Rescue My Heart (13 page)

How
could he explain to Rory that his relationship to Felicia was
bogus?
She’d be mad if she knew I’ve been
lying to her this whole time. To keep her at arm’s length? Now I
don’t want to. How do I get out of this?
The convenient engagement had become a
straitjacket.

Felicia
crept closer to him, attempting to seduce him.
Why would she? I’m not her type.
He
was caught in the middle, a dilemma that preyed on his mind
daily.
If I could get rid of Felicia, I
could move ahead with Rory. But what about Mom? Would she go
ballistic?

He had plenty of questions, but no
answers. In situations like this, he sometimes consulted his
brothers, but both were out of town. So, he made a date to have a
drink after work with his father at The Yale Club.

The
knowledge that he’d be getting sage advice relieved his mind. He
continued to whistle as he walked up the front steps and pressed
the buzzer for Rory’s apartment. As he climbed, strains of a
familiar tune met his ears.
Vivaldi’s Four
Seasons. Hmm, which season is this? Fall!

He kept going, humming
along with the violins that grew louder as he ascended, sniffing
the aroma of something delicious. His senses were bombarded. His
skin prickled, knowing he’d be seeing her, maybe even touching her,
perhaps a shoulder squeeze, or pushing her hair back from her face,
if he was lucky.

When she
pulled the door open, the music got much louder.
She likes classical music, too. Felicia only
likes rock.
He stepped inside. “Vivaldi.
Fall.”

“
Very good! Now the
scent?”

He shook his head. “Nothing I’ve ever
smelled before, but it smells great.”

“
It’s a new veggie
casserole. I threw in some sausage, too.”

“
Can’t wait to taste it.”
Hack took off his jacket and tossed it on the sofa, waking Baxter,
who barked at him. He plopped down next to the pug and scratched
him behind the ears. The dog settled down immediately, his eyelids
lingering at half-mast. If he’d been a cat, he would have been
purring. “Baxter’s looking good.”

“
I’ve been able to take
him out some.”

“
Getting used to that
cast?”

“
Guess so.”

“
His’ll
be off before you know it.” Hack’s gaze traveled over Rory. She
wore a long, clingy red sweater that showed off her alluring
breasts, and black leggings.
His eyes
followed the shape of her butt and legs, perfectly outlined by the
skintight pants. His groin twitched.
She’s
almost naked!
He wanted to touch her
everywhere, but cleared his throat and forced his eyes to the
computer screen instead.

When they broke for lunch, Hack
stretched his long limbs and moved around the apartment, stopping
in front of a book shelf. He noticed a brass figure of a pug and
picked it up.

“
I got that from a Secret
Santa thing at the church across the street.”

“
Oh?” He lifted his
eyebrows.

“
Yeah, Shirley and Hal
talked me into it.”

“
Did they?”

“
It was my Christmas
present last year.”

“
The only one? What about
your mother?”

“
She doesn’t have a whole
lot of money. The postage alone is beyond her budget.”

Nothing?
I can’t imagine getting nothing from my family.
Hack’s chest tightened. Emotion caught in his throat when he
pictured the mound of gifts he’d received from family and friends
then compared it to this one, small figurine for
Rory.

“
Don’t you have any
siblings?”

“
We stopped exchanging
gifts a long time ago.”

Rory plucked the statuette from his
large hands and held it close to her. She stroked the cold metal.
“We had to list one hobby on the little Secret Santa form. I listed
pugs. So the nice Santa person gave me this. I love it. I named him
‘Hugs’.”

Moved by
her words, he draped an arm around her shoulders. She rested her
head on him for a moment then pulled away.
She fits.

“
I’m okay. Stuff doesn’t
mean much to me. This does because it showed that the stranger
listened, went out of her way to get something perfect for me.
That’s kinda rare.”

“
What makes you think it’s
a her?”

“
Women are more thoughtful
that way.”

“
I disagree! Men are
plenty thoughtful. Most of the guys I know turn inside out trying
to find the perfect present for their girlfriends.”

“
Huh. Never had that.” She
shrugged and replaced the gift on the shelf.

Yes, you
have. But you don’t know it.
“Do you send
something to your mom?”

“
I do. Nothing big. I
can’t afford anything big. But she’d get real sad if she didn’t get
a few things from me. Mostly, I crochet my presents. I love to make
afghans. I do it while I watch TV. I stock up on yarn at
sales.”

“
What did you give as your
Secret Santa gift?”

“
A small, crocheted
afghan. My Secret Santa person was a shut-in who watched a lot of
television.”

Is she
going to be alone this Christmas? My sentence will be up. No excuse
to come here. Damn.
After eating his fill,
Hack raved about Rory’s casserole, and then they spent two hours
working. He returned to the clinic to catch up with a few patients
and do some paperwork for a few hours before meeting his dad. He
tried not to think about Rory and Felicia, but couldn’t help it.
Still, he went round and round, with no solution in
sight.

The Yale Club, near Grand
Central Station, was a grand old building. Townhouse size,
unimposing and understated, it was barely recognizable, except that
Hack had been there many times before with his dad. There was a
lovely dining room.

The men sat back with their
gin-and-tonics as Montgomery Roberts, or “Monty” as his friends and
family called him, wrote out their order for appetizers on the
check. The waitress smiled and left to get their
nibbles.

“
Well, son, how’s it
going?” Monty sipped his drink.

“
Okay, Dad.”

“
You still paying off that
outrageous bitch who took you to court.”

