What's Cooking? (21 page)

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house, anticipation turned to dread at the sight of an obviously frantic Matthew waving him down.

"Hurry, son," Matthew hollered. "Sally's taken a spill. Looks to me like she's broken her hip. Got a nasty bump on her head, too. I can't get her to come around."

Rick bolted from the car even as the engine died. "Where is she? Have you called an ambulance?"

"About twenty minutes ago. The rescue squad's on its way," he told Rick. "But it's bound to be another few minutes by the time they round up a crew and get clear out here."

Rick paused and searched Matthew's face. The old man's color wasn't good. He looked as if he might pass out. "You okay?"

As expected, Matthew waved off his concern. "Don't worry about me, boy. It's Sally we need to think about."

"Where'd she fall?"

"Tripped over that blasted area rug at the foot of the stairs," Matthew said. "Told her the dang thing was a hazard, but would she listen? Of course not. She thought it was pretty there and that was that. You heard her just last night. I'll wager she wouldn't say the same thing now."

Rick's heart took a dive at the sight of Sally looking pale and far too still where she lay at the foot of the stairs. "You sure she didn't fall down the steps?" he asked Matthew, checking for a pulse and touching a hand to her wrinkled cheek.

Her heartbeat was steady enough, her skin warm enough, but she looked like a crumpled rag doll lying there. Rick felt his heart clench with something akin to panic. He couldn't lose her. One look at Matthew's stricken face and he amended, they couldn't lose her. If

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Sally had come to mean a lot to him, it was still nothing compared to what she meant to the strong man hunkered down beside her, his cheeks damp with tears.

"No, she didn't tumble down the steps," Matthew assured him. "We'd just come in from church. She was fussing about getting everything ready for you. I was coming round the corner from the kitchen and saw that dang rug shoot out from under her. Tried to catch her, but she went down like a rock." He sat on the bottom step and took her hand. His fingers trembled visibly. "Dang it, Sally. You wake up now. It's not right, you givin' me a scare like this."

Rick had never felt so helpless in his life. He knew the basics of first aid, knew enough not to try to move her, but what else could he do? There had to be something. What if she went into shock before the ambulance arrived?

"You have a blanket around here?" he asked Matthew.

Matthew stared up at him in confusion. "A blanket? It must be ninety out there today."

"Trust me, it'll help," Rick said.

"Her favorite throw's on the sofa. It's the blue one Ellen sent up from Atlanta last Christmas."

Rick found it, folded up neat as a pin on the back of the sofa. As he stepped back into the foyer, he could hear the ambulance siren in the distance.

"Wrap this around her," he instructed Matthew. "I'll go meet the ambulance."

He was about to head outside, but Matmew grabbed his hand. "I'm mighty glad you turned up when you did, son."

Rick stared at him, struck by the genuine relief and affection in Matthew's eyes. "I haven't done anything."

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"You were here when we needed you. That's what counts. I won't forget that."

For the next hour there was a flurry of activity as the paramedics brought Sally around, then transported her to the hospital. Rick drove an unusually silent Matthew to meet them there.

"She's going to be okay," he reassured Matthew as they walked through the emergency-room doors.

Matthew nodded, his gaze already searching for some sign of his wife. "Has to be," he said tersely, then went off to find her.

Rick walked outside and used his cell phone to call Maggie. Yet again, there was no answer. He struggled to remember Melanie's number, but couldn't. He went inside, asked one of the clerks to borrow a phone book, jotted down the number, then went back outside to call.

Melanie answered, sounding breathless.

"Melanie, it's Rick. Is Maggie over there?"

"No. We just got in. I had to run to catch the phone. I assumed she was with you. Wait a sec, though, there's a message light blinking. Let me check to see if she called while we were out."

Rick waited impatiently till she came back on the line.

"She called about an hour ago and said Ashley had left and for me to call her at home. Obviously you tried there."

"Yes. There was no answer. I guess I'll just have to keep trying."

"Are you okay? You sound kind of shaky."

