Feels Like Family (20 page)

“There was no exaggeration. They already understood the situation,” Maddie soothed.

“But you encouraged them to hatch some scheme, didn’t you?” Helen said. “Are you crazy? You know how guys are. Somebody is going to get hurt and if that happens, it’s on your heads.”

“Cal won’t let that happen,” Maddie assured her. “He’s the voice of reason. So is Erik.”

Dana Sue frowned. “You left out Ronnie.”

“Deliberately would be my guess,” Helen said. “He’s always been a hothead.”

“Not anymore,” Dana Sue insisted. “Not since he got back to town and we remarried. You know that’s true.”

“Which only means he’s overdue for doing something crazy,” Helen retorted.

“Hold it,” Maddie said. “These are all grown men. They’re just trying to look out for you, Helen. They can handle themselves.”

Far from reassured, Helen sat back in her chair. “Well, I hope you’re right.”

“Let’s move on to a far more interesting topic,” Dana Sue suggested. “How serious are things between you and Erik?”

“It’s a fling,” Helen said. “No big deal.”

Dana Sue’s expression darkened. “I don’t like the sound of that. Are you just toying with him, Helen?”

“No more than he is with me,” she assured her. “Two consenting adults, Dana Sue. We both knew the score when we started this.”

“Did you really?” Maddie asked pointedly. “Erik knew the score?”

Dana Sue’s narrowed gaze shifted from Helen to Maddie. “What are you suggesting?” she asked, her expression quizzical.

“Nothing,” Helen said hurriedly. “Maddie doesn’t know anything you don’t know, right, Maddie?”

Maddie’s gaze clashed with hers, but Maddie was the first to blink. “No, I don’t know anything for a fact.”

Dana Sue seized on the very evident loophole. “But you’re speculating about something, making an educated guess, aren’t you?”

Helen held Maddie’s gaze until she shook her head.

“I know better than to speculate about Helen,” Maddie said eventually. “She’s too unpredictable.”

Helen forced a smile as she tried to cover her relief. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I’m not sure you should,” Maddie said darkly.

It was definitely time to get out of here before the conversation got any trickier. “Well, I need to get to work,” Helen said briskly, rising to her feet. “Dana Sue, what about you?”

“I’m going to stick around,” Dana Sue said to Helen’s dismay.

“Okay, whatever,” Helen said. “I’ll see you.”

She had no choice but to trust that Maddie would stay silent after she’d gone. Whatever Maddie knew—or thought she knew—was not something Helen wanted her to share with Dana Sue.

As Helen left The Corner Spa to walk to her office, she noticed a car slowly turn the corner, then keep pace with
her. The driver stayed in her peripheral vision, but never got far enough ahead for her to see who was behind the wheel. A chill crept up the back of her neck.

“You’re only jittery because of all that talk about Brad,” she muttered under her breath. “This is probably just some little old lady who never goes over five miles an hour, that’s all.”

Still, when she finally turned onto the street her office was on, she picked up her pace. When the car made the same turn, it took everything in her to make herself stop and turn back.

“Nervous, Ms. Decatur?” Brad Holliday called out to her, his expression cold. “You should be.”

Before she could reply, he hit the gas and drove off.

“He’s just a bully, that’s all,” Helen told herself staunchly as he disappeared around the next corner. “He just wants to scare me.”

Well, he’d accomplished that, she realized as she stared after him. Bile rose in her throat and for a minute she thought she might be sick, but she forced herself to take a few deep breaths, then walked the rest of the way to her office.

She knew she should call the judge or the police, but she couldn’t make herself do it. What had Brad done, really? Told her she ought to be nervous. Big deal. It wouldn’t be enough to get a restraining order. And a restraining order wouldn’t keep him away if he was determined to get even with her. She’d seen the ineffectiveness of that flimsy piece of paper too many times.

Maybe Plan A, whatever it was, wasn’t such a bad idea, after all.

For the next week Helen was so jittery she had to force herself to leave Erik’s house or the relative safety
of her office, where no one got past Barb without an inquisition. Only stubborn pride kept her going about her normal routine.

When she realized in the middle of the following week that she’d missed her period, her immediate thought was stress, not pregnancy. Then she added in the vague nausea she’d experienced on a few mornings lately. Could it possibly be…?

