She should have worn sunglasses. “I’m fine, Grandma.”
Ginger stared at her for a long moment before saying, “Okay. It’s your business. You know I’m not one to interfere.” She picked up the menu and scanned the items.
Now it was Leigh’s turn to stare incredulously. “Oh, really? You don’t interfere?”
“Never.”
“What about the discussion you had with Logan yesterday?”
“What?” She set the menu aside. “That was nothing. He came for raspberry muffins—before we even opened the store, by the way. I told him we didn’t have any—”
“And then casually warned him not to break my heart?”
“Fine, I may have overstepped my boundaries a little...but I just wanted him to be realistic in his expectations of the outcome,” her grandmother huffed.
“Grandma, what exactly did you think was happening?”
“You two were falling in love. Everyone in town could see it.”
“That’s ridiculous.” The words held no conviction whatsoever. And why should they? They were a lie. They had been falling in love. She’d admitted as much to him only hours before. For the first time since her marriage had ended, she’d been tempted to take another chance at a relationship. Even if it meant making sacrifices.
“So you’re going to be fine watching him go?”
“He’s already gone and yes, I’m fine.” Leigh forced herself to keep eye contact with the one woman who knew her better than anyone.
Ginger reached across the table and squeezed her hand. “You’re not fine, not yet, but you will be. And I’m proud of you for not letting this thing with Logan derail your plans—unlike your mother did.”
Leigh stiffened. “Grandma, Mom’s happy. She and Dad love the life they lead.” It always confused her that her grandmother was so hard on her mother. Her parents did extraordinary work. They were selfless, caring people who put others first.
“When your parents decided to become parents, you should have come first. Children should always be the priority. At least you understand that.”
Her eyes filled with fresh tears.
“Sweet girl, believe me, this is really for the best. Love doesn’t last—you know that firsthand—but this child—”
“Grandma, I’m not getting baby Ava. The birth mother chose the other family.” She said the words quickly before her voice broke.
In a heartbeat, her grandmother had joined her on her side of the booth, her arms wrapped tightly around her.
Sitting there, not caring about the prying eyes, she wept for everything she’d lost in the arms of the one person she’d always been able to depend on.
* * *
LOGAN LEFT THROUGH THE front door of the Brookhollow Library. As promised, he’d stopped by to sign the copies of his novels that Kate had on the shelves. The signature wasn’t perfect because of the cast, but she didn’t seem to mind. He took a deep breath of the late October air and paused at the top of the stairs. Soon he would be back in the city and the peaceful serenity he’d experienced in the small town would be nothing but a sweet memory. He wished he could stay one more day. He hated that he was leaving before Halloween.
From where he stood, he could see signs in the storefront windows on Main Street boasting their evening candy distributing hours for the trick-or-treaters the following week.
The idea of being in town and not seeing Leigh was even more torturous than the idea of being miles away.
He was surprised to see the lights on at Ginger Snaps. It was just past ten o’clock and the bakery didn’t open until noon on Fridays. He hesitated. He wondered if Leigh’s grandmother had spoken to her yet since their argument and less than ideal parting the night before. He couldn’t believe he’d said what he did. Hurting Leigh was the last thing he ever wanted to do, and his words had come from a place of his own suffering. Comparing Leigh’s intentions with Kendra’s had been more than unfair.
With or without a father, the baby Leigh was about to adopt would be the most loved and cared-for child in Brookhollow. He knew that without a doubt. He wished he could tell her, but his fear of making things even worse somehow stopped him.
The smell of the baked goods inside the bakery reached him three blocks away and, decision made, he headed toward the store. He was leaving, after all; the woman couldn’t be that angry with him. At least he wouldn’t be able to cause further damage. And besides, he owed her an apology. She’d been right to warn him and he wished he’d listened to her advice.
As he expected, the open sign was still turned to closed when he reached the front door. Maybe he should come back—he could wait until noon. He caught sight of Ginger through the window. What the hell? It was worth a shot. Maybe she’d be so relieved he was leaving that she’d actually let him in. As he knocked, the door moved. It was open. Well, if she didn’t want people coming in when they were closed, she should really start locking the door, he mused.
Pushing the door open, he entered the warmth of the shop, savoring the delicious smells of cinnamon, pumpkin mixed with chocolate and coffee. He might need more than one bag.... He could freeze them.... Who was he kidding? In his state, he’d eat a dozen on the drive back to the city. “Hello,” he called.
No reply.
Moving farther into the store, he peered around the counter. “Mrs. Norris?”
He waited for several long minutes at the counter, then called again. “Hello! I know the bakery’s not open yet, but I’m on my way out of town...” The sound of a loud crash in the kitchen made him pause. “Ginger?”
When still no reply came, he lifted the gate in the counter and went back. Ginger Norris lay in a heap on the floor near the open oven a few feet away.
Oh no. This was not happening.
Motionless, he was relieved to see her chest rising and falling as he rushed toward her, taking his cell phone out of his pocket. “Ginger?” he asked, kneeling on the floor beside her. “Can you hear me?” He dialed 911 without waiting for a response, and touched the woman’s cheek. She felt cool, despite the heat in the kitchen, and her skin was damp. He checked her pulse—it was slow and weak. This wasn’t good.