He sucked in a deep breath and tried to steady his voice. "Actually I'm at the hospital. Sally Keller took a fall. I came in with Matthew."

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"That's awful. Is Sally all right?"

"They're checking her out now. She'd come around by the time we left the farm, but there's a good chance she broke her hip in the fall."

"I am so sorry. Please tell Matthew we're thinking about both of them. And don't you worry about a thing. I'll find Maggie and send her over there, okay? Would you like me to send Mike in the meantime?"

For a minute Rick considered saying yes, but he stopped himself. He wasn't used to leaning on anyone. "No, I'll be fine."

To his astonishment, his eyes were stinging with unshed tears as he hung up. For a man who'd had no one in his life a few short weeks ago, he now seemed to be surrounded by people he cared about, people who genuinely seemed to care about him. Getting emotional about a thing like that seemed crazy. He blamed it on his concern for Sally. There was no point in trying to deny that he'd started to think of her and Matthew as the grandparents he'd never known.

So this was what it was like to have his life emotionally entangled with someone else's. He'd always avoided romantic love, because he knew the heartache that sort of attachment could cause, but this one had snuck up on him. He hadn't protected himself from starting to care for these two old people.

He was on what had to be his third cup of very bad coffee and his hundredth trek between the waiting room and the emergency entrance when he finally spotted Maggie running across the parking lot. He met her halfway and swept her into his arms, clinging to her like a lifeline.

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He felt steadier when he finally let her go. "You didn't have to come over here."

"Of course I did. I came as soon as Melanie caught up with me. Ironically I'd gone out to the farm to see the Kellers, but no one was there. You must have already left for the hospital. How is Sally?"

"I'm still waiting for word. Matthew is with her." He looked into her eyes. "I know I said you didn't need to come, but I'm glad you're here."

Maggie reached up and touched his cheek, her expression filled with understanding. "I know. Why don't we go back inside?" she urged. "It's hot as blazes out here, and we want to be where Matthew can find us when there's news."

They went into the crowded emergency waiting room. Maggie checked at the nurses' station to see if there was any word on Sally, while Rick found a couple of empty seats. What was it with hospitals that every waiting room was too cold and had this antiseptic smell? He'd have felt better outside, but Maggie was right. They needed to be right where Matthew could find them if the doctors booted him out of Sally's treatment cubicle, which they were bound to do sooner or later.

"The nurse at the desk doesn't know anything, but I'm going to see if I can get into the treatment area," Maggie said when she finally joined him. "I spotted a nurse going into the back who looked familiar. I think my sisters and I used to play with her when we were girls. At least she might get us some information. I'll be right back."

Rick nodded. After she was gone, he closed his eyes.

"Let Sally be okay," he murmured, not entirely sure

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if he was expressing a wish or saying a prayer. It had been a long time since he'd had any reason to ask God for anything, so it was little wonder he wasn't sure if that's what he was doing now. Praying seemed like a good idea, though, so he silently repeated the same words. "God, please let her be okay. Matthew needs her. And," he added, though he was still surprised by it, "so do I."

Until today, he hadn't realized how true that was. For years and years, he'd told himself he didn't need anyone. He'd gone through life with a tough attitude and a grim determination to keep people at arm's length. If a man didn't need anyone, then he couldn't be hurt. He couldn't get his heart broken. Letting people close was a guarantee that sooner or later there would be heartache.

Matthew and Sally hadn't allowed him to keep his distance. They'd poked and prodded. Matthew had butted in with advice whether Rick wanted to hear it or not. Sally had fed him and teased him and?yes, he could see it now?loved him. They'd asked nothing from him in return. They'd simply welcomed him into their lives.

As had Maggie. Of course, with Maggie it was entirely different. Her welcome had been more cautious, her trust harder to win. In fact, he was still on that particular journey, but after witnessing the glory of the love between Matthew and Sally, he was beginning to see the value of the prize.

His eyes were still closed when he felt Maggie's presence. She slipped into the hard plastic chair beside him and linked her fingers through his.

