Then, There's Love (Revealing) Read online

  He’d made a frantic, quite illegal drive through rush-hour traffic to reach her side. Val’s skin had been pale grey, almost the same color as her grey-white curls.

  “Again, Mr. Gilyard, we apologize for the misdiagnosis.”

  Yeah, yeah.

  “It won’t happen again.”

  “No.” Aaron’s low command jumped in as sharp as the razor glare he knew he gave. The two incompetents could share it between them.

  The doctor nodded slowly. The nurse lowered her eyes. Then a throat cleared behind him. His cousin. Telling him to mind his manners? Et tu, Brute? These people didn’t understand the magnitude of what happened here.

  Val patted his wrist with a sturdy strength for someone in her condition. “Aaron, I’m fine.”

  One look in her eyes softened the sting of his glare. Under the covered sutures plastered on the left side of her face, bandages held her together from shoulder to toe; cracked ribs, broken left arm and leg. He couldn’t believe here lay the invincible woman who’d raised him.

  Her skin still held the death-hued pallor, healthier looking than before, but too pallid for his liking. She smiled something defiant. Oh. No question about where he got that stubborn streak.

  “I’m fine,” she said again, and nodded. “Just thank God all is well.”

  His grandmother, even his cousin—the only two people he had left in this world, the only people he actually loved—couldn’t persuade him to rise up to meet faith in God the way they did. “This isn’t about God. This is about an inept so-called experienced doctor who’d said you suffered another heart attack.” As if the earlier one and subsequent accident that landed her here in the first place hadn’t caused him worry enough.

  Val’s grip tightened on his corded wrist. “Thank you, Doctor Milo. Can you give us a few minutes, please? Aaron, say goodbye to the doctor and Miss Christine, and let’s talk.”

  Words refused to come, but the doctor and nurse-in-charge didn’t need any. Pushing them out the room with his stare, he peeked over his shoulder at the closed door. Even his cousin had hightailed it out. He turned to Val, staring at her in question. They both knew he didn’t need a cleared room to talk freely.

  “Remind me to check his credentials,” he said, resisting the reach for his phone to make it happen.

  She pouted. “You can run the business with that attitude, not our personal lives.”

  “I don’t have a personal life. I almost thought I didn’t have a grandmother. You can’t make excuses for him, Val.”

  “You’re the one who’s bent it out of shape.”

  How could being upset with the hospital because they ignored his instructions to call him only in the event of a dire emergency be bending it out of shape? His heart had hijacked his throat at hearing the news.

  Aaron tried to school his features because he didn’t want to stress her out by arguing about it. “I can hardly wait until you’re well enough to come home.”

  “A few more days. And don’t worry about the doctor. It was a snap decision. If it wasn’t made and I’d suffered something serious, you’d have regretted him not calling. Take the blessings as they come, Aaron. I’ve learned not to dwell on the little things.” She tapped her temple, and he wondered how she could refer to her life as a little thing. “These eyes have seen too much for that. I’m here now. I have a legacy and a loving family. What more do I need?”

  He caught her cast-free right hand in both of his. Legacies. Loving families. Before he choked on those misplaced sentiments, he bowed his head and kissed her knuckles, eventually pressing his face to hers to hide his reaction of the truth. A moment later, regrouped, he lifted his head. “Nothing more, Val.”

  She smiled. “Well…” Her voice implied perhaps there was. “There might be one or two things I forgot to tell you.”

  With a loving pat on his cheek, the gleam in her eyes told him he wasn’t going to like her next idea.

  Weaving through the downtown core traffic, nothing beat a good set of woofers, lack of inhibition, and reassurance that all would turn out fine. At the private recovery facility, Ashley treaded down the color-coordinated floors in search of her boss.

  Coworkers hovered outside her patient’s room and she quickened her pace. She became more concerned when Christine emerged.

  “Christine. What’s happened to Val?”

  Her friend waved her fingers to calm her. Thirty pounds overweight, always vowing to lose forty, the redhead looked winded like she’d just finished her self-imposed walk up and down the hospital’s stairs.

