All That I Need (Grayson Friends) (14 page)

Fallow swallowed and walked around Naomi to ensure everything was perfect. Despite how badly things had turned out for Fallon, she was glad Naomi had found the happiness she deserved, and was happy to share Richard and Naomi’s wedding day with them. “You look amazing,” Fallon said softly.

“Stunning,” Catherine added.

“Thank you.” Naomi smiled. “I feel beautiful.” She lifted the voluminous A-line tulle skirt of the floor-length nude strapless gown. The ornately embroidered and beaded bodice continued on both sides of the dress and stopped at her fingertips. The gown complemented Naomi’s complexion and whispered softly when she moved. Her hair was swept atop her head and held in place with a jeweled comb.

“Richard’s jaw will drop.” Fallon grinned.

“Don’t make me cry.” Naomi fanned her face with her nude elbow-length gloves.

“It’s time.” Mrs. Lincoln clapped her hands together. “Mrs. Grayson. Fallon. It’s time to meet the groomsmen.”

Fallon felt her stomach dip and prayed she’d make it through today. Trying to keep the smile on her face, she gave Naomi a hug and followed Catherine out of the room.

*   *   *

Lance had been waiting for this moment since last night. The first sight of Fallon struck him like a closed fist. She was stunningly beautiful. Even the dark smudges beneath her narrowed eyes couldn’t detract from that beauty. Despite everything he’d planned, thought, some part of him refused to banish her from his mind.

Fallon didn’t meet his gaze as he took her arm and started down the aisle. Beneath their feet were the white rose petals Kayla had scattered. Fallon loved flowers. The flowers he’d given her were dead and forgotten, just as he was to her.

Perhaps because today the church was filled with flickering candles, dozens of flowers, their scent heavy in the air, he felt “something” walking beside her. He couldn’t define the feeling and it bothered him.

Richard certainly looked happy, ecstatic actually, Lance thought. His cousin was as anxious as a kid on Christmas morning expecting his first bike. His best man, Luke, who’d been married for a while, clearly loved his wife. Marriage might work for some people, but not for Lance.

When it was time to release Fallon, Lance felt a momentary resistance that oddly didn’t surprise him. Taking his place beside Luke, Lance watched Fallon. He frowned on seeing her blanch and almost took a step toward her. Yet even as the thought formed, her head lifted, and she stared toward the back of the church. She was ill. He was positive. As soon as the wedding was over, he was going to find out what was wrong with her.

The organist began playing Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus.” It would never be played for Lance and Fallon. There was a rustle as the audience stood, then appreciative “oohhs” and “aahhs” as Naomi started down the aisle. She looked radiant and beautiful. Richard looked stunned—in a good way. As if compelled, despite Mrs. Lincoln’s strict instructions and him knowing better, Lance didn’t seem able to stop watching Fallon.

*   *   *

Lance’s concern regarding Fallon grew as the day of the wedding lengthened. Just after the wedding, she’d looked so pale and shaky he’d been fearful that she’d faint. She’d seen him coming toward her and gone to the limousine waiting for the bridal party.

She’d thwarted him again. He’d gone to his car and driven to the Casa de Serenidad hotel, where the wedding reception was being held, and bided his time. He’d waited through the arrival of the bride and groom, the toasts, the first dance, and the food before he got his chance.

Fallon had excused herself from the wedding party and left the room. She’d done so before, but he hadn’t felt as if he could follow until now because the bride and groom had just left as well.

This time he’d get an answer. He saw her go into the women’s restroom. He leaned against the wall to wait. She came out a few minutes later. Her steps were unsteady. Worried, he started for her. She saw him and stiffened.

“You look sick. Have you been to the doctor?” he asked. He hadn’t intended the words to come out so abrupt.

“As a matter of fact I have. He said I’m fine. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” She took two steps, swayed.

He caught her, more frightened than he’d ever been in his life. “Fallon!”

“I’m—I’m all right.” She pushed away from him and rubbed her hand across her forehead. “I don’t need your help.”

“The hell you don’t.” His arms circled her shoulders again. “I’m taking you home.”

“I—” She slapped her hand over her mouth, pushed out of his arms, and rushed back into the bathroom.

He reached for the door to follow her.