The second Erik left the house, she grabbed her day planner and looked at her calendar. Each time her period had come right on schedule, she’d secretly shed a few tears and made a little mark. With fingers that shook, she flipped through the pages, back one week, then two, then three.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered, when she’d flipped back six weeks to find the little mark she always made on the top corner of the page.

She’d been so busy, so caught up in her unexpected feelings for Erik and, more recently, so nervous about Brad Holliday, she hadn’t even thought about the baby plan she’d put into effect a few months back. Initially obsessed with those damnable little marks, lately she’d completely lost track. Or maybe she’d simply lost hope.

Now, though, she was late. Seriously late.

“Oh, my God,” she said again. “I’m pregnant!”

Caution immediately had her correcting herself. “I might be pregnant.”

Thankfully, in anticipation of this day, she’d bought several at-home pregnancy tests at a Charleston pharmacy and hidden them in her suitcase in the back of Erik’s closet.

Pushing aside her clothes, she dragged out the suitcase and fumbled with the lock, then took the kits into the bathroom. She was shaking so hard, she could barely hold the box still long enough to read the instructions.

While she waited for the results, she took another test for good measure. And then a third.

The first positive reading brought tears to her eyes. The second brought on a jubilant shout. The third had her sitting down hard on the lid of the toilet and holding a hand over her stomach.

“Baby, if you’re really in there, I am going to take such good care of you. I promise.”

Five minutes later, she’d scheduled an appointment for the following week with the obstetrician she’d liked the best. If he confirmed what three at-home tests had told her, her life was about to change dramatically.

And so was her relationship with Erik.

Helen was acting weird and Erik didn’t think it could be blamed entirely on their disagreement about how Brad Holliday should be handled.
That
had become an almost daily bone of contention.

Tonight, though, she’d had this funny little half smile on her face ever since he’d come home, but when he’d asked what she was thinking, she’d blown off the question.

“You weren’t that happy this morning,” he said, still studying her suspiciously.

“Actually I was,” she said. “Then my mood changed when Maddie called to tell me that you, Cal and Ronnie were getting ready to execute Plan A. I remembered how annoyed I was with you three and your macho plan.”

“But I gather you’ve put that behind you now,” he said.

“What makes you think that?”

“You’re here. If you were really ticked off, you’d have gone to your place.” He searched her face. “Unless, despite all your disclaimers to the contrary, you’re still scared of
Holliday and that outweighs your annoyance with me. To be honest, I’d find that reassuring.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake, do we have to keep talking about Brad Holliday?” she demanded.

“Nope.”

In fact, the less said about the man the better. Erik didn’t want to answer questions about when he, Cal and Ronnie intended to implement Plan A. In fact, they’d settled on confronting the man at his home on Saturday morning. Erik didn’t much like the idea of waiting two more days, but they’d already waited a week and he’d agreed that confronting him at work would be counterproductive. A public confrontation would be just one more thing to infuriate a man whose hold on his temper was already tenuous.

“Can I bring you anything?” he asked Helen. “I thought I’d have a glass of wine before bed.”

“Nothing for me,” Helen said, then held up a glass. “I have some water.”

That was odd, too. Helen usually joined him in a glass of wine at night. It wasn’t worth making a big deal about, though.

When he came back into the living room, he settled on the sofa beside her. “How about watching a movie? There’s an old Katharine Hepburn–Spencer Tracy film on tonight. I know you love those.”

“Not tonight. I’m tired. It’s been a long day.” She stood up. “I think I’ll go on up to bed.”

“Wait,” Erik said, frowning. “Are you still upset with me about Holliday?”

“No. I told you it was up to you. Do whatever you have to do.”

“But you still disapprove?”

“I still disapprove,” she confirmed, “because he’s
my
problem. It’s up to me to solve it.”

“Couldn’t you just think of us as backup?”

“Backup’s one thing,” she told him. “Interference is something else entirely.”

“You really are upset about this, aren’t you?”

“Gee, you think?”

“I can talk to Cal and Ronnie,” he said against his better judgment. “We can hold off for a while. Is that really what you want?”

She regarded him seriously. “It’s really what I want.”

“Then I’ll talk to them,” he conceded. “None of us is trying to undermine your independence, you know. We just want you to be safe.”

She sighed then and sat back down. “I know that. I just don’t like thinking that I’m so vulnerable I need protecting.”

