Flynn (11 page)

“You
embarrassed? Even though it was dark I could see he was the one doing all the
blushing.
Never thought I’d say that about my baby brother.”

He
burst out laughing again and Natalie couldn’t do anything else but join in.

****

Natalie
watched as Emily knitted a row all by herself. She pushed her glasses up on the
bridge of her nose and smiled at Natalie as she held it up for her to inspect.

“You’re
going to be a great knitter. I can tell that already. In fact, you must take
after
your
…”

She
stopped herself from saying great grandmother just in the nick of time. She bit
her lip. How long could she keep this charade up, not only with Flynn, but her
daughter too?
 
I’ll tell Flynn the next time we make love.

“Take
after who?” asked Emily.

“I
forgot what I was going to say.”

“Hey,
you guys want a freshly baked scone and some tea?” called Flynn’s mother.

“I’d
love some.”

“Me
too.
Huckleberry
jam
on mine.”

“Coming
right up,” she called back.

“I
pick huckleberries in the summer with Gran. You have to beat the bears to it.”

“Really?
Sounds dangerous.”

“Gran
takes her gun so it’s okay.”

Natalie
smiled. An image of a seventy plus year old lady yielding a shotgun sprang to
mind. Emily had experienced a completely different life to the one she would
had she been raised by her. Somehow this one seemed near perfect, so maybe
Emily had really lucked out.

“This
okay?” asked Emily holding it up. She noticed she’d dropped a few stitches and
was about to help her when she heard a crashing noise in the kitchen. It
sounded like a pan falling to the floor and then china smashing.

“You
okay, Marie?” shouted Natalie.

When
she didn’t hear anything, she got up and walked back there.

“Oh
Marie, no.”
Flynn’s mother had collapsed on the floor. “Marie.”

She
got down on the floor not sure what to do when Emily ran into the kitchen and
screamed when she saw her grandmother.

“It’s
okay, honey. Stay with your gran and I’ll call 911.”

Emily
rushed to her and held her grandmother’s hand while Natalie reached for the
phone.

“Hi,
911 how can I assist you?”

“A
woman has passed out at the Timber Creek Café on Main Street and I need an
ambulance.”

“Gran,
gran, wake up.” Emily cradled her grandma in her arms.

“I
think she’s unconscious so please hurry,” said Natalie.

“Help
is on its way.”

“Gran,
you can’t die, I love you.” Emily planted a kiss on Marie’s forehead.

A
tear slid down Natalie’s face.
Poor Emily.

“Honey,
let’s give her some space.” Natalie took off her jacket, rolled it up and
placed it under Marie’s head, hoping she was doing the right thing.

“Gran,
Dad needs you too,” said Emily.

The
bell over the door rang and shortly after Shane rushed into the kitchen. “I
just heard the 911 call.”

“Uncle
Shane
don’t
let Gran die.”

“Honey,
I’m going to help her.” He knelt down and took his mother’s hand in his. “She has
a pulse and her breathing’s steady but shallow.”

“Does
she have a heart condition or anything like that?” asked Natalie.

“Not
that I know of, but she’s a stubborn woman about going for physicals.”

A
siren sounded in the distance, and five minutes later after two paramedics were
inside the café.

“Honey,
you have to let them look at your Gran,” said Shane pulling Emily away.

She
screamed and cried. “I want to go with her, I want to.”

“Emily,
you go along with Natalie and she’ll take you to the hospital to see Gran. I’ll
call your dad and Rory and we’ll all meet there okay?”

Natalie
put her arm around Emily. “Come on sweetie, it’s going to be okay.”

****

His
mother hadn’t been sick with more than a bad cold for as long as he could
remember. He and Rory had rushed into the hospital to find Shane, Lacey,
Natalie, and Emily already in the family waiting area.

“Any
word about how Mom’s doing?” asked Flynn.

“The
doctor’s with her now,” said Shane.

“Daddy,
don’t let Gran die.” His daughter flung his arms around him. He felt like she
was going to break every bone in his body she clung so tight to him.

“The doctor’s
going to make sure that doesn’t happen.” He rubbed her back and heard her
sobbing into his chest. He hoped he wasn’t wrong about that. “Let’s go sit and
wait and…”

Just
as he said that a doctor headed toward them.

“Is
she okay?” asked Rory when he got closer.

He
nodded. “She had a heart attack. She’s awake and stable, but we don’t know how
serious the damage is until we run some tests.”

“Geez,
a heart attack,” said Shane, running his hands through his hair.

“Sometimes
it happens without any warning,” said the doctor.
 

“Can
we go in and see her?” asked Rory.

“I’d
like her to rest for the time being. I suggest you go home and then I’ll call
you when she’s up to seeing visitors.”

Flynn
nodded. He glanced over at Natalie. Shane had told him she’d called 911. He
couldn’t imagine what would have happened if Emily had been with his mother all
by herself.

He
put his arm around both her and Emily as they walked out into the parking lot.

“Thanks
for helping out today,” he said.

“I’m
glad I was there. I just heard a crash back in the kitchen and found her on the
floor,” said Natalie.

“Daddy,
can I see Gran soon?”

“Sure
honey, really soon.”

“Will
she need to live with us?”
“I don’t know yet. We’ll have to see what the doctor says.”

