Love, Your Concierge

by Jessica Ingro

  A loud sigh escaped me, and I shook my head. I really was being ridiculous and needed to stop thinking about him. None of that stuff was ever going to happen, so there was no point in dwelling on the impossible.

  So why couldn’t I stop imagining the impossible? Day dreaming about it constantly?

  I was in serious need of getting laid. That had to be the issue. It had only been a month since Matt and I split, but I was getting it pretty regularly before then. My body just wasn’t used to the lack of attention from something other than a vibrating machine. That was it.

  With that mental note made, I hurried up and got the hell out of there before I ran into Grant again. Besides, it was time to suck it up and buy some flowers.

  Chapter Six

  Yours

  My mom was sick, and my heart ached.

  I couldn’t lose her. She was the only family I had left besides some distant relatives. I needed her.

  The call came early yesterday evening from a doctor in my hometown of Poughkeepsie. Her friend called an ambulance when my mother started complaining of chest pains. He said, “It was early signs of a heart attack, and they were keeping her indefinitely to monitor the weakness in her heart.” He added, “She was resting comfortably and should be left alone tonight, but if I wanted to come up tomorrow I could.”

  I never felt more helpless than I did at that moment. The first thing I did was call Maya. She raced right over and spent the night rocking me as I sobbed. I felt like a horrible daughter for not having enough time to do more than random phone calls with my mom lately. I used to head home for a visit at least once every two to three weeks. Now I barely had time for her. I really was a bad daughter.

  Now I was on a train heading North, and hoping that my world wouldn’t be flipped upside down again with the loss of another parent.

  I watched as the scenery flew by. My brain was so numb that I couldn’t even think. I was scared. No, wait, I was terrified. Completely out of my mind with worry. The only thing that was keeping me sane was Maya’s mantra repeating over and over in my head – She’ll be okay. She’ll be okay.

  I felt cold and alone as I sat on that train. Maya stayed back in the city so that she could help me with my workload. The last thing I wanted to do was cancel some of the jobs I had been assigned. Especially now that I didn’t know what the future held in regards to my mother’s hospital bills.

  If Matt were here, he’d be the rock that I needed. I didn’t want to do this alone. To face an uncertain future alone. Yet that was precisely what I was doing. And I hated every minute of it.

  When I finally arrived at the hospital and found my mother’s room, she looked so fucking pale and tired. Her blonde hair was more than liberally laced with gray. The skin on her face was more wrinkled than the last time I saw her and there were dark circles under her eyes. My mother used to look a lot like me and now… now just looking at her, I had to stop myself from falling to my knees at the side of her bed and weeping all over again. Sucking back my tears, I knew I needed to be strong for her. She was probably just as scared as I was.

  “Mom,” I croaked out and lightly took her hand in mine. There were wires coming out from under her hospital gown and from her hand. She was on oxygen, which only served to make her look more frail.

  “Oh, sweetie,” she replied and her eyes slowly opened. “I’m so sorry to worry you. Everything will be fine. Trust me.”

  In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to do just that. To trust her that everything would work out, but that wasn’t how life went and until I spoke with her doctors, I wasn’t trusting anything.

  “How are you feeling? Were you able to sleep okay last night?” My fingers stroked the back of her hand in a comforting gesture. I had to work hard to blink back the tears that threatened.

  She scoffed lightly and joked, “Of course I did. Staying here is like staying at the Plaza Hotel.”

  I let out a little chuckle. At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humor.

  “Seriously, sweetie. It will be okay.”

  My mom was nothing if not perceptive. She knew what was working behind my eyes. She knew I needed that reassurance more than most would.

  I nodded and released her hand. “I’m going to look for a doctor. I want to catch up on what’s going on. I’m not leaving town until I’m comfortable with how you’re doing. I’m going to stay at home and take care of Mr. Boots,” I said, referring to my mother’s brown Persian cat. He has black paws, hence the name I crowned him with when my mother adopted him.

  With a shaky smile, I left her room and went in search of her doctor. When I found him, I was surprised such a good-looking man was holding my mother’s life in his hands. He was forty, if that and had a dark and dangerous look. Yummy.

  Looking at him made me think of Grant, however, and I had to put the brakes on that line of thinking quickly.

  “Hello. I’m Dr. Carter. Your mother’s tests came back and she did in fact have a heart attack, Ms. Ward. It is Ward, yes?” He queried and looked at my empty left hand.

  “It is, but please, call me Elizabeth.”

  His smile was radiant when he continued. “Elizabeth, we want to keep her under observation and do some more tests. She has quite a bit of swelling in her legs, which is an indication of more serious problems. We have her on blood thinners for the time being.”

  “How long do you expect her to be in here?” I gestured around the room.

  “At least three or four more days. If she is a good patient, maybe less. We should have most of her test results back tomorrow. Will you still be here?” There was a light in his eye when he asked this, like the answer meant a lot to him. Strange. Maybe he had a vested interest in my mother’s case.

  “I will. I’ll be staying in town until I know she’s doing better.”

