Cradle and All (26 page)

“Keep it aimed at him,” he said as he glanced at the bright red blood seeping from his throbbing side.

Then the white, dizzying waves that had grown so thick over the last minute finally claimed him and he collapsed over Butz into a deep, silent blackness.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“T
OM
,
IT
’
S
GOOD
to see you awake,” the bishop said as he stood next to the hospital bed.

Tom blinked up at him, trying to bring his face into focus. “You here to administer last rites, Harry?”

“Nope, did that yesterday when they brought you in,” the bishop said cheerfully.

“I seem to have lost a lot of yesterday,” Tom admitted as he pushed himself into a sitting position, fighting the pain radiating from the tight bandage around his middle, and the fuzziness of his thoughts.

“Not surprising,” the bishop said as he made himself comfortable on the chair beside Tom’s bed. “You were under anesthesia for most of it. That bullet you took came close to boring a hole through a bunch of vital organs. It was a miracle it didn’t.”

Butz. The bullet. Anne.

“Where’s Anne?” Tom asked as the memories flooded back.

“The D.A. dragged her away a couple of hours ago,” the bishop said. “And I do mean dragged her away. She’s been here night and day making sure the hospital staff has been taking proper care of you. They’re all intimidated by her. She’s really something to watch in action.”

Tom smiled. “Yes, she is.”

“As I was saying,” the bishop continued, “you lost a lot of blood, but the doctors tell me you’re going to be fine. Just need some time to rest and mend.”

“Where did the D.A. take Anne?”

“They needed her at the arraignment for Butz, Shrubber and Faust. Which reminds me. Why didn’t you tell me what you two were into last Wednesday?”

“We weren’t even quite sure what it was at the time,” Tom admitted.

“Anne explained about the real circumstances surrounding the birth of the baby,” the bishop said. “Forgive me for having misjudged you.”

“You were only doing what you had to do with the facts you had. Where is Tommy?”

“After Dr. Bennett’s genetic confirmation came in yesterday, Anne asked me to speak with Jeff and Theresa Ballard. I dropped by their place last night.”

“Must have shocked them,” Tom said.

Harry nodded. “Thoroughly. But when it wore off they were quite pleased. It seems they were thinking of using their last embryo to round out their family. It was what they were going to discuss with Dr. Bennett at the appointment they gave up for you yesterday. They came and got Tommy here at the hospital early this morning.”

“How did Anne take it?” Tom asked.

“Very bravely, considering how much she loves the child.” The bishop looked at Tom’s face and shook his head. “No, she didn’t have to tell me she loves the little boy, any more than you have to tell me you love him. It was written all over both your faces the first time I saw you with him. Which is why it was so easy to believe that you and Anne were Tommy’s parents.”

Tom stared at the white wall of the hospital room, but in his mind’s eye he was seeing Anne’s face as she stood on the street, the tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Tom, I do need you to tell me something before the nurse comes in to kick me out so you can rest.”

“Whatever I can.”

“Did you marry Anne in order to remain a priest?”

“No, Harry,” Tom said quietly. “I married Anne because I love her with all my heart.”

“I thought as much, but I had to ask,” the bishop said. “Ever since Anne told me the truth and I realized you two had only known each other five days, I’ve felt very guilty for having pushed you into getting married so quickly.”

“Anne didn’t lie to you when she told you that day that I had already asked her to marry me,” Tom said.

“But she only accepted when I asked you to resign, is that it?”

Tom nodded.

“Now I understand why she was so glassy-eyed through the entire wedding ceremony,” Harry said with a troubled look. “And why she delayed so long in responding to my questions. Tom, I believe she was in shock. I doubt she was even aware of what she said.”

Tom didn’t like thinking that the bishop might be right.

“She’s a wonderful woman, Tom. And she made an enormous sacrifice for you that day. She obviously cares for you.”

“She loves me, Harry.”

“She certainly acts that way,” Harry said as he got to his feet. “I know these things can happen quickly sometimes. Still, you’ve known each other for such a short while.”

Tom heard everything the bishop was saying. And what he was implying.

“You’re a good priest, Tom. And a good man. I know you won’t try to hold Anne to vows she wasn’t really conscious she was making.”