“Isn’t it better to be safe than sorry? I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you when we might have been able to prevent it.”

He couldn’t quite read the strange expression that flitted across her face. Something he’d said, though, had obviously resonated with her.

“Go ahead with whatever Plan A is,” she said, the about-face catching him completely off-guard. “Just swear to me that none of you will put yourselves in danger.”

“We won’t,” he promised.

He wanted to ask why the change of heart, but he didn’t dare. Deep down he believed that moving ahead with the plan was too important to risk losing her hard-won approval. Better to put the fear of God in Brad Holliday now than have to kill him if he ever laid a hand on Helen.

U
pstairs Helen thought about Erik’s concern for her safety and wondered how he’d feel if he knew he might also be protecting their child. In the midst of their argument, she’d suddenly realized she couldn’t think only of herself anymore. She had to take whatever precautions were necessary to make sure that no harm came to this baby she might be carrying.

Until this mess with Brad Holliday had started, she’d planned to slowly break things off with Erik the instant she found out she was pregnant. Brad’s threats, however unlikely he was to carry them out, made it necessary for her to stay with Erik awhile longer. She sincerely hoped this Plan A would erase the threats and she’d be able to go back home and then end things with Erik in a way that wouldn’t hurt him too deeply.

From the beginning of their affair, she’d tried to convince herself he’d be glad to be free of the drama she’d brought into his life, but she knew she was deluding herself. Neither of them was going to walk away from this relationship entirely unscathed, no matter how badly she wanted them to.

She knew tonight’s one-eighty about Plan A had startled Erik, but she’d managed to get away before he could start asking uncomfortable questions. She’d counted on his being so relieved by her acquiescence he’d stay silent, and he had, giving her just enough time to bolt.

By the time he came into the bedroom, she was on her side, facing away from him, feigning sleep. She listened to the familiar sound of his clothes being tossed in the general direction of a chair in the corner of the room, then the shower running. When he finally slid beneath the sheets beside her and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, she almost regretted her charade.

It would have felt good to fold herself into his embrace, to talk quietly about their day, maybe even make love, and then let the steady beating of his heart soothe her to sleep. She’d gotten too used to that lately. Alone for so many years, she hadn’t expected to grow accustomed to the little intimate moments that make up a relationship. She was going to miss all of them dreadfully when she went back to her own home and her solitude. The solitude, at least, would be temporary.

Eventually, there would be a baby to hold and love and care for, and that would be its own kind of fulfillment. She touched a hand to her still-flat belly and tried to imagine the tiny life growing inside. She was completely awestruck by the idea of it. Please, God, let her not be wrong about this. Let there be a baby.

“Helen?” Erik whispered. “Are you awake?”

Giving in to her desire for him, she murmured, “Yes.”

He rolled toward her and pulled her against him, his bare skin against her back, his heat and male scent enveloping her, awakening her. When he cupped her breast, she
thought she noticed a new sensitivity, as pleasure immediately shot through her.

Just like that, she was wide-awake and filled with need. As if he sensed it, Erik’s touch went from gentle to impatient, his urgency and her own sudden heated response, catching her off guard.

They came together in a raw burst of passion, breath mingling, hands anxious and determined, hips meeting in a mindless parry and thrust that spiraled out of control in little more than a heartbeat. The fierce explosion that ripped through her triggered his and seemed to go on forever.

That perfectly attuned connection made her wonder—when she could finally think again—how they’d come to know each other’s bodies so well. If only their hearts were as well-matched, she thought wistfully before she fell asleep in his arms, the whir of the ceiling fan and its gentle breeze carrying her off to some imaginary hideaway on a romantic tropical island. If only, she thought again. If only…

Helen was plowing through a huge stack of court documents when Barb buzzed her. Sounding alarmed, she announced that someone from Regional Hospital was on the phone.

“What about?” Helen asked.

“Caroline Holliday.”

Helen snatched up the phone. “This is Helen Decatur.”

“Ms. Decatur, this is Emily Wilson. I’m an emergency room physician at Regional Hospital. Caroline Holliday said you recently represented her in a divorce proceeding.”

“Yes. Why? What’s happened?”

“She was brought in here, barely conscious, about an hour ago. She’d been beaten. She told officers her ex-
husband was responsible, but they haven’t located him yet. I have a detective here who’d very much like to speak to you. Can you come?”

