Trouble With Christmas (9781455544066)

by Mason, Debbie

  Everyone began to talk at once. Half of them questioned Dr. Trainer about Nell’s condition, while the other half protested their ejection.

  Gage’s father caught Madison’s eye and waved her to his side. “Go ahead, Matt.”

  Dr. Trainer nodded. “Nell’s conscious. The next twenty-four hours are critical, but barring any unforeseen complications, I feel confident she’s going to make a full recovery.”

  It was as if they all exhaled at once. “Thank God,” Madison murmured, fighting back tears. Ted cleared his throat a couple of times, and Fred surreptitiously rubbed his eyes.

  Dr. Trainer fielded questions while politely but firmly sending everyone on their way. “For the next day or so, only members of the family will be able to see Nell.”

  “We might not be related by blood, but we’re just as much Nell’s family as you are, Paul. Me and Fred are staying.” The two older men took their seats, their expressions daring Dr. Trainer or Gage’s father to argue.

  “Get over here, Maddie.” Ted patted the chair between them. “She saved Nell’s life, you know,” he said to Dr. Trainer, his chest puffed up with pride.

  No matter how much Madison wanted to stay, she couldn’t. She’d learned her lesson with Joe and didn’t plan on making the same mistake. “I think it’s best if—” she began before Gage’s father interrupted her.

  “Ted and Fred are right. Nell would want the three of you here.”

  “Actually, Nell would like to see Ms. Lane,” Dr. Trainer said.

  Madison was anxious to see Nell, but she was also worried what would happen if she did. Oh, she knew Gage was right, knew she hadn’t actually caused Nell’s heart attack, but she also knew any type of stress wouldn’t be good for Nell. “Are you sure? Shouldn’t Dr. McBride go in first?”

  Paul smiled. “Heart attack or no heart attack, my aunt is not a woman who takes kindly to people not doing as she wants.”

  No, she didn’t, Madison thought, as she went to follow Dr. Trainer down the hall. Once they reached Nell’s room, he began telling Madison what to expect. Suddenly a loud beeping came from behind the slightly ajar door as a light flashed above it. A nurse ran toward them. Dr. Trainer rushed into the room as quickly as the blood rushed from Madison’s head. She leaned against the wall.

  “Nell, you can’t take out your tubes. I don’t care if they’re bugging you,” Dr. Trainer said sternly.

  Madison didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She laid a hand on her chest to make sure her own heart was still beating.

  “No, I didn’t get my degree from a Cracker Jack box, and I don’t care if you want your nephew to treat you, he can’t. No, neither can your great-nephew. He was a paramedic, not a doctor. No, it’s not the same difference.” Dr. Trainer sounded like his patience was wearing thin. “If you don’t behave, I’m sending you to Denver.”

  His threat must’ve worked because a couple of minutes later he and the nurse left the room. The nurse gave her head a bemused shake as she walked back to her desk.

  “You can go in now,” Dr. Trainer said.

  “Nell’s okay?”

  “Stubborn and ornery, but yes, she’s okay.”

  “I can hear you,” Nell’s gruff, albeit weak, response came from behind the door.

  Dr. Trainer grinned, lowering his voice. “She’s something, isn’t she?”

  “She sure is.” Madison’s smile faltered as she stepped into the room. Nell, attached to the tubes and the bleeping machines by her bed, looked tiny and frail, and every day of her seventy-six years.

  Madison forced the smile back to her lips as she pulled a chair from under the window to the side of the bed. “Don’t play with that. You just about gave me a heart attack,” she said when Nell raised a finger to the oxygen tube in her nose.

  Nell pulled a grumpy face, but did as Madison asked. “Don’t even joke about having a heart attack. Believe me, they’re no fun.”

  “Tell me about it. I was there, remember?” Madison gently pushed a strand of Nell’s red-streaked hair from the bump on her forehead and winced. “I’m sorry I thought you were faking. At least I could’ve stopped you from falling.”