Harry left then so that Tom could rest. But Tom didn’t rest. He lay in the hospital bed for a long time thinking about the bishop’s words and wrestling with the new pain they brought.

* * *

“Y
OU
’
RE
LOOKING
BETTER
,” Anne said as she entered Tom’s hospital room that afternoon, carrying an enormous basket of fresh fruit and a casserole dish.

“Better than what?” Tom asked as he grinned, so happy to see her that he forgot all about the pain in his side.

“Better than being covered in blood,” she said matter-of-factly as she leaned over the hospital bed and planted a light kiss on the day-old whiskers on his cheek.

She smelled of fresh air and flowers, and her soft lips were a touch of heaven.

After setting the fruit and casserole on the side table, Anne sat on the edge of the bed near his uninjured side. “I know you’re probably tired of people asking, but how are you feeling?” Her eyes were soft and searching.

“Fine, now that you’re here.”

Anne seemed self-conscious and looked away, gesturing to the casserole dish. “The casserole is from Burt and Lori Tubbs, the basket of fruit from Cooper’s Corner’s vestry.”

“How did they get here?” Tom asked.

“Fred brought them with her a little while ago when she arrived to take Butz into custody and transport him back to the Berkshires for arraignment there.”

“Lindy?” Tom asked.

Anne nodded. “Scott Hunter found green paint on the side of Lindy’s car. He also located the garage where Butz took his car to be repaired after Lindy’s crash. That’s where it was that day he and Shrubber arrived at the Church of the Good Shepherd to try to take Tommy away from you.”

“He rammed her VW with his van,” Tom said.

“Of course, Butz is still claiming it was an accident and he only meant to scare her. But Hunter has a good case against him and I feel confident he’ll make it stick. Which still doesn’t make me feel any better about the deal the Suffolk County D.A. cut with Butz.”

“What kind of deal was that?” Tom asked.

“Butz has agreed to testify against Shrubber and Faust and hand over the names of all their wealthy clients in exchange for the D.A. reducing the charges against him for shooting you.”

“I don’t mind, Anne.”

“I mind,” she said, fire flashing in her eyes. “I want to see him hang. He almost killed you, Tom!”

There was a fierceness in her voice that Tom adored. “Not to worry, I’m fine. Be out of here in no time.”

She shook her head and sighed. “And you’re not even mad at him. You are a damn saint.”

Tom gently imprisoned her hands within his. “If he had hurt you,” he said in a deadly soft voice, “I’m afraid you would have seen just how far from a saint I really am.”

She looked at him with such a complex mixture of admiration, understanding and tenderness that his soul ached.

“Hunter released Lindy’s body for burial,” Anne said after a moment. “Her mother refused to claim her. I told him I would.”

“Thank you, Anne,” Tom said. “We’ll have services for her as soon as we get back to Cooper’s Corner.”

She looked down at their entwined hands and a small frown creased her eyebrows. He wanted to gather her into his arms and kiss away that frown. But he didn’t. And it wasn’t because of his injury. It was because he couldn’t forget Harry’s words.

I doubt she was even aware of what she said.

“The bishop tells me you had a long talk,” Tom said in the calmest voice he could manage. “He says he knows now why you were so glassy-eyed during our marriage ceremony. He also believes that you didn’t hear anything that was said that day.”

“I was married before. I know how the ceremony goes.”

“But you don’t remember ours, do you?”

She raised her eyes to his. “It doesn’t matter, Tom.”

“It matters to me. I made vows to you that day, Anne. Solemn vows. You need to hear them.”

“There’s no reason. I don’t intend to hold you to them.”

“Anne, when I make vows, I hold to them. It doesn’t matter what others intend.”

She frowned down at the rings on her finger. “Don’t, Tom.”

She didn’t want to hear what he had to say. Was it because the baby was still between them?

He stroked the soft palm of her hand. “A prayer in our ceremony asked that the husband and wife have the grace to recognize and acknowledge their fault when they hurt each other, and to seek forgiveness. Forgive me for Tommy.”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said, still looking down at the rings. “You kept quiet about the specifics of his conception because you had no choice. You can’t be less than who you are—for any reason, for anyone.”

Her words, delivered with such simple eloquence and honesty, filled him with profound relief.

