by Anne Rainey
Suddenly there was a loud gasp, and Julie looked to the head of the table. She noticed Wanda clutching at her chest now. Julie dropped her fork. “Wanda?”
Sam quickly leaped into action. “Mom, what is it?”
“H-heart,” Wanda cried.
“Sam, she might be having a heart attack,” Julie said, attempting to stay calm. “Call 911.”
“I’m on it,” Vance said as he pulled out his cell phone.
“Good, then can someone help me get her to the couch?”
“I’ve got her,” Sam replied as he bent and picked Wanda up as if she weighed no more than a child and carried her to the other room. He placed her gently on top of the worn, brown plaid cushions. Wanda clenched her eyes shut. “It’s going to be okay, Mom. Help is on the way.”
“Is there a pillow or something? We want her head elevated or in a semi-seated position.”
River appeared with a large hunter-green throw pillow. “This do?”
“Perfect,” Julie said, keeping her voice soft, calming. She took it and handed it over to Sam. Once he had her propped up, she heard him murmuring to her that everything was going to be okay. Wanda responded with a shaky nod. Julie quickly leaned down and placed her cheek close to the older woman’s mouth to ensure her breathing wasn’t labored. Satisfied when she felt warm air, Julie started to stand. Someone cursed. Julie swiveled around and glared at the two men closest to her. River and Reilly both glared right back, but she knew they got the message. They all needed to stay calm for Wanda’s sake. Getting upset would only make the situation worse. She thought she heard sirens, and she looked down the length of the couch to where Brodix stood, hands fisted at his sides, looking grim.
“Can you go out front and watch for the paramedics?” she asked. He nodded and took off at a sprint, obviously grateful to have something to do. Being helpless was the worst; Julie knew that only too well.
When Wanda looked as if she wanted to sit up, Sam was there, soothing her with his big palm against her forehead. “Shh, be still now.” Julie was struck by how gentle he was. As his head came up and their gazes connected, Julie saw the anguish he was clearly trying to hide from his mother. I know CPR, she mouthed.
Sam nodded and slowly smoothed his hand over Wanda’s hair. The sirens grew louder. “They’re almost here, Mom.”
When two men in EMT uniforms burst through the front door, Brodix bringing up the rear, Julie stepped back and allowed them to do their job. She heard Sam explaining the situation. Within minutes, all the brothers were watching from the driveway as Wanda was loaded into the emergency vehicle. Vance ended up riding along with them. After they were on their way, sirens blaring, River, Reilly and Brodix came up to her.
“Are you okay?” River asked as Reilly placed his hand on her shoulder.
Julie frowned. “Me?”
“You’re shaking, sweets,” River said as he took hold of both her hands and rubbed them between his warmer ones.
She looked down, shocked to see he was right. “I didn’t even notice.”
Reilly patted her on the shoulder. “Come on, you can ride to the hospital with us.”
“Or me,” Brodix offered. “You shouldn’t be driving.”
“Oh, thank you all, really, but I’m fine.” The twins gave her a “yeah right” look. She smiled to reassure them. “Seriously.”
“She’ll come with me.”
The deep, hard voice came from directly behind her, and she knew without a doubt that it belonged to the eldest of the Jennings brothers. Julie didn’t have to turn around to know that, because only Sam Jennings seemed to possess the power to send shivers of awareness down her spine without even trying. Julie swiveled around, ready to give him the same answer she’d given his brothers, but stopped. The worry she saw stamped into the lines on Sam’s forehead and the stiff way he held himself kept her from speaking the words aloud. Instead, she nodded.
He looked over her head. “We’ll meet you there.”
“Careful, Sammy,” Reilly said before he took out a set of keys and strode off, River at his side.
Julie supposed Reilly was cautioning Sam about the drive to the hospital, considering Sam’s emotional state, but judging by the look he’d sent her just before turning away, she had to wonder if there was something she was missing. Her mind stuttered to a halt when Sam placed his hand against her lower back and nudged. “Come on, you can grab your coat while I lock up.”
