THE FALL

by Marie Force

Ted couldn't sleep. They had ridden home in silence, and for the first night all week, they hadn't made love. Their shock at running into Parker had made it impossible for them to celebrate that he had been with Gina and his plan seemed to have worked out just the way he had hoped it would.

  Even though Caroline was right next to Ted she was out of reach as she tried to cope with what had happened. He knew she was blaming herself, which wasn't fair. They were in this together, and he'd be damned if he would let her pull away from him.

  He turned over and put his arm around her. "Are you awake?" he whispered.

  "Yeah. I thought you were sleeping."

  "I can't." He drew her closer to him. "I need you, Caroline."

  "I'm here."

  "You're not. You've checked out on me, and I can't stand it. I've had this little taste of heaven with you this week, and it's just the beginning for us. Please don't take a step back because of what happened today. Step toward me, not away from me."

  Her body shook with sobs.

  "I love you so much," he whispered as he rolled on top of her. "Stay with me. Fight for us. You agreed to marry me, and I'm holding you to it." He kissed away her tears and trembled with relief when he felt her arms close around him. He made tender love to her, and by the time they quivered with aftershocks, he felt like they had reconnected. "We're going to get through this, baby. I promise you. Do you believe me?"

  She nodded.

  "Tell me. I need to hear you say it."

  "I love you, Ted," she whispered. "I love you, and we're going to get through this."

  "That's my girl." He kissed her and withdrew from her, keeping her tight against him.

  They had finally dozed off when the phone rang. Used to middle-of-the-night phone calls, Ted was instantly awake and in doctor mode. "Duffy."

  "Ted," his father said. "Grandy's had a heart attack. I think you'd better come."

  * * *

  Ted flew out of bed and grabbed the first clothes he could find.

  "He didn't say anything else?" Caroline asked.

  "No."

  "Do you want me to come with you?"

  His eyes filled as he was overcome by the knowledge that he was probably going to lose his grandmother—and very soon. "I do," he said. "I want you with me."

  She went into the bathroom and came out five minutes later dressed with her hair twisted into a clip. "Are you ready?"

  He reached for her hand. "I'm sorry. I know I'm asking a lot after the way my mother treated you, but I really need you right now."

  With her hand on his face, she said, "I'm right here, and I'll be wherever you need me to be. Okay?"

  He nodded. "Let's go."

  Ted got them to Mass General in fifteen minutes and did his best to slow his sprint into the hospital so Caroline could keep up with him. His parents and grandfather were in the ICU waiting room. Caroline hung back at the doorway when Ted went in to hug them.

  "How is she?" he asked.

  His father shook his head. "Not good. The heart attack was mild, but she's in congestive heart failure. They said it could be hours or days."

  "Did you reach Tish?" Ted asked.

  Mitzi nodded. "Steven is bringing her in."

  Theo was weeping, and Ted was struck by how diminished his grandfather seemed in just the few days since he had last seen him. Ted folded the old man into his arms. "Grandpa, it's okay."

  "She loves you, Third," Theo said through his tears. "You're her pride and joy."

  "I know. I've always known that. Can I see her?"

  Theo stood up and wiped the tears from his face. "Edward," he said to his son, "let's take the boy to see his grandmother."

  The three of them went down the hallway together.

  Mitzi turned to Caroline. "You have no place here."

  Remembering how Ted had pleaded with her to fight for them, Caroline met Mitzi's frosty stare with one of her own. "My fiancé asked me to come, and because I love him, I wanted to be with him."

  Mitzi rolled her eyes. "Your fiancé."

  Caroline went out to the hallway to wait for Ted.

  * * *

  In Lillian's room, the doctor in Ted quickly assessed the situation. However, the beloved grandson wasn't quite so quick. Seeing her attached to tubes and monitors and oxygen was overwhelming. Only his father's reassuring hand on Ted's shoulder made it possible for him to move to her bedside.

  "Grandy," he whispered, closing his fingers around hers. "Grandy, it's Ted. I'm here."