“Who’s
going to cook and take care of the café?” asked Emily.

“I
can,” said Natalie.

“Are
you sure?” asked Flynn.

“I’m
positive.”

****

Natalie
had probably jumped in there a little too quickly with offering to help run the
café in Marie’s absence. Not only did she want to help Marie, but it was the
perfect excuse to stick around Timber Creek longer. Lacey had been kind enough
to offer some help while she eased into the new job. Natalie watched as she patted
her belly before she set about clearing the tables from the lunchtime crowd.

“The
baby’s been moving a lot these last few days,” she said carrying a pile of
plates to the kitchen.

“Wait
till that keeps you up all night.” It had slipped out of her mouth before she’d
realized it.

“You’ve
had a baby…I mean you have a child?” she asked.

“I
did, but it didn’t survive.”

Another lie,
another piece of the tangled web.

“I am
so sorry to hear that.”

Shane
walked into the door.

“Any
chance of getting some cookies for my afternoon snack?”

“I
think we can find you some, although I warn you they won’t be as good as your
mother’s,” said Natalie.

“I’ll
take my chances. Oh and Natalie, speaking of my mother, she asked if you could
go visit her at the hospital this afternoon. She wants to talk to you about
something. Watch out because she might want you to take over running this place
on a long term basis, and she has this strange way of making people do whatever
she asks.”

Would
she? Would this be her perfect opportunity to stay in Timber Creek indefinitely?
Give up her law career in Orlando to run a café in the middle of nowhere in
Montana? Flynn and Emily were here so it sounded like something she’d do
without having to give it much thought.

“I
hope word hasn’t got back to her that I burned the bacon on someone’s order
this morning,” said Natalie.

Shane
took a bite of the one of the oatmeal cookies Lacey had given him.
“Could be because news travels very fast in Timber Creek.”

****

Natalie
opened the door to Marie’s hospital room and peeked in to make sure she wasn’t
asleep and therefore disturbing her. She was wide awake and watching TV.

“Hi
Natalie, come in and pull up a chair.”

“I
brought you some of the scones Lacey and I made this morning.” She put down a
basket on the table by the bed.

“They
look wonderful. So how are things going?”

“Good,
well, not as good when you’re running things. But you’ll soon be back.”

“Well,
it looks like I might need some surgery, but after that I’ll be as good as
new.”

“I’m
glad to hear that.”

“And
I have you to thank. They said you being there and calling 911 so quickly
helped me a lot.”

“I
only wish I could have done more.”

“You
can right now honey.” She reached out for Natalie’s hand and held it between
her two palms. “It’s the reason I asked you to come see me.
Just
the two of us girls together.
I have a huge favor to ask you.”

Shane was probably right. She wants me
to take over the running of the café. And I’m going to accept without
hesitation.

“Sure
anything,” said Natalie.

“I
want you to tell Flynn the truth.”

Natalie
felt bile rise in her throat, giving her mouth a sudden bitter taste. Was Marie
referring to what she thought? And if so, how could she possibly know?

“And
don’t go telling me you don’t know what I’m talking about. You’re Emily’s birth
mother aren’t you?”

There
was no running now. Natalie lower lips quivered. She nodded. “How did you
know?”

“I
didn’t at first but I’m a mother of four, and I know the look a mother gives
her child. Every time you’re with Emily you have a look of love and pride that
doesn’t, and can’t, come from a stranger.”

A
tear slid down her face. “I never wanted to give her up.”

“
Shhh
honeybee.
I know that.
And judging by your age and knowing she’s thirteen, I’m guessing you were
little more than a baby yourself when you gave birth.”

Natalie
nodded, a tear falling from her face and bouncing onto her lap. “And I didn’t
know
she
…
“Was so special.
I know sweetie. But here’s my concern—I’ve
also seen the way you look at my son and the way he looks at you. There’s a
spark there, there’s love there, and if you’re not honest with him it’s not
going to end well and that would be a shame.”

“I
have this feeling he might hate me now. I mean for not telling him when we
first met. I had every intention of doing that but it was the shock of seeing
Emily and, well, by then it was too late.”

She
shook her head “No, he won’t. And there’s something he has to tell you too…about
how he came to be Emily’s daddy. I think as her birth mother you have a right
to know.” She took a deep breath. “Yeah, both of you are alike in the secret
department. Now off you go and talk to Flynn.”

Chapter
Eleven

Flynn
walked into the kitchen of the café to see Emily looking at photos he’d never
seen before.

“What
do you have there?”

He’d
surprised her and as she turned they scattered all over the floor.

“I
found them in Natalie’s purse and I didn’t put them back because I wanted to
look at them.”

“Honey,
I’ve told you, not to snoop in people’s private things.”

“Sorry
Daddy, sorry.”

She
ran out of the kitchen door. He knew she was sorry but sometimes she needed to
get away to deal with things in her own way. Flynn got on his hands and knees
and began to gather up the photos so he could give them back to Natalie and
apologize.

He
looked at one of them.

Wait, a minute, I’m dreaming.

He
looked again at the woman standing next to Natalie. That’s why Natalie’s face had
seemed somewhat familiar when they’d first met that night. She looked like her
mother.

Her mother.

The bitch.

 
He’d never forget her for the rest of his
life.