more information about
the recreation center. I’m sure it’s a project of larger magnitude than you’re
used to. Probably out of your league.”
“No doubt,” Jack murmured.
Before Harry could come up with something else to say, the door
opened without warning and his nurse backed in carrying a dinner tray.
“Time for your dinner and evening meds.” She turned around and
blinked a little when she saw Jack. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had
company.”
She gave his son a quick look and then a longer, more assessing
one. Yeah, Jack had always been a good-looking cuss. Much like Harry when he’d
been younger.
“This is my son, come to visit me on my deathbed,” Harry
said.
“Your…son? Oh.”
The nurse looked as surprised as she would if Harry had just
introduced him as his pet monkey. She was so young she probably didn’t even know
he had a son. She would have been just a kid when Jack left.
Harry had been alone for two decades in that big house in the
canyon. Twenty years. Too damn long.
For a time, he’d thought he wanted things that way. He had been
convinced Jack was a stubborn, self-righteous little prick who didn’t understand
the way the world worked. Jack didn’t want him in his life, and Harry had been
perfectly content to give him his way. Amazing how a little heart attack could
change a man’s perspective.
“How lovely to have your family with you.” She smiled. “Sorry
I’m so late with your dinner, but your food was held up in the kitchen. Better
late than never, isn’t it?”
“Is it? It’s lousy either way. I still don’t understand why the
fool doctors won’t let me have my chef bring me something decent.”
“We had this argument the last time you stayed with us. You
know your nutritional content has to be screened carefully for sodium, potassium
and magnesium. What would happen if we just let you have any old thing?”
“I might actually eat it,” Harry muttered.
“Oh, you.” She fussed around his IV tree for a moment, then
started switching out bags.
“I’ll go and let you have your dinner,” Jack said.
Harry wanted to call him back, assure him he wanted him to
stay, but he didn’t want to sound weak in front of either his son or the
nurse.
“Call my office if you want to see the prospectus,” he said
gruffly.
Jack gave him an “are you kidding” sort of look before he
left.
Harry watched him go, furious with himself. What the hell was
wrong with him? Twenty years of silence, and when he finally saw his son again,
he could only come up with inane conversation about nothing .
Would he ever see him again? Or was this the only moment he
would have to remember until he died?
He lay in the hospital bed under the watchful eye of the nurse,
wishing he could rub away the sudden ache in his chest that had nothing
whatsoever to do with his heart problems.
* * *
“D OES EVERYTHING look okay?”
Maura pasted on a smile for her daughter. “Relax, honey. The
pork loin looks beautiful and smells even better. It will be delicious.”
“I shouldn’t be so nervous. It’s only dinner. It’s just… It’s
my dad, you know?”
Yes, she did remember that little fact. Maura forced a smile.
“I know. Everything will be perfect.”
Three days after Christmas, her dining room still looked
festive. A garland was draped around the chandelier, and the mantelpiece of the
old fireplace was covered in more garlands, gleaming ribbons and chunky
candles.
The table was set with her best china, white plates with
delicate blue borders. It was old and delicate, exquisite, really, a wedding
present from Chris’s parents. The set had once belonged to Chris’s maternal
great-grandmother, who had been one of the original silver queens in
Colorado.
After the divorce, she had tried to give it back to Jennie
Parker, but her ex-mother-in-law had insisted she keep it in order to hand it
down someday to Layla....
Her heart gave a sharp kick at the memory, and she
the recreation center. I’m sure it’s a project of larger magnitude than you’re
used to. Probably out of your league.”
“No doubt,” Jack murmured.
Before Harry could come up with something else to say, the door
opened without warning and his nurse backed in carrying a dinner tray.
“Time for your dinner and evening meds.” She turned around and
blinked a little when she saw Jack. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had
company.”
She gave his son a quick look and then a longer, more assessing
one. Yeah, Jack had always been a good-looking cuss. Much like Harry when he’d
been younger.
“This is my son, come to visit me on my deathbed,” Harry
said.
“Your…son? Oh.”
The nurse looked as surprised as she would if Harry had just
introduced him as his pet monkey. She was so young she probably didn’t even know
he had a son. She would have been just a kid when Jack left.
Harry had been alone for two decades in that big house in the
canyon. Twenty years. Too damn long.
For a time, he’d thought he wanted things that way. He had been
convinced Jack was a stubborn, self-righteous little prick who didn’t understand
the way the world worked. Jack didn’t want him in his life, and Harry had been
perfectly content to give him his way. Amazing how a little heart attack could
change a man’s perspective.
“How lovely to have your family with you.” She smiled. “Sorry
I’m so late with your dinner, but your food was held up in the kitchen. Better
late than never, isn’t it?”
“Is it? It’s lousy either way. I still don’t understand why the
fool doctors won’t let me have my chef bring me something decent.”
“We had this argument the last time you stayed with us. You
know your nutritional content has to be screened carefully for sodium, potassium
and magnesium. What would happen if we just let you have any old thing?”
“I might actually eat it,” Harry muttered.
“Oh, you.” She fussed around his IV tree for a moment, then
started switching out bags.
“I’ll go and let you have your dinner,” Jack said.
Harry wanted to call him back, assure him he wanted him to
stay, but he didn’t want to sound weak in front of either his son or the
nurse.
“Call my office if you want to see the prospectus,” he said
gruffly.
Jack gave him an “are you kidding” sort of look before he
left.
Harry watched him go, furious with himself. What the hell was
wrong with him? Twenty years of silence, and when he finally saw his son again,
he could only come up with inane conversation about nothing .
Would he ever see him again? Or was this the only moment he
would have to remember until he died?
He lay in the hospital bed under the watchful eye of the nurse,
wishing he could rub away the sudden ache in his chest that had nothing
whatsoever to do with his heart problems.
* * *
“D OES EVERYTHING look okay?”
Maura pasted on a smile for her daughter. “Relax, honey. The
pork loin looks beautiful and smells even better. It will be delicious.”
“I shouldn’t be so nervous. It’s only dinner. It’s just… It’s
my dad, you know?”
Yes, she did remember that little fact. Maura forced a smile.
“I know. Everything will be perfect.”
Three days after Christmas, her dining room still looked
festive. A garland was draped around the chandelier, and the mantelpiece of the
old fireplace was covered in more garlands, gleaming ribbons and chunky
candles.
The table was set with her best china, white plates with
delicate blue borders. It was old and delicate, exquisite, really, a wedding
present from Chris’s parents. The set had once belonged to Chris’s maternal
great-grandmother, who had been one of the original silver queens in
Colorado.
After the divorce, she had tried to give it back to Jennie
Parker, but her ex-mother-in-law had insisted she keep it in order to hand it
down someday to Layla....
Her heart gave a sharp kick at the memory, and she
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