  She gripped his fingers and opened her eyes. "Ted."

  Tears flooded his eyes as he leaned over to kiss her. "Does anything hurt?"

  "No," she said. "Don't be a doctor."

  He laughed softly and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "I'll try not to be."

  "My boy," she said. "My boy long before you were a doctor."

  "That's right." Behind him he heard his father and grandfather sniffling.

  "I need to talk to you. Tell those two to scram."

  Ted turned to them, and they nodded to acknowledge that they had heard her. After they had walked out to the hallway, he turned back to his grandmother.

  "We've always had something special, you and me," she said.

  "Always."

  "Your mother told me about what happened earlier. She's going to try to tell you it gave me a heart attack, but we know better, don't we?"

  He smiled and nodded even as new tears filled his eyes.

  She brought her hands together and tugged at the ring on her finger. When she had worked it free, she pressed it into his hand. "Give this to Caroline."

  The two-carat diamond and sapphire ring had been a gift from Theo on their twenty-fifth anniversary.

  "Grandy, I can't. You aren't done with it."

  "I was always going to give it to you. Take it now so I know it's in good hands. Will you do that for me?"

  Choked with sobs, Ted rested his head on her bed.

  She ran her fingers through his hair. "Is she here? Did she come with you?"

  "Yes."

  Lillian chuckled weakly. "Good for her. She isn't easily intimidated. I like that. I want to see her. Will you get her?"

  "I'll be right back." He wiped his face on his shirt and went to find Caroline in the hallway. He held out his hand to her. "She's asking for you."

  Caroline took his hand. "Okay." Reaching up with her free hand, she brushed the tears from his face and held him close for a moment before they walked down the corridor together.

  "Caroline."

  Ted kept a hand on Caroline's shoulder as she moved closer to the bed. "Yes, Mrs. Duffy. I'm here."

  "I'm Grandy to you."

  "Thank you."

  "Do you love my grandson? Really love him?"

  "More than anything in this world."

  "So do I. He has something for you, something I hope you'll treasure as much as you treasure him."

  Ted reached for Caroline's hand and slid the ring onto her finger. "It fits perfectly." He kissed her hand and wiped the tears from her face.

  "I had a feeling it would," Lillian said.

  Caroline leaned over to kiss Lillian's forehead. "Thank you. And thank you for understanding."

  "I want you two to do something for me," Lillian said. "It's something big, and it's something I have no right to ask of you, but I'm dying, so I'm going to ask for it anyway."

  "Anything, Grandy," Ted said. "Whatever you need."

  "I want you to get married before I go. You can have a real wedding later, and I'll be with you in spirit. But I want to see it, and I don't have time to wait for the real thing. Will you do this for me?"

  "Grandy," Ted sputtered. "We can't just…"

  "Yes, we can." Caroline turned to Ted. "We can."

  "Are you sure? Your parents won't be here…"

  "I'm positive."

  "Get a license in the morning, and ask Grandpa to call Judge Daugherty," Lillian said. As her burst of energy faded her eyes grew heavy. "Ted, I also want
you to call Smitty. I need to see him. Tell him I'll wait for him."

  Ted took a deep breath and wiped his face again. "Okay, Grandy."

  * * *

  After they left Lillian to sleep and went to the waiting room, it occurred to Ted that he had no idea how to reach Smitty in Sydney since his cell wouldn't work outside the country. He called Parker and when his voicemail picked up right away, Ted realized Parker's cell phone was turned off. "Hey, it's Ted. I need to speak to you right away—and not about what happened tonight. It's an emergency. Call me as soon as you can."

  He left the same message for Chip, who didn't answer at home or on his cell.

  Finally, he left a message on the voicemail of Smitty's assistant in New York.

  "You'll hear from them in the morning," Caroline assured him.

  "I hope so."

  Tish and Steven came rushing off the elevator, and she fell into her brother's arms. "I'm not ready for this," she sobbed.

  "I know," Ted said. "I'm not either." That his sister didn't seem surprised to see Caroline told Ted his mother had gotten to her, too.

