Boss

by Deborah Armstrong

  Dane added another log to the fire burning in the stone fireplace. Taking the remote from the mantle, he pushed the buttons to turn on the football game. He was just in time for kickoff. He settled in his oversized leather sofa after placing his snacks on the end table. There was no coffee table in this room, nothing with sharp corners that could cause Dane harm. If he had a seizure in this room, the plush carpet would cushion him.

  Lucky sat at Dane’s feet working on his elk antler while Dane sipped his beer and munched on pretzels. He was used to his master yelling at the TV and ignored his curses when he hit the armrest of the sofa with his fist. It wasn’t until the game’s third quarter that Lucky turned his attention to Dane. He got to his feet and faced him, pawing at Dane’s leg. At first, Dane didn’t notice Lucky since he was concentrating on the game. It was the third down with a chance to tie the game. Lucky pawed at Dane’s leg again, this time nudging him with his nose. That got his attention.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  The timing of the seizure was maddening. Seven minutes left in the game and Dane was going to miss it. He pressed record on the remote, then got himself into position. They both knew what to do. Dane lay on the floor and put a pillow under his head. Lucky immediately climbed onto his chest as though he were pinning him to the floor. His weight steadied Dane and calmed him when he came out of his seizure. Dane put his hand on Lucky’s back.

  “Good boy, Lucky.”

  Dane lay still and waited for the seizure to take him into the dark. Lucky’s timing was usually spot on giving Dane a five-minute warning to place himself in a safe situation.

  His seizure lasted for several minutes. Dane felt the reassuring pressure on his chest. His hands went to the soft fur and stroked it. He couldn’t speak, but he could let Lucky know that he was coming back to him. A cold nose poked his face, followed by a lick or two over his mouth. Lucky did his best to look after Dane. They lay like this for a moment or two. His seizures had stayed the same for the last year. Dane found a small bit of comfort in that, although sometimes he was utterly exhausted afterward.

  “Off,” Dane said softly.

  Lucky moved off of Dane’s chest and lay down beside him. He waited patiently for his master to find his bearings.

  “I’m okay, boy. Good job.” His voice was barely audible, except to Lucky. “Damn. That was a good one,” he said, still groggy as he got to his feet and stumbled onto the sofa.

  Lucky sat facing Dane with his head resting on his master’s lap. He kept watching over him while Dane fell into a deep sleep.

  Jules Montgomery heard the soft knock on the door of her hotel suite. “This is it,” she said softly, knowing that she was out of range for little ears. “Don’t screw it up, Jules.” She glanced at the bedroom with its door slightly ajar and hoped that her daughter would nap for a little bit longer to give her some private time with her aunt.

  She made her way to the door and opened it wide. There was no time to react, no time to think as her aunt took her in her arms and hugged her tight.

  “I’m sorry,” Val Williams said roughly, choking back her tears.

  “No, I’m the one who has to apologize,” Jules blinked away her tears. Now was not the time to cry. “I was in no position to tell you how to live your life.” Jules sighed heavily before pulling away from her aunt’s embrace. “Come in. We don’t need to make a scene out here in the hallway.”

  Val nodded her head in agreement and followed Jules into her suite. She surveyed the large living room while she unbuttoned her winter coat and gave it her smile of approval.

  “I heard these suites were quite luxurious. Now I can say I’ve been in one.” She shrugged off her coat and draped it over the back of the sofa.

  “It’s a hotel room, Aunt Val. Nothing special.”

  Val turned and gave her niece a questioning look. “When did you become jaded? You act as though this is normal for you.”

  Jules gestured toward the armchairs separated by an ornately carved table laden with a silver tea set and sweets.

  “If you’d been staying in suites like this for the last week or so, you might feel the same way.”

  Val took her seat and immediately began to pour the tea. She assumed Jules would expect it of her, as she did years ago when they would have afternoon tea. Jules joined her and watched as Val finished pouring then offered her a steaming cup of Earl Grey tea in a china teacup.

  “I’ve been headhunted by a few of the specialty hospitals. High River General has offered me the position of Head of Pediatrics, and I’ve accepted.”

  “High River! You’re coming home?”

  “It’s time, Aunt Val. I’ve been gone for too long. I want to be here with my family. With you.”

  “You had to go. I know that.” Val took a sip of her tea. “Ned always said you’d go far in pediatrics. He dreamed that one day you might take over from him, as Chief of Staff. Maybe that will happen someday.”

  “Head of Pediatrics is enough for me. I want to have a life outside of the hospital.”

  Val straightened, her gaze focused on the wedding band that had never left her finger in forty years.

  Jules cursed under her breath. “I wasn’t referring to Uncle Ned. You and he had a wonderful life. He always looked forward to leaving the hospital and getting home to you. What I meant was that I want to have a life outside of the hospital for Becca’s sake. I don’t want her raised by a stranger, and I want her to know her family.” Jules hadn’t realized how much she missed her aunt until this very moment. “I’m sorry for the pain I caused you. I should never have said the things I did. Will you forgive me?”

