Worth the Fall (9 page)

Petey knew that.

“She’s the type of girl you
take
kisses from.”

Petey didn
’t know
that
.

But he wouldn
’t mind finding out.

Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.

~ Carl Gustav Jung

Lizzie stood in the doorway to Alison
’s bedroom and laughed at Petey, who had just been tucked into bed by his mother like he was a toddler. “Oh, God, I didn’t think Alison even owned pink sheets. I’m pretty sure she bought them just to mess with you.”

He had no doubt of that.

His mother and Lizzie had picked him up from the hospital and brought him to Alison’s cottage, where they found the door unlocked, flowers on the kitchen table and a note stating she wanted Petey to take her room because of the television in there.

She
’d put a PS on the note that had cracked his mom and Lizzie up—”Stay out of my panty drawer, perv.”

It made sense for him to stay in her room. It was closer to the kitchen and the bathroom, and there was the television bonus. But a flicker of…something…went through him at the thought of spending time in her bed. Until he quickly realized she
’d moved her personal things down the hall to the other bedroom.

And that she
’d frillied up the room she’d stuck him in. It had to be on purpose. He could so not see her with pink sheets and pink comforter and pink…well shit, just about everything.

Lizzie
’s dropped-jaw look at the bed and her subsequent chuckles had confirmed it. “My God, when did she even have the time to do this? It’s good, though, she needed a good laugh.”

“
Yeah, except you’re the one laughing, as will be anybody who comes to visit and sees me in this Barbie Dream House.”

Lizzie hooted with laughter.
“Oh, she laughed, all right. You just know she was busting a gut standing in line at Shopko with these in her cart.”

He couldn
’t help smiling at the thought of that. Yeah. Okay. She got him on that one.

His mother came back into the room, stifling a grin as she looked at her bruising hockey-player son surrounded by pink shams.

It was a sham, all right.

“
I put the casserole in the oven on timer, so it’ll go off by itself when it’s done, in case you’re sleeping. It’ll be fine until you’re ready or Alison gets home.”

“
Thanks, Mom. You know you didn’t have to do that.”

She came over and sat on the edge of the bed. Petey was propped up against the headboard on top of the comforter—no way was he going to crawl into the pile of Pepto Bismol until he had to. His mother pulled a throw (pink) from the foot of the bed and draped it across his legs to his waist. He saw her eyes fill with sadness as the throw covered the brace on his leg. At least he was able to wear track pants and have the brace fit over them.

“It’s the least I can do, bring some meals over for you. And Alison. It kills me that you can’t be at the house.”

“
Dad and I would be at each other’s throats within twenty-four hours.”

She looked like she was going to argue with him but then just shrugged and gave a small smile.
“You’re probably right.”

“
Plus, all those damn stairs. Not to mention the ones that did me in in the first place.”

She put a hand on his ankle.
“Oh Petey, you have no idea how sick your father is about that. He was beside himself. He still is.”

“
Why? It’s the end of January in the Copper Country. What outside steps aren’t icy? I just wasn’t paying attention. Too much of a Southern boy now.”

“
They don’t have icy stairs in Detroit?”

“
Not for hockey stars—we’re exempt! We do our share of ice time in other ways.”

She swatted his good leg and chuckled. His mother
’s laughter was better than any Vicodin. “Seriously, Mom, you’ve got to get Dad to ease up on himself. It never occurred to me that it was in any way anyone’s fault.”

“
That’s right,” Lizzie said, entering the room. “If you think about it, he was on his way to see me. One could say it was my fault.”

“
Yeah, let’s go with that,” he said, winking at his best friend, who flipped him the bird behind his mother’s back.

“
I need to get back home. I have a conference call.”

“
It’s after five. Didn’t you promise Finn you’d keep normal work hours now?”

“
West coast.”

That sparked his interest.
“Who ya going after?”

A coy smile played across her face.
“Can’t say, it’s too early. Let’s just say Darío made the connection and it would be a
Major
coup for Hampton and Associates.”

What Major-winning golfer lived on the west coast?
“Phil?” She only smiled wider. “No shit? Lizard, that’s great.”

“
Petey,” his mother said, swatting him again as she rose from the bed. “Watch the mouth.”

“
Sorry,” he said, though they both knew he wasn’t. “Good luck with the call.”

“
Thanks. Like I said, way too early. We’re just going to talk about some of his charitable foundations and if we could help him out.”

“
Which of course you can.”

“
Of course,” she said with no hesitation. She came over, bent down and kissed him on the forehead, and ruffled his hair. Yep, definitely a toddler. “Al thought she’d be home around eight after having dinner with her mom and sister and stopping by the hospital for a quick visit with her dad.”

“
How long has she been keeping this up?”

Lizzie sighed, placed her hands on her hips, and looked out the window like she was counting the passage of time via the seasons. Maybe she was.
“Jeez, I think her dad’s been in and out of the hospital for nearly a year now? Maybe a little less. Her mom didn’t start going downhill until this past summer, and it’s been a lot slower.”

“
Jesus,” he said under his breath.

“
Yeah,” Lizzie agreed.

He looked around at the stupid pink sheets. Where
had
she found time to do this? “This seems like a lot to ask. Maybe we should figure something else out. A motel or something? Call Jules and see if she has any rooms available for long-term. I know it’s snowmobile season, but she loves me. She’ll find me a room.”