“Nine-one-one, do you have an emergency?”
“Yes, I’m at Ginger Snaps Bakery. The owner, Ginger Norris, appears to have had a heart attack, I think. She’s lying on the floor of the kitchen unconscious.”
“You found her that way?”
No, he knocked her out and then called emergency services. “Yes, of course.”
“Okay...hold the line. I’m doing a search for Ginger Snaps in New York...” The operator’s voice was annoyingly calm. This wasn’t a 411 directory call—a sense of urgency would be nice. Wait, had she said New York?
“No, not New York, Brookhollow, New Jersey.”
“I apologize, the number you are calling from is recognized as a New York number, sir.”
He didn’t care. “Brookhollow, New Jersey. Main Street, on the corner of... Oh, hell, I don’t know...it’s just Main Street.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got your location, sir. Dispatch has been notified. What is your name?”
What did that matter? “Logan.”
“Okay, Logan, I’m going to ask you a few questions. Is the patient male or female?”
Hadn’t they covered that? “Female.”
“Age?”
How old had Leigh said Ginger was? “Seventy-four, I think.”
“And you say she’s unresponsive?”
“That’s right,” he said, adjusting Ginger’s head to rest on his knees while he supported the rest of her weight. He hated that she was on the dirty, hard concrete floor.
“Okay, can you feel a pulse? See a breath?”
He placed a hand on her neck. The pulse was faint, but it was there. “Yes
and yes.”
“Okay, just stay with her. The ambulance is on its way. I’ll stay on the phone with you until the medical attendants arrive.”
Stay with her. Of course he would stay with her—where else would he go? Sweat rolled down his forehead as he leaned over Ginger, not knowing what to do. Come on, everything in Brookhollow was thirty seconds away. What was taking so long?
A bell chimed on the oven and Ginger’s eyes fluttered open. She tried to sit up.
He set his phone on the floor. “No, stay there...please.” He put a hand on her arm to prevent her from moving too quickly.
“What are you doing here?” Panic rose in her voice. “What’s happening?”
“Sir, are you there?” he heard the 911 attendant ask.
“Who’s that?” Ginger glanced at the phone. “And why are you in my kitchen?”
“Sir?”
He ignored the phone. “I think you had a heart attack,” he said to Ginger, keeping his voice calm. “I found you passed out in here...” He glanced at the clock on the microwave. “...about three minutes ago.” Three minutes, that was all? It felt like three hours.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get out.” She stopped as her head swayed, and her hand went to her chest. Her face contorted in pain and she gasped for a breath.
“Ginger?” Where was the damn ambulance?
Her eyes closed and he caught her as she collapsed forward. Sitting on the floor beside her, he cradled her body in his arms, supporting her weight, a hand on her forehead as they continued the agonizing wait for the emergency service to arrive.
“Sir, is everything okay? Please respond,” came from the phone on the floor, out of his reach.
“I’m kind of busy here,” he yelled toward the phone.
A second later, the sound of the sirens brought immense relief, and then Logan cringed. Ginger Norris didn’t seem like the type of woman who would appreciate a big scene. There would be no concealing her heart attack from the town’s residents now with the wailing ambulance speeding down Main Street.
“I hear the ambulance. Do you require further assistance?” the 911 attendant called through the phone.
As if she’d been much help at all. “We’re good,” Logan said.
Two paramedics were there a moment later with a stretcher and medical kit. Kneeling, the first, a young man who looked to be in his early twenties, lifted Ginger from Logan and laid her on her back on the floor. Logan quickly slid his good hand under her head to keep it off the hard flour-covered floor.
“What happened?” the man said, checking her pulse.
“I think it was a heart attack. I came by and found her on the floor and called 911. She gained consciousness once...then another attack—”
“Did she speak when she came to?”
“She yelled at me,” Logan said.
The second young man nodded. “Sounds about right. Okay, let’s get her into the ambulance.” Kneeling, he slid his arms under Ginger’s and hoisted her up onto the stretcher. The first young man secured his medical kit and fastened the straps around Ginger’s legs.
Logan followed them outside, where they quickly secured the stretcher in the back of the ambulance. He watched as they attached an oxygen mask over her mouth and he was relieved to see her eyes open once more. Then shocked to see her reach out for him as her scared expression met his. “Can I ride with her?” he asked the attendant.
“Usually it would be just immediate family, but since you were there with her...sure, I don’t think that’s a problem.”
Logan quickly climbed into the back of the ambulance and moved closer. He sat on the bench next to her as the driver shut the back doors and the ambulance pulled away from the curb. Tears streamed down the woman’s face as she reached toward him, grasping his casted fingers.
“You’re going to be okay,” he said, wishing he knew that for sure. The woman looked as though she’d aged ten years in those few moments. Her skin looked gray and pale, and her eyes were tired.
Ginger clutched his injured hand in hers and he winced in pain but didn’t pull his hand away.
