Dating A Silver Fox (Never Too Late) (36 page)

“You heard the woman, Walter,” Harrison said. “Let’s go celebrate you becoming a business owner.”

Walter turned the wheelchair towards the door, very conscious of the subdued woman walking by his side. He had no idea what to say or do to help her. But he certainly wasn’t going to let Jane get drunk. There were much healthier ways to handle things than stifling your emotions with alcohol.

“I’ll drive,” Walter said. “I drove Harrison here, so the SUV is still in the parking lot.”

“If you’re an environmentalist, why drive a gas guzzler?” Jane asked.

“My parents gave it to me. If you do the math, it’s cheaper to drive a bad vehicle that’s paid for than drive a hybrid that’s not,” Walter said easily.

“I’m sure you’re right,” Jane said with shrug. “I didn’t mean to sound so judgmental.”

“You didn’t,” Walter lied, instantly forgiving her anyway.

“Put Harrison up front,” Jane ordered, getting into the back seat, catching Walter’s gaze on her legs as her skirt hiked up during the climb.

She sighed at how nice his interest was, how welcome after having her date express too much interest in her earning potential but virtual none in her personally. Even now Walter’s hug and almost-kiss at the hospital lingered, while the memory of her date was already ancient history.

Was she any better than her womanizing father who obviously needed to feed his outrageous flirting? Probably not, Jane decided, guilt over the fact dropping like a gray cloud over her pleasure, despite how much clear profit she had made.

***

“Lydia. . .” Morrie called, seeing her briskly heading to the pool house, her toned legs eating up the distance faster than his longer stride. “Wait. It wasn’t. . .slow down so we can talk.”

“Go to Hell,” Lydia called over her shoulder, lifting her hand to shove the door open. “Or whatever horrid place you believe exists. I don’t care so long as you leave me alone.”

“No,” Morrie said. “What did you see?”

“Enough to know I’m still as big a fool as I ever was,” Lydia said bitterly. “I must be some kind of cheating bastard magnet.”

“I am not cheating on you. I would never cheat on you. I’ve never cheated on any woman,” Morrie declared, face flushing. “Don’t you want an explanation? It wasn’t what you thought.”

Lydia went to the cubby where she’d stashed her car keys earlier and retrieved them. She was not going to cry in front of him. She was not going to throw a fit and give him the pleasure of knowing how much he’d hurt her.

And Harrison and Walter had seen. . .no, she wasn’t going to think about that either until she was behind her own closed door.

“Lydia, it wasn’t anything like you’re thinking,” Morrie argued.

“Sure it wasn’t. Maybe I have vision problems. Why don’t you ask Harrison or Walter what they saw? Or Jane. . .though she looked as much in shock as I am. You really need to learn some discretion. At least William took his women out of town and didn’t openly grope his women in front of everyone I knew,” Lydia informed him, voice sharp.

“Are you going to listen or not?” Morrie demanded, his temper rising as well. Didn’t their time together mean enough to merit him a fair hearing? Didn’t the intimacy and closeness count?

“Okay, is Dorothy Henderson one of the women you slept with before me? If the answer is no, then I’ll listen to your explanation of why you were with her just now,” Lydia said.

Her heart thudded at his guilty look. The pain of her disillusionment was sharper than anything she’d felt over William, clarifying once and for all that she had truly never loved the man she’d married. The epiphany was not welcome.

Morrie shoved his hands in his pockets, unable to lie to Lydia though he sincerely wished he could just this one time.

“You think it’s all so easy, don’t you? You think everything is black and white, with no gray. Well, there is a lot of gray in the world. I swear by all that’s holy to me, regardless of my past with her, my touching that woman was not sexual today. Dorothy Henderson is a friend.”

“Obviously a friend, but I’d say a lot more than that too,” Lydia said hotly. “I guess my idea of a sexual relationship is just very different from yours. After sleeping with you, I would never be groping another man’s erection in private, much less in public where people I knew might see.”