“I know you love Tommy, too,” she continued as she lifted her head and looked at him. “It has to be just as hard for you to give him up.”

There was understanding in her eyes, and the steely strength that was such a big part of her. And a heart-wrenching sadness.

“Giving him up was the right thing to do,” she added. “The only thing to do. And Jeff and Theresa will be wonderful parents to him. It’s just—” She stopped suddenly and her eyes shimmered with imprisoned tears. “Tom, he cried when Theresa took him this morning.”

Tom squeezed her hands gently as her sorrow touched his soul. “We’ll get through this, Anne. Together, we can get through anything.”

“No, Tom, not together,” she said. She pulled her hands away and took off the rings he had given her. She held them out to him. “You weren’t meant for a life without children.”

Her words were so earnest, so heartfelt they made his heart sigh. He no longer cared whether she’d been conscious of the vows she’d made to him. It didn’t matter. She understood them. She was showing them to him.

He took her hands in his and held on. “Anne, you don’t want to leave me.”

She tried to pull away. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“You think the right thing to do is to break my heart?” he asked, pulling her back.

“You have to find your soul mate,” she said, with such determined courage.

“You are my soul mate, Anne. You only see the love in what I do. And I only see the love in what you’re trying to do for me now. But I can’t let you go. Not ever. I can live without children. I can’t live without you.”

He replaced the rings on her finger. “I love you, Anne.”

She let out a sigh of surrender as he carefully enfolded her into his arms. Gently, he kissed her forehead, her cheeks and then her mouth, so warm and loving and giving.

It was a long moment later when she drew back to look into his eyes. “When you collapsed yesterday and I saw all that blood...oh, Tom, I’ve never been so scared in my life. It was only then that I realized how empty my life would be without you.”

He eased her back to him, holding her close. “You’re not going to be without me. I’m going to be around a long, long time. We’re going to grow old together. Very, very old.”

A knock came at the door and the bishop peered into the room. When he saw Tom and Anne in each other’s arms, he looked embarrassed for having intruded. “Excuse me, but you have some visitors, Tom. Mind if I bring them in?”

Tom was tempted to tell the bishop he did mind, but he could see from the look on Harry’s face that he considered these visitors important.

“Okay,” Tom said.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” Anne said, getting up to leave.

Tom caught her hand. “Stay. I don’t care who it is. I’ve been without you too long. I don’t intend to be without you another second.”

She moved back to his side with a smile and interlaced her fingers with his.

They heard it then. The unmistakable sound of Tommy’s inconsolable crying.

The door to the hospital room swung open and Theresa and Jeff Ballard came in, Tommy howling his little head off in Theresa’s arms.

Anne didn’t pause a second but went directly to the unhappy child. “May I?” she asked.

Theresa nodded as she relinquished the baby to Anne’s open arms. Anne held Tommy close to her chest, rocking him as she crooned to him softly. He clutched her as if she were his lifeline, and rested his head against her with a shaky little sigh, his cries ceasing.

Theresa and Jeff looked at Anne and then each other before turning to Tom.

The couple approached his bed. “You don’t look half-bad for someone who was shot,” Jeff said good-naturedly.

His wife smiled at Tom. “You made the
Boston Herald.
”

Jeff handed Tom the newspaper he’d been carrying. Tom glanced at the headline: Doctor and Lawyer Arrested in Baby Breeding Ring.

“It mentions both you and Anne as being instrumental in getting the goods on those two,” Jeff said. “When I asked you to let me know if you could pin something on Faust, I wasn’t expecting anything this dramatic.”

“Neither was I,” Tom admitted as he handed the paper back to Jeff.

“As soon as the legal verdict comes down, I’ll be able to get the slime’s license revoked,” Jeff said. “I just hope it’ll be soon.”

“You needn’t worry about his practicing medicine until then,” Anne said, stepping to the other side of Tom’s bed. “The prosecutor on the case convinced the judge that both Faust and Shrubber are flight risks. She traced the money trail from Shrubber’s clients and was able to show that it had been deposited in an offshore account. They’re both being held without bail until their trial. As is Nurse Ronley.”

“That’s a relief, Anne,” Jeff said. He turned back to Tom. “Theresa and I didn’t come down just to show you the newspaper. We came to give you a get-well gift.”