The CEO Buys in (Wager of Hearts #1) (31 page)

“This is the second time in two weeks,” Chloe said, rubbing at her chest as though she could unravel the knot her heart was clenched in.

“That’s why I thought I should call. I made her give me her cell phone so it would do that special ring. I practically had to wrestle it out of her grip.”

“Lynda, you are so wonderful.” Chloe could barely speak through the tears of appreciation.

“Hey, Millie’s been great to my kids. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have found out about Joey’s problems with the third-grade bullies.”

“I don’t know if she told you, but I’m in North Carolina right now. I’ll get back as soon as I can.” Guilt crashed over Chloe. Nathan would insist on taking her back to New Jersey. He might not see his father again for another two years.

“I hear you took a private jet there.” Lynda gave an admiring whistle. “Millie says to tell you not to rush back. Stay and enjoy the wedding or she’ll sign up for Crestmont the minute she gets out of the hospital.”

Chloe could hear her grandmother’s voice in her mind, and it made her smile through her concern. “Sounds like she’s back to her usual self.”

“Just a minute,” Lynda said. Chloe heard some rustling and clicking. Then Lynda spoke again, her voice low. “I didn’t want her to hear me, but I think she’s scared. Not about being in the hospital but about falling again.”

“I’m worried about that too,” Chloe said as regret pinched at her. She’d been too busy with Nathan to pay close enough attention to Grandmillie’s health issues. “We need to find out why it keeps happening.”

“Another doctor just came in, so I’ve got to go. Don’t worry, Pete’s home with the kids, so I can stay until you get back.”

“Thank you so much,” Chloe said, trying to project the overwhelming gratitude she felt through the phone, but Lynda has disconnected.

Chloe lowered the phone.

“I’ve already texted the pilot to prep for takeoff, and the limo is waiting at the door,” Nathan said, looking up from the phone he held in his palm. “We need to let Ben and Ed know the jet will be back for them. You can tell me what happened when we’re on our way.”

She shook her head. “I want you to stay here. It’s your father’s wedding day. You shouldn’t miss it.”

Nathan slid his phone into his breast pocket. “I’m not letting you go alone. End of discussion.” He started toward the door.

She didn’t have the time or the strength to argue with him, so she allowed him to escort her back into the dining room. The music had changed to something more contemporary, and the dance floor was filled with uniformed couples flinging their bodies around with gleeful abandon.

Ed and Ben, however, were still in conversation with the same group with whom she’d noticed them before. Nathan took her hand and strode through the crowded room. Guests gave him appraising glances and moved out of his way, just as they did for his father.

When Ed saw Nathan, he stepped out of the group. “What’s the problem?” the older man asked.

“Chloe’s grandmother is in the hospital. I’m taking her home to New Jersey. The jet will come back for you and Ben.”

Ed looked at Chloe and evidently didn’t like what he saw. “I’ll come with you. I can help with logistics while you stay with Ms. Russell.”

Chloe opened her mouth to protest, but Nathan squeezed her hand and nodded. “We’d appreciate that.”

Ben joined them. “What’s going on?”

Nathan explained again. “Let’s say good-bye to the general and head out,” Ben said instantly.

“Please, don’t leave on my account,” Chloe said as guilt piled on guilt. “Your friends are here. I feel terrible about taking you away.”

“I’m a doctor,” Ben pointed out. “I’ll be a hell of a lot more useful than some computer nerd.”

Ben’s insult had the odd effect of comforting Chloe. He was treating her as part of this tight circle of Nathan’s friends.

Nathan’s smile flashed briefly. “You’d be as useless as I am without your fancy medical equipment, which my technology powers.”

“We can insult each other or we can get Ms. Russell to her grandmother,” Ed said. “The general and Mrs. Trainor are at zero nine hundred.”

Ben gave Chloe a rueful shrug as he let her pass with Nathan. “Thank you,” she said, meaning it. If he spoke with the doctors, they would take Grandmillie’s case seriously.

Nathan led her up to his father and Angel. “Our apologies, but Chloe has a family medical emergency,” Nathan said. “We have to head back up north immediately.”