  Val placed her teacup and saucer on the table before taking Jules’ hand in hers. “When Ned died, I felt utterly alone. You and Rebecca were in Toronto. I needed to make a change in my life.”

  “I asked you to move to Toronto. I couldn’t understand why you would refuse.”

  “I belong out here with the mountains and the fresh air. I didn’t want to move to a city I didn’t know.”

  “I understand that now. Why else do you think I want to move back here?”

  Val patted Jules’ hand. “I made the right decision, Jules. I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. You’ll be happy, too. You and—”

  “Mommy?”

  Val turned her attention to the suite’s bedroom door. “Oh, my. She looks like you did when you were a child.”

  “Come here, Becca. Come meet your Auntie Val,” Jules said sweetly, opening her arms to her daughter.

  The redheaded toddler ran to her mother’s side and peered up at Val with bright green eyes. “Hi!”

  “Well, hi to you, too.”

  “I’m almost five,” Becca told Val happily as she held up five fingers to Val’s face.

  “I know. I remember when you were born.” Val glanced toward Jules. “You were quite a surprise.”

  “Mommy says I was a gift.”

  Jules cleared her throat. “Would you like a cookie, sweetie? There’s an oatmeal raisin cookie just for you.”

  “Yummy,” the little girl cheered as she took the offered cookie.

  “Sit with me while you eat it.” Val lifted her and placed Becca beside her on the ample cushion. She watched the toddler as she nibbled at her cookie in a clockwise direction. “Does she always eat like that?”

  Jules chuckled. “Only her cookies. Everything else she eats normally. I don’t know why she insists on eating around the outside like that.”

  “Genetics?” Val mused.

  “Not mine,” Jules answered with a touch of sadness as she turned her gaze to the window.

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  Jules turned her attention back to Val and smiled. “Never mind. It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. How this little one came into existence is not for me
to question.”

  “Little ears,” Jules warned Val with a hushed voice.

  “I have little ears!” Rebecca announced as she pulled her hair back from her face. “See?”

  Val smiled. “They are perfect. Just your size.”

  Jules’ cell phone buzzed. She got to her feet and walked over to the desk where she had left the phone. “I have to take this,” she said to Val while she checked the caller display.

  “Go ahead. Becca and I will get to know each other.”

  Jules entered the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

  Becca smiled up at Val. “Mommy says you’re going to live with us.”

  Val’s eyes opened wide. “She did? Where are we going to live?”

  “In a house. And I get to have a puppy. And you can look after me.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Uh-huh,” Becca answered, nodding her head in agreement.

  Val turned her attention to the bedroom door. She and Jules needed to talk now more than ever.

  Jules exited the bedroom at a quick pace. “They want me at the hospital. Now.”

  “We need to talk, Jules.”

  “Can it wait? I have to go.”

  “What about Becca?”

  “Would you mind?”

  “Mind what?”

  “Will you stay and look after her for me? I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

  “I can’t stay here. I’m needed back at the ranch.”

  “This is an emergency, Aunt Val.”

  “But it’s not mine.”

  Jules stopped and stared at her aunt in disbelief. “Oh my god. Now is not the time to throw my words back in my face! I’m sorry I ever said that to you.”

  “I’m not throwing them back at you, Jules. I’m simply stating a fact. I have responsibilities to another person. I can’t stay here and abandon him.”

  “You’re not abandoning him. You’re looking after your grandniece!”

  “No. I’m sorry. I can’t stay.” Val stood up and retrieved her coat and purse.

  “Then take Becca with you. Please, Aunt Val. Take her with you, and I’ll get her when I can. I won’t ask you to look after her ever again.”

  Val gazed down at the little girl looking up at her with hopeful eyes. She inhaled deeply and left out a long sigh. “She’s got your eyes. I could never say no to them over twenty-five years ago, and I can’t say no to them now.”

  “Thank you!” Jules said as she hugged her aunt. “I’ll pack a bag for her with a few of her toys and a change of clothes just in case.”

  “Am I going with you?” Becca asked excitedly.

  “Yes, sweetheart. Auntie Val’s taking you to my place.”

  Bates stood beside the large black SUV waiting for Val.

  She could see his imposing figure through the glass of the hotel’s lobby doors. In the year that she’d known him, she had rarely seen him crack a smile. Maybe he would smile for Becca. She hoped his size wouldn’t scare the young girl. The lobby doors slid open, and she stepped outside.

  Bates glanced down at the little girl accompanying Val. “You have a child with you.”

  “Showing off your Commando training again?” Val teased, feeling nervous as she handed Becca’s backpack to Bates.

  “You’re big,” Becca chimed in as she looked up at him. “Are you a giant?”

  “No, I’m not,” Bates answered, looking down at her. “You’re small.” He turned his attention back to Val. “It’s Special Elite, not Commando. Did you clear it with Boss?”

  “No. Is there a problem?”

  “There could be. How long is the child staying?” Bates asked while opening the rear door for Val and her charge.

  Becca scrambled onto the leather seat while Val paused to answer Bates. “I don’t know. Maybe overnight. Her mother will pick her up when she’s finished at the hospital.”

  “At the ranch?”

