Lightning Strikes (The Almeida Brothers Trilogy #3) (27 page)

“No.”  Jack held out a hand, frowning.  “No. I asked you to tell me… and you’re telling me.”

“I can stop.  It’s dark.  Even for an Aries lawyer.”

He took a deep breath, hesitated, and then shook his head.  “No.  Don’t.”

“Doesn’t seem like you mean that.”

His bottom lip disappeared under his teeth.  “I think you need it.”  He looked at her.  “So I’ll listen.”

Her eyes searched his and then fell to his lips.  “Dr. Dom…” She faltered.  “He killed a lot of kids in Peds.  There wasn’t a moment he had his medical license that he wasn’t drunk off his ass.  The class action suit had fifty of us, most of us mothers… God only knows how many there are who didn’t step up.  Who didn’t even
know
that the people they loved were probably gone because an alcoholic masquerading as a surgeon had killed them in cold blood.”

“It’s a selfish disease,” Jack said, cutting her a look.  “I bet you weren’t the only people he hurt.  Hell, I’m sure you were the tip of the iceberg.”

Her eyebrow’s pulled as their eyes danced.  “Anyway, that’s why I need every dime from my divorce.  If Anthony takes half my money, I won’t have enough left to pay my
other
lawyer—the one who’s representing me in the suit against Dr. Dom.”  She chuckled.  “So, basically, I live at the courthouse.  It was always my dream to spend my life in courtrooms, but not like this…”

“The attorney who defended Dr. Dom… His son…” Jack shrugged.  “You don’t remember him?”  His own eyebrows tightened.

She shrugged.  “I guess the pain was too deep.  I couldn’t see straight. When I think back on it… all I can remember is how clean he was.”  She laughed.  “I remember the back of his head in the courtroom, spewing all his lawyerly bullshit—no offense.”  She motioned to him with an open palm.

Jack avoided her eyes.

“I remember his sharp suits, the back of his head, but when I try to picture him turning toward the pews, to where I always sat in the courtroom… I can never see his face.  I can’t remember it.  Maybe I just hated the sight of him so much that my body erased it from my psyche completely.   Just rejected the hell out of it.  All I see now is a blur.  An evil blur.”

Jack nodded.  “I’m sorry, Nina.”

A small smile split her lips.  “You didn’t do anything.”

Jack faltered.  “I don’t know… I still am…”

“Well, I should be the one apologizing for freaking out like that.  And in the
rain
?  How melodramatic can you get, right?”  She sniffled, shaking her head.  “You didn’t deserve that.”

“Grief can take you to strange places,” he said, his voice going lower.  “I’m not going to hold that against you.”

She watched him break eye contact.  “I like you like this,” she said.  “All compassionate, and patient.  Tenderness becomes you, Jack…” She faltered.  “Jack…”

His eyes flew to hers.

She blushed.  “I just realized I don’t know your last name.”

The color was gone from Jack’s face again.  “My grandmother lives ten minutes from here.  I’m going to call her and, if she’s home, she’ll come and sweep us up.  If she isn’t, we’ll ask the group to do us a favor and drop us off at her house once the bus is fixed.”

Nina gasped, reaching out to clutch Jack’s arm.

His eyes met hers.  “She’ll get us on the first flight out.  New York by morning.”

Nina launched her body at Jack, slamming her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder.

“Oh, Jack.” She pulled back and watched him in awe, even as he looked away with a cool shrug.  “I thought you said you’d rather get into another plane crash than call them.”

“I hate the thought of calling them,” he admitted.  “But I hate seeing you hurt more.”

Nina nodded, taking a deep, much-needed breath.  “Thank you, Jack.”

Though Jack’s grandmother, Bitsy Halloway, hadn’t answered her phone, her second husband, Frank Halloway, had.  After snatching the phone and spending the better part of the hour berating Jack for what he’d done, Bitsy’s voice had lowered in the way it did only for him, and she’d informed him where she kept the spare key hidden on their Salt Lake City estate.