  “No, that’s on me. If I hadn’t pulled a fast one on you after the town hall meeting, you would have. I’m the one who should be apologizing. You lost your job because of me.” Her eyes met Madison’s. “I’m real sorry about that, Maddie. I’ve learned my lesson. No more interfering for me.”

  Somehow, Madison didn’t believe her, about the interfering part, anyway. She placed her hand over Nell’s, careful to avoid the narrow plastic tubing. “Harrison firing me had nothing to do with you. Like I told you, he’s been trying to get rid of me from the start. Really, it’s for the best. I couldn’t work under him.” But she would have, at least until she found another job.

  “You don’t like him much, do you?”

  “No. I don’t trust him, and I don’t like the way he does business.”

  “Then why don’t you want to stay and stop him?”

  “Because, Nell, you and everyone else in town want him to build the resort.” She glanced at the lines on the screen. “We shouldn’t be talking about this. There’s nothing I can do about it, anyway. I’m sure everything will work out.” She was pretty sure it wouldn’t, but Nell didn’t need to hear that now.

  Nell weakly waved her hand, and one of the machines beeped. Madison jumped. “What’s that? Are you all right… Are you in pain? I’ll get the—”

  “Calm down. I feel better now than I have for the last while. It’s just this thingie here.” She pointed to her finger with the clip on it. “The machine squawks whenever I move my hand. Besides, we need to talk about this. It’ll bug me, and that can’t be good for my—”

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Madison interrupted her. “You’re not pulling that on me.”

  “What? It’s the truth. You’re smart, and if you don’t think the resort will get off the ground, it won’t. And there is something we can do to stop Harrison. We’ll ask Ethan to put the resort to a vote. You’ve got some good ideas how to turn the town around. You just have to get them out there.”

  “I do, but I don’t think I’ll be able to convince anyone, at least not enough of them to win out over the resort.”

  “You convinced me, didn’t you?”

  Madison nodded and smiled. “I guess I did, didn’t I?” Joe had believed all along that it was Nell who was the key to turning around the publicity nightmare. And the thought of beating Harrison at his own game held a certain amount of poetic justice. Best of all, Madison would have a chance to save Christmas… and Joe. After five years of friendship, despite how she’d been treated, she couldn’t let him go broke. She knew Harrison didn’t have the funds to buy Hartwell outright, and if the company went down, so would Joe.

  “So, is it a deal?” From the self-satisfied look in her eyes, Nell already knew the answer.

  “Yes.” Madison stood up. “I guess if I’m going to do this, I’d better get busy.”

  “I’ll call Ethan. Have him put the vote on the agenda. Harrison’s flying in the morning of the twenty-fourth, so that gives us a little over a week to get enough people on our side to vote your plan in.”

  “Oh, no, you don’t. I’m going to take care of this, not you. You’re going to take it easy and get better. Ted and Fred will help me.” At the doubtful look in Nell’s eyes, Madison said, “Trust me, I can handle it.” She tucked the sheets under Nell’s chin and kissed her cheek. “You rest. I’ll check on you later.”

  “You’re not going soft on me, are you?”

  “Not a chance.” But as Madison left Nell’s room, she thought she just might be. It was the only way to explain why she’d agreed to stay in Christmas and launch a campaign against Hartwell. She was jobless, staying in a small town where everyone knew your name and your business, and she’d never felt happier.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Gage stood in the hall down from Nell’s room, warding off his father’
s probing fingers. “Dad, stop, I’m fine.” A millimeter in and he wouldn’t have been, but he was. And thankfully, so was everyone else.

  Gage had almost talked Johnny, the guy holding a gun on the store owner and his employees, into giving up, when one of the young girls made a run for it. Johnny had panicked, aiming the gun at her, prepared to shoot. Gage dove for the girl, shielding her with his body while one of the deputies fired on Johnny. The bullet from Johnny’s gun whistled past Gage’s head, taking a bit of skin as it went by.

  “If you won’t let me check you out, at least let Matt have a look,” his father said, as he leaned in to peer at Gage’s forehead, straining to keep his fingers to himself. “You can never be too careful with head wounds.”

  Gage reined in his frustration. “Dad, it’s not a head wound. I took a look at it and so did the paramedics. I’m good to go.”

