The Bachelor Boss (13 page)

“My room, please,” Lily said faintly, her voice tired.

He looked at her curiously but said no more.

Hannah exchanged a frantic look with Irene as they entered the house. This was not working out. Lily was exhausted. If she’d already been asleep when Ty arrived, it would have been much better. That would have given them a few extra hours for Lily to revive.

When she got to the room, Lily was waving Ty off. “Let Hannah help me get ready for bed, dear. I’m very tired.”

He looked confused but obediently backed toward the door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Maybe you don’t have to tell him what happened,” Lily suggested when she and Hannah were alone.

“Of course I do.”

“Then tell him it was all my idea.”

“I’m touched that you want to protect me, Lily, but I’m responsible for my actions. I shouldn’t have taken you to Clara’s yesterday. You got too overwrought, and look what happened.”

“I don’t want my grandson to be upset with you,” Lily fretted.

“Let me take care of that,” Hannah told her. “I’ll tuck you in and then I’ll go and face the music.” Gently, Hannah helped the older woman ready herself for bed.

Lily’s eyelids were already drooping. By the time Hannah left the room she could hear the elderly lady’s soft snore.

Ty was in the hallway.

“She’s sleeping,” Hannah informed him.

“That was fast. She hasn’t had dinner yet.”

“She was very tired.”

Ty stared at her appraisingly, his dark eyes seeming to x-ray her soul. Hannah was afraid he could see right through to the events of yesterday. “Now would you tell me what’s really going on? I come home and Irene and Danny are acting weird, Lily is so exhausted she doesn’t even talk to me and I can see you’re agitated. What went on while I was gone?”

At that moment, Danny and Irene mounted the stairs.

“Irene is going to read me a story,” Danny announced. Both of them averted their eyes so they didn’t have to look at Ty.

Talk about being bad liars! Hannah thought. They looked as if they were prevaricating about something even when they were telling the truth.

“We’d better go downstairs,” Hannah suggested.

“Into my study, then.”

She was going to lose her job; she
should
lose it. She hadn’t listened to Ty, and she’d taken Lily out and the poor woman had ended up overnight in the cardiac unit of the hospital. Hannah had probably set her back a month in her recovery time. What had she been thinking?

Of course, Hannah knew the answer. Lily’s heart was going to break one way or the other, either from stress or because of her sadness over Clara.

Then she thought of the mess Trisha had gotten them into. She was still short almost two thousand dollars. The girl had purchased several items that couldn’t be returned, Hannah had discovered. Not only did she have to find money for the delinquent mortgage, but also for credit cards with sky-high interest. Without a job there would be no way to catch up. With no way to catch up...Hannah couldn’t go any further. If this snowballed and she lost the house, she had no idea where to turn. By the time they entered the study, Hannah had herself living in poverty, her home a shopping cart, her life over.

She sank onto one of the leather wing chairs across from his desk. It felt like butter, soft, pliable, rich. It would only take the price of
one
of these chairs to pay the mortgage.

Hannah was grateful when Ty switched on the gas fireplace. It was cool in the room and night was beginning to fall. Closeted with its thick drapes, endless bookshelves, dark wood and large, finely woven rugs the room felt like a private cocoon. It seemed as if she and Ty were on another planet, one all their own. She braced herself to be kicked off Planet Matthews very soon.

“When did Irene start reading to Danny?” Ty demanded. “And why is she here so late in the day? What caused my grandmother to be so exhausted that she couldn’t even talk to me?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got all night, Hannah.” He studied her face. “Maybe you should make some coffee. I have a hunch this might take a while.”

She escaped to the kitchen and returned with a carafe and two mugs. She’d also done some baking earlier in the week, so the tray held chocolate-dipped biscotti and almond macaroons drizzled with chocolate.

The last supper, she thought morosely, her guilt genes firing on all cylinders.

He sat down behind the desk and waited.

“It all started yesterday, when Lily insisted she had to see Clara.”

A groan escaped him. “I was afraid of that.”

“She was relentless. She even quit eating. You know how she can be.”

“Better than anyone. I hope you didn’t humor her.”