“That’s the women’s bathroom,” an elderly woman said, eyeing him with suspicion.

“I know. A friend of mine is sick. She just went inside.”

The well-dressed woman continued to look at him with skepticism. “You just wait here, and I’ll go see.”

“Thank you.” Lance didn’t know whether to go get his aunt or—

The door opened and the elderly woman came back out. “She said to tell you that she’s fine. She’ll call you tomorrow.”

He didn’t believe either statement. “Thank you. I’ll wait.”

A frown on her face, the woman looked back at the bathroom door, then back at him. “Maybe it’s best. She didn’t look well.”

Lance’s eyes rounded. He reached for the door again.

“Young man, you can’t go into a ladies’ restroom,” the woman protested.

“I’m not waiting out here while Fallon is sick.” He turned to the door just as it slowly began to open.

Fallon, looking pale and weak, stood there. He scooped her up in his arms. “I’m taking you home and putting you to bed. Tomorrow you’re going to see another doctor.”

“Lance, please put me down. People are staring.”

“I don’t give a damn.” He continued down the hall and then outside. Standing her on her feet, his arm securely around her waist, he gave the attendant his valet ticket. “Please hurry. She’s ill.”

“The hotel has a doctor on call,” another valet said while one ran to get Lance’s car.

“I’ve already seen a doctor,” Fallon gritted out.

“A quack apparently,” Lance said.

The valet jumped out of Lance’s car. “Here’s your car, mister. I hope you feel better, miss.”

The other valet opened the passenger’s door. “You sure you don’t want me to call the front desk to get the doctor on call?”

“I’m taking her home.” Lance would put her to bed at the cottage and take care of her. His aunt probably knew a doctor he could call. He reached for Fallon and she slapped his hand away.

“I’m not going anyplace with you.”

“You’re sick,” he said. Maybe she’d picked up some bug on her last trip.

“I’m not sick, you fool. I’m pregnant.” Spinning on her heels, she went back inside the hotel.

Lance felt the earth shift beneath his feet. There was a roaring sound in his head.

“Mister. Mister. You all right?”

Lance glanced between the two young attendants on either side of him holding his arms. “Pregnant.”

They nodded solemnly.

Pregnant and she wasn’t happy about it. Fear consumed him. “I’ve got to get to her.”

“Mister. Your car.”

Ignoring the valet’s frantic call, Lance rushed back to the ballroom. He had to find her. If … No, he refused to let his mind go there.

Richard and Naomi might have left, but people were having a great time at the reception. They were congregated at the buffet table or the three bars or on the dance floor. The one person Lance sought wasn’t there. He didn’t even know where she was staying.

He pulled out his cell phone only to replace it. She wasn’t going to pick up his call. Shoving his hand over his head in frustration, he made his way to his aunt and uncle’s table.

“Aunt Gladys, have you seen Fallon in the last five minutes?” Lance asked, trying to appear calm when he was almost jumping out of his skin.

“No, Lance.” Gladys came to her feet. “Are you all right?”

“Fine.” He searched the crowd again before turning back to his aunt. “Do you happen to know where she’s staying?”

“No,” she said, then looked at him ruefully. “You two have a fight?”

He worked his shoulders. “I need to find her.”

Something brushed his arm; he turned to see what it was and saw his mother. He frowned.

“Do you want us to help you look for her?” she asked. Her husband stood as well, silently offering his help. They’d briefly spoken to Lance at the reception today. They tended to avoid each other.

As much as he wanted to find Fallon, Lance didn’t want anything from his mother or her husband. “No.” He faced his aunt. “If you see her, please call me.”

His aunt’s annoyance with him was obvious. She wanted him and his mother to settle their differences. It wasn’t happening. “I will, but we’re leaving as soon as Catherine and Luke return with Kayla. She wanted to say good night to her mother and new daddy.”

Lance’s brows bunched in surprise. “They haven’t left?”

Richard’s mother leaned closer and whispered, “Naomi wanted to make sure Kayla was all right before they left on their honeymoon. They’re staying in the hotel for a couple of days.”

Naomi would know how to find Fallon. “What’s their room number?” Lance asked, uncaring that he sounded a bit frantic.

“Lance—”

“Please.” He took Gladys’s arms. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”

“Tell him, Gladys,” his uncle said.

