CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I’m leaving.
A few days later, Henry sat at the kitchen table.
Ten thirty in the morning and the kids were at school.
He and Elisabeth had accomplished enough work on the evergreen blackberries to earn a coffee break.
Talk about teamwork. Quite a change from his first day on the job.
But thinking about the beginning reminded him of the end.
His official adventure would end in three days—a full month on the berry farm—but he wouldn’t depart until Manny returned.
Henry kept telling himself that was good enough.
Elisabeth didn’t need two farmhands. Not with winter approaching and money so tight.
But the turmoil inside of Henry surprised him.
He never thought he would feel this way when the day to say goodbye arrived.
That time was drawing near. He’d even emailed Frank, using the free computer at the library, to keep him from showing up as originally scheduled.
But next week, he would be home.
Home.
The word no longer held the same appeal.
His estate in Dunthorpe, a wealthy area just south of Portland, was large, with all the comforts anyone could imagine.
Laurel Matthews and her interior design studio had seen to that during a massive remodel.
But compared to this run-down farmhouse filled with kids, clutter, and animals, his elegant home and exciting life were suddenly, and strangely, unappealing.
But what had happened over the past month wasn’t his life. No matter how well he’d adjusted to the work, he wasn’t a farmer. And the Wheelers weren’t his family.
He belonged to another world separate from the one he’d been living in during his adventure in Berry Patch. Though his real life seemed inconsequential and meaningless after one day on the farm.
Could Cynthia have been right?
Maybe he needed to rethink his over-the-top birthday parties and adventures. Maybe he needed to rethink a lot of things. Though not matchmaking. His friends still needed him to do that for them. Well, everyone except Elisabeth. He swirled the coffee in his mug.
But first, Henry needed to tell her he would be leaving.
He’d tried on more than one occasion, but the words just wouldn’t come.
He’d stared into her blue eyes and wondered how it would feel to see them clouded with longing again like they were at the lake on that rainy day.
He’d imagined waking up each morning gazing into them as their years together passed by.
Those thoughts had rendered him speechless.
But those fantasies would never come true.
He was playing a role. Henry the farmhand was simply a disguise—a ruse, so to speak—so far removed from his true identity it wasn’t even funny.
Sure, he’d been able to step out of his real world for a few weeks and see another side to life, a side he’d never imagined existed.
Yes, being on the farm had been liberating, but his real life was in Portland.
His real self was someone Elisabeth would never want to spend the rest of her life with.
He couldn’t deny another truth, either. She hadn’t asked him what his plans were.
She hadn’t said much about Manny returning.
But sadness had descended over her, and that concerned Henry.
They were tiptoeing around each other, walking on proverbial eggshells, trying to avoid the subject, but the tension would crack sooner rather than later. He downed the rest of his coffee.
The telephone rang, and Elisabeth answered it. “Hello.” She paused. “Yes, this is her. What?” The horror in Elisabeth’s voice made him look up. Her ghost-pale face had him rising from the table. She clutched the receiver until her knuckles went white. “W-which hospital?”
Hospital?
The million and one thoughts racing through Henry’s mind were not good. He walked toward Elisabeth, never taking his eyes off her.
Her lower lip trembled, and she reached out for him.
Not one of the kids. It couldn’t be one of the kids. He laced his fingers with hers and listened.
“Did she say—?”
She. Abby or Caitlin?
His stomach knotted, twisting and turning until he thought he would be physically ill.
“No, I understand.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’ll be right there.”
As she hung up the telephone, she took a deep breath. “Caitlin fell off the play structure at preschool. She hit her head. Or they think she did. She was unconscious. They’ve taken her to the hospital. I—I have to go.”
“Let’s go.”
She grabbed her bag. “My keys?”
“I’ve got them.” Henry grabbed her ring of keys off the counter. “I’ll drive, and you navigate.”
Her hands trembled. “Thank you.”
She said the words, but she was simply going through the motions. Her eyes appeared unfocused, and the color hadn’t returned to her face.
Henry couldn’t imagine what was going through her head, not with what he was feeling. Driving kept him from losing it altogether. All he could think of was his tiny princess in a deep sleep. A kiss wouldn’t wake her now. Henry hoped the doctors could.
The drive to the county hospital seemed to take forever. He tried to stay focused and get them there in one piece. This wasn’t the time to make any mistakes. Not with so much at stake.
