Outside The Lines (Love Beyond Reason Book 2) (11 page)

He laid her back in bed when Mrs. Rodriguez came up behind him and held out a small bottle. “Smelling salts.”

“People still use that stuff?”

She smiled, patting him on the back, and opened the bottle. Waving it under Maria’s nose brought the wanted effect. “Usually it’s my Lena who does the fainting,” she said.

“Thank you.” And in an instant he knew it was more than just the smelling salts he was grateful for. Anabel might not be happy her daughter had married him, but she hadn’t been cruel, either. And she wanted to help.

“You take care of my daughter—be good to her—or else.”

He chuckled. Maybe accepted was going a bit too far. “I will. I promise. She’ll never want for anything.”

She lifted a brow. “We’ll see.”

11

Flying back to Vermont, David thought of those days, early in his career when he actually considered bucking the system, saying no to his dad. He’d had a job—a boring, office job in a finance department as another bean counter in a long line of bean counters, but he could have moved up quickly enough and made VP within ten years.

But, grandpa had stepped down, and he’d wanted young and fresh as the face of March Industries. That meant David—heir apparent, only son of Greg March. He’d come back. Out of respect? Obligation?

Love for the older man, mostly. His grandfather was his one constant in years of turbulence and uncertainty. Maybe that was his problem. He hadn’t touched based with Grandpa in too long. Why?

Ever since meeting Maria, even as far back as October when his mom had pulled up into his driveway and given him Grandma’s ring, his world had been off-kilter. There had been a pull to want more from his life. A risk, for sure. And seeing Maria in California with her family again, watching the vitality from her life disappear with being sick, shook him up—more than he liked to admit.

The plane started its descent, making David’s stomach flip, but he had a funny feeling it wasn’t the loss of altitude. He was afraid her place in his life was becoming necessary. Leaving her behind had set off all sorts of uneasiness inside him, making him worry—what if something happened to her? What if she changed her mind? And never came back?

He dug into his pocket for his phone, took a step, and ran into a woman, moving too fast through the terminal.

“I’m so sor— David.” His mom’s surprise left him stammering.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.” David tucked his phone back into his pocket as awkwardness filled the air around them.

“How’s Maria doing?”

He cleared his throat. “Um, she’s fine. In California still.”

“Okay. Good. Well, I have a plane to catch.”

“Okay.”

But neither of them moved.

“Look—” He started.

“I’d like to talk—” She spoke at the same time and stopped.

“Go ahead,” he said.

“We should talk, David.”

His insides twisted. “What good would it do?”

“It’s been a long time.”

He didn’t respond, but kept his eyes on hers, seeing something in them he refused to acknowledge.

Colleen looked ahead as an announcement came over for a flight to Albany. “I have to go.” She put a hand on his arm. “Give me a chance, David. Sometimes things aren’t always what they seem.”

He shrugged. “You better go.”

She leaned in and kissed his cheek, surprising him even more. And then she was gone.

He hated that she made him doubt. What did she mean, things aren’t what they seem? Running his hand through his hair, he dug back into his pocket for the phone.

Time to get home.

Time to take care of business.

He was passing baggage claim when his phone rang. Dad. “We need you in Tampa, David.”

“My flight is for Wednesday,” he confirmed, loosening his tie as he walked toward his car in the parking lot on the north side of the airport. “Donald promised exclusive viewing until we both looked at the contract. Even if I can’t get down there, everything’s going to be fine.”

“Donald has been schmoozing up to Valiant Industrial all weekend—”

“Like hell,” David interrupted.

“Like a bitch in heat is more like it!”

David cringed. “Back off, Dad. It’s only Monday. I’m getting on the road for home.”

“Well, hurry up.”

“Hey Dad,” he asked before he could chicken out, and he cleared his throat. “What happened when mom left?”

“We moved on.”

“No, I mean…what happened that she didn’t get any visitation rights?”

The silence on the line made David frown. “Dad?”

“She left, didn’t want anything to do with us, David. Why are you asking about this now?”

“Just curious, I guess.”

His Dad made a sound of disbelief. “Forget it, David. She left us. That’s all you need to know.”

“Need to know, huh?” He didn’t like it. He didn’t always like his dad’s methods, but he
was
good at getting the job done. And no matter what, he’d never done anything to put the business at risk, ever. The business was more important to him than most things in life.

Maybe that was the problem. Life wasn’t business.

“Dad—”

“Now that’s enough, David. Put it away with the past, where the past belongs.” He huffed over the line. “Don’t let her pushing in now let you forget how it was when she left.”

David sighed. It had been hell, for a long time. With a father checked out for the first year…and a housekeeper trying to make up for the lack of a maternal role model. But, now…all these years later, he wondered if there was more.

His dad had shown some mean colors in the last couple weeks.

Could he trust him?

“I’ll see you in a bit, then.” He dropped the subject.
For now.

He settled in the car and turned it on, waiting as the heater warmed up. “Call Brandy,” he said to his phone and listened to the ring until it stopped.

“March Industries.”

“Hey, Brandy.” Hearing his secretary’s voice was an unexpected balm. Work, he knew. Work didn’t fail him. He relaxed into his seat. “I need to change my flight.”

“Hm. It’s already done.”

He smiled. “I guess you’ve been hearing about Valiant?”

“No guessing involved. Although I didn’t cancel your Wednesday flight, so feel free to take your time.”

“Maybe it can be fun to be the rebel on occasion, but I need to get down and back as quickly as possible. We’ll do it his way,” he spoke, smiling at the same time. Brandy had been with him since his indoctrination into the company. At times, she knew his job better than he did. But even more than that, she kept his image clean. She was his PR magician.

“How is Maria doing?”