“Oh, no, I’m so sorry,” Angel said, enfolding Chloe in a hug. “We send our prayers with you.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry to take everyone away early,” Chloe said. “But my grandmother is in the hospital.”

General Trainor held out his hand to Nathan. “It was good to have you here.”

Chloe could hear the depth of sincerity in the general’s voice.

“It was good to be here, sir,” Nathan said, gripping his father’s hand a little longer than a mere handshake. Chloe willed him to say something further.

“The sword!” the general said, his free hand going to where the hilt should have been. “I put it in the office for safekeeping.”

“Keep it,” Nathan said. “It belongs here with you.”

Chloe spent the short ride to the airfield explaining what had happened to Grandmillie and apologizing for taking everyone away from the wedding. All three men waved away her apologies. As usual, the limo drove directly up to the jet’s steps. When they passed the door to the cockpit, Nathan leaned in to say, “Kurt, we’re in a hurry.”

“Yes, sir,” the pilot said, his tone eager. “I’ve been looking forward to opening up this baby’s engines.”

The copilot came out to lock the door closed, and then the jet was roaring down the runway. As soon as they were airborne, Ben leaned forward. “Tell me everything you know about your grandmother’s health.”

“Honestly, I don’t know a lot, because Grandmillie doesn’t like me to worry,” Chloe said. “However, I know she fell for no apparent reason two and a half weeks ago. Her doctor thought she might have had a mild stroke, but there was no permanent damage that he could find.”

Ben asked her several more questions, most of which she couldn’t answer.

“Do you have her doctor’s phone number?” Ben asked. “With your permission, I could speak with him directly.”

Chloe wanted to hug him. “Yes, of course, you have my permission.” She pulled out her cell phone and gave Ben the number. He unbuckled his seat belt and moved to the back of the cabin to make the phone call.

She watched his retreating back with concern. Why didn’t he want to talk to the doctor where she could hear him?

“He doesn’t want to scare you with medical jargon,” Nathan said, taking her hand.

Chloe shifted her gaze back to him. He was looking at her with a combination of understanding and what might have been envy. He skimmed his thumb over her knuckles. “I guess this is the flipside of caring about someone so much. You worry.”

She felt the burn of tears at the back of her eyes as she nodded. “Love makes you vulnerable. But I’d rather worry all the time than not feel it.”

Nathan looked down at their hands. “I’m beginning to understand that.”

“That was a nice thing you did, telling your father the sword belongs with him.”

There was an odd, almost uncertain note in Nathan’s voice as he said, “I’m hoping I won’t need it.”

“Your father was really glad you came to his wedding,” she said.

“He said he was.”

“Don’t you believe him?”

His hold on her tightened, and he raised his eyes to hers. They were shadowed. “I might. I just have to wonder why.”

“Because you’re his son and he has every reason to be proud of you.”

He shook his head. “You don’t know my father.”

Chloe leaned over the arm of her seat to get closer to him. “I know what I saw in his eyes when he looked at you, and it was pride, pure and simple. He may not understand your passion, but he knows what you’ve accomplished with it.”

She saw the muscles of his throat work as he swallowed, but he shook his head. “He was just savoring his victory in getting me down there.”

She wanted to shake him. “You generally have a pretty high opinion of yourself, so I don’t get this whole unworthy-son attitude.”

Ed gave a muffled cough that she was pretty sure masked a laugh.

“What did your father want you to do with your life?” Nathan asked, ignoring his butler.

Chloe thought about it. “I don’t know. He mostly told me about
his
life, but we didn’t have a family tradition like yours.” She began to understand just how deeply Nathan felt he had let his father down, and she grew angry with the general. “You know, it’s your father’s fault.”

Nathan sat back, his eyebrows raised.

She went on. “He should have had more children if he was so determined to have one in the military. It’s just genetics.”

Nathan looked at the ceiling.

Chloe grabbed his forearm and shook it. “What I’m trying to say is that your father was wrong in trying to force you into a mold you could never fit. He should have been buying you the latest computer hardware available instead of teaching you how to polish a banged-up old sword. He was looking backward and you were looking forward. I’ll let you figure out which is more constructive.”

Nathan brought his gaze down and leveled it at her, making her feel as though she was being drilled through with a laser.