  “You’re located in the city now, yes?” I nodded and wondered what that had to do with anything or how he knew where I lived. Then again, my mother’s favorite thing to do was tell good-looking men anything and everything about me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he knew what my bra size was.

  “I see. Well, if you don’t have more questions, I’ll let you get back to your mother.” He put his hand on my arm, and it felt nice to have someone comfort me. “I’ll be around if you need me. I have your number here so I’ll call you, if you aren’t in your mother’s room, as soon as I’ve had a chance to look at her test results.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered and gave him a small smile that was surprisingly genuine thanks to his kindness.

  When he walked away, I vaguely noticed he had a cool kind of swagger to his walk. I decided to file that away for another time.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  “Elizabeth, you need a man,” my mother chastised from her hospital bed the next day, and I rolled my eyes.

  “Why don’t we just focus on getting you home,” I replied and chose to ignore her decree.

  “Humph. I told you I’ll be fine. Dr. Carter said so when he read through my test results earlier. I’ll be home in no time.”

  The very attractive Dr. Carter did, in fact, say that this morning, after he informed us that my mother had congestive heart failure. They put her on medication and oxygen, for the time being, and as long as she watched herself, she should be okay. Of course, that was a big if, considering she thought she was Superwoman.

  “And did you see the way he was looking at you? It was as if you were a three-course meal and he hadn’t eaten in weeks. You should get in there and give him a test drive, if you know what I mean. You’re a very pretty girl. I don’t understand why you’re still single.”

  Cringing from my mother talking about me having sex with her doctor, let alone anyone, I decided it was time to leave for the night. I stood and picked up my bag from the floor and tucked my laptop into it. At least I was able to get some work done remotely if nothing else. Maya had things under control in New York, so I was thankful I didn’t have to worry about losing any business.

&nb
sp; “On that note, I’m going back to your house. Is there anything you need me to do tonight? Laundry? Pay bills?”

  Her eyes skittered towards the windows and I took that as a bad sign.

  “Mom?” I called. “Please look at me.”

  When her gaze hit mine, I saw concern there. “Sweetie, I… well… I didn’t know how to tell you this. I was hoping I could sell a few things and it would all work out. I hate worrying you.”

  “Tell me what, Mom?”

  “Well, there were some issues with the house. The roof was leaking, the hot water heater went, and then I had a small electrical fire and found out the house needed to be rewired. It took the rest of my savings to fix it.”

  I stared at her, dumbstruck. How did I not know this was all happening in my childhood home? It hadn’t been that long since I had visited her. Why didn’t she share any of this with me? And what the hell was I going to do now? I had a small savings for emergencies, but with her medical bills sure to be piling up there was no way I could keep us both afloat.

  “Mom, why didn’t you tell me? I could have taken care of it for you.”

  “I didn’t want you to. You shouldn’t be taking care of me. I should be taking care of you. Ever since your father died, I feel helpless to do that. I’ve leaned on you too much. I wanted to stand on my own. To be independent enough to handle some house issues. And now. Well… now I’m behind on bills.”

  I looked at my mother and realized this had really been weighing on her. I needed to be more understanding about what it must be like for her. To lose the only man that you ever loved, who took care of you and spoiled you. And then to have to rely on your child for support must be difficult.

  I hugged her tightly and kissed her hair. “We’ll figure it out, Mom. I’ll look everything over tonight.”

  “Thank you, sweetie.” She wiped tears from her eyes. “I’m going to page the nurse for my pills and try to get some sleep. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Mom.”

  I just hoped our love would be able to solve our very real problems.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  Love aside, I was officially screwed. My savings account took a massive hit when I paid all my mother’s bills. Thankfully, it wasn’t depleted, but it definitely was on life support.

  I sighed and downed the rest of my glass of wine, before pouring another full glass. At least she was caught up now and wouldn’t need to stress over it.

  My mother only had two years of mortgage payments left, which would help in the grand scheme of things, but the call I got from her insurance company was not reassuring in the least. Hefty medical bills were sure to start pouring in, and when they did, I was going to be upgraded to royally screwed. The hospital would just have to accept payments, and I would cross my fingers that my mother’s health wouldn’t decline any further.

  This of course was something I was keeping to myself for now. No need to have her worrying about something that I was going to take care of for her.

  I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts, finding who I wanted and hit go. When Maya answered, I breathed a sigh of relief that I could count on her. Even on a Friday night when she should be out enjoying herself.

  “Hey, bitch,” I said playfully.

  She laughed in my ear, and it made me smile. My first real smile of the night.

  “So, update me. I want to know everything.”

  After going through the diagnosis, house problems and money issues, I waited while she whistled low and clicked her tongue. “Damn, E. What are you going to do? I can help out if you need me to?”

  “Thanks, but I can’t take your money. I’ll just have to take on some more clients and maybe some odd jobs that my clients normally wouldn’t punt to me. One day at a time, M. That’s how I’m going to do this. One day at a time.”

  “I admire your determination, but you don’t have to do it alone. I’m here for you, you know?”

  “I do. And I love you for always having my back. So, how did everything go today?”

