Ever After (33 page)

And damn the lot of them! Hallie thought. She took one more breath then yelled, “Hey, Taggert!”

The sound echoed in the quiet room and every man looked at her, but Jamie knew her words were for him. When he turned, for a flash of a second she saw the loneliness in his eyes. He was surrounded by people who dearly loved him, but he was as alone as a man could be.

She locked eyes with him—and hers pleaded with him to trust her.

Jamie looked puzzled, not understanding what she was trying to say. Todd put his hand on his brother's shoulder, urging him to leave, but Jamie stood there, not looking away from Hallie.

As she lifted the big pan and the metal spoon, she didn't break eye contact with him. When she hit the pan, the noise was so loud that even she winced—as did everyone else, including Jamie. But he didn't move.

“What the hell are you doing?” Roan said, and took a step forward. Raine put his hand out and held his young cousin back.

Jamie stood his ground, watching Hallie, trusting her.

Behind her the twins took great delight in making a lot of noise. Banging, yelling, stomping.

Hallie kept her eyes on Jamie's as she slowly walked forward, the children behind her. They were a little parade.

The others in the room didn't make a sound, just stood there and watched.

When she was inches from Jamie, she stopped and dropped the utensils with a clatter at his feet. Behind her, the children halted, silent as they waited for whatever Hallie did next.

The quiet reverberated in the room. Hallie and Jamie just stood there, looking at each other, not speaking.

But Jamie knew what she was doing and the gratitude on his face brought tears to Hallie's eyes.

Raine was the one who broke the silence. “Jamie, I'll arm wrestle you for the seat next to Hallie,” he said in a normal voice. Not one that was unnaturally quiet, not a voice used with an invalid. Just a normal male challenge.

Jamie's eyes were still on Hallie's. “I'd be afraid I'd break your arm.”

Adam said, “Would somebody turn up the damned TV? I can't hear it over all the noise Jamie is making.”

In the next second the TV was turned back up. Not to blaring, but loud, and Ian put his arm around Jamie's shoulders and led him away. “How about a beer?”

“With all my meds?” Jamie said. “I'd start seeing flying monkeys. You have any colas?”

Hallie stood where she was for a few moments. Jamie looked back over his shoulder at her but then was overtaken by a gaggle of cousins. The twins wanted to do more banging, so they were told to go find their father and make him crazy.

It was all so deliciously, divinely
normal
. Just exactly what Jamie had said he wanted.

Hallie managed to walk back to the kitchen and once there her legs gave way and she collapsed onto a chair. Her whole body was shaking. It could have backfired. She could have traumatized Jamie forever. She put her head in her hands.

“Your instinct was right,” said a voice from across from her. It was Raine.

She didn't remove her hands. “I could have failed horribly.” Her voice was full of the tears that were threatening to come.

He put his hands on hers, pulled them down, and she looked at him. “But you didn't fail. And you weren't acting blind. You know him. You've spent a lot of time with him. You made an educated guess based on
him
. Not on a textbook case but on one man in one situation.”

Hallie blinked back the tears. “I guess so.”

“I know so.” Raine was still holding her hands. “You did something great for all of us.”

“How is he?”

Raine leaned the chair back, looked around the corner, then set the chair back down. “He's laughing. He and Adam are watching TV and arguing about some really dumb thing a Montgomery is doing.”

“That's wonderful,” Hallie said, but she could feel the tears starting.

Raine stood up and pulled her up with him. “I am ordering you to go out and get some fresh air. Walk into town and buy yourself something pretty. You deserve it.”

“Thank you,” she said. “Do you think he will—”

“Tell me you're not going to ask how Jamie will be without you.”

Hallie smiled. “I guess not.”

“Go on. Go out through the tea room and no one will see you. The wedding is being recorded so you can see it later.” There was an eruption of laughter from the living room and Raine smiled. “When it's quieter in here.”

Hallie nodded, then left the house through the tea room.

H
allie wandered around town, past beautiful little shops full of jewelry, clothes, and furniture. Part of her felt like she was floating. She had taken such a very big chance with Jamie. That she'd won seemed to be beside the point.

She kept telling herself that she must never, ever,
never
do anything like that again, but as Raine had said, this had worked because she
knew
Jamie.

As she looked in the store windows, she kept thinking about him. What clothes would he look good in? What would he like to see her wearing?

A window display of shoes made her remember his jokes about the flats she'd bought the day Dr. Huntley visited. Candy reminded her of how much he'd liked the chocolate-covered cranberries she bought him.

Actually, there didn't seem to be anything that didn't remind
her of him. This morning when he'd arrived at the house she'd wished everyone would disappear so she and Jamie could watch the wedding alone. It would be just the two of them as they'd been in the first days.

But his family was nice. Overwhelming, yes. Invasive, maybe. Jamie had warned her about them, had said that if they got to be too much he'd send them away. But it had been fun to laugh with them. Dance. Celebrate. Participate in their happiness.

