Crossroad To Love (Fab Five Series) (17 page)

Shock registered on Chloe’s face. After several minutes of
silence, she said, “Oh, my God, Katy, I just don’t know what to say. You must
have been stunned when you realized. Do you blame Ryan? How do you feel about
him now? Surely, you realize it was not his fault?”

“Of course I don’t blame him. I came to terms with what
happened years ago. I will love and miss Bill and Bree every day of my life,
but that doesn’t mean I could in any way blame Ryan. I feel a very strong
connection to him, especially now. I feel, as my friend Marianne would say, it
was fate that brought us together at this time of our lives.”

“Then what is the problem?”

“I need to tell Ryan who I am. I’m not sure he will be able
to handle it, with all the guilt he feels. I don’t want to lose him, Chloe, but
he needs to know the truth and soon, before we move any further in this
relationship. Maybe we weren’t meant to be lovers. Maybe we were just meant to
meet each other.”

“Honey, he is already in way over his head with you. But you
are right about one thing. You need to tell him, get everything out in the
open. And if you can let him know that you don’t blame him for any of it and be
honest about your feelings for him, it should be all right. I know he will be
shocked, like you and I were, at hearing this news.  But, knowing Ryan as I do,
I think that once he is over the shock, and he is sure of your feelings, he
will come around. He cares so much about you already. But I think you’re wrong
thinking that you were only meant to meet to deal with the past. I think
there’s more there. And I really don’t think Ryan could handle it if he lost
you now.”

“Wish me luck, then, my friend. I will tell him soon.” Katy
sighed as she stirred her coffee that the waitress had brought, and took a sip
of the hot, rich liquid.

“When are you seeing my handsome bro again?” Chloe queried.

“I’m not sure. Dinner with everyone, if not sooner, I
suppose. Roses arrived with a card this morning, so I’m expecting a call from
him.”

“Wow, he really can be a romantic, who would have thought
it?” Chloe laughed at the thought of Ryan sending roses to a woman. Silently,
she wondered how he would take the news Katy was going to give him.

They finished their coffee and Chloe drove Katy back to the
hotel. Chloe needed to get back to work and Katy needed to figure out how she
was going to break the news to Ryan in the gentlest way she could.

“Goodbye, Katy. I wish you all the best,” Chloe said as Katy
got out of the car.

“Thank you, Chloe, you’ve been a good listener. Keep in
touch.” Katy walked into the lobby of the hotel and headed up to the suite. Her
heart was heavy with dread at having to tell Ryan who she really was, but she
knew it was the only way the two of them stood a chance at happiness, or at the
very least, closure.

Dr. Jon Jacobi sat at his desk in his plush downtown Dallas
office, looking wearily over the last patient’s chart. He had just finished his
schedule for the day. Wednesday was his day in the office and Thursday was his
day off. He did surgeries the other three days of the week. It had been a hectic
schedule today and he was glad to have tonight to look forward to and tomorrow
off. Tonight he was planning to surprise the ‘Fab Four’ and take them out for
dinner.

Thank God I finally have the Jennifer situation taken
care of
. Jennifer was a lab tech who had set her sights on the married Dr.
Jacobi. Nothing had ever happened between them beyond a kiss, and it never
would. He would never cheat on Marianne and certainly not with someone like
Jennifer, who chased anything in pants from what he’d heard. She had cornered
him in the lab one night and pulled him into an embrace that had later repulsed
him. He had quickly broken it off and in no uncertain terms had made it clear
to the girl that he was not interested. He had even gone a step further, reporting
her behavior to the human resources department at the hospital. It had resulted
in training for Jennifer and had gotten her transferred to one of the other
facilities across town, owned by the hospital. He had hoped that would be the
end of it, but he had had a few emails from her at the office since she’d
transferred.
She just won’t give up
.
Hopefully, she’ll find
someone
else to harass soon enough and leave
me alone
. He had debated about
whether or not to tell Mari and had decided against it.
It’s better that she
never know
.
She doesn’t
need to be concerned with it.

