CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
He fiddled with the knobs on the radio, searching for a traffic report, but heard only static. He turned it off. The two kids sitting in the middle row of the Suburban were quiet. “You guys okay?”
“Is Caitlin dead?” Sam asked.
Henry felt as if his heart had been ripped out of his chest. Suddenly, quiet didn’t seem so bad. “She’s at the hospital.”
“My parents were at the hospital, but they were dead by the time we got there,” Abby said. “Caitlin could be dead.”
Nausea swept over Henry. He needed to be there with Elisabeth.
“Caitlin’s dead, isn’t she?” Sam asked. “You’re just not telling us.”
Henry gripped the steering wheel. “Your sister was stable when I last saw her.”
“But that was hours ago,” Abby said. “Anything could have happened since then, and we wouldn’t know. You don’t have a cell phone.”
Sometimes Abby was too smart for her own good. He grimaced. “No worst-case-scenario thinking. The doctors are doing everything they can.”
Silence swallowed the car. Or as much silence as one could have in the middle of a rainstorm on a major interstate.
“Was Elisabeth crying when you left her?” Abby asked.
Henry weighed his options. He didn’t want to upset the kids, nor did he want to lie. “She was upset.”
“She never cries,” Abby announced.
Henry had seen Elisabeth cry. The night he’d found her in the living room air-harping. “Never?”
“Not since Toby left,” Sam answered.
“Toby?” Henry asked.
“He was going to marry Elisabeth,” Abby explained.
“He was a jerk,” Sam said. “He dumped her.”
That must be the guy she’d mentioned to him. Any man who would leave Elisabeth was definitely a jerk. The thought made Henry squirm.
“Sometimes adults have reasons for what they do, even if it appears bad at the time,” he said carefully, hoping they all, especially Elisabeth, would understand his actions this past month. “Reasons maybe they can’t explain or that don’t make sense to kids.”
“Oh, Toby had reasons,” Sam said. “He didn’t want us.”
Henry glanced in the rearview mirror. “Didn’t want…?”
“Me, Abby, and Caitlin. And Elisabeth wouldn’t leave us,” Sam admitted. “She said we were a package deal and gave Toby his ring back. Then she cried for a week.”
“I don’t remember an entire week of crying,” Abby said.
Sam gave her a lofty look. “You were too little then.”
Henry barely heard their bickering. Guilt deafened him. Swamped him. He’d originally thought the same thing about not wanting to settle down and have kids. But that had changed. He’d changed.
The Wheelers were a package deal. One he wanted.
Up till now, his life had been meaningless. His parties and adventures were fun, but nothing compared to the life he’d found on the farm.
With Elisabeth.
He’d tried to avoid responsibility. He’d tried to hang on to control. He’d tried not to let any of the Wheelers get close.
He’d failed on every front.
“Are you going to leave, too?” Sam probed.
Henry had intended to.
But now…
The thought of losing Caitlin terrified him. He didn’t pray—didn’t know the right way to pray—but he still prayed she would be okay. But if she recovered and he left, wouldn’t he lose her just the same? Lose her and Abby and Sam.
Lose Elisabeth.
What a jerk.
The Wheelers had welcomed him into their home, into their lives, and into their hearts.
They loved him for him. Not his name. Not his wallet.
It was what he’d needed all along, but he hadn’t known it until now.
Henry might not have started out as a family man, but that was what he’d become, and he wanted to remain one.
“I don’t want to leave.”
It was the truth. He could admit it to this boy when he’d barely acknowledged the truth to himself.
Henry wanted to be a husband, a father, and a farmer.
The best farmer Berry Patch had ever known.
He wanted it all—love, marriage, and a happily ever after.
Not only for himself but also for all the Wheelers. Especially Elisabeth.
Henry still had a lot to learn, but he was ready. He wanted the opportunity to try to be the man Elisabeth deserved in her life.
Would she be willing to give him the chance?
* * *
Henry ushered Abby out of the elevator on the neurosurgery floor at the Children’s Hospital, but Sam hung back. “Let’s go.”
He stared at the floor. “Are you sure this is the right way?”
Of course. Henry had paid for this wing to be built. He’d seen the blueprints before the foundation had been poured. He’d visited every floor both during construction and after. But Sam didn’t know that, and now wasn’t the time to tell him.
Henry knew Sam was worried. He didn’t blame the kid, but Elisabeth needed them to get there. Traffic had made the drive longer than it should’ve been. “Yes, and we need to get going. Elisabeth has been waiting for you two to arrive.”
Abby held his hand. “And you, too.”
He hoped so. The three of them walked to the waiting room, which was filled with his friends. He’d expected Brett and Laurel to be there but not Wes, Paige, Blaise, Hadley, Dash, Cynthia, and even his chauffeur, Frank. “What are you all doing here?”
“Group chat,” Dash said. “The others will be here soon.”
Cynthia approached him, but she wasn’t gloating as he expected. If anything, she appeared worried. She handed Henry his phone. “Cade’s been out of town, but he’s catching a flight back tonight. Brynn’s training in Vermont, but Ryland will be here tomorrow.”
“Thanks.” Henry appreciated his friends—all people he’d played matchmaker with—for wanting to be there with him, but someone was missing. He kept looking around. “Where’s Elisabeth?”
“With Caitlin.”
Henry released the breath he’d been holding. He needed to find Elisabeth and see Caitlin, but then he remembered the kids. “Abby and Sam, meet my friends.”
