“Game’s up, Crystal.” Jack looked around the room, searching for hiding places. “I knew it! I damn well knew it. Is my son hiding in there?” He pointed to the bathroom.
“Please don’t shout, sir,” the nurse said. “You’ll upset the other patients.”
“I have good reason to shout. They tried to make a fool out of me.” Jack raised his voice. “Come on out, you no-good liar!” The color in his face had deepened to a dull purple as he glared at all the stunned faces. When the door to the bathroom didn’t open, he wheeled himself over to it. “Ryan Warner, get out of that bathroom.”
Leila threw herself in front of the door. “That’s it. I’ve had enough of your accusations and your bizarre behavior,” she told her father-in-law. “You’re creating a disturbance. Isn’t he?” she asked the nurse.
The nurse looked like she was ready to throw them all out of Ryan’s room. Margaret looked like she was going to faint. Crystal just looked pissed.
“Hey, guys,” she said. “The nurse must be suffering from short-term memory loss. I’m the patient here, remember?” She winked frantically at the nurse, but that didn’t win her over.
The nurse strode out of the room, announcing that she was calling security. Not knowing what else to do, Leila pushed Jack’s wheelchair away from the bathroom door, intent on protecting Ryan at any cost. Jack used his good arm to flail at her.
“Jack, stop that.” Margaret took a step toward them, one hand on her heart. “You’re causing a scene.”
“That no-good son of mine is in there hiding. Like the coward he is.”
The door flung open and Ryan stumbled out. “Who’re you calling a coward, old man?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
“Ha! I knew you were in there, hiding like a little girl.”
“Ryan. I’m sorry.” Leila tried to step between the two men, still wanting to protect Ryan from his father’s verbal abuse.
“Ryan. Oh, my God.” Margaret sank on to the bed, clutching at her chest. She looked pale, and as if she were struggling to catch her breath.
“Shit.” Crystal jumped out of the bed. “I think your mom’s having a heart attack.”
Ryan didn’t seem to hear. He was standing over his father, his feet apart, fists clenched, breathing so heavily he seemed ready to explode. “If you weren’t sitting there in that damn wheelchair, I’d be banging your head against a wall.”
“You haven’t got the guts,” his father snarled.
“Ryan,” Crystal squeaked. “I really think you should see about your mother.”
Finally, he swung his gaze away from his father and to his mother. She was slumped over, clinging to the bed with one hand, the other around her throat. She was wheezing, her face contorted in pain.
“Mom!” Ryan yelped, crossing the room to her.
Leila ran to the door to shout for help, but at the same moment the nurse and a doctor plowed into the room.
“What is going on in here?” the doctor demanded. He looked at Ryan. “Why are you out of bed?”
“Don’t worry about me,” Ryan said, supporting his mother. “She needs your attention more than I do.”
“Get her on the bed,” the doctor ordered, pulling his stethoscope from his pocket.
As he bent over Margaret, loosening her blouse and listening to her heart, Jack wheeled himself over to Ryan. “Now you’ve done it,” he said in a harsh whisper. “Given your mother a heart attack. If she dies, you’ll be to blame.”
“I always am, aren’t I?” Ryan said with no reproach in his voice. All the fight seemed to have left him. He stood there staring down at his mother, and Leila couldn’t guess what was going on in his head.
Then he turned and walked out the door.
She looked at her mother-in-law, struggled with herself for half a second, and then ran after Ryan. She caught up with him halfway down the hall.
“Ryan, stop.” He flung her hand off his arm and kept going. The fact that he was still wearing a hospital gown and had his fanny showing, didn’t seem to faze him any.
“You can’t go anywhere in that,” she told him. “If you’re really intent on just walking away from here, at least wait and let me get your clothes.”
He stopped and turned around. His eyes were cold and his jaw muscles were clenched. He looked angrier than she’d ever seen him, and she felt as though a fist had closed around her heart.
“My clothes are hanging up in the closet. I need them and my wallet.”