He finished dictating from the last patient’s chart and
called his assistant into the office. “Gail, it’s been a long day. Why don’t
you call it quits? I’m out of here, too. I’m going to the Prava for dinner.
Have a good day off.”

“You have a great time tonight. You deserve it after the day
we’ve had, Doc.”

He waved goodbye to Gail and Lisa, the receptionist, as he
headed out the back door of his office. He was whistling as he unlocked the
door of his silver Lincoln Navigator. Donning sunglasses and popping his
favorite CD into place, he backed out of the parking space, drove the short
distance to the expressway, and started the drive home.
I will have just
enough time for a quick shower before going to the hotel to
surprise the
girls
.

Gail left shortly after, leaving Lisa to finish up and lock
the office. The phone rang a few minutes after she left.

Lisa answered it, “Dr. Jacobi’s office. May I help you?”

“Lisa, hi, it’s Jen over in the lab. I need to speak with
the good doctor.”

“I’m sorry, Jennifer, he’s gone for the day. He was in a
hurry to get out of here. I think he said something about dinner plans. Can I
give him a message?”

“Do you know where he was going? I need to speak with him
about a patient.”

“Well, I guess if it’s urgent, it won’t hurt to give you the
info. You can page him, you know.”

“I tried that, but you know how these Docs are on their
night off. And I know he won’t be back on duty until Friday morning.”

“He was going to the Prava. Hope you can catch him there.”

“Thanks, Lisa, you are a lifesaver.”

Lisa hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and keys and
locked the door behind her, not realizing what she had just done.

Jennifer laughed to herself as she said, “Thanks, Lisa, dear.”
She raced home to change her clothes. She had just enough time to change and
get to the Prava to see Jon. She wondered who he was meeting at the Prava.
Surely not the wife, did the good Doc have a mistress on the side?
Was that
why he wouldn’t give me the time of day
?
Oh, well, whoever it is will be
in for a nice little surprise tonight
. She was not going to let the doctor
get away from her so easily. He was her ticket to the good life. She could kick
herself for rushing things, causing herself to get transferred across town.
That made things a little more difficult in her pursuit of the very well-off
Dr. Jon Jacobi. He had been quite angry with her, in fact, for even suggesting
such a thing as an affair. Who knew he was such a goody two shoes?
But I’m
not giving up without a fight
.

At the hotel, Marianne and Lizzie were coming off the
elevator as Jon walked into the lobby and toward the desk. Lizzie did not see
him as she was anxious to get to one of the gift shops to pick up another
present for Cara. Marianne, surprised to see her husband there, told Lizzie to
go on into the shop “I want to get a latte and will meet up with you later.”

Lizzie, still not noticing Jon said, “Okay. Meet me in the
shop.”

Marianne started to walk toward Jon, when a young girl with
long blonde hair walked in behind him. Marianne stopped and watched as the girl
walked up to Jon and linked her arm in his. The two began talking.
Who in
the world is this girl
? Once realization dawned on Marianne, she was
furious.
How could he?
He knew she and her friends were staying at this
hotel.
Is he
booking a room for a night with his little mistress
right here in the same hotel?
What a bastard
.

Marianne watched the scene in front of her as more ideas
began to form.
Tomorrow is his day off, so he’s planning to spend it with
her? Why, of all the
places in Dallas, would he choose this hotel?
Of
course, he had planned it this way so she would find out. It looked like her
decision had been made for her. He was going to parade his affair in front of
her and her friends in the most humiliating way possible.
Why would he want
to hurt me in
this way?

She quickly turned and ran to the elevator, fighting the
tears that were threatening to start. Had she stayed in the lobby a few minutes
longer she would have seen Jon arguing with Jennifer and ushering her out the
door, roughly handing her over to the security guard. Instead, she raced back
to the suite in a fit of anger.
I am so mad right
now that I could
spit nails
. She practically flew into the suite and started pacing the
floor.

This was the scene Lizzie walked in on a few minutes later.
“Marianne, what happened to you? I couldn’t find you so I came back up to the
room. What in the world is wrong with you? You look like you’re about to kill
someone.”

“That… that girl is downstairs in the lobby checking in with
my husband as we speak.”