  "Come on, honey." Steven put his arm around his wife. "Let's go see her."

  Ted took Caroline's hand and led her into the waiting room. After they had greeted Tish and Steven, Ted's parents came back into the room.

  The four of them sat in uncomfortable silence for several long minutes before Mitzi gasped. "Where did you get that ring?"

  "Grandy gave it to her, Mom. She wanted my wife to have it."

  "This is outrageous!" Mitzi's face turned red and her eyes narrowed. "She's not well. She isn't thinking clearly. You need to give it back to her."

  "Mitzi," Ed said. "She's thinking as clearly as ever. It's her ring to do with as she pleases."

  Ted sent his father a grateful glance and then looked to Caroline for support before he said, "You may as well know that Grandy wants us to be married right away so she can be there to see it. We're going to do it tomorrow."

  "No." Mitzi shook her head. "That's not going to happen."

  "Yes, it is," Caroline said, tightening her grip on Ted's hand.

  "Nothing happened between us until after Caroline and Smitty broke up," Ted said.

  Shooting him a disgusted expression, Mitzi got up and left the room.

  "Dad, you've got to help me out here."

  "Your mother's upset, son, and justifiably so. You're going to have to give her some time to get her head around this."

  "That's fine as long as she's civil to Caroline in the meantime. I'm not going to put up with her being rude to my wife. Grandy is asking us to do this, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for her. Mom needs to understand that."

  "I'll talk to her, but your mother has a mind of her own, as you well know. You had to have known—both of you—that you weren't choosing an easy path with this."

  "What was it you used to say? Nothing worth having comes easy?"

  Ed's smile was tinged with sadness. "You always were too smart for your own good." He reached for Caroline's hand where she now wore his mother's ring. "It looks good on you, honey." He kissed her hand and then turned it back over to his son. "Be careful with it and everything that comes with it."

  "I will," Caroline said.

  * * *

  Mitzi stared out at the darkness through the window at the end of the long corridor.

  Ed wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his head on her shoulder. "Talk to me."

  "We can't let him do this. It's all wrong. They'll be divorced in a year."

  "He's a grown man, Mitz. There's nothing we can do about it."

  "Don't tell me you're condoning this! Your son is planning to marry a lying, cheating bitch—tomorrow!"

  Ed turned her so she was facing him. "Our son has presented us with a fait accompli. It's a done deal, babe. We can either get on board and be part of it or be estranged from him and the family they may have together. Do we really want that?"

  "She cheated on Smitty, Ed. What's to stop her from doing that to Ted?"

  "That's not who she is, honey. She's not a bitch. You thought she was lovely last weekend, remember?"

  "That was before I knew what she was capable of."

  "Sometimes things just happen, and while it might not be how you'd choose it to happen, it happens just the same. Maybe we ought to give them the benefit of the doubt, no? We raised a good boy, Mitz. He knows what's he's doing. How about we have some faith in him? My mother does. Can you?"

  "You know I hate this rational side of you."

  He laughed and kissed her cheek. "And you know I adore your crazy, over-the-top side, but that's not going work here. You're walking a very fine line right now with that boy you love so much."

  She leaned against him. "I'm scared for him. I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at her. What'll we do if she hurts him?"

  "We'll do what we've always done: We'll surround him with love and get him through it. You don't have to like this, honey, but you do have to deal with it. He's asking you to support him. He's going to have a lot of trouble with his friends, so he's going to need us to be on his side right now."

  "I'll try," she said in a small voice.

  "That's all I'm asking for."

  She wiped at the tears on her face. "I can't believe I'm losing my son and my best friend at the same time."

  "Your son's not going anywhere—unless you drive him away—and your best friend will always be with you." His voice caught. "She'll always be with all of us."

  Mitzi reached for him. "Yes, she will."

  * * *

  Ted and Caroline went home around four in the morning to get some sleep and to change. He called work to tell them he would be out indefinitely due to a family emergency, and he left a message for Martin Nickerson to let the department chief know he would have to send someone else to the conference in New York that week. Ted would either be at his grandmother's bedside or at her funeral over the next few days.