  “You see this?” His father tugged on a couple strands of gray hair. “This is what you and your brothers have done to me. Why couldn’t the three of you find jobs where you don’t get shot at every day?”

  Gage didn’t bother to point out that at sixty-two his father should have a head full of gray hair instead of the silver wings at his temples. “Come on, I’ve been shot at once in two years.” His brothers, Chance and Easton, were a different story, but he wasn’t going to go there now.

  He suspected his father would, but instead, he looked over Gage’s shoulder with a gotcha smile.

  Madison’s voice came from behind him. “What’s going on?”

  Gage turned, catching the look of concern in her eyes as she walked toward them in her shapeless black suit with her hair scraped back from her pale face. He really hated that suit. It reminded him that she planned to leave. His over-the-top reaction upon hearing the news earlier had been about as surprising as the bullet whizzing by his head.

  “Nothing,” he said at the same time his dad said, “Gage got shot.”

  Her eyes widened as she rushed to his side. “Are you all right?” She searched his face, gently touching just below the abraded skin with the tips of her fingers. “What happened there?” Before he had a chance to explain, her eyes conducted a full-body search. “Where did you get shot?”

  “In the head,” his father said.

  Gage groaned. “For chrissakes, Dad. I wasn’t shot. The bullet grazed my head, that’s all.” He closed his hand over hers. “I’m fine. But how are you? How’s Nell?”

  “I’m good, and your aunt is much better than I expected.” Her gaze flitted back to his forehead then to his dad. “Is he really okay? Did you examine him?”

  He gave Gage a smug look. “No, he won’t let me. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

  Not going to happen. “I’m checking on Nell, and then I’m taking Madison home.” He walked toward his aunt’s room, shaking his head in exasperation when he heard his father outlining his concerns to Madison in graphic detail.

  His frustration was replaced by an uncomfortable tightness in his chest at the sight of Nell asleep in the hospital bed. The only time he’d ever seen her this quiet and pale was when she’d faked being hit by Madison’s SUV. He wished she was faking now.

  As though she sensed his presence, her eyes blinked open. He went to the side of the bed, leaning over the rail to kiss her cheek. “You scared the hell of out of me, you know.”

  She patted his face. “I’m not going anywhere yet. I plan on being around for a good long while.”

  “I’m counting on it.” At times she drove him crazy, but he didn’t want to think what life would be like without her. “I’m going to talk to dad about you moving in with one of us once you’re released.”

  She frowned. “Why would I do that? Maddie’s staying with me.”

  From his earlier conversation with Madison, Gage knew she’d told his aunt she was heading back to New York. But maybe Nell had forgotten—understandable, given what she’d been through.

  “Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t you believe she’s staying with me?”

  He wanted to, and not just for his aunt’s sake. He’d realized when Madison told him she was leaving how much he wanted her to stay. She drove him as crazy as Nell, but more in an I’m-so-hot-for-her-I-can’t-think-straight kind of way. He wanted more time with her, time alone with her, time to make sure she knew what she was getting into. And thanks to today, she had something else to think about… he had a job that put his life on the line.

  He glanced at the monitor as he took Nell’s hand in his. “Madison was fired today. Once she knows you’re okay, she’s heading back to New York to look for a job.”

  “Why are you talking to me like I’m an idiot? I had a heart attack. I didn’t lose my marbles. I know she got fired. And if you ask me, that Harrison fella is a damn fool letting her go. She’s sharp as a tack, and if she says the resort’s not going to fly, it isn’t. What the Sam Hill is wrong with Joe Hartwell letting his nephew get rid of her?”

  The line on the screen spiked. Gage was as mad as Nell at how the Hartwells had treated Madison, but before he could do anything about it, he had to calm his aunt down. “Let’s not talk about this now. You need your rest.”

  “Well, you mark my words, they’re going to regret letting her go now that she’s working for us.”

  “What exactly do you mean, working for us?” Gage said slowly, not sure he wanted to know.

  “Didn’t Madison tell you? Me and her have a plan. We’re going to turn Christmas around. We just have to get the rest of the town on board.”

