Have Cowboy, Need Cupid (13 page)

“Guess you know Landon and I aren’t the best of friends. I hope he’s treating you right.”

A vein in the man’s forehead throbbed. “I heard a bunch of people were meeting at the Hotspot to talk about the land developer who planned to build that big mall.”

Rafe’s hands tightened around the steering wheel. “Tonight?”

“Yeah. About seven o’clock. Think they might be planning some sort of protest.”

Rafe chewed the inside of his cheek. Maybe his chat with Landon could wait. If the residents kept the developer from sinking his claws into their town, then his land wouldn’t be in such demand, and Wallace might cut him some slack on his debts. After all, since the developer wanted Rafe’s property, Landon thought he would benefit from the deal.

Maybe Rafe would also pass word around that he could take on boarders and give riding lessons. He still didn’t understand why no one had responded to his ad.

“Thanks for the tip, buddy. I’ll see you later.”

Romerez shuffled backward, paintbrush in hand, and tipped his hat. Rafe tipped his in return, then pressed the gas and headed toward town.

“I
HAVEN’T LOST MY EDGE
, Dad,” Suzanne argued. “But I’ve been reevaluating the big picture.”

“The big picture is that the McAllister property is the best land for our needs, the man is in financial trouble and needs to sell and we stand to lose a lot of money if we don’t nail this deal right now.”

Suzanne gripped her coffee cup. “You mean
you
stand to lose a lot of money.” She might lose her job. Her promotion. Her independence. “Why didn’t you tell me you were the silent partner backing this venture?”

Her father sighed and ran a hand over his beard, his cheeks growing red. “I didn’t want you to feel pressured. You know I have a lot of investments.”

“Is your involvement with Horton Developers the reason you’ve encouraged me to be with James? You didn’t suggest he propose to me, did you?”

Agitation lined her father’s features. “Of course not. But you and Horton make a great pair. You’ve repeatedly presented yourselves in business endeavors well, you’re on the same track as far as goals go, and you seem like a suitable match.”

But, Dad, Suzanne wanted to say. I want more.

Suddenly a lightbulb went on in her head. She didn’t want to have a loveless marriage with James. She wanted to feel the kind of passion her sister felt when she looked at Thomas. The kind her cousins had when they talked about their new husbands.

The kind her grandmother had mentioned in her letter.

She had to tell James she couldn’t wear his ring any longer and continue pretending that they were a couple. She would call him tonight when she got home.

A commotion suddenly rang out in the back, and she noticed a throng of townspeople, her cousins and Uncle Wiley included, blustering around, pumping fists and exclaiming.

“Let’s preserve Sugar Hill,” her uncle Wiley roared. “Stop Horton Developers from turning our town into another Atlanta suburb!”

“Yes!” the crowd roared.

Mimi and Hannah and Alison edged closer to their father. Rebecca joined in, with rebellion in her eyes.

Suzanne clutched the table.

Her father thundered up from his seat. “Wait a minute, Wiley, what in the world are you up to?”

“I’m defending the town from rich thieves that want to steal our small-town life and values and bury them under concrete and high-rise buildings and stores.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Suzanne’s father said, his voice gaining momentum with his conviction. “That development will boost the economy of this failing little town. It’s a godsend, I tell you.”

“It’s the devil’s work,” her uncle yelled, his arms flapping in his orange polyester jacket. “But why in hell do you care?”

Suzanne’s cousins grabbed her uncle to calm him, while she reached for her father.

But her dad shot up from the table and lurched toward her uncle, fists waving. “Because I own half of Horton Developers. I backed this project, because I wanted to save this little town from going bankrupt.”

“You conceited old fart, we don’t need your kind of saving.”

“Dad,” Suzanne’s cousins said, holding Wiley back.

“You are the conceited one, you old goat,” Suzanne’s father shouted. “You with your wild ads and cheesy car lot, I’m—”

Suzanne’s father never finished his words. His face turned bright crimson as he clutched his chest. Her throat closed in horror as he gasped for air. Then he collapsed on the worn linoleum floor, pale as death and just as still.

Chapter Twelve

“Dad!” Rebecca’s scream mirrored the one frozen in Suzanne’s windpipe.

