FORGOTTEN VOWS Page 9

  Chapter Seven

  "Mommy, I'm scared!"

  Joey tried to whisper a reassurance as Brittany was settled onto the stretcher next to hers, which sat beside the river on the green mat of lawn. Mom would have had a fit at them driving over her grass. The thought flitted in and out of Joey's mind like an errant breeze.

  She was dizzy and having trouble keeping her eyes open. Her voice, when she spoke, was slurred and the words came slowly. She felt drunk and weak. All she could smell was the odor of river water. She was soaked with it.

  Caroline looked helplessly from frightened, still-pale Brittany to sobbing, terrified Bethany, clinging to her waist. "I thought they were inside. I should have been watching." She'd whispered the same two phrases over and over until Joey worried she was more shaken than Brittany was.

  "I don't want to go in the ab'lance," Brit whined. I’m scared."

  "How about if I ride with you?" The deep voice was Ash's. He was right there, beside her, close to Brit, one hand smoothing Bethany's hair. He was calm and strong and solid, and Joey couldn't imagine anyone she'd rather have here with her now. "Your mom and Bethany can follow right behind us in the car. If you want, I'll hold you up so you can see them out the window."

  "Mister, there isn't going to be much room. You'd be better off changing into dry clothes and following us yourself."

  Joey focused on Ash, saw the stern look he sent in the paramedic's direction. "I'm riding in the ambulance."

  "I want Uncle Ash," Brittany said softly. Her voice trembled as she was installed in the ambulance. Then Joey's gurney was lifted and snapped into place. Ash climbed in, settling himself between the two. She was ridiculously glad he was here.

  Caroline stuck her head in the back. "I'll grab some dry clothes from the house and be right behind you." She leaned in farther, snagged Ash by the neck and hugged him hard. "Thank you," she said on a broken sob.

  A moment later they were bounding over the lawn and then the driveway. Brittany twisted until her head was off the litter, resting it on Ash's knee. Joey saw his crooked half smile. She watched his big, tanned hand as it stroked Brittany's dripping wet hair away from her face, then moved to tug a blanket over her shoulders.

  When the driver gave a siren blast to clear traffic, Brittany jerked and began to cry.

  "Hey now, you're not afraid of a little noise, are you?"

  She nodded, choking on a sob.

  "Would a story help?"

  A short sniffle, wide blue eyes gazing upward, another nod.

  "Well, let me think. I'm not real up on fairy tails...except for the Frog Prince.'' Joey felt his warm gaze on her and she forced a weak smile for him. "Do you have a favorite, Brittany?"

  "Red Riding Hood."

  "Oh. Well, let me think a minute." He pretended great concentration, a furrow forming between his brows. "Okay. There was this little girl, see. And they called her Red Riding Hood because..." He looked at Brittany with mock seriousness. "Because she was a redhead and she liked to go riding dressed up like a hood."

  Brittany released a peal of laughter. "Noo, Uncle Ash."

  "Hmm. Oh, I have it. Because she had a red car and she was always riding on the hood."

  "No." Brit giggled, relaxing back onto the pillow. "Because she wore a red hood"

  "Right. That would have been my next guess. Anyway, she was walking through the woods one day...I think she missed the bus. And along comes this big bad raccoon." Brit squealed. "Squirrel?" Ash attempted. "No, wait, it was a ‘possum. I'm sure it was a ‘possum...or a deer."

  Joey closed her eyes to the sound of chuckles coming from the front of the ambulance, as well as the lilting laughter from her niece. And then...

  "I love you, Uncle Ash."

  "I love you, too, kiddo. No more swimming in the river, okay?"

  "I didn't mean to. I fell."

  "I figured that."

  "I caught a frog, but he got away, and when I tried to get him, I slipped."

  "Well, no more frog catching near the river, then. At least, not without me. I'm a world-class frog catcher, you know."

  A miserable feeling settled like a shroud on Joey's shoulders. What had she done? How devastated would Brittany and Bethany be when they found out the uncle they were fast growing to adore was no uncle at all? And Ash? How much pain would the truth cause him?