Thankfully, the tour group had agreed to drop Jack and Nina off in front of the house without a breath of hesitation. Nina never imagined saying goodbye to those kids could bring a tear to her eye, but it had.  She’d exchanged numbers with Amy and Sarah but, somehow, knew that was probably the last time she’d ever see them.

“Holy God, Jack,” Nina said, a little while later, tightening her fingers around his arm as he gave her a tour of Bitsy’s never-ending home.  “This is not a house.  This is a
castle
.”  Her eyes went to him accusingly as he led her down the grand staircase with a laugh.  “How rich
are
you?” Her voice lowered to an astonished level.

“That’s very rude,” Jack laughed.  “Don’t let my grandmother hear you ask that question.  It’s not easy to set her off, but money talk of any kind will definitely do it.  Every time.  Smoke will leave her ears.”

Nina was beyond social graces.  “How much money do you have?”

“They landed at the airport nearly an hour ago.”  Jack squeezed her hand tighter, not answering.  “They should be home any minute.  They also purchased our tickets to New York while they were there.  Red-eye flight.  Leaves a little after midnight.”

“What a blessing.  My God, Jack, you’re so blessed.  I can’t wait to meet your grandmother and give her a million hugs and kisses.”  She squinted an eye.  “Is she a hugger?  Because if she isn’t, I may have to rethink my game plan.”

“Definitely a hugger.  The last time I saw her, she hugged me so tightly she nearly asphyxiated me…”

Hearing the tone of his voice, watching his narrowed eyes and feeling his halfhearted squeeze on her hand, Nina stopped at the bottom of the staircase.

Jack shot her a look over his shoulder.

She gripped his bicep and shook him.  “Is everything okay?”

He blinked lazily.  “Everything’s fine.”

“Are you sure?  I feel like you haven’t been yourself since…” Her eyes fell.  “Since…”

The jingling of keys pulled them both out of the conversation, their eyes flying to the door just as a tiny woman with gray hair and thick glasses came barreling into the grand foyer.  A pair of blue eyes seemed to explode to twice their size behind those chunky lenses the moment they landed on Jack, and the woman was across the room to the double staircase in seconds, covering her parted lips the whole way.

“Jack…” She breathed, her eyes shining with moisture.  “Darling…”

Nina released Jack and stepped away, smiling and making room for the woman she could only assume was Bitsy.

Bitsy came to a stop in front of Jack and wasted not a second before she reared back and sent her wrinkled hand flying across his cheek.

Nina yelped, her feet leaving the air completely as she clapped her hands over her shocked lips.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again, Jack, don’t you dare even think it! Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”

Jack took a deep breath; his head still craned to the side from the unexpected blow.  Slowly, he claimed his grandmother’s gaze and shook his head.  “Was that really necessary, Grams—”

Bitsy yelped and gave his other cheek a little attention, as well, slapping him with all her might for the second time in under a minute.

Jack’s head flew in the opposite direction, he and Nina’s eyes locking.

Nina threw him a look that let him know she was team Bitsy.  Anyone with a lick of sense knew better than to talk back to his grandmother like that.

“Grams, I’m sorry, alright?” Jack asked, looking back to her with his arms out.  “I’m sorry.  I had to get out of there; that’s all.  And once I was gone… I needed to
stay
gone.  I needed to get my mind in order.”

Chest heaving, blue eyes blubbery, Bitsy shook her head wildly, making her gray curls dance before she wrapped her arms around his neck with a pout.  “How can I stay angry at that perfect, gorgeous face?   I can’t.  I simply just can’t!” she cried.

Jack chuckled into her shoulder; hugging her so close he nearly brought her to her toes.

Nina watched the exchange with a fist over her smiling lips.

Jack pulled back and motioned to Nina.  “Nina, this is my grandmother, Bitsy.  Bitsy, this is Nina.  We met on the plane.”