“
You are not staying in a motel, nice as Jules’s place is. You’ll go stir crazy. At least here you can hobble to the kitchen and living room for a change of scenery. Plus, you can’t beat the view,” his mother said, motioning out the large window to the ice-covered lake. If he weren’t pissed at ice in general right now he’d agree.

“
Honestly,” Lizzie said, “I think this might be good for Al, too. She’s been in such a rut lately with the hospital, her mom’s situation and her private practice.”

“
So, what? Another patient for her to look after?”

“
You mean like her parents’ kind of patient, or her patients’ kind of patient?” Lizzie joked. “‘Cause I’m thinking you could probably use both kinds of attention.”

“
Ha fucking ha,” he said, and shrugged as his mother arched a brow at his language, then left the room.

It was Lizzie
’s turn to sit on the bed and pat his foot. “Seriously, though, you know she’d be a great listener if you want to talk about this all.”

“
Talk about falling down the stairs and having my knee twisted all to hell? Doesn’t seem like a lot to talk about.”

Lizzie pinned him with a look. Her no-nonsense stare that she
’d pulled on him numerous times. And which he’d ignored numerous times.

“
You know what I mean. Obviously you wanted to talk about your impending retirement with your folks and me, or you wouldn’t have gone through the huge hassle of flying up here for a day when you could have just called or emailed with the news. And that’s when you had several months to come to terms with it. Well, guess what, those terms are now upon you. It’d be no wonder if you went through some sort of….”

“
Of what?”

She waved a hand around, as if trying to capture the right words.
“I don’t know. A phase or something.”

“
A phase? Like puberty?”

“
See? This is why you should talk to Al about it. I’m not the best at figuring out emotions. Hell, I ate mine for fifteen years.” She looked away from him, out the window, and he knew she was a step away from beating herself up inside.

He nudged her hip with his good knee.
“Hey,” he said quietly. He nudged her again until she took her gaze off the wintery landscape and looked at him. “All in the past, Lizard. You’re in a good place,now. You. Finn. The kids. Baby Sam. It’s all good.”

She blinked at him, and then, as if coming out of a trance, a huge smile lit her pretty face.
“You’re totally right. Nothing but rainbows and lollipops.”

“
And Major-winning clients, unless you blow it by being late for your call.”

She glanced at her watch and nodded.
“Yep, gotta go.” She moved from the bed just as his mother came back into the room with a pitcher of water and a glass, which she put on the bedside table.

“
I can stay if you want me to,” she said. “Until Alison comes home.”

Part of him wanted her to. Not because he feared being alone, but because he
’d like some buffer when Alison first arrived. They’d have to be alone together, of course, but if his mom were here then she’d have to be semi-cordial to him.

Jesus. He needed his mommy to make sure the big bad girl was nice to him?

“Nah, but thanks. I’m pretty wiped and I’ll probably just zonk out for a while, anyway.”

“
That’s good. The doctor said you should get as much rest as possible for the next few days.”

They said their goodbyes and the ladies left him in the pink cauldron to stare out the window at the frozen landscape and think about what he was going to do with the rest of his life.

***

Alison quietly let herself into her home, hoping not to wake Petey. Hoping Petey would be asleep. The kitchen smelled amazing and she glanced around the room from where she stood in the foyer divesting herself of her winter outerwear. No sign of whatever smelled so good. Boots off, she padded across the hardwood floor and peeked in the oven. Nothing. She looked in the fridge. A casserole dish, with a large portion of the cheesy concoction removed, sat covered with a glass lid. She peered at the sink, but there were no dirty dishes. Opening the dishwasher she saw a rinsed plate, glass and some silverware.

Lizzie or Petey’s mom must have stayed a while and gotten him fed and cleaned up. This was just as well, since she was exhausted after her dinner with her mother and Sherry. She put the bag of warm soup she’d gotten to go from the restaurant into the refrigerator. He could have it tomorrow.

“
Al?” she heard him call from her bedroom. “That you?”

Who else would it be, she wondered, but then mentally cut him some slack upon realizing that her home would probably have a revolving door for the next few days. His parents and Lizzie and others would want to come and see how he was faring. And leave yummy-looking casseroles.

“Yep,” she answered as she made her way down the hallway to the bedrooms. “Sorry if I woke you, I was trying to be—” The words died in her mouth as she rounded the corner and saw him propped up in her bed naked from the waist up, a vision of pure male amidst the pink bedding.

She
’d bought it as a joke. She’d been at Shopko picking up her mom’s meds yesterday when she’d taken a U-turn with her cart and ended up buying anything pink and lacy that would fit on a queen bed.

But now she played shrink for just a second and wondered if she hadn
’t done it to protect herself. To temper the vision of him in her bed.

And she hadn
’t even factored in the naked part.

God, he was so big, so strong, with a chest full of dark hair that trailed down and down into…a mass of…frilly pink cotton. Yep, that helped. A little.

“You didn’t wake me. I slept most of the afternoon and evening after my mom and Lizzie left. I just woke up about an hour ago.”

She nodded, trying not to stare at his chest.
“Wait. So you got that dinner by yourself?”

“
Well, my mom put it in the oven on timer. I didn’t make it or anything.”

“
But you got out of bed, got the thing out of the oven, ate, and did the dishes?”