“More like his family,” Wes said, and everyone nodded.
Paige came up to him and the kids. She wore her physician’s jacket. “Caitlin is recovering after her surgery.”
“She’s not dead?” Sam asked.
The waiting room went silent.
Paige touched Sam’s shoulder. “Caitlin is still unconscious. Her medical team is watching your sister to make sure the pressure in her brain goes down.”
Abby clung to Henry’s hand, but she stared in awe of Paige. “Are you my sister’s doctor?”
Paige smiled at her. “No, but I’m a doctor, an oncologist, and I was with your sister Elisabeth when she spoke to Caitlin’s neurosurgeon.”
Relief surged through Henry. He was so grateful Paige, who’d treated Wes when he’d had cancer, had been with Elisabeth. “Thank you.”
“Caitlin’s medical team is taking good care of her,” Paige said. “We can ask if you can see her after Elisabeth comes out.”
Abby nodded.
Sam scrubbed at his eyes. “Please.”
Dash came up to the kids with a large shopping bag.
He towered over them at six-three but lowered himself to their level and smiled.
“I’m Dash. My wife, Iris, had to stay home with our son, but she sent homemade brownies for you on the table over there, and I picked up something for you guys.
” Dash pulled two new Nintendo Switch boxes from the bag.
“There’s one for each of you. I have another one for Caitlin. ”
The kids stared in disbelief. Their mouths each formed a perfect O.
Leave it to Dash. The guy had come a long way from the clueless, selfish genius who didn’t know how to handle social situations well. He’d made up for all his mistakes to Iris and then some.
Henry smiled. “Thanks, Master Dashiell.”
“Least I could do,” Dash said to Henry. “Fallon has kids around Abby’s age, so that helped. And who doesn’t like video games?”
Fallon was Dash’s assistant and Blaise’s sister-in-law. Henry had fun watching “Uncle Blaise” in action with his niece and nephew. He looked at the kids. “I’m sure these two will enjoy them.”
Sam clutched the game as if it were a priceless artifact. “It’s brand new.”
“Not for long.” Dash grinned. “Go on and open it.”
Both kids looked at Henry as if asking for permission. They were such good kids. Elisabeth would be proud. “It’s okay. Dash is a good friend.”
“But these are really expensive.” Abby tried to whisper, but everyone could hear her. “If we break it, we won’t be able to afford to replace it.”
No one said a word. Wes held back a smile. He’d grown up wealthy like Henry. Dash hadn’t nor had Blaise, but both were billionaires now.
“It’s okay, Abby,” Henry said to her in a low voice. “Dash bought this as a gift for you and Sam, so don’t worry about replacing it.”
She didn’t appear convinced, so he would try again. “Dash has a good job, so you don’t have to worry about what it cost him, okay?”
The kids still didn’t move. Henry was struck by how these kids probably knew more about budgeting and saving money than he ever would. He looked at Dash for help, who brushed his hand through his hair.
“I have an idea.” Dash pointed at an empty couch on the far side of the waiting room. “I see an outlet over there. How about we sit and get these set up for you while Henry checks in on your sisters?”
The kids glanced at Henry again, and he nodded. Finally, the kids relaxed, and Henry could, too. As Abby and Sam followed Dash, Henry watched them go.
Frank came up to him. “Don’t worry about the kids. I’ll guard them with my life.”
With that, Frank headed over to Abby and Sam and offered to help Dash set up their controllers. Frank was one of the best bodyguards in the business, and Dash would make sure the kids were safe. Henry trusted both men but still kept glancing Abby and Sam’s way. He needed to know they were okay.
“So…” Cynthia bit her lip. “Elisabeth returned the money.”
“What money?” Henry asked, confused.
“The twenty-five thousand dollars I gave her.”
He did a double take. “What are you talking about?”
“The cost of the adventure.” Cynthia blew out a breath. “I offered Elisabeth money I got from Wes if she hired you. I also told her I’d cover your salary, which I still want to do, even though she doesn’t want to accept it.”
The money would make such a difference to the farm. “Why would she return it?”
Brett came up. “Elisabeth saw the donation plaque with your and your parents’ names on it.
She knows everything, including your adventures.
We could tell she wasn’t happy with what she heard, but she never said a word.
She was polite to everyone who showed up, even those who were Cynthia’s references, and lied to her about your situation.
Elisabeth seems to be a strong woman, but she’s very hurt. ”
“She is strong.” The kids seemed too busy to notice what anyone else was doing.
Both laughed at something Dash said. That was good.
Henry sighed. He should’ve known this would happen, but he thought everything would be okay.
The way things usually turned out for him.
“I’m sure the truth devastated her, but it was a risk I had to take. ”
This hospital was the best place for Caitlin, and the middle of a life-threatening medical emergency hadn’t been the time for him to come clean to Elisabeth. Not that he’d planned on doing that.
Henry rubbed his face.
Cynthia’s eyes gleamed. “I’m so sorry how things turned out. This was supposed to teach you a lesson.”
Henry half laughed. “Oh, it did.”
“I also wanted you to have fun.”
“That’s what I always say.” Hearing Cynthia repeat the words drove home how his friends must have felt, even if they were living happily ever after now. “But sometimes the fun can get carried away.”
Brett’s forehead creased. “That doesn’t sound like the Henry Davenport I know. What happened while you were in Berry Patch?”
Henry stared at Abby and Sam, who showed Frank their game controllers. “I found more family.”