“Got it. I’ll be right back.”
She dashed back down the hall and reentered the room. Margaret was sitting up and looking as though she might live after all. Crystal was seated in the one chair, scowling. Leila wondered if it was because her acting job had been a bust, or because she’d missed her chance with Ryan. “What are you doing?” she asked Leila. “Where’s Ryan?”
Leila didn’t answer. She glanced at her father-in-law, started to say something, but stopped in the nick of time. If she started in on him, she knew their relationship would never recover. She was so angry and so heartsick, she dared not speak.
Her hands were shaking as she grabbed Ryan’s clothes from the small closet and retrieved his wallet from the drawer next to the bed. She bundled everything up and left before anyone could stop her.
Misery consumed her, slowing her steps. She had let Ryan down. She knew that, and she knew he would never forgive her. But oh, she wanted him to. It wasn’t her fault that the nurse had entered the room while his family was there. Or was it? Could she have stopped the nurse if she had waited in the hall? Why hadn’t she thought of that?
Poor Ryan. He must feel totally humiliated and sick at heart. His parents had no love for him, and they had made that abundantly clear. If only she could have saved him from facing that again. She wished she could take a magic eraser and blot out the past hour. Prevent Ryan from hearing his father’s words, and stop the hurt that those words had caused.
“Ryan. Here.” She handed him his clothes. “I’ll wait for you to change and then drive you back home.”
“No. Stay here with Callie. She needs you. I don’t.”
“But you don’t have a ride,” she pleaded with him, wanting somehow to make everything all right. “Please, Ryan. I need to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to say. I had one simple request, but you couldn’t handle that. It wasn’t your fault, I realize that, but it doesn’t make any difference.”
“Ryan, that’s not fair—“
“Forget it.” He ran a hand over his eyes and blew out a long ragged breath, staring over her head. “The one thing I wanted to avoid at all cost happened. You saw the result.”
“You were right about your family. They don’t want to know you. And they don’t deserve you.” Her head shot up, and she was angry too. “But you shouldn’t be blaming me! I did the best I could, Ryan. What happened was out of my control.”
“I know that, and I’m not blaming you.” He looked at her, and then his eyes shifted away. “I’m done with this place. I did what I came here to do, and now all I want is to be left alone until I’m safe to travel. Please don’t try to see me.”
“Oh, Ryan.” Her heart was breaking, and she wanted to plead with him to stay and talk things out.
“I’ll have to stick around for another week or two, and I’d like to visit Callie, if you don’t mind.” His face was blank when he added, “Alone.”
Oh, God. It felt as if he’d used a dagger and sliced right through her. She hurt so badly she could hardly stand it. Like when Nick died. She’d nearly blacked out from the pain. She’d thought then that she had lived through the worst pain imaginable, but facing the possible death of her child had showed her the true meaning of grief.
And now, just as it looked as though Callie would be fine, she had to have her heart broken again. How much emotional pain could one person endure?
Ryan didn’t look at her, but stalked off to the men’s room to change. She stood there, frozen to the sp
ot, shaken to the core. All the joy and happiness that she had been feeling less than an hour ago had evaporated. This should have been the most wonderful day of her life, and the three of them should be celebrating. Ryan, Callie, and her. He deserved to be lavished with love and adoration for saving her daughter’s life.
Instead, he’d been ridiculed and shamed, and made to feel worthless. And she couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
***
Ryan was waiting for the elevator when the nurse who’d exposed their little deception, grabbed him by the arm. “You haven’t been discharged, Mr. Warner.”
“I’m leaving and nobody is going to stop me.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I don’t blame you any. Your father is one mean sonofabitch. Wait here.” She walked quickly to the nurses’ station, then returned with a piece of paper. “You can sign this form and discharge yourself.”
She went on to say that he’d be doing so against medical advice, and the hospital would no longer be legally responsible for him, but he didn’t care. He just signed and got on the elevator.