“There is nothing but friendship between me and Dorothy. Think about this. You know she’s engaged to David,” Morrie said stiffly.

“Yes I do, and I feel sorry for David because he intends to marry a woman who’s no better than you. Maybe I’m just naïve, Morrison. Maybe it’s crazy for me to hope that there are a few men in this world who don’t need a harem of women to be satisfied. If so, that’s just your bad luck because I am never going to think what you did was right.”

“Lydia, the only woman I want sexually is you,” Morrie said. “I’m in love with you.”

Lydia laughed, trying to keep it from being a sob. “Yeah, right. That’s why you were tracing another woman’s breasts with your hands and kissing her on the cheek after doing that same damn thing to me just last night.”

She sniffed hard, battling back the tears the memory brought. It hurt a lot more than she’d imagined it would even when she’d had the common sense to fear it happening.

“I may have been a temporary fool for you, but I’m not staying one. Move on to the next woman, Morrison. You and are I done,” she said, pushing by him on her way out, the force of her anger knocking him as she ran past.

Morrie watched Lydia go with a sigh of regret, hoping that maybe when she had time to cool down, she’d be able to hear his explanation for real.

Damn it. It really hadn’t been anything important. Dorothy was just happy with her reconstruction and feeling a little outrageous. For what she’d endured, the woman had earned the right to be brazen.

And he hadn’t even wanted Dorothy when he’d slept with her. He’d just not wanted her to think her double mastectomy had meant she wasn’t a sexy, vital woman.

Shit. His friendship with her was nothing more than a fucking good deed and it was over months ago—long before Lydia. Even Dorothy knew that it hadn’t been more than that because they talked about it. Sleeping with him had been the reason she’d finally decided to give David a fair chance. He wasn’t a saint—far from it, but he wasn’t the bad guy in this either.

Morrie ran a hand through his hair and headed back to the Lodge. Maybe he’d try to explain it to Jane and see if he had better luck convincing his daughter that he wasn’t the womanizer everyone suddenly seemed to think he was.

Chapter 26

“Regina—Thank God you’re here finally. I don’t know what to do. Mother has locked herself into her house and is refusing to see us,” Lauren complained, brushing a hand through her hair. “I called Jane at North Winds. She said Morrie and Mother had a fight. I couldn’t get any details out of her.”

Regina eased herself down into the chair, sighing. “Well, just calm down. I’m sure it’s just a lover’s quarrel—I mean, they are dating, right?”

Lauren nodded.

Regina used her toe to nudge a grinning Alexa under the table as she reached out and patted Lauren’s hand. “I’m sure it will all be just fine.”

“The deadbolt was fastened when I tried my key. When I finally got her to answer the phone, she was crying.
Crying,
Regina. My mother does not cry. She makes snide remarks about other people who do.”

“People change,” Regina said, squeezing Lauren’s fingers. “Look around you, sweetie. Look how we’ve changed over the last couple of years. Don’t you think it’s normal for your mother to change?”

“Change—yes. Cry—no. I don’t like it. When did she develop feelings like that?” Lauren demanded. “JD’s grandmother is not supposed to have emotional crises, especially not when his mother is hormonal with his—sibling.”

“Let’s look on the bright side. Being emotional means Lydia wasn’t an alien after all,” Alexa said with a laugh, arching one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “Who knew there was a real person hiding inside that sour woman?”

“Ease up, Alexa. Lydia has as much right as anybody to be happy. You’d be crying too if you thought Casey had cheated on you,” Regina said sternly.

Lauren’s hand gripping hers hard made Regina wince. “Ow…don’t break my fingers.”

“Morrie talked to you, didn’t he?” Lauren demanded. “What did he do to my mother? Screw your ethics. You have to tell me so I can go kick his cheating ass.”

“Fucking hell,” Regina said, yanking her hand away while there was still some feeling in her fingers. “Thanks a lot, Alexa.”