She moved the mask. “You’re still not getting any muffins,” she said.
The woman was a fighter. “We’ll see about that. Put your mask back on,” he said, kissing the back of her hand.
* * *
LEIGH TAPPED HER foot impatiently and stared at the numbers lighting up in the elevator. The medical clinic in Brookhollow comprised three floors, but the ride to the top seemed to take forever. She wiped a tear from her cheek—they hadn’t stopped pouring since she got the next-of-kin call twenty minutes earlier. After the night before and that morning, she couldn’t believe she had any tears left. The past twenty-four hours had been the worst she’d endured in a long time. No Logan, no Ava and now... No, she wouldn’t do that.
She forced a deep breath as the doors opened. Her grandmother was okay. She had to calm down. Her grandmother had been through enough; it wouldn’t do any good to freak her out by her own anxiety. This time, her grandmother was relying on her to take the role of the strong one. Swiping at her cheeks, Leigh stepped from the elevator onto the quiet hospital floor. Her knees shook and her legs felt weak. Her stomach turned at the memory of the last time she’d been in this hospital, after her third miscarriage. That night, there’d been chaos, as the two doctors on duty had fought to save the life of her unborn child. But there had been nothing they could do then.
Reaching her grandmother’s room, she pushed open the wooden, swinging door. Her eyes misted at the sight of her grandma, lying in the big bed, an oxygen tube coming from her nose and IV in her hand. Her grandmother hated hospitals and IVs. She refused to even visit a family doctor, instead relying on the monthly blood-pressure screenings at the fire hall to check her health. It was a miracle they’d gotten her here. Oh, why hadn’t she insisted her grandmother take better care of herself? And working so much couldn’t have helped. Well, things were going to change if...when she made it through this.
Moving farther into the room, Leigh couldn’t remember seeing her grandmother so frail and helpless, and she coughed to clear her throat. Her grandmother’s eyes opened and her head turned toward Leigh. A weak smile spread across her lips and she lifted a hand.
Taking it, she said, “Hi, Grandma.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper as she smoothed the wispy gray strands of hair away from the older woman’s face. Just hours ago, she’d been as vibrant and strong as ever.
Until she’d given her something to worry about with her news about the adoption. The guilt that washed over her was overwhelming.
Her grandmother strained to answer. “See, I told you I was getting too old to run the bakery.” She coughed and sputtered as she tried to speak, but her voice crackled.
“Grandma?”
Ginger coughed again and her eyes widened in a look of fear as she struggled to catch her breath.
“Grandma, it’s okay...just breathe.” Where were the nurses? She searched the bedside table for the emergency button.
“They said the coughing is normal...and that she may lose her voice. She’s still weak.”
Startled, she turned to face Logan. “What are you doing here?”
Logan came closer. “I was the one who found her, so the paramedics said I could come along.”
“You called 911?” Logan had saved her grandmother’s life. Who knew how long she could have been in there alone?
Ginger coughed again and clutched her chest.
“Are you okay, Grandma?”
“Water,” she croaked.
“You stay with her. I’ll get the nurse on duty and some water,” Logan offered, disappearing in a flash.
Leigh nodded, clutching her grandmother’s hand.
The nurse arrived in seconds. Leigh
was grateful to see it was Lindsay Harper, Rachel’s sister-in-law and a girl she’d gone to high school with. Lindsay might have a reputation for partying and gossip, but she was the best nurse on staff. “Ginger, you okay?” she asked. After handing her the water, she took Ginger’s pulse and checked the IV bag.
Ginger nodded, resting her head back against the cushions. Her attempt to speak failed, so she just shook her head in frustration and let out a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
“She just needs rest. Dr. Harris says she should be cleared to go home in the morning after they run some tests this afternoon.” Lindsay gave her a reassuring smile.
“What kind of tests?” Leigh asked quietly. If her grandmother heard they were planning to poke and prod at her, she’d check herself out immediately.
“Just some blood work and an EKG.”
“Can I stay with her tonight?” The idea of leaving her alone turned her stomach. From now on she had to be there more for her grandmother, not the other way around.
“Sure. We’ll have someone bring in a cot.”
Leigh bit her lip, for the first time noticing her grandma’s private room. There were only two such rooms in the clinic. The others accommodated four per room. She wasn’t sure why they’d placed Ginger in one, but the cost combined with the ambulance trip alone was going to cost them a small fortune. Self-employed, they didn’t have medical insurance. A cot or any other luxuries would just add to the bill. Leigh eyed the chair Logan had vacated, noticing he hadn’t returned with Lindsay. “The chair’s fine. We’d like to keep the costs to a minimum.” How many times had her grandmother said just that? She moved farther away and pulled Lindsay with her. “I’ll cover the costs, just invoice me for...the room and ambulance...and anything else she needs.”
Medication and tests were going to be additional costs. The money in her savings would cover everything. She’d just have to call the adoption clinic and put a hold on her application. She didn’t give it a second thought. Decision made, she decided her grandmother would need her around more to help now anyway.
Lindsay waved a hand. “They’re already being covered.”
Falling for Leigh Page 17