  “You know the string of bad luck Val’s had lately? Right after you left this morning, she had chest pains and labored breathing, tingling—the whole shebang—so smarty doc thinks it’s another mild heart attack and tells me to call in the family as per instructed. No, don’t look so worried, the good and bad news is it was gas.”

  Ashley wanted to laugh, but too strung on nerves. “Not another heart attack.”

  “No. You saw her notes last night, she was nauseous yesterday afternoon, and hadn’t eaten since. The doc thought better safe than sorry by calling everyone in. Someone should have warned him about the family. We got the riot act read to us by the grandson this morning. But at least he was humble enough to call us back in there just now to apologize.” She wagged a thumb toward the door. “For the prickly one in the family he seemed sincere.”

  Ashley peeked through the door’s small glass window, trying to get a view. Valerie had spoken of her grandson staying in town. “He’s here?”

  “Spends most afternoons with her. But you should have heard him yelling at everybody, ordering us around like he’s boss. He’s a pain in the butt-tuchis, but he loves her. I’ll grant him that. Not to mention, he’s hot under the collar in more ways than one.”

  The corner of Ashley’s mouth tickled at Christine’s sassy grin.

  “What can I say, Ash? It wasn’t concern for dear Val that kept me in there so long.” She purred like a tigress. “Ought to be a law against so many good genes in one family. All the ice cream flavors you can ask for. Vanilla, butterscotch...”

  Ashley didn’t understand, but shifted her position to sneak a better peek. Dr. Milo’s balding head blocked her view of a blond. “Causes that much of a stir, huh?”

  Green eyes swept over her. “What brings you in during the daylight hours?”

  Ashley pointed to the door. “She does. I’d like to take you up on your offer.”

  Wide-eyed, Christine yelped then lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s Val’s handpicked offer, but I’m glad you agreed. You deserve it. Aww. I’m gonna’ miss you.”

  “O…kay… It’s only a few months, Chris. It’s what I was doing before I came here, remember? Not a promotion.”

  Christine’s deep chuckle rumbled in her throat. “Oh, it is a promotion, hon. And to be honest, she’s loaded.”

  “Most of the patients here have enough money to buy the place.” Ashley had long ago stopped being impressed by a sizable portfolio. A good portion of their patients paid big for their privacy and anonymity.

  Christine clutched her arm and dragged her down the hallway. “Okay. Step into my office. We have a leave of absence to arrange.”

  Trying to keep up, Ashley heard a murmured conversation, and turned to see the doctor emerging from Val’s room. A handsome, thirtyish blond followed, wearing tan khaki shorts and a green polo shirt.

  After shaking hands, it seemed he wanted to go back into the room, but paused to look through the viewing window. He rested his hands on either side of the door, leaning forward as if he didn’t have the strength to go back inside.

  Stirred with compassion for the family, Ashley continued to stare as the man put his hands into his pockets and begin to pace. Without warning, he glanced up and saw her watching.

  Frazzled at being caught, she turned abruptly, following her friend. But not before narrowly missing another patient walking his I.V.

  Three weeks already? Ashley couldn�
�t remember the days that flew by. Between work, packing, and making personal arrangements, she couldn’t afford dividing her attention to anything else. Still, as busy as life became, she considered the work permit papers and endless lawyer calls, a tiny sacrifice for spending her spring and summer in The Hamptons.

  When Christine first mentioned that Val was an American citizen, and her grandson insisted on taking her home for recovery, she barely wavered in her decision to leave friends and family behind.

  “You’re going to The Hamptons, baby,” Christine had cheered, tapping a persistent finger on the dotted line for Ashley to sign before she could change her mind.

  Patients’ families preferred their loved ones home, or close by, for convalescence. With Val’s birthday fast approaching, no doubt her grandson wanted her near friends and in familiar surroundings.

  She poured all her energy into Val. Though not the only Christian working at the recovery facility, she knew it played a huge part in their connection. And the closer the May long weekend came, the more excited Ashley became.