Outside, he hailed a taxi, then wondered where to go. He needed to blow off steam somewhere—someplace where nobody knew him and nobody cared.
A bar would do. He probably shouldn’t drink in his present condition, but hell, he probably shouldn’t do a whole lot of things.
He told the driver to let him off at a pub on Nassau Street. Even opening the door to the cab hurt, and he was holding his side as he stumbled into the pub. He needed meds to ease the pain, but he’d settle for a couple shots of whiskey.
He slid onto a bar stool. “I’ll take a Fosters and a shot of Johnnie Walker Black,” he told the bartender. He was the only person drinking at this hour, so the service was prompt.
He tossed the whiskey back and slammed the glass on the bar, asking for another. While he waited for the refill he sipped his beer.
Why the hell was he upset? He had no reason to be mad at Leila. She’d done the best she could. And as far as his father was concerned, he should be able to blow that off too. He’d known what to expect. So why had he let it get to him? He wasn’t a kid anymore seeking his father’s love and approval. That person had existed a long time ago, but he’d been laid to rest.
He thought of his mother, lying on the hospital bed, gasping for air. He probably wouldn’t have recognized her if he’d met her on a street corner. Fifteen years had aged her considerably. Her hair was almost all white now, and her skin was weathered and wrinkled from long hours toiling in her gardens. She’d always been a handsome woman, but not anymore. Unhappiness showed in her face, and she looked cold and hard. He didn’t feel love for her, but sadness.
When he got to the Nassau Inn, he’d call Crystal’s cell phone and find out if his mother was okay. He hoped she didn’t croak, for Callie’s sake, if not for any other reason. She wasn’t a horrible person, but an overly amenable one, and her husband knew how to bend her to his will. If she had had any backbone when she married him, it had turned to putty long ago.
After his second shot of whiskey, he paid the bartender and asked direction to the Nassau Inn.
“Right around the corner.”
“Thanks, mate.” He staggered out and limped his way down the street, hoping like hell he didn’t pass out.
A taxi pulled up alongside of him. Crystal flung the door open. “Jeez, what the hell are you doing? Get in here before you collapse, you silly ass.”
He didn’t argue and was grateful for the lift.
A couple of minutes later, they were at the hotel. Her arm around his waist, Crystal helped him inside.
“You might as well stay with me. I’ve got two queen-sized beds.”
“That’s all right. I don’t want to crowd your space. And I’m not exactly good company right now.”
“You need someone to look after you.” He was still leaning on her as she asked for her key. “Shit, Ryan, you can barely walk. You should have stayed in the hospital another night.”
“Had to get outta there,” he said, trying to stay on his feet. “Gotta sit down, Crystal. Don’t feel so good.”
She pressed the button for the elevator and tightened her hold of him. “Hang on. We’ll get you to my room and you can lie down there.” He was in no condition to argue.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“Mom, how could you let that happen?” Callie cried. “We promised him, and now he probably hates us.”
“No, he doesn’t, hon.” Leila hoped she was telling the truth. “He’s just real upset right now. Grandpa wasn’t very nice to him, as he expected, and then Grandma had an asthma attack and everybody thought it was her heart.”
“Why are they so mean to him?”
“I don’t know, honey.” Leila sat down next to her, holding Callie’s hand. “What a mess this turned out to be. They know I lied, so they have a very good reason to be angry with me, but right now I’m so upset with them I don’t care.” She drew in a shaky breath. “Ryan deserved to be fussed over, not ridiculed. I’m so glad you weren’t there. Uncle Ryan was mortified, and it would have been worse in front of you.”
“I’m never going to talk to my grandparents ever again.”
“Of course you will. They love you, sweetie, and what happened between them and your uncle, well, we may never know the whole story. But it happened a long time ago, and obviously they aren’t willing to forgive and forget.” She squeezed Callie’s hand. “But it has nothing to do with us. Especially you.”
Callie pulled her hand away. “Uncle Ryan took off.” She swiped at a tear. “What if I never see him again?”