Hannah glanced at him, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m afraid I did.”

“So you were at Clara’s today?”

“Not exactly. We were there yesterday.”

“Then where were you just now?” He looked puzzled.

“Seeing her friend upset Lily a good deal. I didn’t like how she was behaving after we left. She’d become so agitated that I was afraid she might have a heart attack or a ministroke.”

“Keep going.” He sounded grim.

“So I took her to the emergency room. I thought it wouldn’t hurt to play it safe. They did an EKG, which was normal, but they decided to keep her overnight wearing a monitor so they could watch her. It was just a precaution and I felt better that they did that. Lily’s okay, just tired.

“In fact, her heart is very strong for her age. ‘A remarkable specimen,’ they called her, at least fifteen years younger than her actual age.” She looked into his face, now creased with concern. “Ty, I’m giving you
good
news, not bad.”

“She was in the hospital all night? And you didn’t call me?”

“Actually, I did. You never picked up.”

“There were no messages.”

“I didn’t want to leave one. I thought it was something you needed to hear directly from me.”

“You make all sorts of decisions, don’t you, Hannah?”

“I did my best.”

“You promised me that you wouldn’t take her out while I was gone.”

“She was working herself into a frenzy! What was I supposed to do?”

“Call me.”

“But you didn’t answer!”

They could go around like this all night, Hannah thought.

“Tell me everything that happened—at Clara’s, what made you take Lily to the hospital, what the doctor said.” His blue eyes had grown inky and she didn’t know how to read them.

“Nothing much has changed there,” Hannah said wearily, sinking deep into the leather chair, wishing she could disappear into its depths. Truth be told, she yearned to vanish and not come back until her mortgage was paid and Ty wasn’t scowling at her.

“Lily was very firm about being
alone
with her friend, so I had to respect that. I don’t know what they discussed, but if Lily could have taken Clara home with her, she probably would have. She’s convinced that we need to rescue Clara. She’s obviously suffering from benign neglect because neither John nor his mother have any training or skills as a caregiver. Psychologically, it can’t be good. Even Lily suggested a care facility of some kind. The emotional part of being old may be the most difficult—losing one’s independence, one’s mobility, one’s friends.”

“The last part is the hardest,” Ty said softly. “I see that. It doesn’t seem fair. But that doesn’t negate the fact that Lily spent the night in a hospital.”

“Look at it this way—if she was going to have trouble, we’d have nipped it in the bud. Better safe than sorry,” she added brightly.

“Lily wore you down. Why should you be surprised that Lily could wear me down, too?”

“You’re the expert, Hannah. You should be able to take any pressure a patient puts on you and refuse to give in if those are your instructions.”

“They weren’t really reasonable instructions.” She found herself terribly annoyed. “Lily isn’t a prisoner here. She’s clear and cognizant of everything. Surely she should have some say in her own life.”

“Not when her ideas land her in the hospital.”

“Oh, come on, that was a precaution. If I hadn’t taken her to the hospital, you would have been mad at me then, too.”

She should probably keep her mouth shut, Hannah realized. She hated arguing with him; she despised interacting with him like this, when she couldn’t see the tender, funny side of him.

Still, she couldn’t go without saying what she had to tell him. For Lily’s sake, not his. “You’re going overboard with her, Ty. She’s a lot more resilient than you give her credit for being. You complain that your grandfather pampered her too much, yet you are doing exactly the same thing. Why shouldn’t she push the edges of the envelope? She enjoys being indulged and cosseted. Why not find out how much pampering she can get? She’s smart—savvy like a toddler who knows how to work his parents. Ask her. She’ll tell you that herself.”

He groaned and raked his fingers through his hair, a sure sign of his frustration. “I expected you to be more protective of her, after the types of things you’ve seen and know happen. You know I’ll do anything to see that Lily is well taken care of.”

She reached out a hand, wishing she could touch him, smooth the dark hair he’d rumpled. “All I’m saying is that you should ease up for your own sake and Lily’s. Even Lily doesn’t like to be coddled every moment. Let her get out and live her life.”

The look he gave her could have cut diamonds. Then his expression softened. “You’re probably right.” He sighed. “I know the strength of Lily’s will. I was just hoping that somehow you could find a way...”