That gave him pause. Second person in a half hour to ask about Maria. “How—?”

“Mrs. Kraus was in yesterday, she said something.”

“Oh.” He set his phone in the holder and hit speaker, before he put the car in reverse and backed out. “She’s better.”

“Good. That’s good to hear. By the way, the Lynnbrook Little League called again and want to know when to schedule practices this year.”

Crap
. “I forgot about that.”

“You have Thursday evenings open again.”

“Fine.”

“Great.” He could hear the smile on her face. “I’ll let Bob know.”

He’d been coaching the U8 team for three years. All part of the job, he always told himself, but… as Maria could probably confirm, he was a big fat liar. All those kids. They’d gotten to him, reminded him of being that age.

And hell, he just wanted them to have some fun. Not all of them got it at home.

“Thanks Brandy.” He touched the end button as he pulled onto the main road and headed east.

The roads were clear all the way to Lynnbrook. When he hit the village limits, he dialed the number for Donald Mason in Tampa and got a voicemail. “I’m coming down early. Be there tomorrow. About noon. Let’s say we catch a few holes…been a while since I pulled the clubs out. I’m looking forward to some warm weather.”

As he hung up, that niggling doubt about this deal became a wedge. “Damn it, Dad. What did you do?”

He packed then gave Mrs. Kraus the rundown on what was going on in California. Mrs. Kraus clicked her tongue over it and promised to have everything ready for
the missus
when she arrived later that week.

David buried the nerves that threatened to overtake his confidence. He’d left an open-ended ticket with her. He didn’t know when she’d be better, if she’d need time to recuperate. She could be back by Friday…

Or never.

“I won’t lea—”

She’d been cut off by her not-so-graceful fall to the floor. She wouldn’t leave, she claimed. Leave what? Leave him? Or leave home? Would the draw of her family, of California, be too tempting?

Crude, grouchy father-in-law or protective, loving family. Was there even a choice?

David sat at his desk and went through the resort listing page again. He’d seen the property several times already. He’d gone over the books and met with the staff. Except for the rumor about Valiant Enterprise, he was ready to buy his third hotel in five years.

He was a success because he worked his butt off. He asked questions, got answers, and kept his word. But as he lay down on his big bed, thoughts of Maria warred with those of his coming trip. He didn’t like surprises. Not in business or his personal life. He’d had a butt-load of both in the past months, which left him wary of the coming acquisition. Had he lost his touch?

He didn’t want to believe it, but it wasn’t just work that bothered him. Maria had twisted his world around. And though his goal had been to keep his distance and prove she couldn’t hurt him, he found himself wanting her.

Needing her more than she needed him, especially.

After being back in California for those two and a half short days, his mistake was glaringly obvious. She didn’t need him. She had this family that was close…almost too close.

And she was still refusing his money, hadn’t let him buy her wedding dress and turned down his offer to take her shopping before they left for California, which
really
bugged him. He took care of his lovers, prided himself on being generous. Most women adored that quality in him, but she turned her nose up at it.

Thankfully, she’d been too out of it to stop him from paying for the changed flights.

David pounded a fist into his pillow, frustrated that his brain kept processing—over and over. He needed sleep.
Sleep, damn it
!

But everywhere he turned, he was reminded of her.

Even here, in his sanctuary, and he missed her, especially here. When she came back, he wouldn’t take no for an answer any more. She was coming to his bed, period.

When his phone rang on the nightstand, he reached for it. A California number he didn’t recognize. “Hello?”

“David. It’s Zack.”

He sat up and brought his legs around to the side of the bed so fast his covers slid off. “What is it? What happened? Is Maria okay?”

Why else would anyone from the Rodriguez family be calling him?

“She’s fine, but I took her to the hospital an hour ago.”

An explosion went off in a hidden corner of his brain, reminding him of why he’d avoided this kind of complication. He paced to the window in the corner of his room and glared through it. “The hospital is not fine.”

Zack hesitated. “She’d gotten worse through the night, been unable to keep fluids down. She was coughing so hard, I thought she’d break a rib. The doctor says she’s dehydrated. Her fever is still up around one oh two.”

“Is she— How—”
How is the baby?
David cleared his throat.

“She really is fine, David. She needed more than we could give her at home, and with all the warnings about the flu this year, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Warnings?” He hadn’t heard of any warnings. “What kind of warnings? Is she…” He pictured her in a coma with oxygen tubing under her nose and needles in her arms.

“She wants to talk to you.”

Shit
. Relief flooded through his system, and his knees gave out under him. The little corner seat caught him and he used the excuse to get his bearings. He leaned forward and rested his head on his hand, holding the phone to his ear. He massaged his temple.

What the fuck was wrong with him? She was just a woman. Just a woman he’d met and spent some time with before knocking up. Fuck. He’d always been so careful with his birth control. How? How had this happened?

She was like any other woman he’d ever been with…
Wrong
. The biggest lie he’d been telling himself since October.

His hands shook when her voice came over the phone. Raspy, weary…unbelievably vulnerable. “I told them not to call you, but they didn’t listen.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Maria thought his concern didn’t reach the personal level—in sickness and health. He’d led her to believe in the business arrangement, and she’d followed that lead. She was stronger than he in that regard.

Every time she was around, he forgot all of his convictions.

“Well,” she said with a sigh. “This is no big deal. Don’t worry, okay? I’ll be fine in no time.”

“Good. That’s good. You sound better already.” He trained his voice to matter-of-fact. If she could do it, so could he. “Tell Zack I’m glad he called.”

Maria broke into a hacking cough that didn’t subside. And, okay, made him want to crawl through the phone to get to her.

“It sounds bad, but we’re taking care of her. I swear.” Zack had picked up the phone again.