  This is not a vacation. Not a vacation. The mantra swirled in her head. But it didn’t prevent the sappy smile that dripped on her lips every second of sitting at the airport with her father.

  It wasn’t long before a familiar voice rode through the airport chorus. “There she is. No, right here. Do I need glasses or do you?”

  A puff of laughter escaped Ashley at Val’s words. She caught sight of the old woman in a wheelchair. The self-titled “tough old bird” camouflaged the casts and bandages well under a casual jogging suit.

  “Val. Looking good.”

  What a vast improvement from the eighty-year-old who’d been out for a drive and suffered a heart attack while paused at a stop sign. Val said she remembered the blare of horns drowning out all other noise as the car rolled into the intersection where it was smashed by a pickup truck.

  In town to attend the funeral of a nephew, the near fatal tragedy drew her into herself. It had been hard watching the elderly woman grieve, unresponsive for days and in pain from being cracked open to repair internal damage.

  Ashley felt silly for getting all misty-eyed, and smiled at her now. Certainly a handful, Val wanted to do things her injuries wouldn’t allow. Aiding the left-handed lady with day to day activities and hygiene wasn’t a job everyone could take, but everything else far outweighed the menial work.

  “We finally made it. I hope you haven’t been waiting long.” Val was in a state-of-the-art wheelchair, yet chauffeured around by a young man.

  “Not long. Nifty chair, Val, but no operating this thing until you pass my driver’s exam.” She winked and moved her eyes up where her mind faltered in confusion.

  The man behind Val showed off a great physique in tan khakis and white cotton shirt, but had she seen him before? Disturbed by the thought, she couldn’t dismiss it. And taken by a fierce attraction, her eyes skimmed him in a mere microsecond to make sure someone that good looking really existed.

  His tanned skin appeared smooth cradling the makings of a small smile. But glistening eyes that responded with a scan of far more than her clothes, shut down any greeting she prepared to give.

  Had she made that stupid remark in front of a gorgeous stranger? Wonderful. Her embarrassment remembered embarrassment…

  Val waved an electronic game pad. “Ashley, I would like you to meet my—”

  …blood drained…

  “—grandson.”

  Grandson?

  “Ashley, this is Aaron.”

  Ears clogged…

  “Aaron, Ashley.”

  Heart slugged…

  “See, Aaron, I told you she was as pretty as her name.”

  He didn’t spare another look before glancing over her dad. But him? Grandson? Him? This wasn’t the cute blond she’d seen pacing outside the hospital room. Where…? Ah, there he was. Val must have been mistaken. Blondie, dressed in a sharp smoke-gray suit, strolled in with a roller bag and a huge organizer. His eyes flitted over her and her father before he handed the items to the other man. They spoke briefly before Blondie left.

  “Always business. You’ll get used to it,” Val explained, without turning to see what was going on behind her chair.

  The first man leafed through papers. “I’d quit, but I think you like keeping me out of the house.” His mellow tone gripped Ashley and teased Val.

  The proof was in Val’s grin. “While the cat’s away.”

  “Valerie, A—Aaron, this is my father.”

  The big man offered a double take in their direction, as if surprised she had the audacity to talk to him. So, not Aaron? He returned to reading. Valerie became her usual rapid-fire mouthpiece, commenting on the weather, air traffic, sang the praises of Ashley to her father, and complemented him on his upbringing of her.

  Her father puffed out his chest, sufficiently proud, and politely gave all the credit to her mother. Ashley smiled until she received another perturbed once-over from the bodyguard. When she kissed her father goodbye, and watched him leave, she wanted to claw after him left like a twelve-year-old abandoned at summer camp. Don’t leave me, Dad.

  “Lovely man. Aaron, you didn’t say two words.”

  “Hmh,” he grunted. Case in point.

  Ashley wanted to grunt back, contemplated turning the wheelchair so Val could have a good look. This couldn’t be the wonderful grandson she’d boasted about. He looked nothing like Val. Blondie had more facial similarities and same easygoing grin than this grumpy Neanderthal. And in the two minutes they’d been there, he’d kept his rude nose parked in paperwork.

