Treading Water (46 page)

“I don’t remember sending you an invite, Dr.
Paul. What’re you doing here?” Clare thanked Jeffrey when he eased
her into her wheelchair.

“I came to check on my star patient. Do I
need an invitation?”

She took a long drink from her water bottle.
“Not if you’re going to charm me.”

Dr. Langston tapped a toe against the chair.
“I’m thinking we’re just about ready to kiss this baby good-bye and
talk about sending you home.”

Her stomach clenched with anxiety. “Already?
I thought you said another month?”

“You’ve gotten used to us, huh? Can’t live
without me?”

“Yeah, something like that,” she said with a
grin. He was a dreamboat with close-cropped blond hair and
mischievous blue eyes. Too bad he was also ten years younger than
her. “You’re easy enough on the eyes, I guess.”

He hooted. “Such flattery! It’s going
straight to my head. I’ll take Miss Congeniality back to her room,”
he told Jeffrey.

“See you tomorrow, Clare,” Jeffrey said.

“Can’t wait.”

“You’ve been doing so well,” Dr. Langston
said as they rolled along the corridor. “The nurses tell me you’re
showering and dressing on your own and relying on them less every
day.” He stopped next to a bench in the hallway and sat to bring
himself to her eye level. “I thought you were busting to get out of
here. What gives?”

She shrugged.

“Is it what’s waiting for you at home?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you mean
what’s not waiting for me?”

“Have you talked to Dr. Baker about it?” he
asked, referring to Clare’s psychiatrist.

“Here and there, but we’ve been more focused
on the attack and all that. I haven’t wanted to talk about the
untimely demise of my marriage. I’m just a bundle of unresolved
issues,” she said with the good-natured grin that had made her a
favorite among the medical team that had cared for her over the
last four months.

“I think we should set a date.” Dr. Langston
folded his arms over his white coat. “Two weeks from today?”

“Are you sure? That’s awfully soon.”

“Your daughters are waiting for you. Don’t
you want to get home to them?”

“They’re happy living with their father
right now.”

“They’ll be thrilled to have you home again.
They’ve waited a long time.”

“I’m sure they’re more than used to being
without me. How do I get back three years with them?” She bit back
the urge to weep.

“You can’t. All you can do is go forward
from here. I’m going to be honest with you, Clare. None of us
imagined you’d get this far. You’ve defied the odds. Don’t let
yourself down by giving up now.”

She smiled. “You’re tossing me out,
huh?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“You’ve all been so great. I’ll miss
you.”

He got up from the bench. “Nah, you’ll be
too busy enjoying your fabulous new life to give us a thought.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” She twisted her
hands in her lap. The idea of going home filled her with
apprehension.

He squatted down so she could see him. “Talk
to Dr. Baker. Tell him how you feel about going home. Let him help
you.”

“I will. Thanks, Paul.”

An item in the
Newport Daily News
caught Clare’s eye the next day:

Prominent City Architect Welcomes Double
Delivery

NEWPORT—(August 27) It’s not every day that
twins interrupt their parents’ wedding, but that’s what happened
Tuesday.

Jack Harrington, co-owner of the Newport
architectural firm Harrington Booth Associates, and his wife Andi
welcomed twin sons, John Joseph Harrington IV and Robert Franklin
Harrington. The twins arrived in the midst of their parents’
wedding at the Infinity Newport Hotel where their mother is the
general manager. The hotel, which opened in December, was designed
and built by Harrington Booth Associates.

“We thought we were just having a wedding,
but I guess the babies didn’t want to miss it,” said Jamie Booth,
Mr. Harrington’s business partner and brother-in-law. Mr. Booth is
married to Mr. Harrington’s sister, Frannie. The Booths are also
the parents of twins, one-year-old Owen and Olivia. “Andi and the
babies are doing great,” Mr. Booth reported.

The new twins are the grandsons of John and
Madeline Harrington of Greenwich, Conn., Betty Franklin of Chicago,
Ill., and the late Robert Franklin. They join sisters Jill, Kate,
and Maggie, and a brother, Eric.

Clare read it a second time. It was still so
hard to believe that Jack was now married to someone else and had
twin babies with her—twin sons, no less. And it was splashed all
over the news. Anyone who didn’t already know she and Jack had
recently gotten divorced did now.

Knowing how much her daughters loved babies,
she could imagine their delight with their new brothers. No doubt
she would hear all about it when they came to visit. Thinking back
to the girls being born brought a smile to Clare’s face. Jill had
just turned nineteen and was beginning her sophomore year at Brown
University in Providence. Kate would be eighteen in November, and
they had agreed to let her go to Nashville for a year after her
birthday to pursue a career in country music. And Clare’s “baby,”
Maggie, would be thirteen in December.

Clare reached over to the table next to the
sofa to pick up the book Frannie had left. She had spent a few days
working up the courage to look at it, and now the curiosity was
overwhelming. Opening the book, she flipped to the first page,
taking comfort in the familiarity of Frannie’s precise penmanship.
The first item was dated June 20.