  “It was fine. Nothing to worry about. I got my assignments done and yours all taken care of. I even got a jump start on tomorrow’s tasks so there is nothing for you to concern yourself with.” I waited while I heard her taking a sip of a drink. “Oh, and before I forget Grant Morgan was asking after you today.”

  My heart stopped at that. “He what?” I asked, barely above a whisper.

  “He asked about you when I stopped there to do his laundry. I told him you were dealing with some personal issues. Then he went all hot, Manhattan attorney on me and somehow got me to spill all the details about your mom. Sorry, E. I have no idea how he did it.”

  I knew better than anyone that when Grant wanted to, or hell, even when he didn’t, he could turn your brain to mush and take away your free will.

  “Maya, you know I don’t like it when my clients know my personal business.” Even though I knew Grant’s power, I felt the need to remind her how I felt about that kind of thing.

  “I know. I’m sorry, but he was stealthy with the way he got the information out of me. I didn’t even realize he was doing it until it was done. Anyway, he seemed genuinely concerned. And I’m not talking about just your mom, E. I’m talking about him being concerned about you. It was slightly endearing. Then again, anything that man does is sexy and endearing. How the hell do you work with him without spontaneously combusting into an orgasm? Seriously.”

  “Very carefully,” I eluded because I’ve had many self-induced orgasms thanks to visions of Grant Morgan in my head.

  My phone beeped and I pulled it away from my head to see an unknown number calling.

  “I have another call coming in. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know what’s going on.”

  “Sounds good. Love you, E.”

  “Love you too, M.”

  I pushed the button on my phone to switch calls and said hello.

  “Hi, is this Elizabeth?” I got in return.

  “This is she. Can I help you?”

  “Hi. This is Mark. Mark Carter.”

  Drawing a blank at the name, I sat in silence waiting for him to continue.

  “Dr. Carter.” He cleared his throat uncomfortably.

  “Oh my God! Is there something wrong with my mother?” I practically shrieked into the phone.

  “No. This is a personal call. I wanted to know if you would go out to dinner with me before you went back to the city in a few days.”

  Heart still racing from the thought that my mother took a turn for the worse, I sat back and put my hand on my chest.

  “Are you asking me out on a date?” I asked incredulously. Wasn’t it a bit inappropriate for the physician on my mother’s case to pursue a personal relationship with me? Talk about mixing business with pleasure, and it being a bad idea.

  “I am. Is that a problem?” He sounded slightly put off by my question. I suppose given my tone he had a right to be.

  “I’m truly sorry for offending you. It’s just I wasn’t expecting it. I’m not sure it’s wise for us to mingle given your status on my mom’s case.”

  He let out a light chuckle that made my stomach flip flop. And not in a bad way. “I assure you, there are no rules against it. Besides, it’s just dinner. You might have a dreadful time and kick me to the curb for all I know.”

  “Look, Mark. I’m flattered. Truly. You seem like a great guy and you are very handsome. But I have a rule about mixing business with pleasure. And I’m sorry, but that applies to this situation. I wouldn’t feel comfortable dating you while you oversaw my mother’s care.”

  “I see. Will you at least consider it once your mother is discharged and under her regular physician’s care?”

  Not wanting to hurt his feelings I agreed and told him I would see him tomorrow at the hospital.

  Totally over the events of the day, I shut off the lights and headed upstairs to my old bedroom. Lying in bed, one might assume I’d be worrying about money and hot doctors asking me
out. Instead, all I thought about when I lay in bed was the fact that Grant Morgan was concerned about me and what that could possibly mean.

  ♥♥♥♥♥

  Lugging my suitcase down the stairs, I stopped at the bottom and surveyed everything. I was leaving today and heading back home. My mother’s best friend and next door neighbor were going to look after her, so I could get back to work tomorrow. Tomorrow was sure to be a super busy Monday as I tried to get caught up on everything that happened while I was away for five days.

  Satisfied that everything was in its right place and under control, I turned to my mom on the couch. “You sure you’re all set before I go? There’s nothing you want me to grab you? Darcy should be here in an hour to stay with you tonight.”

  She flapped her hand at me in a brush off gesture. “I’ll be fine. Now come kiss your mother before you miss the train.”

  I rolled my eyes, but did as I was told. As I straightened, a knock on the door sounded.

  “Who the hell is that?” I said as I moved towards the front door.

  “Can I help you?” I asked the stout, older gentleman at the door after I opened it.

  “Are you Elizabeth Ward?” He asked rather than answer my question.

  “I am. And you are?” I said, probably with more attitude than was necessary.

  He looked taken aback for a moment before he trudged along. “My name is George, Miss. I was hired to escort you back to Manhattan this evening.”

  I looked past George to see a sleek, black town car sitting at the curb. Confusion took over. I didn’t hire anyone to drive me back.

  “I’m sorry. I’m not following you. Who hired you?”

  He produced a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket and handed it to me. “This should explain everything, Miss.”

  I took the paper from his hand and opened it. Then I gasped.

  Elizabeth – I was sorry to hear about your mother. Please accept this gift from me. It’s a little something to help you relax. Yours – Grant.

  I looked up at George with my mouth hanging open. Was this for real?