  “Yes. At the ranch. What’s with the questions?”

  Bates shook his head slowly. “Nothing.” He gestured for Val to get into the car.

  Val took her seat then made sure to fasten Becca’s seatbelt before she did her own. Once Bates got behind the wheel, she looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror. He caught her gaze and held it.

  “Does your niece know where you’re taking her daughter?”

  “Nothing’s going to happen, Bates. She’s a child, for Pete’s sake!”

  “I’m almost five!” Becca said happily.

  “You want to see her after tomorrow?”

  Val took in a sharp breath. What had she done?

  Dane heard the soft voice of a child. Her voice was steady, almost soothing. He concentrated on her words, trying to figure out what she was saying.

  “Grandma, what big eyes you have. All the better to see you with, my dear. . .”

  He knew that story from his childhood. Was he dreaming? It couldn’t be a dream. This one was happy, pleasant, not like the nightmares that sometimes haunted him reminding him of the evil in the world. The children in his dreams never recited fairy tales. If he were dreaming this, he’d have to tell Doc that his seizures were messing with his brain now. He kept listening. He heard the pages of the book turn and knew that this was real.

  Dane forced himself to open his eyes. He got his bearings. On the sofa. TV on. He held out his hand. Lucky.

  The child’s voice continued. “Grandma, what big teeth you have.”

  Turning his head toward the voice, Dane saw the top of a child’s head covered with thick, shiny red hair. He reached for her, touching her ever so gently.

  The reading stopped, and the head turned to face him. Bright green eyes set in a cherub’s perfect face blinked at him. If he had been the wolf in the story, he knew this child would have slain him easily with her smile.

  “Hello,” he said hoarsely. He coughed to clear his throat.

  “Hi.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Becca. I’m almost five years old.”

  “Hi, Becca. My name’s Dane.”

  “What’s the doggie’s name?”

  “His name is Lucky.”

  “I like Lucky. I’m reading him a story.”

  “I heard that. You read very well for four years old.”

  “I’m almost five.”

  “Right. For almost five.”

  “I know lots of words. Mommy taught me to read. Does Lucky know how to read?”

  Dane smiled. “No, Lucky can’t read, although he knows lots of words.”

  “Like red and wolf?”

  “No. Words that tell him to do things like sit, stay, come, and off.”

  “Off?”

  “When he’s on top of me, and I need him to get off me, I say ‘off,’ and he obeys.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  “Who brought you here?”

  “Auntie Val.”

  “Auntie Val?”

  “Mommy had to go to work, so Auntie Val brought me here.”

  “Okay.” Dane groaned as he struggled to get to his feet.

  “You have little ears.”

  “I do?” Dane asked with amusement. “No one’s ever told me that.”

  “Yep. And you snore.”

  “Do I? No one has ever told me that either.”

  “Are you sick?”

  “No. Only tired.” Dane ran his hand through his short hair, then adjusted his shirt and pants. “Why don’t we go find Auntie Val?”

  “Okay.”

  Becca got to her feet, clutching her book and a stuffed bunny. She held the book out to Dane. He took the offering.

  Becca took hold of Dane’s free hand and said, “I’ll take you and Lucky to her.”

  The sight of Dane walking into the kitchen with her
grandniece, hand in hand, made her cry out, “Oh my.” Val rushed to them. “Becca, you were supposed to be watching your movie! I’m sorry, Boss, I got busy with making supper.” Val bent over the child, “Sweetheart, you mustn’t bother Mr. Andrews.”

  “He was sleeping.”

  Val looked up at Dane. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. We’ll talk later about leaving children unattended.” His piercing gaze made it clear that they would talk. Dane took a seat at the kitchen table and placed Becca on the chair next to his. “So tell me about your visit with your niece.”

  “Jules is the new Head of Pediatrics at High River General. She got called back to the hospital for an emergency. There was no one to look after Becca, and I didn’t think you’d mind if I brought her home with me. Jules will call me when she’s finished. She can drive out to the ranch, or we can take Becca back to the hotel. It’s up to you.”

  Dane pointed to the window. “Have you looked outside, Val? No one’s going anywhere tonight. It looks like we have ourselves a houseguest.”

  “Oh my,” Val said as she witnessed the blizzard outside.

  “Call your niece and let her know Becca is fine. There’s no need for her to attempt the trip out here. We’ll work something out tomorrow.” Dane gazed down at the redheaded cherub hugging her bunny. “So, Becca, do you think Auntie Val will let us have a cookie before supper?”

  “Is now a good time to talk?” Val asked Dane when she brought him a mug of hot coffee with a plate of cookies.

  Becca was sound asleep in Val’s bedroom, and Dane had gone to his office to finish watching the football game while checking his emails.

  Dane gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “Have a seat, Val.” He closed his laptop and leaned back in his leather chair once he snatched a cookie from the plate.

  “So, I take it you reconciled with your niece since she let you leave with her daughter.” He popped the cookie into his mouth.

  Val frowned. “Barely. I was no more than five minutes with her before she got an emergency call from the hospital. I told you that she’d been hired on as the new Head of Pediatrics?”