  Aw, hell, he’d rather have ten guys taking potshots at him then deal with Madison and Nell plotting against Hartwell. The old saying “Be careful what you wish for…” came to mind.

  * * *

  “I hope you’re satisfied now,” Gage muttered, his hand at the small of Madison’s back as they made their way from his father’s office to the bank of elevators.

  “You don’t have to be so grumpy about it. It only took—” she glanced at her watch “—forty-five minutes for your dad to check you out.” Which seemed a little excessive, even to her. Not that she’d share her opinion with Gage. It had taken ten minutes of pleading and cajoling just to get him to agree to the exam. She hadn’t realized how stubborn the man could be. And until today, she hadn’t realized how dangerous his job was. How if the bullet had…

  “Right, forty-five minutes to check out a scrape on my head.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “Ever since my mom died, he’s been paranoid. If you get so much as a scratch, he’s sure it’s going to turn into a flesh-eating disease.”

  “That’s sad. You should humor him.”

  “Believe me, in the beginning we did. But after nine years, it’s wearing a little thin.”

  The elevator doors opened, and he nudged her inside. She waited impatiently for the doors to close. At the sight of Gage in the hall—looking big and strong in his uniform—all she’d wanted to do was run into his arms, but she knew how he felt about PDA. Finding out he’d been shot had only made it harder to hold herself back.

  As the doors closed, she moved into him, wrapping her arms around his waist to rest her cheek on his chest. She listened to the steady drumbeat of his heart, breathing in his familiar scent of clean mountain air and leather. His arms went around her.

  “I’ve wanted to do this since I saw you outside Nell’s room. I need a minute, okay?”

  He smiled into her hair. “Sure, anything you need. You’ve had a real crappy day, haven’t you?”

  She leaned back to look up at him. “I didn’t think it could get much worse, then your dad said you were shot. Do you get shot at often?”

  His chest expanded on a sigh as he set her away from him. “Not often, but it happens. Are you having second thoughts?”

  It wasn’t exactly the answer she’d been hoping for, but she’d rather deal with the worry than not have him in her life. He wasn’t the type of man to take unnecessary risks. He was solid and dependable. And thankfully, Christmas wa
s a small town where guys holding hostages at gunpoint wasn’t an everyday occurrence. “No, I’m not having second thoughts.”

  “Glad to hear it.” He smiled down at her as the elevator stopped, then said hello to the elderly couple who waited for them to get off. Once he’d patiently answered their questions about Nell, he’d walked Madison to the front doors of the hospital, leaving her inside while he brought the truck around.

  With the arctic air whipping the snow across the parking lot, she’d appreciated his thoughtfulness, but seeing the man stomping the snow from his boots just outside the doors, now, not so much.

  As Rick Dane entered the hospital, his basset-hound brown eyes fastened on her like she was a juicy rabbit. “Ms. Lane, just the person I was hoping to see.”

  “Mr. Dane, what can I do for you?”

  He took a pad of paper and a pen from his jacket pocket. “Thought you might like to make a comment before I put my story to bed.”

  She glanced out the glass doors and contemplated making a run for it. She vetoed the idea when an image of her sliding across the ice-slicked blacktop on her butt came to mind. “About what?”

  “The fact you were fired this morning and are no longer an employee of Hartwell Enterprises.”

  Her jaw dropped. How had he found out so quickly? Harrison. She should’ve realized from the beginning that Dane was his contact. No wonder the man was doing his best to make her look like an idiot in the paper. Harrison had been trying to discredit her and undermine her all along, and he’d found the perfect person to do his dirty work. But she couldn’t let news of her firing become public knowledge. If it did, her chances of finding a job would be slim to none.

  Dane smirked as she struggled to come up with a response, but her response hinged on Joe. In between worrying about Gage, she’d come up with a way to minimize the impact her leaving Hartwell would have on her job prospects.

  And Dane was about to ruin everything.

  She was counting on Joe to, at the very least, give her a letter of reference, even better, to publicly announce she’d resigned and wish her well.