“Before it went hurtling to the ground,” Nina said, offering Bitsy her hand.

“Well,” Bitsy took Nina’s hand while shooting Jack a look.  “Now I see why you couldn’t be bothered to call us…”

“It’s not Nina’s fault, Grams,” Jack said.  “She’s been hounding me to pick up the phone and call since the moment we met.”

“Is that so?” Bitsy asked, looking back to Nina.  “Well, in that case, Nina, I’d love for you to join me in the kitchen for a cup of tea.”

Bitsy locked arms with Nina and pulled her toward the kitchen.

“I like tea,” Jack mumbled after them.

He waited for an invitation, and when none came, he followed them across the room anyway.

***

“Bitsy I can’t thank you enough for helping us out with a plane ticket home.”  Nina embraced Bitsy for the millionth time that night.  She and Jack had spent the last hour regaling Bitsy with their adventures over the last two weeks, and since their flight was just a few hours away, Bitsy had invited Nina to use the guest shower.  “And also for offering me a much-needed shower.”

“Yes, showers have been worth their weight in gold these past two weeks,” Jack added, smiling up at Nina from the marble dining table.

Bitsy pulled back from Nina’s embrace.  “I know my grandson, darling.  When things have gotten so bad for him that he’s able to humble himself enough to ask for help… I know he really needs help.  Heavens, the last time I can remember Jack admitting he wasn’t an island was when he fell off his bike in kindergarten—and that was only because he’d broken his leg in four places.  The poor child had no other choice.”

“Stubborn as a mule,” Nina accused, shooting Jack a look.  “What are we going to do with him, huh?”

“Hell if I know, sugar,” Bitsy moaned.  “Now go on and hop in that shower.  We’ve got to be on our way to the airport soon.”

“Tell Frank thank you, as well?” Nina asked.  “Just in case I don’t see him before he gets back from the airport?”

In Bitsy’s rush to get home to Jack, she’d refused to wait for their bags at baggage claim.  Her husband had been forced to make two trips and was currently at the airport fetching their abandoned luggage.

“I’ll tell him, hun.  I’m sure we’ll be seeing you, again.” This time, it was Bitsy who shot Jack a look, which he promptly pretended not to see.

Nina pressed another kiss on Bitsy’s cheek before hurrying out of the kitchen, sure to swat Jack upside the head on her way by.

Bitsy watched her go, covering her smiling mouth even though her thrill was clear as day in her eyes.

“How can you resist?” Bitsy asked, motioning to Nina, who gave them both one last wave before disappearing around the corner.  Jack leaned deep in his chair to watch her go before turning and meeting Bitsy’s eyes.  “How can you resist her, Jack?”

“Obviously, I can’t.”  He stood from his chair and crossed the kitchen, leaning on the sink next to Bitsy.  He took in the three empty teacups in the sink, shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled, making his slacks stretch.

Bitsy sighed.  “It’s almost impossible to believe you’ve only known each other for a week.”

Jack gave her the side of his body, but that didn’t hide his reddening cheeks.

She brushed the back of her fingers along the deep crimson line growing on his jaw, her smile blossoming when his head fell, and a bashful smile spread on his own face.   “You deserve to be happy, sweetheart.”

Jack turned his head and met her eyes.

Bitsy nodded.  “And don’t you dare settle for anything less.  Even if it means you hightailing it out of a million more weddings and a million more church’s, then that’s just fine by me.”

Jack laughed heartily, looking off towards the door of the kitchen where Nina had just disappeared.

“Did you know that bride of yours did not take off her wedding dress for a week?” Bitsy beamed.  “Tar on the hem and all.”

“Damn.”  Jack shook his head.  “I feel terrible.”  He pulled at his slacks again.  “I wasn’t out to hurt Kelly.  I just couldn’t marry her, Grams.”