  #

  He left the treatment room when Caroline arrived. Brittany was fine, and glad to see her mother and sister. Ash hurried through the corridor and started toward the room where they'd taken Joey, only to be stopped outside the door by a stern-faced nurse.

  "You can't go in there."

  Ash shook his head, frustration pulling at his nerves. "The hell I can't—"

  "Sir, the patient is—"

  He started to push past her. "The patient is my wife." Then he stopped and stood still, blinking. For just an instant, he'd believed it was true. For the briefest moment in time, he had stopped playing a role. He wasn't pretending. He actually felt like a man desperately worried about his wife. He drew a calming breath.

  "At least tell me what's going on."

  The nurse smiled gently. "She's fine. The doctor's suturing her leg. Why don't you sit down? I'll let you know as soon as you can go in."

  He grated his teeth, and stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep himself from bodily moving the slight woman and charging into the room. He couldn't sit. He paced, keeping that closed door always in his sight. The nurse went in and it took all his will to keep from following. What seemed like hours, but in truth was only minutes later, a doctor emerged. The nurse came out behind him and sent Ash a nod.

  He rushed into the room, then stood inside the door as relief sapped his nervous energy. Joey sat on the edge of a bed, wearing a thin white hospital gown that covered her thighs. Her bare legs dangled over the side.

  She met his eyes and smiled. “You look like a drowned rat."

  He glanced down at his wet shorts and the sweatshirt that still stuck to his skin. Then he glanced back up at her. He crossed the space between them and pushed the cloth up, away from her injured leg. Thick, white bandages padded the length of her outer thigh. The memory of the way it had looked before, torn, bleeding, made him close his eyes for just a second.

  He felt her palm on his cheek. "Hey, it's all right. I'm fine."

  Reaction must be setting in. And it was a powerful reaction. He felt sick. He stared hard at her face, the green eyes that were already regaining their sparkle, the slightly puzzled smile. He studied it, just to prove to himself that she was really okay, even as he wondered just when she had dug her way under his skin.

  "Brittany is fine, too," he told her. Mainly just for something to say to cover his jumbled emotions.

  "I know. Dr. Fritz told me."

  "Dr. Fritz?"

  She bent her head and tugged the rubber band from her wet, tangled hair. "His last name is unpronounceable. Ouch." She scowled at the hairy rubber band before tossing it toward the wastebasket.

  She was okay. It was finally sinking in, and as it did, the questions that had been overshadowed by his worry came to the surface. Questions that made him uneasy.

  "So what happened?"

  She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to comb out the snarls. "I think it was a rusted-out barrel. I felt it slice into me when I dove in. I didn't see it, so I can't be sure.''

  He bit his lip and watched her intently. "That's not what I meant." He caught her hands, stopping their movements. She faced him again, frowning. "How did you know, Joey?"

  "How'd I know what?" She knew what he was asking. It was clear in her eyes.

  "That Brittany fell in. We were all there together. You just went white all of a sudden, yelled her name and took off for the river. So the question I'm asking is, how did you know?"

  Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and she hesitated before answering. "I...heard a splash."

  "From that distance?" He shook his head. "No one else heard a thing
, Joey."

  "Well, I did."

  "So how'd you know it was Brit, and not Bethany?"

  She bit her lip, her gaze lowering. "Bethany is afraid of water. Brittany is a little fish. Or, at least, she used to be. Maybe that will change now."

  Ash stood close to her, his thighs touching her legs where they dangled from the edge of the bed. He studied her face, wanting to be angry with her for holding things back, which he knew she was doing, without doubt. But he couldn't He was just so damn glad she was alive. He replaced her hands in her hair with his own and shook the still-damp tangles out. For the first time he questioned his own skepticism. Maybe there was actually something to this psychic thing.

  "You saved my life, Ash. Brit's, too. You could have drowned trying to pull us both out"

  She was grateful. She meant it. Her eyes were like billboards announcing her true feelings. He knew when she was lying, when she was hurting, when she was scared. He knew when she was wanting him, and fighting it. "No chance of that, princess. Frogs are great swimmers."

