Chapter 18 #2
“Is she okay?” Kyle asked, his brows knitting adorably.
“She’s not feeling so great. A good night’s sleep is just what the doctor ordered.” He kept his tone light, but he could see the concern on the faces of Seamus and Carolina.
“Is it okay with you guys?” Jackson asked his hosts.
“Absolutely,” Seamus said. “We can make popcorn and watch a movie. It’ll be fun.”
“He talks funny,” Jackson said, giggling.
Seamus stuck his tongue out at the boy, setting off him and his brother into gales of laughter.
David sent Seamus a grateful smile. He’d made a lot of assumptions in putting together this plan. “Lisa is coming to see me in the morning, so if you could hang on to these guys until she gets back, that’d be a big help.”
“We’d be happy to.” Carolina got up from the table and returned with a plastic container that was soon full of lasagna. “Take this home to Daisy,” she said as she covered it and handed it to David.
“You don’t have to do that.”
“We’ll never eat it all. Happy to share.”
“That’s so nice of you. Thanks. For everything.”
“Our pleasure,” Seamus said.
David drove home feeling worse than he had before, if that was possible.
He didn’t like the looks of what was going on with Lisa—at all.
The chest X-ray would tell him more. He wished she hadn’t waited so long to get medical help.
As a seasonal worker in several of the island’s restaurants, she didn’t work enough hours at any one job to qualify for insurance coverage.
The system was still imperfect, despite recent reforms, and providers were forced to do the best they could within the existing parameters. It was frustrating as all hell in cases like Lisa’s when someone needed urgent care but didn’t seek it out because they couldn’t afford to.
He arrived home feeling exhausted and out of sorts but excited to see Daisy after a long day apart.
David was so damned thankful to have her to come home to every night.
She made everything better just by being there.
As he parked next to his landlord Jared’s Porsche, Jared and his wife, Lizzie, came out of their house, dressed up for a night out.
“Hi there,” he said to his friends as he emerged from his car, carrying the container Carolina had given him. “Where are you off to?”
“A fundraiser at the Chesterfield,” Jared said, referring to the estate they’d bought earlier in the year and turned into an event venue.
“What’s this one for?”
“Open space,” Lizzie said.
“How about you do one for single parents who can’t afford basic medical care?” David said with more of an edge to his voice than he’d intended.
“Talk to me,” Jared said sincerely. He’d made his fortune on Wall Street and was now “retired” from the financial rat race.
“Sorry.” David rolled his shoulders to shake off the stress. “Just a long day.”
“Do you know someone who needs help?”
“Yeah, I actually do. I’ve got a young mom with two young boys who might be seriously ill. The boys are five and six.”
“What can we do?” Lizzie asked.
“Can I get back to you about that tomorrow when I know more about what we’re dealing with?”
“Absolutely,” Jared said. “Anything she needs, you let me know.”
“I was having a horrendously shitty day until about five minutes ago. Thanks, you guys.”
Lizzie walked over to David and hugged him.
The gesture didn’t surprise him. He’d come to know her quite well since she married Jared, and she was easily affectionate with him and all their friends.
David could see why Jared adored her. “Whenever you encounter something like this, you come to us, okay? We have everything we could ever want or need, and it’s my pleasure to spend Jared’s money on worthwhile causes and people in need. ”
Jared snorted with laughter. “She’s quite good at it, too.”
“I don’t believe in doing anything if I can’t do it well,” Lizzie said, returning to her husband’s side.
He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead. “And that’s why I love you so much.”
“You two have a great evening,” David said, amused by them, as always.
“We’ll expect to hear from you tomorrow,” Lizzie said.
“You got it. Thanks again.” He waved them off as they left in the Porsche and then took the stairs to the garage apartment he shared with Daisy.
She was curled up in a ball on the sofa, sound asleep.
David smiled at the sight of her. She worked so hard at the hotel this time of year that she was worn out at the end of every long day.
But she loved the job managing the housekeeping staff at McCarthy’s Gansett Island Hotel, and since she was the best thing to ever happen to him, he loved that she was happy.
Because he couldn’t be in the same room with her and not want to touch her, he put the container of lasagna in the kitchen, pulled off his tie, released the top three buttons on his shirt and went to join her on the sofa.
“Mmm,” she said, her voice sleepy and sweet. “There you are. Long day.”
“That just got three thousand percent better.”
“Only three thousand?”
“Make that three billion.”
She smiled without opening her eyes. “That’s a good number.”
David put his arms around her, and she snuggled up to him. “Now my awful day is perfect.”
“I heard about Maddie and Mac. Are you okay?”
Since Maddie was one of her closest friends, he was touched that she thought to ask if he was okay. “It was horrible. Devastating.”
“I’m so sad for them.”
“Did you get to talk to Maddie?”
She shook her head. “I tried to call her, but it went right to voice mail. I left a message for her and one for Linda offering to help with the kids if need be.”
“I’m sure Maddie knows we’re all thinking about her and Mac tonight.”
“I hope so.” She took a deep breath and perked right up. “What do I smell?”
“Carolina Cantrell’s lasagna. Or I guess I should say Carolina O’Grady’s lasagna.”
“My mouth is watering. Does this mean we don’t have to cook or go anywhere?”
“That’s exactly what it means.”
“What do you think of dinner in bed?”
“Other than deciding to love me, that’s the very best idea you’ve ever had.”
As she laughed, he kissed her and felt the troubles of his day melt away when she kissed him back with all the love and enthusiasm he’d come to expect from her.