Suzanne dropped to the floor and began unbuttoning her father’s shirt, the blood roaring in her ears. Her uncle Wiley raced over, Hannah, Mimi and Alison on his coat tails. Hannah checked his pulse, gave Suzanne and Rebecca a grave look, then began CPR. “Call an ambulance,” Hannah said quietly. “And let’s give him some space, folks.”

The crowd backed up in a collective whisper of worry. Wiley grabbed his cell phone and jabbed at the numbers, calling for help, while her cousins tried to console her and Rebecca.

“I’m sure he’s going to make it,” Mimi said gently.

“He’ll be all right, girls, he’s tough,” Alison said.

“Someone has to call Grammy,” Suzanne said in a chocked whisper.

“Dad will,” Mimi said. “And he’ll call Eleanor and tell her to meet us at the hospital.”

“Come on, Dad, breathe,” Rebecca cried. Suzanne enveloped Rebecca in her arms, and they huddled together, shivering, while the group watched, murmuring words of encouragement as if their prayers could bring the man back to life.

Wiley swiped at the tears streaming from his eyes with a plaid handkerchief. “You can’t die on us, you old codger. You’re too tough to do that.”

Suzanne prayed he was right. She heard her father’s wife shriek as Wiley phoned her and relayed the message. Maybe Eleanor really did love her dad and they were going to make it. That is, if
he
did.

Fear tightened her chest, and she clutched at her sister. She shouldn’t have argued with him.

“Dad has to be all right. We can’t lose him, too,” Rebecca cried.

Seconds later an ambulance rolled in, and two paramedics rushed into the room and took over. Hannah shouted commands and continued CPR while the paramedics slid him onto a stretcher and strapped him down. The family ran after them to the ambulance, she and Rebecca holding each other up.

“Can we go with him?” Suzanne asked as they loaded him into the back of the ambulance.

“We only have room for the doc.”

“I have a pulse!” Hannah shouted.

The crowd cheered, and Suzanne finally released a breath.

“Get in my SUV. I’ll drive,” Wiley said in a shaky voice.

“Come on, Bec, Suzanne.” Mimi ushered them toward Wiley’s vehicle.

The ambulance door slammed shut, and Suzanne clenched Rebecca in a death grip. She noticed her uncle’s ashen face and realized he was blaming himself.

As she did. After all, she had been arguing with her father before he’d spoken to her uncle. She had upset him.

“Suzanne, let’s go.” Alison gently coached her into the back seat where she and Rebecca huddled together.

“I’ll call Brady,” Alison said. “You want me to call Thomas, Bec?”

Rebecca nodded, a sob escaping. Suzanne pulled her into her arms and stroked her hair. “He’s going to make it, Bec. Just keep telling yourself that.”

“I’m calling Seth, too. I’ll tell him to meet us there.” Mimi glanced at Suzanne. “Do you want me to call someone for you?”

Suzanne simply stared at her, as Rafe’s face flashed into her mind.

She had no right to call him. They weren’t a couple. She shook her head, feeling lonelier than she had ever felt in her life.

It wasn’t until she reached the hospital that she realized it had never occurred to her to call James.

R
AFE WAS LATE
for the town meeting, but he hoped to join the group at the Hotspot. When he arrived, he spotted an ambulance pulling away from the coffee shop, its siren wailing, lights flashing, a trail of cars racing after.

He searched the crowd of spectators on the sidewalk and saw Nellie Jones, one of his mother’s friends, in the thick of things, so he rushed over to her. “What happened?”

She fanned her face with her hand. “Bert Hartwell, Rebecca’s daddy, had a heart attack.”

Oh, God.
Suzanne.
“Is…he all right?”

“They don’t know,” she screeched. “Dr. Hartwell did CPR, they’re taking him to Sugar Hill General.”

Sweat beaded on his forehead. “Was Suzanne Hartwell with them?”

She nodded, pressing a tissue to her eyes. “She and Rebecca and the other girls rode with Wiley.”

Rafe nodded and jogged back to his truck. To hell with the meeting, he had to make sure Suzanne was all right.

S
UZANNE’S HANDS TREMBLED
around the tepid cup of coffee. It seemed as if all her cousins’ husbands, along with Rebecca’s, had arrived at the same time. Rebecca sat huddled in Thomas’s arms; Seth stood by holding Maggie Rose while Mimi paced; Jake had cornered Wiley with coffee to calm him; and Eleanor, her father’s new wife hadn’t yet arrived. Hannah had gone into the E.R. with Suzanne’s father.