  Troubled she couldn’t place him, Ashley held Valerie’s cast-crusted arm. She feigned interest in the older woman’s electronic trivia game, but searched for a conversation to lead to an introduction.

  “I’m looking forward to this trip.” Lame, but all she could come up with.

  Stealthy ash-brown eyes shifted to her. She didn’t know what to think. His expression lay somewhere between, “You’re not going to cause me any trouble, are you?” and “I’m going to squash you like a bug.”

  Saved by Blondie, the man returned with a gentleman dressed as a driver, complete with cap. Each deposited luggage, and Blondie smiled broadly at Ashley before kneeling by Val’s chair. “Safe flight. And try not to boss the crew around this time.”

  Val laughed and then smoothed her free palm over his smile-puffed cheek. “Only if you promise not to run the company into the ground.”

  “Ooh. I haven’t worked this side of the border before. Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

  “You and Aaron insisted on it until we find a replacement. You’ll be home in a few months.”

  “Yeah, we’ll take care of it.” He looked up to the other man who nodded.

  For someone so engrossed in paperwork, Big Man sure heard every word.

  Blondie planted a kiss on Val’s cheek, and stood. “All right, Grandma Ray. I need you better, so take care of yourself.” He looked at Ashley again, and held out a hand. “Ashley? Kavin Reigns. Nice to meet you.”

  “Thanks. You, too.” Kavin. Kavin. She looked into his smiling blue eyes, and wondered what she saw there as they shook hands.

  Then her mind raced with deliberations when he walked over to the first man, and whispered something she couldn’t make out. What was the secret? She wondered if she wanted to know when the first man turned his head and gave a hard smile to what Kavin was saying. He spotted her over Kavin’s shoulder, but didn’t seem to mind being caught.

  She felt bullied. Did they just talk about her while she looked on? Hopefully Blondie told him not to squish her like a bug.

  He kept watching. Unnerving freak.

  Turning away, her mind captured another thought. Ray? It was strange. The only place she recalled hearing the name Ray was...

  Ohhww! Rae!

  She could strangle herself, but not before she strangled Christine. Certain privacy protocols were enforced to shield high-profile patient
s from news seekers. It fooled her this time. She never imagined someone like Val requesting the security option, but her surname must have been an alias.

  Ashley squinted at the strange man. She recognized him from the parking garage. The stranger she tried to brush off the day she learned of her mother’s termination.

  First she’d admired his physique in his fine-cut suit, his beautiful clear skin and piercing brown eyes; then she’d insulted him, ignored him, and left him to inhale the fumes of her car’s exhaust. He must think her a complete ditz. He wasn’t just another manager. Valerie said his name was Aaron.

  Tar melted her insides.

  Aaron Gilyard, the manager. The CEO and owner. The delightful tyrant holding her mother’s career in the palm of his hand. They were Revealing Raes.

  Shifting her eyes to her dowdy black slacks and white shirt, she wished she hadn’t gone for comfort versus style in front of the international clothing designers and cosmetic kings.

  “You’re Valrae from Revealing Raes,” she whispered around a lump in her throat.

  The conglomerate matriarch smiled with a smart gleam in her eyes. “I wondered when I’d have to tell you.”

  “Why didn’t you?”

  “Not because of you, dear. A limited number of people knew a limited amount of information. We’re far from being celebrities, but some people sensationalize and stories get out of hand.”

  Flashing a memory of her brother’s trial, made Ashley all too aware.

  “When I sprained an ankle riding a bicycle a few years ago, the media cooked up nasty tales.” Val quirked an eyebrow. “One paper said my family tried to kill me by pushing me down the stairs. Another that my husband abused me.” She sighed. “When my husband died, the hospital staff, coroner’s office, and some of Revealing’s employees, were hounded by press. We didn’t want to have that happen again.”

  Not one to talk about her patients or their families, Ashley was relieved a gag order hadn’t been shoved under her nose at the beginning of this venture. Glancing at Aaron, she suspected one forthcoming.