Julie bit her lip and tried not to respond to the heat of his touch so close to her bottom. “I appreciate the concern, but truly I can drive.”
“I know.”
That was all he said before he urged her to toward the front door. Julie told herself that she was letting him have his way because he was upset. His mom had just had a heart attack, after all. Picking a fight with him at this particular moment would be unkind. Deep down, where she often feared to tread, she knew that was only part of it, though.
Something about Sam Jennings made her want to give him everything.
Anything.
She wanted to surrender to him. She wanted to please him. And damn if that didn’t scare the bejesus right out of her.
Sam paced the waiting room. “What the hell is taking so long?”
“Relax, damn it,” Vance demanded. “You’re making me nuts.”
“She’s in good hands, Sam. I know it’s tough, but you need to be patient.”
Sam turned at the feminine voice. Once again, she was the calm in the face of chaos. He admired her, but it pissed him off that he couldn’t be as cool and collected. “Why are you so calm?”
Julie crossed her arms in front of her and looked down at the floor. “My grandmother had a rough go of it. I learned the hard way that panic only brought on more trouble.”
Sam knew there was more to that story, but now wasn’t the time to hammer her with questions that could upset her. For some inexplicable reason, the thought of Julie upset, or worse, in tears because of him, tugged at every one of his protective instincts. “That how you learned CPR?” he asked, curious about the woman who was fast becoming a fascination for him.
“Yeah. I didn’t know any sort of first aid in the beginning, but after Grandmom had to be rushed to the hospital once and I felt so helpless”—she shrugged—“I don’t know, I guess I knew I needed to learn a few things.”
“You stayed cool and kept us from freaking,” River said from the chair beside her as he patted her thigh. “I think I speak for all of us when I say you’re pretty damn awesome.”
Vance nodded his agreement. “I can see why Mom invited you to Thanksgiving when she’s never done that before.”
Julie’s head shot up. “What do you mean?”
Sam stopped pacing and answered, “You’re the first person to ever get an invite to the Jennings’ Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Oh,” she said, clearly stunned by the news. “I didn’t know.”
“Mom always did have good taste,” Reilly murmured from the other side of her.
Sam wanted to snarl at the way the twins had Julie boxed in. What was it with the two of them? They never acted territorial over a woman. When River’s head came up, his sly expression said it all. Sam took a step toward him, ready to get rid of some of his pent-up frustration on his youngest brother, when the sound of his name being called stopped him.
A nurse approached. “Are you Sam Jennings?”
All of them stood. “Yes,” Sam answered, steeling himself against whatever news he was about to receive. “Is my mom okay?”
The woman smiled. “She’s doing just fine, Mr. Jennings. She’s had a mild heart attack, but she’s doing quite well. You can see her now.” She looked at his four brothers, and then Julie. “Uh, it might be best to visit a couple at a time. We don’t want to stress her right now.”
“Of course.” Sam turned to the group and said, “How about Vance and I go in first? Sound good?”
“Yeah,” Brodix said, tucking his hands into the front pockets of
his slacks. “Tell her…”
That Brodix, of all people, was suddenly speechless said more than anything about his emotional state. Sam clapped him on the shoulder and squeezed. “You can tell her yourself in a few minutes, bro.”
He nodded, and Sam watched as Julie stepped up and patted Brodix on the shoulder. She appeared perfectly at ease around his brothers. Sam was equal amounts pleased and perturbed by that fact, considering she’d been anything but at ease around him. Hell, during the car ride over, she’d said all of two words to him. In fact, she appeared rather adept at completely dismissing him. Sam wasn’t sure what to make of it, or her.