  He stiffened then, because she slid her arms around him, beneath his, and lowered her head to his chest "I'll never be able to repay you for this. There aren't any words. If I'd lost that little angel..." She shook her head. "How am I ever going to thank you?"

  "You could try trusting me, Joey."

  She lifted her head, meeting his eyes.

  "All frogs aren't the same, you know. Some of them are pretty decent characters, given half a chance."

  She blinked as moisture gathered in her eyes. "I'm afraid..."

  "Of what?"

  She shook her head quickly. "That you'll go away...that you'll stay. That I'll become a gullible fool like so many others before me." A tear spilled onto her cheek.

  "You're a lot of things, Joey. But gullible isn't one of them. Maybe you ought to try trusting your instincts."

  She shook her head. "That's what my mother did, and then my sister. Look where it got them."

  "It doesn't have to be that way."

  She looked at him then, her eyes so intense he felt them penetrating his mind. He leaned forward. He'd kiss her senseless. He'd show her, make her believe... He was brought up short when the door opened and the same petite nurse stuck her head in.

  "Your sister asked me to bring you these." She set a paper bag on the floor. "Dry clothes." She left them alone again, and the door swung closed.

  He cursed the woman's timing. The mood was broken. Joey lowered her arms and averted her eyes. Sighing, Ash picked up the bag and pulled a pair of shorts and a T-shirt out of it. Joey slid from the bed to the floor and winced when she put weight on the leg.

  "Easy now." Ash set the clothes on the bed and gripped her around the waist, lifting her right back up to the bed again. He grabbed the shorts and crouched in front of her to slip them over her feet, pull them to her knees.

  She grabbed the waistband. "I can take it from here." She slid down, landing only on her good leg this time, and tugged the shorts up under the gown. She tried balancing on one leg while reaching behind her to undo the ties in the back, but wobbled and would have fallen if he hadn't caught her.

  "Enough with the modesty, Joey. Turn around."

  She looked at him, and he knew she was about to object Then she sighed and presented her back to him.

  Ash untied the bows. He couldn't keep his eyes from traveling over the gentle curve of her spine. And he knew it wasn't really necessary for his palms to slide slowly over her skin as he pushed the gown down over her shoulders, but they did it anyway.

  It landed on the floor. He stood utterly still for a moment fighting the demon that drove him to turn her around, to look at her, to touch her. It was a hard battle, harder because it was one he didn't want to win. But he stiffened his resolve and reached past her for the T-shirt. As she gripped the bed for support, he pulled it over her head, holding it in place while she inserted one arm, then the other. And it really was accidental that the backs of his fingers brushed over her breasts as he pulled the shirt down over her body.

  He felt her shudder, though. He lifted her hair out of the shirt's collar, and then he held it aside and lowered his lips to the back of her neck. He didn't think about doing it, wasn't even aware he was going to until his lips brushed over her nape. He heard the breath escape from her in a rush, and he felt something akin to pain squeeze his chest.

  Then he straightened and stepped away from her. He had to, or God only knew what the little nurse would see the next time she popped through the door.

  There was too much tension, too much confusion. He cleared his throat as she turned to face him, her eyes searching his. "You, uh, want to hobble, or ride on my back and let me hop you out of here?"

  She smiled, but it was shaky, uncertain. "I can walk." As if to prove it she took a step, but then gasped audibly.

  He got in front of her, bent his knees and crouched down. "Climb on."

  "Ash—"

  "Don't argue with your husband, lady." He looked over his shoulder at her with mock severity. "Climb on."

  She gripped his neck and slid her legs around his waist Ash held her soft-skinned legs to his sides. She started to droop, so he reached behind him, palms to her firm backside, and shoved her up higher. "Rrribbit."

  She laughed aloud. "You're crazy, you know that?" He walked with her on his back into the corridor and down it. "No wonder you were so great with Brit in the ambulance. You're just a kid yourself."

  He frowned, remembering the fear in the little girl's huge blue eyes. "I can't stand to see a kid scared witless, and she was ready to climb the walls in there."