“I’ll be there within the hour,” Helen said, her heart pounding. This was her fault, dammit! Why hadn’t she done more to protect Caroline? A restraining order might not be the most effective tool in the world, but she should have demanded one that last day in court when they’d all witnessed Brad unraveling before their eyes. Instead, she’d listened to Caroline say she was going to remove herself from Serenity for a couple of weeks and felt satisfied. Obviously, she’d come back—and to this.

“How is she?” Helen asked, her heart in her throat.

The doctor hesitated, then said, “You’re not a family member, so I shouldn’t be releasing any information, but Caroline specifically wanted you to know how out-of-control her husband was, so I’ll tell you the truth. She’s in surgery right now. She has a ruptured spleen, other internal injuries, a broken arm and quite a few cuts and bruises. Brad Holliday was one very angry man.”

Helen gasped. “Oh, my God,” she whispered. “Will she make it?”

“The best surgeons on staff are with her now. It’s in their hands and in God’s. I think the only thing that kept her conscious was her determination to warn you. I don’t want to tell you what to do, but you shouldn’t be alone. Caroline was adamant that you need protection.”

“I’ll have it,” Helen said. “Please take good care of her. This is my fault.”

“Because you got her away from a bully?” the doctor asked incredulously.

“No, because I infuriated him in the process,” she said,
riddled with guilt. Surely there’d been another way to protect Caroline’s interests. She should have found it. In her worst nightmare, she’d never imagined Brad becoming this violent. Even when he’d confronted her on the street just days ago, she still hadn’t imagined how deeply disturbed he was. How could she have ignored all the warnings?

“Please let the detective know I’m on my way now and tell him he can get more information from Judge Lester Rockingham and Brad’s attorney, Jimmy Bob West.”

“I’ll pass that along,” Dr. Wilson promised.

Helen was shaking when she hung up. She glanced up and realized Barb had come into her office while she’d been on the phone.

“How bad is it?” Barb asked.

“She’s in surgery. I need to get over there.”

“Surely, you’re not going alone,” Barb said. “Have they arrested Brad?”

“Not yet, apparently.”

“Then you need to take someone with you,” Barb insisted.

Helen glanced at the clock. It was just before noon. Erik would be swamped at the restaurant.

Barb apparently figured out what she was thinking because she said firmly, “I’m calling Erik. I don’t care how busy he is. He’s going to want to go with you. Pick him up on the way. Promise me, Helen.”

Too rattled to argue, Helen nodded. “Tell him I’ll swing by to get him. I’ll pull into the alley.”

Ten minutes later she turned into the alley behind Sullivan’s and found Erik and Dana Sue both standing there. Dana Sue looked terrified, Erik deeply worried. He yanked open the car door and climbed in.

“You okay?” he asked tersely.

She could only nod. Glancing at Dana Sue, she said, “I’ll call you when we know more.”

Dana Sue scowled at Erik. “Don’t you dare let anything happen to her,” she ordered.

“Not on my watch,” he assured her.

“We need to go,” Helen said, then stepped on the accelerator and shot out of the alley.

“Slow down,” Erik commanded. “Try not to get us killed driving over there.”

“Would you feel better if you were behind the wheel?” she snapped.

“Based on what I’ve observed of your driving in the last ten seconds, yes.”

She knew he was right. She was too shaken to be behind the wheel. She pulled into a parking lot, slammed her foot on the brake and cut the engine. “Be my guest,” she said, getting out and walking around to the other side.

Erik got out and snagged her wrist before she could take his place in the passenger seat. He held her gaze and his tone softened. “It’s going to be okay.”

Tears stung her eyes. “I hope so, but you didn’t hear what the doctor said about Caroline’s injuries. It’s not good, Erik. She might not make it.”

His eyes darkened. “It could have been you.”

“But it wasn’t,” she said. She didn’t mention that Caroline and the police thought she might very well be next.

Once they were on their way again, she couldn’t bring herself to admit aloud how relieved she was that Erik was now behind the wheel, that he was with her. Even though she could almost feel the tension radiating from him, his strength and mere presence steadied her.

“Thank you for coming with me,” she said at last.

He glanced at her. “Your idea or Barb’s?”

“Both,” she admitted with a half smile. “She was a little more certain that interrupting you at the height of lunch hour was the thing to do.”