It’s late and the girls are finally in bed.
They were wound up today—the last day of school. We now have an
11th grader, a 10th grader, and a 4th grader. I’m thrilled to see
them excited and happy for a change. It’s been a while.

July 26

Jack sits by Clare’s bedside hour after
hour, day after day. He talks to her until he’s hoarse and weak
with fatigue. I look at him and wonder how he’ll ever live without
her. But he’s not ready to think about that. I don’t know if he’ll
ever be.

Clare brushed a tear from her cheek and read
several entries about the girls’ activities that summer. Jill had
babysat for a neighborhood family, and Kate had gone to sleepaway
camp for the first time. They went to the beach a lot, and Jamie
took them out on the sailboat he owned with Jack.

August 19

Jill is sweet sixteen today, and it’s her
first birthday without her mom. She was weepy during the day but
enjoyed the party we had for her after dinner. The nurses who care
for Clare have become part of the family, and Jill invited them to
have cake with us.

Enough, Clare thought as she closed the book
and wiped her tears. That’s enough for today.

Book 2: Marking
Time

Available late November
2011

Read more at
www.mariesullivanforce.com

About the
Author

Marie Force is the author of the Fatal Series: FATAL AFFAIR,
FATAL JUSTICE and FATAL CONSEQUENCES. FATAL DESTINY, the Fatal
Wedding Novella, is free to readers on September 5, 2011, and Book
4, FATAL FLAW, is out in February 2012. “This novel is ‘The O.C.
does D.C.,’ and you just can’t get enough
.”
(
RT Book Reviews
,
4.5 stars for FATAL AFFAIR). In its July 2010 issue,
RT Book Reviews
named
Marie a “Future Star of Romantic Suspense.”

Marie is the author of MAID FOR LOVE, FOOL FOR LOVE, and READY
FOR LOVE, the first three books in her McCarthys of Gansett Island
series.
Marie is also the author of GEORGIA
ON MY MIND, TRUE NORTH, THE FALL and THE WRECK, available as
e-books via Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Smashwords.com,
Kobo.com and iBooks. TREADING WATER begins a trilogy that continues
with MARKING TIME and STARTING OVER.

Her
earlier contemporaries include EVERYONE LOVES A HERO,
LINE OF SCRIMMAGE
,
LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT
.
Of
LINE OF SCRIMMAGE
, Booklist said, “With its humor and endearing characters,
Force’s charming novel will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers,
reaching far beyond sports fans.” Wild on Books said,
“
LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT
by Marie Force is most definitely a keeper. It is an
astounding book. I loved every single word!”

Since 1996, Marie has been the
communications director for a national organization similar to RWA.
She is a member of RWA’s New England, From the Heart and Published
Author Special Interest Chapters.

While her husband was in the Navy,
Marie lived in Spain, Maryland and Florida, and she is now settled
in her home state of Rhode Island. She is the mother of two
teenagers and a feisty dog named Brandy.

Find her at
www.mariesullivanforce.com
,
on her blog at
http://mariesullivanforce.blogspot.com
,
where she runs the popular weekly Romance & Oreos Book Club, on
Facebook at
www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Force/248130827909
,
and on Twitter at twitter.com/MarieForce. Marie loves to hear from
readers. Contact her at
[email protected]
.

What others are saying about Marie Force’s
books:

“
With its humor and
endearing characters, Force’s charming novel will appeal to a
broad spectrum of readers, reaching far beyond sports
fans.”
Booklist
on
Line of
Scrimmage
.

“
LOVE AT FIRST FLIGHT by
Marie Force is most definitely a keeper. It is an astounding book.
I loved every single word!”
Wild on
Books

“
This novel is
The O.C.
does D.C., and
you just can’t get enough.”
RT Book
Reviews
, 4.5 Stars for
Fatal Affair

“
This book starts out
strong and keeps getting better. Marie Force is one of those
authors that will be on my must read list in the future.”
The Romance Studio
on
Fatal Affair

“
As Cole encourages
Olivia’s incredible talent for drawing and her love of adventure
through a series of carefully planned dates, the two embark on the
emotional roller-coaster ride of their lives in Force’s steamy
contemporary romance, a heartwarming Cinderella story set mostly in
and around Washington, D.C.”
Booklist
on
Everyone Loves a Hero

“
Marie Force’s second novel
in the Fatal series is an outstanding romantic suspense in its own
right; that it follows the fantastic first installment only
sweetens the read.”
RT Book
Reviews
, 4.5 Stars for
Fatal Justice

***

Other Contemporary Romances Available from
Marie Force:

Treading Water

Marking Time

Starting Over

Maid for Love

Fool for Love

Ready for Love

Georgia on My Mind

True North

The Fall

Everyone Loves a Hero

Love at First Flight

Line of Scrimmage

Romantic Suspense Novels Available from
Marie Force:

The Wreck

Fatal Affair

Fatal Justice

Fatal Consequences

Fatal Destiny