“You might be singing a different tune once you go back to Cambridge to collect your things, because those things no longer exist, dumpling.  She burned them all.”

Jack’s head fell.  “I suppose that’s fair.  A small price to pay for what I did to her.  Besides, I wouldn’t dare go back to Cambridge, or she might just come for my head.”

“Might?  Darling, for the rest of your days you’d do well to consider her your worst enemy. She will
never
get over it.”

Jack nodded.  “Maybe it’s good she burned all my stuff.  Maybe I just need a fresh start.”  His eyes remained on the door, and he breathed deep.  “I promise you, Grams, if I ever make it back to the altar, if I ever make that fresh start, it’ll be for real this time.  For good.”

Bitsy leaned on the counter, planted a hand on her hip and studied him.  “She’s really done a number on you.”

Jack didn’t meet her eyes.

“Why, I’ve never seen you like this,” she breathed.  “What an utterly delightful sight, Jack.  Just delightful.”

“I can hardly believe it myself, Grams.  She is the most insane, most exciting… most… completely
unhinged
human being I’ve ever met.”  Jack shook his head.  “We are so different, in every fathomable way, but…”  He laughed.  “I can’t seem to walk away from her.”

Bitsy nodded.

His hands curled into claws.  “The idea of getting back home, and letting the real world get its daggers back into us after we’ve been on this… this
cloud
… It scares the hell out of me.  I wasn’t ready to walk away from her, and that’s why I didn’t call you.   Didn’t call anybody.   And I’m sorry for that.  I know you were worried.”

Bitsy squinted.  “You know something?”

“Hm?” His eyebrows jumped.

“Even though I put on a big show, I never
truly
worry about you,” she said, catching his stunned face.  “And that’s the biggest compliment I will ever pay you, Jack.  Not even when you were a boy. I never, ever worried.  Not the way I did about Chase.  Or your mother.”  She reached out and covered his heart with her hand, taking a deep breath when she felt how hard and fast it was beating.  “You had the most uncanny ability to land right on your feet.  Every time.  Nothing shook you.  Nothing
shakes
you.   You are the most resilient, most capable, most kind-hearted man I’ve ever known, and will ever know
…”

Emotion filled Jack’s eyes.

“And I know that a heart like yours can only be so kind when it’s in conflict with enormous pain.”  She curled her fingers into his shirt and tugged it hard, making him shake.  “You deserve to be free of that, Jack.  You deserve to be happy.” She pointed toward the door.  “And that young lady there?  No matter how long you’ve known her, or how crazy she is, or how little sense it makes… she allows you to show your real heart—the heart I’ve
always
known.  You deserve that, darling.”

He frowned, and when he spoke, his voice was strangled.  “Do I?”

She tightened her grip.  “
Yes.
”

Jack laughed.

“I’m not laughing,” Bitsy said.  “You deserve to be happy.”

He cleared his throat; his false smile vanishing. “Tell me something, Grams.  Why do I keep choosing women who will never love me?”

“Why don’t you tell me something, Jack Almeida?  How in the world can you expect a woman to love you when you can’t even do that for yourself?” She tried to catch his eyes, but he avoided her gaze.  “When are you going to allow yourself to see that happiness doesn’t have to be a symptom of anger or misery?  That allowing yourself to be happy doesn’t mean you’re defaulting on some imaginary debt you owe to some imaginary God in the sky?” She paused, shaking him.  “Has that man beat you down so low, even in death, that you have no idea how much you deserve this?”

“You know… “  He licked his lips.  “Before I called you, Nina told me the reason she needed to be back in New York so quickly.  This whole time, she never told me the real reason, but we got into an argument, and it all just came flooding out.  She has to be home by Monday because she has a divorce trial to get to.  A trial where a lot of money is at stake.  Money that she
needs
if she’s going to keep another case, a malpractice case, going strong.”

Bitsy’s eyebrows squeezed.  “Malpractice?”