Still, a continuous stream of questions played in his head. Why wasn’t someone watching Caitlin? How did she fall? What sort of head injury? How long had she been unconscious?
Henry glanced over at Elisabeth, who sat with her hands clasped on her lap, the knuckles white. Her face was drawn tight, her entire body stiff.
He was worried sick. She must feel…
“How are you doing?” he asked.
Stupid question, but he didn’t like that she was so quiet.
“I—I don’t know.” She blinked. “I just wish we were with her.”
He removed his right hand from the steering wheel and held her hand, trying to offer a small amount of comfort and reassurance. “We’ll be there soon.”
“I’m glad you’re driving. I don’t think I could have…
” Her voice cracked, and so did his heart.
“Caitlin’s never been afraid of heights.
She loves to climb. She was so excited when she first went to the preschool and saw the play structure.
I should have told her to stay off the top, but I never thought she’d fall. ”
“Caitlin would have climbed to the top, even if you told her not to. She’s a kid.”
“Probably, but…” Elisabeth choked on a sob. “What if Caitlin never wakes up? What if I lose her, too?”
Caitlin had asked him to be her daddy, and he’d said no. Regrets assailed him. What if he’d said yes?
He swallowed his anger to concentrate on Elisabeth. “Let’s wait until we speak with the doctor before thinking the worst.”
“You’re right,” Elisabeth said. “I know you’re right.”
He hoped so.
Henry parked the Suburban outside the emergency entrance of the county hospital. Elisabeth met him around the back of the SUV. Tears spiked her eyelashes, and he laced his fingers through hers.
She squeezed his hand. “I’m so glad you’re here with me.”
“Me, too.” He expected her to release his hand, but she didn’t. Together, they walked into the hospital with the same thought: Caitlin.
* * *
As Elisabeth headed to the information desk, she remembered making this same journey almost four years ago with a baby Caitlin in her arms and Sam and Abby at her sides. By the time they’d arrived, their parents were dead.
Tears stung Elisabeth’s eyes, but she blinked them away. Thank goodness for Henry. He was her strength and her rock. She loved him. Pure and simple. He would be leaving, but he was there now. She clung to that.
“May I help you?” a smiling white-haired volunteer in a pink jacket asked.
“I’m looking for Caitlin Wheeler.” Elisabeth tried to keep her voice steady. “She was brought in from the Berry Kids Preschool in Berry Patch.”
“Oh, yes.” The smile disappeared from the woman’s face, and Elisabeth’s pulse sped up. “Please take a seat. It’ll be just a moment.”
She didn’t want to sit. That was what she’d done the last time she’d been there. “Do you mind if we stand?”
“Whichever you prefer.” The woman rose.
A shiver of doom inched down Elisabeth’s spine. She’d done the same thing waiting for news about her parents. “This isn’t good.”
“Hang in there.” Henry squeezed her hand. “Caitlin will be okay.”
Only one other person was in the waiting room. It was Mrs. Gavin, who operated the preschool. Eyes gleaming, she hurried over to them. “I’m so sorry, Elisabeth. Nothing like this has ever happened at our school.”
Not trusting her voice, she nodded.
“I followed the ambulance. I didn’t want Caitlin to be alone, but they wouldn’t let me go into the exam area and won’t give me any information since I’m not her guardian.”
Elisabeth swallowed. “Thank you for being here with my sister. I appreciate it.”
Mrs. Gavin’s gaze bounced from Elisabeth to Henry. “Do you want me to stay?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I’m sure you’re needed at the preschool.”
“We can let you know how Caitlin is doing,” Henry added, much to Elisabeth’s gratitude.
“Thank you, and we’ll all be praying for Caitlin.” With that, Mrs. Gavin headed toward the exit.
“Do you need something to drink?” Henry asked. “Anything?”
“No, thanks.” Elisabeth stared at the double doors leading to the exam rooms, willing them to open, but they remained closed. She swallowed a sigh.
A few minutes later, a young male doctor dressed in green scrubs walked up to them. “I’m Dr. Terrence. Are you Caitlin’s parents?”
“I’m Elisabeth Wheeler, Caitlin’s sister and guardian.”
“Caitlin suffered a closed head trauma,” he explained in a soothing tone.
“There was a blow to her skull and a bruising of the brain—a concussion. She initially lost consciousness, regained it and complained of a bad headache when she woke up, and is now unconscious again. X-rays show a skull fracture, and that, with her presentation, suggests a possible epidural bleed.”