“Don’t look at me. I wasn’t the one who jumped to Lydia’s defense,” Alexa said with a snicker. “Plus I got to listen to Lauren’s ranting about her mother’s love life for a full half hour before you showed up, Dr. Logan.”

Regina sighed and leaned back. “It was a misunderstanding and none of anyone’s business but theirs.”

“My. Mother. Was.
Crying
. . .” Lauren said carefully between gritted teeth. “She could be ill. She could be planning to kill herself. This is my mother, not just some client. I was just starting to like her. You never saw them together, Regina. She laughed. She giggled. She let Morrie Fox
kiss
her. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“I cannot be involved in what you decide to do—hell, what they decide to do. I love you, but I can’t. I also can’t tell you what Morrie told me in confidence, not even if you Kung Fu my ass. So do your worst, because this ethical doctor
is not
talking,” Regina declared.

Seeing Regina was not going to give her anything, Lauren burst into frustrated tears, burying her face in sobbing hands.

Regina exhaled in frustration herself.

“Oh fucking hell, Lauren. Really. Stop crying. This will be fine as soon as they clear it up. People in relationships fight. It is part of the process of learning to get along.”

“My parents never fought—never in their whole life together,” Lauren said, sniffling into bar napkins.

“Well, that’s not realistic,” Regina said. “You and Jim fight. It’s normal.”

Alexa waved to Eddie at the bar, and he sent a couple bar towels over to her via the closest server.

Lauren took the bar towel with a murmured thanks and wiped at her eyes.

“You’re supposed to be my friend first, Regina. Friends are more important than clients, aren’t they?” Lauren asked.

Regina leaned over and put her forehead on the table. Why had she let Ben talk her into giving up martinis? Why couldn’t she figure out how to help her friend help her mother? Lauren had a right to be concerned.

Hell, she was concerned.

Lydia had been hurt so badly that she might never trust Morrie again even when the truth came out. They needed to get to reconciliation on their own, not have someone do it for them.

But she couldn’t let Lauren continue to be stressed either. There was the baby to consider, as well as Alexa, who was sending her dirty looks for not coming clean. There was really only one action she could even consider.

Regina raised her head to meet Lauren’s needy, weepy gaze. “I can’t tell you anything, you know that wouldn’t be right. What I can do is go see your mother—
alone
—as her daughter’s friend. Maybe Lydia will talk to me.”

“You’d do that for my mother?” Lauren asked, sniffling.

“No,” Regina said honestly, because she would never track a client down in her home unless it was with authorities on her heels. “But I’d do that for you, honey. I can’t stand to see you this way.”

Lauren stood and walked to Regina’s side of the table, knelt on the floor and hugged her close. “Thank you. I know she’s not been nice in the past, but Mother is different now. She might even talk to you. If she does, I just know you can help her.”

Regina met Alexa’s approving gaze over the top of Lauren’s head as she ran a hand down Lauren’s hair to soothe her.

“I’ll try. Now go wash your face and feel better. When you get back, you can find a dry napkin somewhere and write Lydia’s address on it for me.”

“You’ll need the pass code to her neighborhood too,” Lauren said, standing and sniffling. “Sorry for the meltdown. I do feel better now. I’m just very worried. I liked him. Jim liked him. JD is crazy about him. I can’t help being concerned.”

“Of course you can’t,” Regina said. “You’re a good daughter. You always have been.”

Lauren nodded and walked off to the bathroom.

“Why don’t just call your office and get Lydia’s address from Ann?” Alexa asked, unable to keep the smirk off her face, when Regina glared.

“Lauren is disappointed in me enough already, and if you say one word about it before Lydia tells her, I will yank out that shiny hair you prize so greatly,” Regina warned. “I can be a formidable bitch when pissed, and you know it.”

“Which is why I love you to death,” Alexa said with a laugh. “Your professional secrets are safe with me, Dr. Logan. But I’m glad to see that being a friend is important to you as well. There’s more to living than work—even for you.”

“Don’t lecture me. I’m still pissed at you for tricking me into defending Lydia,” Regina told her.