded on Walter, his eyes blazing. “Jesus Christ. Why the hell am I paying you a shitload of money? When I tell you to do something, do it.”
Without another word, Gaige stalked away.
Walter stepped back, shocked by the outburst. He had dealt with volatile clients, but Gaige had always been easy to handle. He listened to Walter’s advice, taking it ninety-nine percent of the time. Whatever was going on, he needed to stop it. Now.
Approaching the nurses’ desk, his practiced smile dripped with sincerity.
“Excuse me, I’m a friend of the Reed family. I was supposed to meet Alden for coffee. Is he in with Violet?”
“Mr. Reed isn’t here. But I did see Mrs. Reed. Would you like me to page her?”
Walter’s smile widened. “That would be perfect.”
GAIGE LEFT THE hospital and hailed a taxi.
“Drive.” Gaige tossed two hundred dollar bills at the cabbie. “Until that runs out.”
Gaige didn’t look at the view. They could have gone off the Brooklyn Bridge and he wouldn’t have noticed. Or cared. At the moment, oblivion seemed like a damn good option.
Violet. Fuck. He didn’t see her injuries anymore, only her smile. But he could picture them now—in all their horrific glory. The broken bones. The hints of bruises he occasionally spied under the pink elephant pajamas her mother brought for her to wear.
Briefly, the happy memory of Violet’s mortified blush when he told her which pajamas she was wearing made Gaige smile. But it didn’t last long. His brain swirled in a violent pattern of chaos. Thoughts bumping into each other and careening around like demented pinballs.
What had Violet told him about her accident? Gaige took a deep breath and tried to remember. So many of their conversations began one way and quickly evolved into something else. It was a bit like jazz. They would riff off each other’s thoughts—playing off the words. They could start out talking about books and end up debating the merits of two versus three-ply toilet paper. It was nonsensical. And wonderful. Violet kept him on his toes, making references to books and movies he didn’t know. Gaige had started a list, planning to catch up as soon as possible.
He closed his eyes and concentrated. What had Violet said? She was walking home after visiting some friends. They only lived a few blocks from her parents’ brownstone. There was an accident. She didn’t remember very much, for which she was grateful.
Gaige didn’t think she said anything else. And he hadn’t asked. He could tell it upset her, so he changed the subject. And now he was paying the price.
Suddenly his thoughts cleared. This was ridiculous. What was he going to do? Run away? Leave without explaining? Violet deserved the truth.
“Turn around.”
“We’ve only gone fifty bucks worth.”
“Get me back to the hospital as fast as possible and you can keep the difference.”
With a hundred-dollar tip as an incentive, the cab driver made a U-turn, cutting across traffic.
Unprepared for the sudden move, Gaige slid across the seat, rapping his head against the window. “Kill us both and the money won’t do you any good.”
“We’ll make it in one piece.”
One piece was a relative term, but Gaige wasn’t quibbling. He could live with a few bumps and bruises. The cab pulled to a halt exactly where it had picked him up.
“Have a nice day.”
Gaige was about to tell the cabbie where he could shove it when he heard someone call out his name. Violet’s father waved at him from the outside seating area. He stood when Gaige walked toward him.
Alden Reed wasn’t a big man. Around five foot nine with a slight build, he had a thick mop of light brown hair—the exact color of Violet’s. He obviously adored his daughter and his wife. A good father and husband. Gaige admired any man who fit that description.
“Mr. Reed.” Automatically, Gaige shook the other man’s hand. It felt different. As though even his handshake was a lie. He couldn’t tell Violet’s father the truth—not until he first spoke with her. But it made greeting him difficult.
“I hope you don’t mind me flagging you down.” Alden Reed ran a hand over his face. “The doctor finished his examination.”
Gaige swallowed. From the look on Alden’s face, it wasn’t good news.
“She can’t see?”
“No.”
“I’m—” Sorry? Hell, of course, he was. But he was also sick down to his soul.
‘It isn’t hopeless. There’s an operation that might restore Violet’s sight.”
“That’s wonderful.” Gaige couldn’t understand the problem. “Is it dangerous?”
“According to the doctor, Violet would either see, or she wouldn’t. But there’s no reason to believe there would be any complications. She’s young and healthy. He believes the chances of her seeing again are good. Very good.”
“Then why do you look like it’s the end of the world?”
“My insurance won’t cover the operation.”
Gaige opened his mouth, ready to assure Alden that it wasn’t a problem. He wanted his financial help to remain anonymous. But suddenly he had the overwhelming need to unburden himself—to tell Violet’s father everything.
“Mr. Reed?”
Miserable, Alden turned to Gaige. “What is it, son?”
“I want to pay for the operation.”
“You?” Alden’s blue eyes grew wide, a dozen questions flitting through them. “I don’t understand. I didn’t think you had a job. Does your family have money? Look, Gaige, I appreciate the offer. And if you’d be willing to make it a loan, I
’ll say yes. Anything to give Violet a chance to see again.”
“My family—” Gaige swallowed. “The money belongs to me, not my family.”
“I don’t understand.”
“No. But if you’ll give me a chance, I’ll explain everything. My name is Gaige Benson. And my father is the reason Violet can’t see.”
CHAPTER FOUR
GAIGE STOOD OUTSIDE Violet’s room.
He wasn’t certain what to do. Not an easy thing to admit—even to himself. He was a leader. It came to him naturally—a skill he honed over the years—on the football field and off.
Gaige’s teammates looked to him to know what to do in any situation—and he always had the answer. But this was different. Violet didn’t need to be led. She needed reassurance. He had promised her father. And Gaige never willingly broke a promise.
Alden Reed had listened to Gaige’s story without comment. His face remained a neutral mask, never giving away what he thought as Gaige laid out the facts. The accident. How he met Violet. Who his father was, and why he had the money to take care of all her medical bills.
“I wish I could change my last name—my father—but that isn’t possible. I—” Gaige almost used the word love, but pulled it back just in time. “I care about Violet. We’ve become friends. Please, don’t let my father’s reprehensible actions keep you from what’s best for her. Let me pay for the operation.”
“All right.”
“Really?” As easy as that? “I’ll do whatever you want, Mr. Reed. I can walk away and never contact Violet again. She doesn’t have to find out about me or where the money came from.”
“That’s very noble of you, Gaige. But would that be fair?”
“To me?”
“And to Violet?” Alden put a hand on Gaige’s shoulder. “My wife is big on quoting the Bible. Me, not so much. But you learn a thing or two when you’ve been dragged to church as often as I have. Heaping the sins of the father onto the son isn’t right. Something tells me Violet will feel the same way. But I can’t speak for her. She needs to hear the facts and make up her own mind.”
“Yes, sir.”
After The Fire (One Pass Away Book 3) Page 4