  "You were afraid a lot when you were growing up, weren't you?" she asked softly, her words pinpointing the most vulnerable target possible.

  Without hesitation he nodded. "Yeah. I was." It wasn't until after he'd confirmed it that he wondered how she'd known.

  Her head dipped down, and he felt the brush of her lipsacross his cheek. "Whatever it was didn't stop you from becoming a hell of a man, Ashville Coye. A hero, in my book. My hero."

  He shook his head. "Poor princess, waiting for a knight on a charger to show up, and instead you got a frog on a lily pad."

  She started to say something, but they emerged into the waiting room then, and Caroline came to meet them. Brittany looked a good deal better, and Bethany's face glowed with joy.

  Both girls lunged for Ash's legs, hugging him fiercely.

  "Can I ride next?" Bethany shouted.

  "No, me," Brittany said. "I'm the one that almost got drowneded."

  "Well, your Aunt Joey is the one who hurt her leg, so I guess she has you both beat. How about when we get back to the house I give you both a turn?"

  Squeals of assent preceded the girls being hustled into an elevator, and then out to Caroline's station wagon. Ash lowered Joey in through the open hatch door, so she could keep her leg stretched out. And when they reached the house, he scooped her up again and carried her into the house. He saw the suitcases near the door and glanced at Caro.

  "They're ours. I took them out of the car before I left for the hospital."

  Joey's face was tight when Ash lowered her to the sofa. "You should have locked the door, Caroline."

  "Sorry, little sister. I was too busy wondering if you'd survive the trip. Sheesh, at least I thought to toss the groceries into the fridge. Bags and all, but what the heck?"

  Joey's frown deepened. Ash leaned closer to her. "What is it?"

  "I don't know." She shook her head slightly. "Something..."

  "Rides now, Uncle Ash!"

  He turned Joey on the couch, lifting her injured leg onto a pair of throw pillows. "But I was going to make you my superdeluxe combo subs for lunch."

  "Go change your clothes, Ash. I can start the subs," Caroline offered.

  "I'll help—"

  "You will sit there and rest," Ash told Joey. "Doctor's orders." He turned to Caro. "Five minutes." Then he ran upstairs to put on clean clothes. He returned and approa
ched the girls. "Bethany, for courage above and beyond the call of duty, for remembering what you learned in school and calling 911 for your sister, I award you the first ride." He hunkered down and a giggling Bethany clambered onto his back, wrapping her small arms around his neck. "Careful not to choke the old guy now." Ash straightened and began a mock gallop around the living room, into the kitchen and out the other side. All the time, though, as he gave each child a turn, he watched the worry on Joey's face increase. It scared him.

  The subs were made and devoured in record time. When they finished, Caroline stood. "We have to go."

  "Go where?" Joey sat straighter on the couch.

  "Airport. I told you, Joey, the girls and I are going to Miami."

  "You didn't say today!"

  "Well, I was going to, but..." Caro didn't finish the sentence. A car pulled in, and seconds later the back door thudded open, footsteps pounding up the stairs.

  Ted stopped in the doorway, his gaze jumping from Caro to the two girls who were still munching potato chips in the kitchen. His eyes fell closed in apparent relief, and he moved toward Brittany, dropping to his knees and gathering her into his arms.

  "You okay, Brittany? Hmm?"

  She nodded hard. "I fell in the river, but Aunt Joey and Uncle Ash swimmed out and got me."

  Ted's arms tightened. He kissed Brit's cheek and put her back in the chair.

  "And I called 911," Bethany put in proudly.

  Ted ruffled her hair. "You're a good girl, Beth." He looked up, met Caro's gaze. "Were you even going to tell me?"

  "I was going to call—"

  "I should have been there, Caroline. I'm her father."

  "Did you bring your suitcase, Daddy?"

  "'Course he did," Bethany told her sister. "See, Mommy, I told you Daddy would come to Grandpa's house with us."

  Caro bit her lip as Ted's gaze widened. He opened his mouth to speak, but Joey was quicker. "Look, you two obviously need to talk." She slanted a meaningful glance toward the girls. "Alone."