"I was right. It was Laurie. She wouldn't let me go back to the treatment area, but she went in and found

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out that Sally's having her hip X-rayed. Matthew is with her. He won't leave her side, mainly because she keeps insisting she's getting up and walking out of here. Her determination to leave is beginning to make the doctors a little nervous. They seem to think she just might try it, broken hip or not."

Rick smiled. "That's Sally, all right. She hates people fussing over her. She thinks she's the only one who gets to do any fussing."

Maggie grinned. "I know someone else like that. I'm a little surprised you called me at all."

"Thought you'd want to know," he said, fearing that he'd revealed far too much about his own neediness.

"I did and not just because I like Matthew and Sally."

He slanted a look at her. "Oh?"

"Because I know how important they are to you."

Rick nodded slowly. "Funny thing about that," he said. "I'm just now figuring that one out myself."

Maggie wondered if Rick had any idea at all that his emotions were written all over his face. She doubted it. If he knew, he'd have found some way to mask them.

When Matthew eventually emerged from the treatment area, his expression was grim, his legs unsteady.

"What?" Rick demanded, bolting to his side and walking with him to a chair.

"Broke her dang hip, just like I thought," he said, sounding shaken. "They're talking about putting her in a nursing home when she leaves here. She's mad as a wet hen about that. She says if I let them do that, she'll divorce me. Wouldn't put it past her, either." He regarded them with a helpless expression. "What am I supposed

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to do? I'd do anything in the world for her, but this is beyond me. We can't afford to have a nurse at the house, and I can't manage her till she's back on her feet some."

"Couldn't one of the kids come home?" Maggie asked, but even before she'd finished the question, Rick said, "I'll move in."

The unexpected offer surprised Maggie and clearly stunned Matthew. Hope lit his eyes. "You'd do that?"

Rick looked embarrassed. "It's no big deal. Living in a bed-and-breakfast place is getting old anyway."

Matthew turned to Maggie. "You got anything to say about this?"

Other than wanting to throw her arms around the man in question and hug him, Maggie knew her opinion wasn't really the important one. "If Rick wants to do it, I think it would be foolish of you to turn him down."

"Might put a crimp in things for the two of you, though," Matthew said, giving Rick a sly look.

"Stop worrying about my love life, old man," Rick said. "Just think of the fun Maggie and I will have trying to sneak around behind your back."

Maggie couldn't help chuckling at that.

"You're sure?" Matthew asked again. "I don't want to say a word to Sally if there's a chance you'll change your mind."

"I'm not changing my mind," Rick said, his voice filled with resolve.

In that instant, Maggie's heart did a little lurch. This caring, compassionate side of Rick was something she'd suspected he possessed. Now that she'd seen it, though, she knew she was a goner. She could build brick and steel barriers around her heart, but they wouldn't do a

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damn thing to protect it. The man was already inside, as much a part of her as breathing.

She watched Matthew clasp Rick's hand.

"You can't imagine what this means to me," Matthew told him. "Don't know what I'd do if Sally and 1 had to be separated, even for a few weeks."

Rick glanced at Maggie, his eyes filled with raw emotion he didn't even attempt to hide. "I think I understand," he said softly. "For the first time in my life, I honestly think I understand."

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Kick had been as stunned by his impulsive offer at the hospital as everyone else, but the instant the words were out of his mouth, he'd known that offering to stay at the farmhouse was the right thing to do.

It didn't have anything to do with impressing Maggie, either. He'd wanted to be there for Matthew and Sally. There was no way in hell those two should be separated, even for a short period of time, not when he was in a position to prevent it. At least this was one time when his presence might make a real difference. Sticking around home had never been much help to his mother. If anything, he'd only served as a reminder of Ins father.

A week later he was settled into an upstairs room at the farmhouse. He'd spent most of the week doing odd jobs around the place to make it easier for Sally to get

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around once she was in a wheelchair and eventually on crutches. The offensive rug that had caused her fall had been rolled up and stuffed in a closet. Matthew had wanted to toss it in the trash, but Rick had persuaded him to put it away and let Sally decide where it belonged.