A Matter of Trust (17 page)

“
Did it worry
him?”

“
Not especially. If I
could have guaranteed him a brother this time arouond, he might
even have been happy about it. That’s not what bothered
him.”

“
So, what was it
then?”

She stilled for a moment. “He was
upset, because he can’t remember much about his dad, and Pete’s
mother told him he had to be sure to always remember him. I’m sure
she didn’t mean to upset him. He was so young when he lost his
father, it’s understandable that he’d forget him. He feels guilty
about it and worried that I’d be upset with him. I don’t have any
idea how long he kept it a secret. Poor baby.”

“
Poor little guy. It sure
is a testimony to your relationship with him that he opened up and
told you. You’re an excellent mother, Trish.”

“
I try, but I know I’ve
made mistakes.”

“
Show me a parent who
hasn’t.”

“
I know. It’s just that
sometimes it’s scary doing it alone. I usually don’t have anyone to
talk to at times when I’m unsure of what to do.”

“
I imagine being a parent
is pretty scary in and of itself, whether you have someone to help
you or not. You do an amazing job honey. Lexie and Trevor are doing
great despite losing their dad. They know they’re loved, and they
feel safe, because they know you’ll take care of them.”

“
I really hope so, Jake.
As much as I’d love to spend the rest of the day here … with you …
like this … I need to get going. I told my parents I’d be back for
the kids in a couple of hours, and it’s been that already. Plus,
I’ve got a ton of work waiting for me at home.”

“
Hey, I forgot to tell
you, I’m going out of town Tuesday on business. I’m starting to get
some jobs in New Mexico through some contacts that Josh turned me
onto, and I have to head up to Albuquerque for a few days. I wish
you could come with me.”

“
Maybe another time. I
can’t leave the kids, and my work is piling up. I’ve been
neglecting it because of a certain tall, dark, and handsome
distraction.”

“
You really need to start
thinking about hiring more help. I don’t plan on stopping with the
distractions any time soon.”

Trish reluctantly got up and started
dressing. “So, how long will you be gone?”

“
I should be home by the
weekend. Want to have another movie night at my place next
weekend?” I should get in early Saturday.”

“
Maybe. Let’s see how the
week goes.” Trish almost said more, but she started
coughing.

“
You okay,
honey?”

“
Yeah, I’m fine. My
throat’s just a little bit scratchy. Probably
allergies.”

“
Go to bed early tonight,
okay? You don’t get enough rest. You skip meals, too, and you work
too hard.”

“
Anything else,
Mother?”

“
Yeah. You’re really good
in the sack.”

Chapter 9

Trish stayed up late again trying to
catch up on her work, and when she woke up early on Monday morning,
she struggled with getting out of bed. Trevor started back to
school that day, so she had to drop him off and take Lexie to her
mother’s house. She had a pounding headache, and her throat felt
raw.

Jake called the office that morning to
tell her he planned on leaving later that day for Albuquerque
instead of tomorrow in hopes that he’d be home sooner. She wished
him a safe trip, and he promised to call her later that
night.

Thankfully, she didn’t have much on
the calendar for the day. She tested another kid, and she did some
paperwork, but as the day wore on, she began to feel achy. For
once, she didn’t stay late at work, but picked up the kids at her
parents’ house, got McDonald’s, and went home.

As soon as the kids finished eating,
Trevor got his homework out, and she supervised while he practiced
his spelling words, wrote in his journal and drew the accompanying
picture. Then it was time for baths followed by brushing teeth,
laying out clothes for the next day, and finally story time. Right
after she tucked the kids into bed, the phone rang.

“
Hi, honey, what’s going
on in El Paso?”

“
Hi, Jake. I see you made
it safely to Albuquerque. Nothing new here. How about over
there?

“
It’s pretty cold here.
You sound kind of funny. Is everything alright?”

“
Yeah, I think I’m
catching a cold or something. I’ll be fine.”

“
I’m sorry to hear that.
You should go to bed early tonight.”

“
I’ve got some work to do,
but I’ll try. The kids already went to bed, so I can follow suit as
soon as I get a few things done.”

“
I miss you, Trish. I wish
you were here.”

“
I miss you, too. How’s
your contract looking?”

“
I meet with the key
players tomorrow to discuss the progress and plan. Then, I’ll go
out to the sites to look around and interview a few workers I need
to hire besides the team I’m sending up from El Paso.”

“
Good luck. I’d better go,
so I can finish up. Be careful.”

“
I will. You take care of
yourself. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

They hung up, and Trish took her work
out of her satchel and dug in. Three hours later, she hadn’t
finished, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Her head
felt like it had doubled in size, and it hurt to smile. She took a
couple of Advil and went to sleep, setting the alarm to go off at
four in the morning in hopes of finishing the work she’d started
that evening. She checked on the kids one more time and fell into
an exhausted sleep.

When the alarm went off at four the
next morning, she got up and went to the kitchen table where she’d
left her work out the night before and started where she’d left
off. She felt worse than she had yesterday, and she found it hard
to focus, but she plodded on until she had to wake the kids. She
felt like she was moving in slow motion, but she dropped them both
off later that morning and headed to the office.

She had a full day planned with
meetings for possible consultant work along with more diagnostics
testing and paperwork. She also had to work on payroll and find a
cleaning service. Then she prepared a marketing survey like the one
they’d sent out before they opened the business to investigate
possible interest in adult classes. Food held absolutely no appeal
for her, so she skipped breakfast and lunch, and when closing time
rolled around, she stayed an hour later to tie up some loose ends,
despite her fatigue. Her mother fed the kids for her, so all she
had to do was … all the rest. She kept her distance from the
babies, since now she knew she had some sort of virus or something
vile along those lines. She suspected she had a fever, but oh well,
too bad, so sad. She had things to do that had to get done, and she
was the only one there to do them.

