Abby Gaines – The Wedding Plan (страница 8)

“What happened to ‘whatever it is, I’ll make it happen’?” He lifted his tubed-and-wired left hand a few inches off the blanket, agitated.

“I can’t work miracles,” she said. “Patrick and I have only been dating for—”

“Patrick!” John’s face turned red. “I don’t want my daughter ending up with that lemon. You need to marry Lucas.”

Merry’s chair scraped harshly against the linoleum as she jerked backward. “Dad, that’s crazy.”

“Think about it,” he said. “You’ve dated on and off for years, so there’s obviously something strong between you.”

A strong desire to shut their fathers up. “More off than on,” she said. “Dad, we’re not—”

“You both know that Dwight and I always hoped you two… But that’s not a good reason,” he said. “What is a good reason is that you suit each other. It’s obvious to everyone.”

“Dad, Lucas and I aren’t that close.” Damn those stupid exaggerations she’d fed their fathers. “Let alone soul mates, which is what you’ve always said I should look for.”

“How do you know you’re not soul mates?” John said. “You’ve never given each other a serious chance.”

“You and Mom knew instantly,” she reminded him.

“We met when we were in our twenties. Chances are, if I’d known her since I was three years old, like you’ve known Lucas, it might have taken me a little longer to see the treasure right before my eyes.”

“Dad, I’m not Lucas’s treasure, and he’s not mine.”

“I think you are,” he said obstinately. “Lucas told me when he was ten years old that he planned to marry you.”

Her jaw dropped. “No way.”

John managed a grin. “Where do you think Dwight and I got the idea?”

“You can hardly hold Lucas to a ten-year-old’s crush.” She wondered if he remembered. Reminding him could be fun....

An alarm beeped on one of her father’s monitors, and she jumped. “What’s that? Dad, are you okay?”

A nurse, older than the one from the waiting room, bustled in, just in time to stop Merry hitting the panic button. “Time for a top-up, Mr. Wyatt.” With deft movements she removed an empty IV bag from its hanger and replaced it with a full one.

Merry didn’t speak until the monitor was chugging along in what she assumed was a normal fashion. Then she said, “Dad, it’s sweet that you’re worried about me....”

“It’s not sweet,” he growled. “It’s hell.”

That silenced her. Momentarily. “Even if I was willing, Lucas doesn’t want to marry me.”

“Have you even asked him?” her dad demanded.

“Of course not.”

“Merry…” Her father briefly closed his eyes. “We both know I’m not going to make it. It would mean more than I can say to know you’re married to Lucas. A man who’ll look after you.”

“He wants to go back to active duty,” she reminded her father.

“That’s his job. The navy will take care of him. And of you, when he’s away.”

Men like her dad and Dwight—and Lucas—considered arguments about the mortality rates in the services irrelevant.

“I know Lucas cares for you,” John said. “If it’s at all possible, please, could you ask him if—if he cares enough to marry you?”

Not in a million years.

Another monitor started beeping. This time, Merry didn’t panic. But this time it was serious. Two nurses ran in, followed by a doctor. Merry found herself out in the hallway, the door closed in her face.

She leaned her forehead against it and prayed for her father’s survival. For a miracle cure.

What if there is no miracle? Would she let her father die worrying about her, deprived of the peace a man should have in his final moments? When just maybe, she had the power to give him that peace?

CHAPTER FOUR

MERRY PUSHED OPEN THE DOOR to Pete’s Burger Shack. She couldn’t have been thinking clearly, to have suggested this place to Patrick when he’d texted to confirm their date. Of course I wasn’t thinking clearly. The only thought in her head had been how she might ease her dad’s fears.

Pete’s might be a New London institution, but it wasn’t the setting for important occasions. It had been the venue for Merry’s second annual Date With Lucas.

At first glance, she couldn’t see Patrick in the happy-hour crowd. She was about to text to ask if he was here when her cell phone buzzed. A message from Lucas: WHERE ARE U?

She texted back: PETE’S

He probably wanted contact information for the people he should notify about her dad. But since she hadn’t been allowed back into his room, she didn’t have it. Ah, there was Patrick, waving to her from the back corner booth.

She pushed her way through the happy drinkers. Patrick already had a glass of red wine and a bowl of peanuts in front of him; he stood as she arrived.

“Hi, sweetheart.” One hand settled on her hip as he leaned to kiss her. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” She slid into the seat opposite.

Patrick had the kind of looks any woman would like. His brown hair was slightly long and flopped over his forehead. He was slim but well-proportioned with a ready smile. His two passions—animals and peace—seemed to Merry the ultimate in caring. She felt a rush of affection for him.

Most parents would be thrilled to have their daughter bring him home…so long as those parents weren’t navy personnel and committed militarists.

Merline, Pete’s wife and longtime waitress, came over. “Merry, honey, I’m gonna need to see some ID.” She still made Merry do this every single time. Merry’s second date with Lucas had been her first visit to Pete’s; she must have been eighteen going on nineteen, with him twenty-one. She’d produced a fake ID to buy a drink, and he’d told Merline that Merry was underage. For her own safety, he’d announced sanctimoniously.

Now, she handed over her driver’s license for Merline to hold up to the light, align the photo next to Merry’s face and generally make a production out of inspecting it. At last, she consented to take her order for a glass of chardonnay. She was chuckling as she walked away.

“What was that about?” Patrick asked.

“Old joke, long story.” Merry leaned her head back against the booth and gathered her energy.

“How’s Boo?” Patrick asked. He was convinced Boo’s constipation was the result of emotional trauma and would ease as soon as the dog accepted Merry as his new owner.

“No change,” she said.

Patrick filled the time until her drink arrived with an entertaining account of the conference he’d attended in Denver.

Merline reappeared with the chardonnay and a much larger bowl of nuts, which she set in front of Merry. Her apology for the driver’s license trick.

“Thanks, Merline,” Merry slid the bowl sideways to cover up a beer ring on the table. Every table at Pete’s had multiple such rings, and had for as long as she could remember. Shouldn’t Lucas have taken her someplace fancier on that second date?

As soon as Merline left, Merry leaned forward. “Patrick, something awful happened today. My dad’s in the hospital—he’s really sick.” She managed to tell him the situation without actually using the word dying, but her voice shook all the same.

“Sweetheart, that’s terrible.” He grasped her hands across the table, his eyes filled with tender concern. “You should have called me. I would have come to the hospital with you.”

She didn’t say, I never thought of it. “I know it’s hard for you to leave your patients. Besides, Lucas was there. Lucas Calder. He’s this guy, the son of—”

“—your dad’s best friend. The hero chopper pilot you always talk about,” Patrick said.

Merry blinked. “I don’t always talk about him. I never even mention him.”

“He’s the guy who got shot down last year,” Patrick said.

Okay, she might have mentioned that. Getting shot down was a big deal.

“The guy you played with as a kid, the ‘bossy jerk with an overactive rescuer gene,’” Patrick continued, clearly quoting her. The words did sound kind of familiar.

Weirdly, she had the impulse to defend Lucas. To say he wasn’t entirely a jerk. Even though he’d behaved like a massive one that night in Baltimore. Not thinking about that.

“The thing is,” she said tightly, “I do need your help now.”

Patrick shut up about Lucas, all concerned about her. “Anything,” he said. “Let me be here for you, Merry. I want to help.” His charming, boyish smile came out. “I love you.”

Phew, this is going to be okay. “Thank you,” she said.

When he blinked, she realized he’d been waiting for a reciprocal declaration. Time for that later.