Instead of calling Grammy, her uncle Wiley had phoned a friend of her grandmother’s to go over and break the news and sit with her. None of them wanted the elderly matriarch of the family to fall ill herself from the shock. The clock hands barely rotated, the seconds ticking by slowly.

The realization that Suzanne had no one but her father sank in deeper with every passing minute. She tossed the coffee into the trash and pressed her fingers to her eyelids to stem the tears, determined not to fall apart. She had always been strong; she always would be. Dropping her head into her hands, she closed her eyes and said a silent prayer.

“Suzanne.”

The thick, masculine voice took her by surprise. Then she glanced up and saw Rafe standing beside her, his eyes dark with concern, his lips pressed into a flat line, his hand outstretched in offering. Suzanne did the one thing she hadn’t done in years. She let him take her in his arms, and she cried.

R
AFE HELD
S
UZANNE
in his arms, his heart aching at her tears. He hated to see a woman cry, and he sensed Suzanne didn’t give in to tears easily. She buried her face against his chest, and he stroked her hair, crooning soft words to her as her body trembled. She felt fragile and delicate and he couldn’t stand the thought of not holding her right now.

Memories of standing in this very same room waiting on word about his own father surfaced to haunt him. The chilling smell of the antiseptics, the sound of metal clinking on trays as nurses bustled back and forth with medicine and supplies, the fear of losing a loved one.

He hoped Suzanne’s father made it. His own dad hadn’t been so lucky.

Finally her sobs quieted and she raised her face, her tear-soaked hair plastered against her cheeks. He smiled and brushed the hair back, drying the moisture with the pad of his thumb. “How…how did you know to come?”

“I was on my way to see you when I heard about the meeting at the Hotspot. When I arrived, the ambulance was pulling away.”

She nodded and glanced over his shoulder at the rest of her family who had obviously noticed his arrival, but were discreetly trying to ignore the fact that Suzanne had vaulted into his arms the second she’d seen him. “You were coming to see
me?
”

“Yes.” He dug inside his pocket and brought out the cross. “I found this and thought you might want it back.”

Her eyes widened, then fresh tears pooled in her eyes. “Oh, thank you,” she whispered in a hoarse voice. “I’m so glad you found it.” She hugged it to her chest, and he nodded.

“Why don’t we take a little walk? Go get some coffee or a soda.”

“I…I don’t want to leave.”

“The machines are just down the hall. Your sister can get you when the doctor comes out.”

She hesitated, then finally nodded and hurried to tell Rebecca to find her the minute she received word about their father. Rafe followed behind her, well aware the other men in the room were eyeing him with curiosity.

Suzanne slid her hand in his as they walked down the hall. Then she stopped at the coffee machine and turned to him. “Will you fasten the cross around my neck? I thought I’d lost it forever.”

Her voice broke again, and he accepted the gold chain, then slid it around her neck. She lifted her hair from her neck, and he groaned, tempted to kiss her bare neck right there in the hospital. Instead, his fingers brushed her nape as he closed the clasp. “It must be special to you.”

“My mother gave it to me before she died.” She slowly turned around and let her hair fall over her shoulders. “That was my last memory of her.”

His throat felt thick. “I’m sorry. Her death must have been hard.”

“I can’t lose Dad now, too,” Suzanne said in a small voice. “He and Rebecca are all I have left.”

He wanted to tell her that that wasn’t true, that he was there for her, that he always would be. But how could he make that promise when he had so little to offer? Would she even want to hear it?

“Tell me about him,” he said instead, hoping to distract her. He funneled coins into the coffee machine and handed her a cup, then bought another one for himself.

“Dad’s a workaholic,” Suzanne began. “After Mom died, he threw himself into his job. He has a medical degree, and is the CEO of a new medical women’s center in Atlanta.”

“Sounds like a smart man.”

“He is.” Suzanne leaned against the dingy wall, staring into her coffee, deep in thought. “But he’s been lonely for a long time. Probably the reason he’s been married so many times.”

“He’s married now?”

She nodded. “The fourth time. I hope this one will stick. Eleanor’s on her way. She had to drive from Atlanta.”

“What happened the other times?”