Jake called just after she’d put the
kids to bed, and he sounded very worried about her. She’d had to
skip story time, because of her sore throat. He told her she needed
to go see a doctor, but she put him off, saying she’d try to find
the time.

Thankfully, she didn’t have any
testing to do the next day, so she tried to isolate herself and her
germs from anything else human. She didn’t wish this … whatever it
was … on her worst enemy. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d
felt so rotten. Maybe never.

Her secretary told her she looked
awful the next day, and she figured she did, considering how awful
she felt. Diana tried to tell her to go home, but Trish insisted
she had work to do that couldn’t wait. She worked through closing
time and stayed another hour afterwards again. She had made a dent
in her to do list, but she felt too tired and sick to celebrate.
She picked up the already fed kids at her mother’s house and went
home. Her mother told her to go to the doctor tomorrow, but she
explained that she had stuff to do and would try to go the day
after.

Jake called and lectured her along the
same lines as her mother had earlier that night, but she was too
tired to participate in the debate, so she stayed quiet and tried
not to fall asleep during the one sided conversation. He finally
realized he wasn’t getting through to her and hung up the phone
after she promised she wouldn’t do any more work that night and
would go to bed early.

Despite her attempt to keep her vow,
she didn’t sleep much that night, even though she did make it to
bed early. She’d developed a dry, hacking cough that kept her up
all night, so sleep never came for more than a few exhausted
minutes at a time. When she did lay down, she noticed a weird,
gurgling feeling in her chest. Strange.

The next day, she dropped off the kids
as usual and went to work. She had Diana reschedule everything on
her calendar first thing, because she feared that whatever she had
was catching, and she didn’t want to get anyone else sick. She
finally relented and called the doctor for an appointment, but they
couldn’t get her in until the next morning. Since she’d come to
work anyway, she decided to work on a couple of things, but had a
hard time focusing. She decided to rest her pounding head for just
a few minutes on her desk and fell asleep.

That’s how Jake found her when he
arrived at her office later that afternoon. Diana told him she was
worried about Trish and that she’d cancelled all of her
appointments for the day and had tried to talk her into going home
early, but she had refused.

Jake walked behind her desk and gently
rubbed her back. She sat straight up, startled and
disoriented.

“
Hey, honey,”

“
Is it Friday?”

Jake smiled and shook his head. “No,
Trish, although I’m tempted to run with that story, so it’ll be
easier to talk you into staying home from work. I came home early,
because I was worried about you. You sounded pretty sick on the
phone, and by the looks of you, I’m glad I’m here.”

Trish swallowed painfully and closed
her eyes. Jake reached to stroke her cheek and frowned. He touched
her forehead, and Trish kept her eyes closed.

“
Trish, you’re burning up.
Have you taken your temperature lately?”

“
Why would I do that? If I
know I have a fever, I’ll just feel worse. I’d rather pretend that
I don’t.” She covered her mouth as she started coughing again. Jake
walked into the hallway to the storage closet and took out the
first aid kit, digging inside until he found a
thermometer.

“
Did you go to the
doctor?”

“
Not yet, but before you
scold me, I tried to, but they couldn’t get me in until tomorrow
morning.”

He looked at the digital readout on
the thermometer and cursed. He picked up the phone and dialed
Josh.

“
Hey, it’s Jake. Tell me
you have connections in the medical field. I need to find a doctor
for Trish. She can’t get in to see anyone until tomorrow, but I
don’t want to wait that long. She’s got a fever of one hundred
four.” Josh promised to call back shortly, and Jake hung up the
phone.

“
Honey, are you taking any
medicine?”

“
Took Nyquil last night
and Advil this morning.”

Jake struggled to control the rising
fear for her that continued to escalate after he’d taken her
temperature. “Trish, tell me what’s going on, honey. Where does it
hurt?”

Trish rested her elbows on the desk
and held her head in hopes that she could keep it from exploding.
On second thought, she thought it might be for the best if someone
or something put her out of her misery.

“
Everything hurts. My
head, my throat, all my muscles and joints. I don’t feel very good
at all.”

“
I guess not with a
temperature of one hundred and four. I’m going to tell Diana to
clear you for the rest of the week, Trish. You’re in no shape to
come to work for awhile.”

“
No, Jake. Don’t worry,
I’m not going to infect anyone, I just want to stay in back here in
my office away from everyone, so I can get caught up.”

“
That’s bull shit, Trish.
You’re going to the doctor, and then you’re going to bed, and
that’s where you’re going to stay.”

“
Stop yelling and me. And
stop telling me what to do. I’m a big girl.”

“
Then, start acting like
one. You’re sicker than a dog, and you’re not taking care of
yourself. If something happens to you, what will the kids do?
They’ve already lost one parent for Christ’s sake. Damn it, honey,
I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. I’m just worried. Shit, I’m sorry.” He
reached for her, and she pushed his hands away and tried to stand
up. She managed to get upright, but she felt so dizzy, she had to
sit down again. If Jake hadn’t held onto her, she would’ve fallen.
He continued to hold onto her shoulders, despite her continuing
attempts to push him away. She also continued to cry.

Jake knelt down in front of her to try
to calm her down, but the phone rang. It was his brother. He jotted
down a couple of notes and hung up the phone.

“
Honey, please just listen
for a minute, okay? I’m sorry I made you cry. I didn’t mean to, and
I apologize. I’m just a little worried about you. Trish, you have a
dangerously high fever. Josh has a friend who’s a doctor at Las
Palmas. He’s on his way to the emergency room and will meet us
there, so he can treat you. You cannot wait until tomorrow, Trish.
Now, let’s get your coat on and leave.”