“Three ten. The honeymoon suite,” Gladys answered.

“Thank you.” Lance rushed from the ballroom. He couldn’t get to the elevator fast enough. He leaned on the button, then jabbed it a couple of times. “Come on. Come on.”

The elevator pinged. Lance started to get on but stepped back as Luke, Catherine, and Kayla started to come out.

“Hi, Cousin Lance,” Kayla greeted cheerfully. “Are you going to say good night to Mama and Daddy, too?”

“Hi, Kayla. Something like that.” Ignoring the strange looks Catherine and Luke were giving him, Lance entered the elevator and punched 3. If they’d just left, he might catch Richard before he and Naomi became “involved.”

As soon as the elevator doors began to slide open on the third floor, Lance was through them and hurrying down the hall. Locating 310, he knocked on the door, then knocked again. Somehow he’d make it up to them, but he had to find Fallon before it was too late.

Richard opened the door. The indulgent smile morphed into aggravation. He probably had thought it was Kayla again. “This had better be someone dying.”

“Fallon’s pregnant and I can’t find her.”

*   *   *

Fallon made it as far as the sofa in Naomi’s apartment before she had to sit down. She’d never felt as weak and as tired as she did now. Thankfully, the nausea had subsided. For someone who had never been sick with more than a cold, her body wasn’t dealing well with pregnancy.

Neither was she.

Eyes closed, she dropped her head on the armrest and placed her forearm over her eyes. She’d attributed the missed menstrual cycle to stress, worry, and anger—until the nausea began. The food editor Fallon was traveling with suggested that she might be pregnant. She had scoffed at the idea. She’d purchased a pregnancy test to prove she wasn’t pregnant.

She wasn’t laughing the next morning.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d stared at the stick, then she’d cried. She didn’t want to be a single mother. Despite the way things had ended between them, she wanted Lance so badly she ached.

The hard knock on the apartment door startled her. She sat up and was hit by a wave of dizziness. She eased back down. The knock came again. This time harder. Fallon didn’t particularly care. It couldn’t be a friend of Naomi’s because a friend would know she was getting married today. Anyone else didn’t matter.

“Fallon! It’s Lance. Open the door!”

She might have known. He must have tracked Richard and Naomi down. How insensitive of him.

“Fallon. I know you’re in there.”

Her lashes fluttered open. What did he have to be angry about? He wasn’t the one puking his guts out, unable to walk ten feet without getting tired.

“Fallon, open this door. I’m not leaving until we talk.”

Obstinate man. Now he wanted to talk, unlike the last time they were together.

“Fallon!”

She sighed. If he kept shouting and beating on the door, someone might call the police. Getting the authorities involved would solve nothing, and there was the little matter that the newspaper often printed the police report. She didn’t want everybody knowing her business. She still couldn’t believe she’d blurted out she was pregnant in front of the valet attendants. Her emotions were on a roller-coaster ride.

“Fallon!”

He sounded ready to blow a gasket. “Coming.” She didn’t know whether he heard her or not. Her overriding concern was trying to keep the nausea and dizziness at bay. This time she sat up slower. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and rest. That wasn’t going to happen until she and Lance talked. Little by little, she made her way to the door and opened it.

Lance brushed by her as if he expected her to change her mind and lock him out. As good as that sounded, he deserved to know he was going to be a father.

“It it true?”

Instead of answering, she inched her way back to the sofa to lie down. As soon as she stretched out, she felt nausea rise in her throat. It wasn’t fair. She’d only eaten a couple of bites of food at the reception. Maybe if she kept swallow—

Clamping her hand over her mouth, she came off the sofa and headed toward the bathroom, hoping she’d make it in time. She wasn’t paying Naomi back by throwing up on her newly cleaned carpet, and certainly not in front of Lance. It would be the height of embarrassment.

Fallon had only gone a few steps before she was lifted and swiftly carried down the hallway and into the bedroom. She’d thought so often of being in Lance’s arms again, but never for this reason. He placed her on her feet in the connecting bathroom.

“Please leave.”

She didn’t have time to see if he did as she requested. She was too busy emptying her stomach until there were only dry heaves. Her hand trembling, she flushed the commode and wondered if she had the strength to stand.