“He married for the wrong reason,” Suzanne said. “I think he wanted companionship, someone to help entertain his business associates.” A sarcastic laugh escaped her. “But he couldn’t bring himself to love anyone else after Mom died.”

“That kind of commitment is unusual.”

“Your parents had it,” Suzanne said. “I’ve heard the way your mother talks about your father.”

He sighed. If only his father had been equally committed. “She’s the old-fashioned kind.”

“What happened to your dad?” Suzanne asked.

Rafe frowned. “Maybe we’d better walk on back.”

Suzanne lay a hand on his arm. “Tell me, Rafe.”

The soft plea in her voice stole his breath. He had been trying to consider her feelings. Finally he cleared his throat. “He had a heart attack.”

The color drained from her face.

“He died right here in Sugar Hill General.”

T
HE MINUTE
R
AFE CONFIDED
in her, Suzanne understood his hesitancy; he had been trying to protect her from the reality of what might happen. Yet, she also heard the pain in his voice and realized that being here had resurrected that anguished-filled memory. He had come anyway, though. Why?

Because he cared?

She wanted to believe so. But did she deserve his concern when she had been dishonest with him from the beginning?

Guilt mingled with worry and regret and fear that she had made a major mistake by not confiding about her job. Fear that when he found out, he would hate her, and that she would be all alone again.

Fear that she would lose Rafe, the man that she suddenly realized she had begun to love.

His gaze met hers. She saw compassion and other emotions that tore at her heart. She wanted to believe the love was there, that they could share the same kind of relationship Rebecca and Thomas had.

Was it possible?

“O
H, MY WORD
, where is my boy?” Grammy Rose burst into the waiting room in a flurry just as Suzanne and Rafe made their way back in.

The girls instantly surrounded her. “Dad’s in with the doctors now,” Rebecca explained.

“Are you all right, Grammy?” Mimi asked. “We didn’t want you to come.”

Grammy Rose waved off everyone’s concern. “I couldn’t stay away when my family needs me.” She hugged Rebecca and Suzanne, then turned to Wiley. “John Pruitt drove me. I’m staying a few days.”

Wiley leaned into his mother, his eyes glimmering with emotions. “We were arguing, Mom, I—”

“Hush now,” Grammy Rose said. “I don’t want to hear nonsense about anyone in this family blaming themselves for Bert’s heart attack. These things just happen.”

Wiley sniffled, and Mimi slid her arm around him. “He’ll make it, Dad. We have to believe that.”

“Right. And pray.” Grammy gathered everyone together, holding hands as they formed a circle. Then they bowed their heads, allowing the matriarch of the family to lead them in prayer.

H
ANNAH SCOOTED BACK
into the E.R. to check on their father, emerging several minutes later. Suzanne’s breath felt trapped in the tension-filled air.

She had never felt closer to her family than at that second. The husbands formed a second circle, offering their support, while Rafe hovered behind her, silently giving her encouragement.

“Bert had a mild heart attack,” Hannah explained in a calm voice. “But he’s going to be all right.”

A collective sigh of relief fluttered through the Hartwell gang.

“Can we see him now?” Rebecca asked.

“In a few minutes. The cardiologist is with him now.” Hannah folded her arms across her bulging middle, and Jake reached up to massage her back. She directed her comments to Suzanne, Rebecca and Eleanor. “Bert will need to adjust his diet, get more exercise and cut down on his work hours.”

“I told him his work schedule was going to get to him,” Eleanor said, her voice quavering.

Suzanne reached out and squeezed her arm, and Rebecca gave her a sympathetic look.

“I’m sure the cardiologist will talk to you in more detail.”

“It…was the stress of our fight that did it to him, wasn’t it?” Wiley said, rubbing at his chin.

Mimi hugged her father. “No, Dad, you heard Hannah, it was his diet. He was overworked.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Dad,” Hannah said. “You and Bert have been fighting for years and it hasn’t given him a heart attack.”

Wiley frowned. “Well, that’s all going to stop. From now on things will be different.”

Suzanne exchanged skeptical looks with her sister and cousins. Somehow she doubted Wiley’s good intentions would stick. Her father and uncle were way too different.

“Grammy always said boys will be boys,” Mimi said. “Maybe that fighting between the two of you was your way of showing affection.”