Tears were running down her cheeks when she reached across the desk and grabbed his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

Silently Ty stood up, came around to her side of the desk, took Hannah in his arms and let her cry. He rested his cheek on the crown of her head, smelling the fragrance of her shampoo, finding himself wanting to do whatever it took to make this woman happy.

Chapter Sixteen

S
he awoke late the next morning and scrambled out of bed. Danny was already dressed and eating breakfast with Irene when Hannah entered the kitchen.

“Hi, sleepyhead,” he said with a grin. He jumped up, grabbed his backpack and headed for the door. “Josh’s mom is giving me a ride to school today. He and I are going to feed the hamsters and the lizards before school ’cause it’s our turn. See ya later, Mom.” He breezed a kiss by Hannah’s cheek and scooted out the door.

Hannah smiled, grateful that Danny had found a good friend. He’d been a little short on them at school lately.

“Did you sleep well, Hannah?” Irene asked when Hannah walked into the kitchen. She handed her a cup of coffee.

“I remember seeing 4:00 a.m. on the clock.”

“Must have been that kind of night. Mr. Matthews looked tired, too. ’Course he had to get up and catch a plane this morning. He left about the time I arrived.”

Hannah was stunned. He hadn’t told her he was leaving again. Of course, there’d been a lot of other things going on last night.

“Mr. Matthews asked me to stay with you while he’s gone,” Irene continued. “He said you probably would like a little time off. I’ll be here all day, so feel free to relax. When you come back, I’ll go get a bag with a nightgown and a change of clothes.”

“How long will he be gone? Did he tell you?”

“Awhile, I think. Three days, maybe? He didn’t sound quite sure. I suppose it depends on how things go business-wise.”

Three days? It might have been three decades. The house didn’t feel right without Ty in it—at least after last night when Ty had held her.

Later, Hannah peeked in on Lily to tell her she was taking the day off.

“Ty wasn’t difficult with you, was he?” Lily asked worriedly. “Don’t pay any attention to him. His bark is much worse than this bite.” Lily studied Hannah. “Oh, dear, he fussed at you, didn’t he? I’ll talk to him about it.”

“He had every right to fuss. I took you out and you got upset and ended up in the hospital. Fine caregiver I am.”
Besides, he comforted me far more than he fussed.

“Nonsense. I wanted to go. I let myself get worked up. You did the only sensible thing by making sure I wasn’t ill. He should give you a raise!”

“Well, he’s gone again for a few days, so we’ll just have to put this on the back burner. Irene is here today and I’m going to run errands.” She leaned over and kissed the older woman on her papery-thin cheek. “Be good for her, okay?”

Lily’s eyes danced. “I think I’ll ask her if we can go to the park and ride the bumper cars!”

“Now I’m getting out of here for sure.” Hannah waved goodbye over her shoulder as she left.

* * *

Tired from his second long, tedious day of meetings, Ty decided to eat in the hotel restaurant. He wasn’t willing to tackle any more Los Angeles traffic. His brain and his body were tired. He’d signed his name on the dotted line for a lot of money, but he was accustomed to that. What he wasn’t used to was spending his nights flopping around in his bed like a fish washed up on the beach.

It was Hannah’s fault. She’d been haunting both his waking and sleeping thoughts. What was she doing tonight? Was she taking time off, as he’d hoped she would? She’d felt so remorseful and vulnerable in his arms that it would be impossible to stay upset with her. He had no doubt anymore that she would fight as much as he did for Lily’s well-being.

And Danny. What was he doing? That little boy had really stolen his heart. He was hungry for a male influence. How could Ty be less than flattered that Danny had adopted him for that role? A smile touched the corners of his lips.

Then Ty realized that for the first time in a very long time he felt happy, truly happy. It occurred to him that he’d thought very little about Anita in the days since Hannah had crashed—literally—into his life.

Ty marveled at the thought. What had gotten into him?

Hannah, that’s what.

* * *

Hannah decided that the first thing she should do was go to her house, check for unpaid bills, get online, check her account balance and see what they owed.