Ben chose that moment to walk back to their seating area. “Your grandmother’s doctor filled me in on the tests he’s run—” He stopped as he ran into the tension vibrating in the air. “What’s going on here?”

“Chloe is explaining that my father should have had more children if he had his heart set on continuing the military tradition,” Nathan said in an even tone.

“I never thought of that, but it makes sense,” Ben said, settling into his seat.

“Enough,” Nathan said. “Drop it.”

Chloe was happy to change the subject. She was trying to promote a reconciliation between father and son, not make Nathan furious. She nodded to Ben. “Did the tests show anything?”

“They suggest a few possibilities, but I’m not going to make a diagnosis when I’ve never met the patient, much less examined her,” Ben said.

“Thank God you’re a better doctor than shrink,” Nathan muttered.

Ed intervened, turning the conversation to neutral topics. Chloe listened with only half her attention as she worried about Grandmillie.

The one thing that kept her anchored was the feel of Nathan’s warm, strong hand around hers. Even when his anger flared, he hadn’t let her go.

Once the jet touched down, the trip to the hospital was a blur of Nathan guiding her through doors, past nurses’ stations, and down corridors. People and barriers just gave way before the force of his combined charm and authority. Ben helped with the medical staff and Ed handled logistics, but Nathan was the leader of the group.

They arrived outside Grandmillie’s room, and Chloe stopped to take a deep breath, bracing herself for what she might see in the hospital bed.

Nathan took both her hands in his and turned her to look at him. “The nurses all say she’s fine.”

“But they don’t
know
her.” She was afraid to find Grandmillie diminished in some way.

“Do you want me to go in with you?”

There was such kindness in his eyes and such strength in his grip that she wanted to lean on him. But she shook her head. “I need to talk to her alone about what happened.”

He gave her hands a light squeeze and released them. Chloe pushed the door open more forcefully than necessary and walked in.

Grandmillie lay on her back with her eyes closed, while Lynda sat reading a magazine in a chair alongside her. A couple of monitors blinked by the bed, and an IV line ran to her grandmother’s arm. Her usually well-groomed white hair was loose and tangled on the pillow. She looked tiny and frail between the shiny metal railings of the bed.

Anguish slugged Chloe in the chest.

“Chloe!” Lynda said, dropping the magazine. “That was fast.”

Grandmillie’s eyes snapped open, and she turned to frown at Chloe, all the spit and vinegar back in her face and voice. “I told you not to leave the wedding early.”

“Nathan has a very fast jet,” Chloe said, trotting to the bed so she could kiss her grandmother’s cheek. Tears filled her throat, and she had a hard time saying, “I’m glad to see you’re still your usual bossy self.”

“I’m due a little more respect than that, young lady,” Grandmillie said, but she wrapped her arms around Chloe’s neck and drew her in for a hug, a rare show of affection from her independent grandmother.

Chloe returned the hug with feeling, holding her grandmother’s thin body as carefully as a baby bird. When they separated, Chloe caught a watery gleam of tears in Grandmillie’s eyes, bringing back the air of fragility. Chloe had to blink hard to hide her own reaction. She sat down in an empty chair and took her grandmother’s hand before she looked over at Lynda. “Thank you a thousand times over for taking such good care of her.”

“Don’t mention it.” Lynda came around the bed and bent to give Chloe a peck on the cheek. “I’m going to leave you two alone while I get a sandwich in the cafeteria.”

Chloe wondered if Nathan was still outside but decided it was too hard to explain him to Lynda. So she just nodded and turned her attention back to her grandmother. “Now tell me what happened.”

Her grandmother sighed. “It was the same as the last time. I was in the kitchen making a turkey sandwich. I started to feel short of breath and a bit anxious. My heart felt as though it was flopping around in my chest. I got light-headed and then everything went dark. When I woke up, I was lying on the kitchen floor. I checked the clock and only a couple of minutes had passed.” Her hand trembled a little in Chloe’s. “As soon as I could, I called Lynda.”

“Why didn’t you just press the button on your necklace?”

“Phooey! I didn’t want all the fuss of an ambulance.”