After Jilly's wedding they'd all leave again, and she and Jamie would have their house back.

No! she told herself. After the wedding, they'd leave, then she'd return to working on Jamie's body. But when he was well, he too would leave.

Then what? Hallie thought. She'd met so few Nantucketers that she'd be alone on an island, her job of treating one person finished. Her roommate would be gone. The only thing she'd have left was an old house with a couple of ghosts.

All in all, it was a daunting prospect and she needed to decide what she was going to do. Her first thought was to talk with Jamie about it, but how could she do that? Ask him what she was going to do with her life without him in it?

Not quite!

At the edge of the water, she went to a seaside restaurant, sat outside, and ordered a glass of tea and a salad.

“Hello,” came a woman's voice.

Hallie looked up to see a pretty woman, older, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She'd seen her somewhere before and it took her a few moments to realize where. “Book covers.”

“Yes. I'm Cale, Jamie's mother. May I sit with you?”

“Please do,” Hallie said. “I've already ordered, but I could get you something.”

“Maybe some tea.” She signaled the waitperson. “Raine said he sent you away, so I've been looking for you. I'm sorry I haven't been over to introduce myself, but we thought it would
be better to give Jamie some space. We all tend to hover over him. I think we made the right decision.”

“He's done well.”

“Because of you,” Cale said.

“He's a strong man and he's done most of the work himself.”

“I'd heard you were modest, but this is beyond the call. Any physical therapist could have done the bodywork, but you've worked on the underlying problem.”

As Hallie's salad arrived she thought about being gracious and saying thank you. This was Jamie's mother and one of the bestselling writers in the world. She was a bit intimidating.

Hallie decided on the truth. “I can't take full credit for his success because everything I did was by accident. There were times when I thought he was going to drive me insane. What I had to go through to get his clothes off was a nightmare!”

“Was it?” Cale asked as she sipped her tea. “Tell me every word.”

When Hallie started talking, she couldn't seem to stop. She started at the beginning, with Jamie's refusal to undress, then his nightmares and the “sleeping kisses” she'd used to calm him down.

“He was like that as a child,” Cale said. “He was the most affectionate boy there ever was. Todd was always more reserved, but Jamie loved to cuddle.”

As Hallie took a drink of her tea, she thought, He still does. “Why did he go to war?”

“The million-dollar question,” Cale said. “The one we all asked him so many times. It boils down to social conscience. He felt that he has so much while others have so little. He wanted to share his good fortune.”

“That's what I guessed. He really is the kindest man I've ever met.”

“Is he?” Cale asked, acting as though she was calm, but her mother's heart was doing flip-flops. She loved nothing better
than hearing that her children were seen as the magnificent beings she knew them to be.

“I guess you heard what happened earlier.”

“Yes,” Cale said, “I did. In full, glorious detail from Cory. She thinks you're wonderful, and she usually thinks adults are, at best, overrated. But she loves her brothers very much. When Jamie was near death I feared that we'd lose her too.”

“I'm sorry for that,” Hallie said. “It must have been so awful for all of you.”

Cale was watching her. “From what I hear, you haven't had such an easy time lately either. Jared told me about your stepsister.”

Hallie leaned back in her chair as the waitress took her plate away. “That problem is being taken care of.”

“If you hadn't come home early and discovered what was going on, it might have been your untrained stepsister with my son. I don't like to think about that.”

Hallie laughed. “Shelly is beautiful and always lands on her feet. Jamie would have managed well enough with her.”

“I don't think you're right,” Cale said.

“But you've never met my stepsister.” Hallie didn't want to talk about Shelly anymore. “How's the wedding coming? Oh, no!” She looked at her watch. “I promised Jilly a massage today and it's getting late. She
needs
one.”

“Because she's pregnant?” Cale asked.

“No one's supposed to know that.”

Cale smiled. “If the Taggerts are good at nothing else, they're exceptional at making babies, and we know when one's due. My mother-in-law told me I was carrying twins when I was four weeks along. I laughed at her. I said I was too old and I'd had my children. But as you've seen, Cory and Max are here.”

“And aren't you lucky?”

“Oh, yes,” Cale said. “I am lucky in all aspects of my life. I see you have a few bags with you, but would you mind doing
some shopping with me? There's a jewelry store just down the street, all handmade items, and I'd like to see it.”

“I'd love to, but I need to see Jilly.”

“When I left she was going for a nap, and she doesn't know it, but Ken is on his way here. He'll be able to relax her even better than you can.”

“I'm sure he can,” Hallie said, smiling. “But if you have her number, I'd like to call her.”

“Certainly,” Cale said, and mentally added “conscientious” to the list of traits for this young woman.

Jilly's daughter answered the phone and said her mother was sleeping but that Jilly would be fine with the massage being postponed. Hallie paid her check and she and Cale left together.