“You will.” Leila smiled for her daughter’s benefit, even though her heart was aching. “He asked me specially if he could come and visit you. It’ll be at least a week before he’s able to fly home.”
“I’m glad. Maybe by then, something good will happen. Who knows? Maybe Grandma and Grandpa will have a change of heart.”
“That would be wonderful, and we can always hope.” Leila knew it wouldn’t happen. She’d witnessed Jack’s despicable behavior and seen the man’s hatred with her own eyes. But she didn’t tell Callie that.
“Where’s Aunt Crystal?” Callie asked with an impish grin. “What did she do when all this went down?”
“She tried bluffing her way through it, but the nurse wasn’t buying it.”
Suddenly, Leila’s cell phone rang. She checked the caller ID—the Nassau Inn. She answered and heard Crystal’s voice, as she’d expected. “I ran into Ryan on Nassau Street,” her sister said. “He was staggering all over the place. Had a couple of drinks and that combined with his pain meds sent him over the edge.”
“I should think so. Did you drive him home?”
“No. I’m calling to say that he’s okay. He’s with me. I’d let you talk to him, but he’s sleeping right now.”
“Sleeping where? He’s sharing your room?”
“Why?” Crystal’s voice turned teasing. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“No, of course not,” she snapped. “But he’s a very sick man, and I hope you show some discretion.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Don’t make me spell it out.” Leila had walked over to the window and had her back turned, hoping Callie wouldn’t hear her end of the conversation.
“I’ll do anything I damn well please.”
“You always do.”
Crystal was silent. Finally she said, “I won’t be jumping his bones, if that’s what you mean. At least, not yet.”
“Oh, you’re pathetic.” Jealousy pierced right through her, and for a second she almost hated her sister. The idea of her and Ryan together nauseated her. She wanted to be with Ryan, watching him sleep, taking care of him. Loving him. But he didn’t want to be with her.
“Why do you care so much?” Crystal asked. “What’s it to you if I sleep with him? You haven’t fallen for Nick’s kid brother, have you?”
&n
bsp; Unable to answer, she hung up.
“Uncle Ryan’s with Aunt Crystal?” Callie asked, making a face.
“Yes. He’s sick, and she’s looking after him.” Leila did all she could to keep her feelings from showing, but her daughter saw through her.
“Uh-oh. You’re really upset, aren’t you?” She sat up straighter. “Don’t be. Just because he’s weak and sick doesn’t mean he’s fool enough to fall for someone like her. Besides, I’m sure he likes you.”
Leila knew that whatever feelings Ryan once had for her were gone. She had blown her chance with him and there wouldn’t be another. After all, he lived in Australia and she lived here. Once he returned, he’d get back into his own life and continue having casual relationships, and after awhile he’d probably rarely think of her. And when he did, he wouldn’t remember all the special moments, the kisses they’d shared, the wonderful night of love. He’d remember the things his father had said and the fact that she’d witnessed the whole horrible scene. He might forgive her many things, but not that.
It was over.
***
Ryan woke up, instantly aware of a warm body next to him. It felt nice, so he shifted his butt up against her tummy. Warm breasts pressed against his back.
His cock stirred as she purred and wriggled closer. Leila. God, he was so hard for her.
“Leila,” he murmured.
A fist punched him in the back, abruptly shoving him back into the here and now. Shit. He remembered where he was, and he knew it wasn’t Leila in bed with him.
“It’s me, you prick. Not your precious Leila.” Crystal punched him again. “How come she gets all the good guys? How come?”
Ryan’s lips twitched, and he tried not to laugh. He rolled over and looked at the attractive woman next to him. “I’m sorry, Crystal. I was half asleep, but still, I should have known it was you.”
“Yeah, you should have.” Her face was very close to his. Her eyes were a lighter shade of blue than her sister’s, he noted.
“So,” she said with a teasing smile. “It’s still not too late. You could make it up to me, if you wanted.”
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE TRILOGY Page 22