Chloe blew out a breath of exasperation. “If you were having a heart attack, the EMTs could actually help on the way to the hospital.”

“I wasn’t in any pain, and I wasn’t unconscious for very long. I knew I wasn’t having a heart attack.”

Chloe laid her other hand on top of Grandmillie’s. “You have to take better care of yourself for my sake. What would I do without you?”

All weakness fled from her grandmother’s face as she smiled at Chloe. “Child, you’d be just fine. You’re a strong, bright young woman with a big heart. You’ll find a way to fill it when I’m gone, but I don’t plan to kick the bucket just yet.”

“If you aren’t more careful, your plans may not matter.” Chloe locked her gaze on her grandmother. “Promise me you’ll push the button next time this happens. Otherwise I’m going to quit my job and stay home with you all day long.”

Grandmillie’s eyebrows rose. “You do that and I’ll move to Crestmont.”

As she tried to stare down her grandmother, Chloe felt a giggle rise in her throat. “If you move to Crestmont, I’ll . . . I’ll . . . I don’t know what I’ll do, but you won’t like it.” She let the giggle loose.

The corners of Grandmillie’s lips twitched upward. “Two Russell women trying to out-threaten one another isn’t pretty, is it?”

“Especially since I lost.”

“Keep that in mind,” Grandmillie said. “I may be old, but I’ve still got my wits about me.”

“Still, will you promise me?” Chloe pleaded.

“Oh, fine. I promise.” Her grandmother freed her hand and patted Chloe’s cheek. “Since you were gracious enough to admit defeat.”

“Now let’s talk about what the doctor says,” Chloe said, since she’d gotten her concession.

“So far they’ve all just talked a lot of gibberish filled with acronyms because they don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Luckily, I’ve brought a translator. Ben Cavill is here.”

“He’s the fellow who insisted on giving me his emergency phone number.” But Grandmillie looked pleased.

“Nathan and his butler, Ed, are here too.”

“Good heavens, it’s a regular tea party. Help me tidy up my hair.”

As Chloe wove Grandmillie’s hair into a neat braid that fell over her shoulder, the fear that had sunk its claws into her eased its grip. If her grandmother was worried about her hairstyle, she must be feeling close to normal. She straightened Grandmillie’s hospital gown and smoothed the sheets out before going back to the door.

Stepping out into the hallway, she spotted Ben consulting with a young blonde woman wearing a lab coat. Just beyond him, Nathan and Ed were engrossed in conversation. Ben saw her and waved her over. “Dr. Scarpetti, meet Chloe Russell, Millie’s granddaughter.”

Nathan walked up to stand beside Chloe. He was close enough that the hem of his jacket brushed against her arm as he moved. She resisted the urge to take a step sideways so she could feel the warmth and comfort of his body against hers.

She and Scarpetti shook hands. The doctor’s grip was firm but brief, as though she needed to get on to the next task. “I’ve agreed to let Dr. Cavill examine Mrs. Russell even though he’s not affiliated with this hospital,” Scarpetti said. “He’s seen all of our test results and the records we received from your grandmother’s PCP so he can bring you up-to-date. Now if you’ll excuse me, we’re short-staffed.” She strode away.

“But—” Chloe started to follow the doctor.

Ben held up his hand to stop her. “She’s doing us a big favor in allowing me to see Millie, so let her get to her rounds. With your permission, I’d like to go in to see your grandmother now.”

“Yes, of course. Thank you so much. I told her you were here.”

“And she didn’t curse my name?” Ben said. “She wasn’t very happy with me when I insisted she take my phone number during Nathan’s flu.”

“Actually, she’s looking forward to hearing her diagnosis in plain English.”

“I can’t promise that,” Ben said, giving her a wry smile before he headed down the hallway toward her grandmother’s hospital room.

“Ed’s going to pick up some food for everyone. Any requests?” Nathan asked.

“Any kind of sandwich is fine,” Chloe said as she realized she was, in fact, ravenous.

The butler walked off in the opposite direction, and Chloe stood alone with Nathan. The adrenaline that had been fueling her through the crisis seemed to drain from her body all at once, and she shivered, regretting that she’d left her wrap in the limo.