“You can call me anytime, day or night,” he said. “When the choice is between you and baking some fancy dessert, you’re going to win hands down, okay?”

She studied him. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

“Of course. Why do you even have to ask?”

“Because you’ve always been so clear about not wanting any emotional entanglements,” she told him candidly.

“We’re friends, Helen, and friends will always come first with me.”

Friends, she thought, leaning back against the seat and holding in a sigh. It was good that he’d reminded her of that. Not that being friends was a bad thing. Not at all. And being friends who slept together was amazing. But there was a clear limit to the relationship, one that told her yet again that he would want no part of this child who might be growing inside her.

Regret washed through her. Regret that the man she’d chosen to father her child would never give that child the same fierce loyalty and protectiveness he gave her. What a tragic and terrible loss for both of them!

Erik glanced over at Helen as he made the turn into the emergency room parking area at the hospital. Her hands were clenched into white-knuckled fists in her lap, and her face was drawn with lines of tension. He guessed that she was blaming herself for what had happened to Caroline Holliday, rather than placing the blame squarely on the man responsible.

When Barb had quickly explained what was going on, he’d felt an overwhelming surge of anger toward Brad Holliday and panic that Helen would be his next victim. He’d been yanking off his chef’s jacket and heading for the door before he’d hung up the phone, Dana Sue right on his heels as he explained what was going on. Neither of them had hesitated even a second over the decision that Helen’s safety took precedence over anything going on at Sullivan’s.

“If we run out of whatever’s ready now, we’ll serve ice cream,” she’d told him. “Just go and keep Helen safe.”

On the drive to the hospital, he’d kept his eyes peeled for any suspicious cars, worried that Holliday might have followed Helen from her office. Hopefully the man was scared out of his wits by what he’d done to his ex-wife and was so anxious to avoid the police he wouldn’t come anywhere near Helen.

Even though Erik hadn’t spotted anyone following them or lurking in the hospital parking lot, he instructed Helen to stay in the car ’til he opened her door.

He cut off her protest. “Just common sense, sugar. Don’t get your back up.”

She sighed. “I know, but hurry.”

He lifted a brow. “We made it here in under thirty minutes. I’m hurrying.”

He moved quickly around to her side of the car and shielded her body as she exited. With one arm around her and his gaze darting from side to side, he walked her into the emergency room. A uniformed officer and another man in a rumpled suit that reminded Erik of old
Columbo
shows were hanging around the triage desk.

“We’re here about Caroline Holliday,” Erik told the nurse on duty, drawing the attention of the men.

“Are you Helen Decatur?” the plainclothes officer asked. “I’m Detective Myers.”

Helen nodded. “I’ll answer all your questions, but I need to find out how Caroline’s doing first.” She turned to the nurse. “Is Dr. Wilson available?”

“I’ll see if she’s free,” the nurse said. “I’ll send her over to the waiting room.”

“Thank you,” Erik said, when Helen looked as if she wanted to barge back into the treatment area and search for the doctor herself. He steered her across the hall.

“I’ll get coffee,” he told her.

“It’s pretty disgusting,” the uniformed officer said with a grimace.

“I’d rather have herbal tea, anyway,” Helen said.

“Fine. I’ll get tea,” Erik said. “Don’t leave her alone for a minute, okay?”

“Not a chance,” the detective assured him.

Erik went off to find the cafeteria or a vending machine. Hospital noises and smells were as familiar to him as the aromas in Sullivan’s kitchen, but ever since Sam had died they made him queasy. He had to fight with himself to keep from heading straight back to the parking lot, where he could suck in fresh air and maybe get a grip on his composure.

It didn’t take him long to find a vending machine, which spewed out a pitiful-looking cup of weak coffee for him. He bought that, then found Helen’s tea in the cafeteria.

As he was passing the triage desk, the nurse beckoned to him. “Dr. Wilson is with another patient right now, but she said to tell Ms. Decatur she’ll check on Mrs. Holliday’s status and be out to fill her in as soon as possible.”

“Thanks,” Erik said. “I’ll let her know.”

When he got to the waiting room, he heard Helen sum
marizing the scene on the day Caroline Holliday had been granted her divorce and the concern the judge and Brad’s attorney had expressed for her safety and Helen’s. Taking a seat beside Helen, Erik handed her the tea with a roll of his eyes. “Be grateful you opted for that,” he said after taking a sip of his coffee.