  They were at Boston City Hall at ten o'clock to get a marriage license. From there they went to a jewelry store to buy wedding bands. As they were leaving the store, Ted checked his phone for the hundredth time since they had gotten up. "I wish Parker would call me back."

  "Why don't you call his office?" Caroline suggested. "Maybe his assistant knows how to reach him."

  "Good idea. I should've thought of that. You're going to need to do the thinking for both of us for a while, honey."

  "I can do that."

  Ted called Parker's office and learned he had called in earlier to let them know he was taking the day off, but they didn't have a number for him other than his cell.

  "I'll bet he's somewhere with Gina."

  "Try his cell again," Caroline said.

  When Parker's voicemail picked up, Ted said, "Parker, my grandmother has had a heart attack, and she's dying. She's in the Mass General ICU, and she asked me to find Smitty to tell him she wants to see him. I need you to help me get in touch with him. I have no idea where he is in Sydney, and I figured that between you and your father, one of you has a number for him. I know you're upset about what you saw last night, but I need your help. I'll explain the rest as soon as I can."

  "That ought to do it," Caroline said.

  "I hope so. I can't imagine she's got a ton of time left, and we've lost a bunch of it playing bullshit phone tag games."

  "I'm glad that things seemed to have worked out for Parker with Gina."

  "I am, too. I hope I get a chance to tell him so."

  "You will, Ted."

  He pulled into a parking space at the hospital and leaned over to kiss her. "Thank you again for what you're doing for my grandmother. No one dreams of getting married this way."

  "Are you kidding?" she asked with a smile. "Don't you know what a great story this'll give us to tell our children someday? 'Daddy and I were married three weeks to the day after we met.'"

  He smiled. "Don't forget to tell them, 'It was okay for us but not for y
ou.'"

  "That goes without saying."

  "Are your parents going to freak out when they hear about this?"

  "Maybe a little, but I'll fix it with them. Don't worry about that. How are you feeling about your mother?"

  He sighed. "I'm hoping she's going to be in the room when we get married. Beyond that, I don't know what to say."

  With her hand on his face, she turned him to look at her. "I want you to know I'm not just doing this because your grandmother asked us to."

  "No?"

  She shook her head. "I can't wait to be your wife, and the last thing I want is for you to take these vows with me today and think I'm doing it for any other reason than I love you and want to spend my life with you."

  "I love you, too, Caroline Ann," he said, teasing her with the middle name he had learned about at City Hall. "I don't know what I ever did to get so lucky."

  "Let's go get married and give your grandmother some peace of mind."

  Chapter 32

  Smitty slept in on Saturday after having worked late into the night to catch up on all his regular client accounts. His assistant in New York had forwarded Ted's urgent message, but Smitty hadn't called him back. Fuck him. I'm not ready to talk to him yet.

  After spending two full days examining the Jergenson files, he was pleased with what he had seen so far and had e-mailed Bill Kepler to let him know that from his initial impressions the purchase looked like a go. Smitty figured he would need two more weeks at the most to complete his review. Since he was in no rush to go home, he had decided to take his time.

  He'd spent most of the last two days with Marjorie and had been impressed by her command of complicated business concepts as well as her devotion to her employees. From those who had known her since childhood, he had learned her nickname was Margo and she was a talented artist.

  He was unsettled by the subtle interest in him that he had felt coming from her during their long days at work and over dinner each night when they discussed his lengthy list of questions. Since he couldn't be any less interested in pursuing romance with her or any woman, he had ignored the signals and focused on the work.

  Under other circumstances he might have found her attractive. More than attractive, actually. All those curls and the sprinkling of freckles across her nose were really cute. She also had a way of sizing him up with her astute brown eyes that told him he wouldn't get away with much if he were to act on the signals she was sending. Normally, that kind of sassiness appealed to him, but since he wasn't interested, it didn't matter.