The nurse led them down a hallway, then went through a set of double doors that brought them to a large room with several beds. Each bed was walled off by curtains to give the patient privacy. The memories of coming through the very same room when they’d rushed his dad to the hospital after the stroke swamped Sam until he thought he’d be sick. His dad hadn’t made it home. Sam was determined to see his mom sitting in the front porch swing, reading and hatching new and devious ways to marry her sons off, even if it killed him.
As they approached her section, the nurse pushed a curtain aside. “Your big, handsome sons are here to see you, Wanda.”
Within seconds, Sam took in his mother’s pale face. She looked tired, too tired. “Mom?”
She smiled and held out her arms for a hug. Vance moved to the other side of the bed and leaned down. Her hands shook as they came around his shoulders. “I’m going to be fine, honey. Don’t look so worried.”
Sam looked at the nurse for confirmation of his mother’s statement. “The doctor will be in to see you soon,” she replied.
Sam didn’t like the fact that the nurse didn’t rush to reassure him. “Is surgery required?” he asked, not bothering to dance around the issue.
“I don’t want to give you false information, Mr. Jennings. I really think it would be best if we let the doctor explain your mother’s condition, as well as the treatment options.”
“Sammy, don’t badger the girl,” his mother reprimanded.
Sam smiled, despite the gravity of the situation. “Even from a hospital bed, you’re scolding me.” After the nurse left, Sam moved next to the bed to receive his hug. As he pulled back, he grumbled, “You scared the daylights out of us.”
“I’m sorry, honey.” She patted his cheek, but her hand shook a little. “I’m going to be okay, though, you’ll see.”
“Yeah, you will be,” he confirmed. “The first step is getting you to slow down.” Sam could see the pallor in her mother’s cheeks, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Retirement was definitely on the horizon. When he looked over at Vance, he could tell his thoughts were running along the same lines.
“I’m with Sammy,” Vance said, his voice leaving no room for argument.
Wanda laughed. “How’d I raise such bossy men? Must be your father’s influence.”
“Ha!” Sam exclaimed. “We all know that when push came to shove, Dad always surrendered to your stubborn will.”
“It was my sweet smile that always had him melting.” She paused, then said, “Speaking of sweet smiles, did Julie go home?”
“No,” Vance quickly answered. “She’s in the waiting room.”
“She should be a nurse,” Sam admitted. “Didn’t lose her head one time through all this.”
“Yeah,” Vance agreed in a soft, faraway voice. “She’s something else.”
“Pretty too,” Wanda said. “Don’t you think, Sammy?”
Sam narrowed his eyes as comprehension dawned. “You wouldn’t be trying to fix me up with her, would you?”
She shrugged. “All I did was invite her to dinner. Would you rather she spend the holiday alone with a microwaveable meal instead?”
Sam rolled his eyes at his mother’s description. “A bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“I’m only speaking the truth. She has no one, Sam.”
An image of Julie sitting in some dimly lit room, alone and sad, clouded his vision. He didn’t like it and swiftly shoved it away. “And it didn’t once enter your mind that one of us might find her sexy? That one of us might not be able to resist her pretty smiles and infectious laugh?”
“I don’t care if you did invite her with the intention of fixing one of us up with her,” Vance said with total sincerity. “I’m just glad you did.”
He glanced over at Vance and wondered at the sideways grin he sent his way. “Because she was there to help when mom had the attack?” Sam asked, even though he was damn sure that wasn’t what Vance meant.
Vance shook his head. “Because she’s a yummy addition to dinner.”
“Jesus, she’s a person, not a slice of cake.” Deep down, Sam knew Vance had it right, though. Yummy, yeah, that described her to a T. The hell if he wanted anyone else to think of Julie in that light, though.
“Both of you need to clean up your language.”
“I—” Sam never got to finish his statement because the doctor walked in. Their discussion of the delectable Julie Rose took a backseat.
Chapter Three
By the time Sam left the hospital, his mother had been moved to a private room, and she’d been sleeping soundly under River’s watchful eye. It turned out surgery wasn’t necessary. Medication and a heart-healthy diet was all she needed in order to get better. For that, Sam was eternally thankful.