“What?” Lizzie could not believe Jon could be so brazen.

“Jon was in the lobby and that little tramp was with him.
Can you believe it? He was checking into this hotel with her, right under my
nose. Well, I guess that clinches it. My marriage is over, done, finished.”

Lizzie sat down on the couch in disbelief. “I can’t believe
that the Jon I have known for all these years would do something like that. Are
you sure they were checking in?”

“All I am sure of is that he walked into the lobby of this
hotel and she walked in right behind him. That is all I need to know.”

The phone rang on the desk and Lizzie walked over to answer
it.

“Oh, hi, honey.” It was Rex. “Can I call you back? This
really isn’t a good time. We’re having a bit of a dilemma here right now.”

“What’s wrong?” Rex asked worriedly. 

“It’s just a little problem with Marianne and Jon. I really
need to help her right now.”

“I won’t keep you. I just wanted to give you my flight
information, so you can pick me up at the airport tomorrow afternoon. I am
finishing up a few things here and then I am headed home to pack.”

“Go ahead,” she grabbed a pen and notepad from the desk and
began writing. “Okay, got it. I’ll see you tomorrow, then. We’re scheduled for
dinner with the O’Gradys. I can’t wait for you to meet them. We’ll meet with
them on Friday then to seal the deal. When are you flying back?”

 “I haven’t decided about that yet. I’ll talk to you about
it when I get there. I had better let you get back to Marianne. Hope it all
turns out all right.”

“That’s debatable right now.”

“Love you, honey. Take good care of Mari.”

“Goodbye. Love you, too. See you tomorrow.” Lizzie hung up
the phone and it rang again as soon as she started to walk away. 

“This is grand central station, isn’t it?” She laughed as
she answered it again.       

“Is this the room of the wonderful ‘Fabulous Four?’” Jon
asked.

Lizzie was silent for a moment and then she replied tersely,
“Yes, Jon, it is.”

“Lizzie, is that you? You sound funny. Is something wrong?”

“You tell me, Jon.”

Marianne waved her hand to Lizzie and shook her head no. She
did not want to talk to him right now.

“What? I thought I would treat you girls to a dinner out
tonight. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

Lizzie was confused. How could he take them to dinner if he
was there to have a fling with his girlfriend? This did not make sense.
Something was up.

“Jon, is that really the reason you’re here? You’re telling
me that the only reason you are in this hotel is to take the four of us to
dinner?”

Surprised, Jon answered, “What other reason would there be,
Lizzie? I’m a little bit confused by your question.”

“Are you alone, Jon?” Lizzie asked.

“Yes, I am. Jordan had football practice tonight. He
wouldn’t have wanted to spend the evening with the old fogies anyway. Why the
twenty questions, Lizzie? Can’t a man take his wife and her three lovely
friends out for a nice dinner?” he asked. “Of course, if I’m intruding on the
girl time, I understand. I wanted to see all of you while you’re in town but if
you’d rather not see me, I’ll tuck my tail between my legs and go back home.”

Lizzie sighed, “I think you had better come on up to the
room, Jon.” She gave him the suite number as Marianne glared at her from across
the room.

“How could you? I don’t want to see him,” Marianne lashed
out at her friend after Lizzie had hung up the phone.
How could Lizzie
betray me like that
?

“Calm down, sweetie. Something is not right here. Jon said
he was here to take us out to dinner. You need to talk to him.”

“Oh, so he thinks he is going to have dinner with us, while
his little friend waits up in their room for him to spend the night with her. I
can’t believe she would agree to that, unless, of course, he is planning to
tell me about her at dinner with all of you there.”

“I think you’d better find out what is really going on
here.”

Lizzie answered the door a few minutes later and led Jon
into the room, where Marianne sat, angrily glaring at him from the couch. She had
poured herself a glass of wine.

“Jon, you and Marianne need to talk. I’ll be in the
bedroom.” Lizzie left the room quietly.

Jon looked at her quizzically and turned to Marianne. She
sat stiffly on the couch, still glaring at him as she took a gulp of the wine.