“
She’s not an outrageous
bitch.” His father cocked an eyebrow. “Doing her too,
eh?”

Hack could feel the blood rise in his
neck. He’d never discussed sex with his dad, but now that he was
well past thirty, his father had relaxed a bit, sharing off-color
jokes and an occasional remark about the rack or the butt of an
attractive woman. Hack noticed that having a disabled wife, who was
unable to censor him, gave Monty free rein to be inappropriate from
time to time.

“
Not exactly.”

“
Not exactly? Then, what
exactly?”

“
That’s what I need your
help on.”

“
Shoot.”

Hack explained his dilemma—engaged to
a woman he’d never marry and in love with one who wasn’t in love
with him.

“
Wow. Nothing small about
that problem, Hack. What do you intend to do about it?”

“
Come to you for advice.
That’s why I’m here, Dad. I need help.”

“
Hell, I don’t know what I
can do.”

“
Do you think Mom’ll freak
out if I break up with Felicia?”

This time, his father turned deepening
shades of red. “Damn right, I do. She’s in a delicate balance. The
holidays are coming up. Don’t tip the applecart. Screw this chick
all you want, but leave things the way they are.”

“
I’m not screwing
her.”

“
Maybe you should. Get her
out of your system. She’s not from the same social class as
Felicia. Probably not as good a fit, anyway.”

Anger bubbled up inside Hack. “It’s
not like that. I’m never going to get her out of my system. I don’t
care what social class she’s from.”

“
How do you know until you
try? Lay her. You’ll see how fast her attraction wears
off.”

“
This charade was a bad
idea. Felicia’s getting carried away.”

“
Are you screwing her
too?”

Frustration colored Hack’s face again.
“No! I’m not screwing anyone!”

“
Maybe that’s the problem.
Get some. Relieves tension.”

The younger man pushed to his feet.
The waitress arrived with a plate of nachos and another one of
potato skins with sour cream and bacon. She put them down then
left. “This was a bad idea. I thought you might understand. You
were once in love with my mother, or so I thought.”

Monty grabbed his son’s arm and pulled
him back. “Sit down, Son. Sit down.” Hack settled uneasily into his
seat again and took a big swig of his drink.

“
I still love your mother.
That’s why I’m encouraging this stupid, phony engagement. You’re
right. We never should have let it get off the ground. Should have
nipped it in the bud from the start. Of course, you could do worse
than marrying Felicia…”

“
I don’t love her. She’s
not for me at all.”

“
Okay, okay. I don’t mean
to shove her down your throat. It’s because I love your mother that
I want you to continue with this.”

“
Or because you love peace
in the house even more?”

“
Of course, it’s better
when your mother is calm. Yes, for me, as well as her. Am I being
selfish? Maybe. It’s not easy watching someone as smart and
wonderful as her go down the drain slowly. It’s painful, damn
painful.”

The men each took an appetizer. They
looked at each other over the silence between them as they
chewed.

“
I’m sorry, Dad,” Hack
said after he swallowed his food.

“
It’s all right, Son.
You’ve got a problem. If it’s your future happiness, well, I’d say,
go for the one you love. We’ll find a way to break it to your
mother. Can’t ask you to be miserable and maybe lose the woman you
want.”

The heaviness on his heart lifted.
“Thanks, Dad.”

“
Please, give me some
time. I don’t know what your mom remembers, so let me scope it out.
We’ll make a plan. Let her down easy.”

“
Who knows? Maybe she’ll
like Rory better.”

“
Are you sure this girl is
up to dealing with your mother? Is she committed to
you?”

“
I haven’t made a play for
her yet, because Felicia’s in the way. But when that situation is
over, well…I guess we’ll find out.”

“
Let’s leave Mom out of
this until you know for sure this broad likes you as much as you
like her.”

“
Okay. Fair
enough.”

“
How are the
nachos?”

“
Great! The
skins?”

“
Excellent.”

The men traded plates and continued to
eat. Monty ordered another round, and they smiled as if they had
solved the problems of the world.

It
wasn’t until the next morning that Hack realized what he thought
was a solution was his father’s double talk. He was no nearer an
answer.
Don’t tell Mom until you have Rory
in your corner, but you can’t go and get her until Felicia is out
of the picture. But don’t visit Mom without Felicia.
And the merry-go-round continued to
turn.

* * * *

Thanksgiving exploded on
the scene. One minute, it was Halloween, the next, the handlers
were blowing up balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
The streets around Rory’s apartment teemed with families come to
watch the familiar, beloved figures being inflated the night before
Thanksgiving. Like chipmunks, they scurried along to get a place in
line and watch Spiderman take shape.

Rory was invited to
Shirley and Hal’s for the big meal. She was making a special
pumpkin pie and her veggie casserole. She played Christmas music on
the radio while she prepared the dishes. Allowing extra time to do
things because of her cast had become second nature. Soon it would
be off, and she’d do physical therapy. Rory was looking forward to
getting her life back.

What
about Hack? When the sentence is over, I’ll never see him
again.
Sadness washed over her. She’d
become accustomed to having him around. The thought of days without
him depressed her. She vowed not to think about it and continued
her work. The buzzer rang as usual.
Day
before Thanksgiving. Thought he wasn’t coming.

She buzzed him in. He opened the door
and presented her with a small bouquet of fall flowers. The yellow,
deep oranges, and whites cheered her.

“
For me? Why?”

“
No reason. They were
sitting outside, looking beautiful, and reminded me of you.” After
the words were out of his mouth, he blushed.