As he walked across the hospital parking lot, a gust of cold air hit him in the face. Sam pulled his collar up around his neck to ward off the cold and noticed a few other people doing the same thing. Hell, the early morning sun didn’t stand a chance at warming things up. It might be November and technically still fall, but winter sure as hell didn’t feel far away. As Sam approached his SUV, his cell phone rang. He looked at the caller ID. Reilly.
He hit the answer button as he opened his car door. “Hey.”
“I just dropped Julie at her car. How’s Mom?”
Sam thought of Julie and Reilly alone together and wondered if she’d given his brother the same quiet, dispassionate routine she’d given him during the drive to the hospital. Somehow, he doubted it. “Mom was still sleeping when I left. River’s still there. He won’t leave.”
Sam heard Reilly sigh. “Yeah, I figured as much.”
“He’s as protective as a mama bear when it comes to her. Kept giving the nurses the evil eye whenever they came in to check her vitals and write in her chart.”
“She saved him that morning she walked into the social worker’s office,” Sam said as he recalled that day all over again. “That shithole of a foster home he was in before Mom came along still haunts River, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, it does,” Reilly replied in his usual quiet way. “Mom saved all of us.”
Sam would never forget the place River had been living before Wanda Jennings had taken them all in and raised them as if she’d given birth to them herself. River had had it worse than any of them. It still made Sam angry that he hadn’t protected River all those years ago.
“Sam?”
Sam had to swallow several times before he could speak. “Yeah?”
“You couldn’t have stopped it, you know,” he said, his voice a little rougher than usual. “You were just a kid yourself.”
His mind knew Reilly was right; his heart didn’t much care. His youngest brother had suffered, and he hadn’t been able to stop it. “What’s done is done,” Sam said as he got in behind the wheel. For the thousandth time, he wished they could simply bury the past. “I’m going home to get some shuteye, then I plan to head back up to see Mom in the morning.”
He heard some shuffling, and then, “What time? I could meet you there.”
“Actually, I think I’m going to stop off at the restaurant first. I want to check out a few things. I’ll be at the hospital around ten, probably.”
Reilly was quiet for a few seconds. “You think the heart attack is related to the stress of the restaurant?” he asked.
“It’s a good possibility.” Sam paused, and then Reilly’s words registered. “Mom mentioned the Blackwater Diner troubles to you too?”
“She told me about it on Wednesday. I planned to talk to you after Thanksgiving.”
He shoved the key in the ignition and cranked the heater to full blast. “I need to get an idea as to where things stand.”
“You want to assess whether it’s a matter of making a few changes or if it’s it time to declare bankruptcy, you mean?”
Sam bit back a curse. “Yeah, something like that.”
“You’re not going to bring it up at the hospital, are you?”
“Of course not.” He rubbed his frozen hands together as he waited for the engine to warm up. “Beyond telling her I’m going to take over until things are in the black, that is. I don’t want her unnecessarily upset.”
“FYI, Julie might have some information for you about the restaurant. Mom confides in her quite a bit.”
Sam stopped rubbing and scowled at the mention of Julie. “She’s a waitress. Why would Mom talk to her about the restaurant’s finances?”
“From what I’ve seen, Julie has become more than a mere employee to Mom. I think they’re fairly close.”
The news bothered him, but he couldn’t put a finger on why exactly. “As in, the daughter Mom never had but always wanted?”
“Hell, I’m not sure,” Reilly replied. “Just talk to Julie. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“If you get there before me, try and make River go home. He’s going to be tired as hell, if he’s not already.”
“I doubt he’ll listen.”
“I’m just glad one of us will be there round the clock to keep Mom company. You know how she is about sitting in bed when there are things to be done.” A sudden image of their Thanksgiving dinner sitting cold on his mom’s kitchen table shot through his mind. “Shit, I forgot about the turkey.”