Listen to Your Heart (16 page)

Dale muffled a small gasp. “I forgot to
call Ken back,” she said to Morgan, then motioned for the attendant. “When can
I make a call?” she inquired, placing her phone on the lacquered table beside
her chair.

“As soon as we’re at cruising altitude.”
He smiled. “I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you.” Dale sat back and looked
over at Morgan.

“Did I see Adrian kiss you back there?”
She waved a hand in the air. “Back at Whistler, at the heliport?”

Morgan stared out the window. “You saw
that, huh?”

“Hello! Of course I did.” She leaned
forward. “What’s wrong, Mo?”

Morgan exhaled slowly. “It’s just
that...” She turned back. “I can’t see this going anywhere.”

“Why not?” As usual, her friend wasn’t
going to let her off the hook. “And don’t give me some half-assed story about
his father owning the hotels. You can’t hold that against him.” She stopped and
narrowed her eyes. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“I think he has a girlfriend at home.”
Morgan studied her friend for a reaction, but was disappointed.

“What gives you that idea?”

“I asked him point blank the other day,
and all he would say is that it’s complicated.”

“Hmmm.” Dale mulled over this latest
information. “But he didn’t actually admit to having a girlfriend. And I
definitely saw him kissing you.” She grinned. “And you’re here, and she’s not.”

Morgan groaned. “I don’t want to be a
winter romance. He’ll probably go back when the season is over and then what?”

“Don’t sulk; it doesn’t become you.
Besides, it seems to me that you’re overthinking this.”

“That’s what he said.”

“And he was right. By the way, where
were you when I was trying to call?” Dale tried to look stern. “Your phone was
turned off.”

Morgan rewarded her with a faint smile.
“We went up Blackcomb and across on the Peak2Peak.”

“Adrian? On the Peak2Peak?”

“I know. Crazy, huh?” The steward had
disappeared up front and she filled Dale in on Adrian’s story.

“My God. That must have been awful.” She
turned to look out the window, lost in some memory of her own. “It’s no wonder
he doesn’t ski,” she said eventually. “Do you think some day he’ll try it
again?”

“I’m hoping he will.” Morgan took a good
look at her friend. “You look different. I dunno, happy or something.”

She expected Dale to deny it, but was
pleasantly surprised. “It scares the hell out of me, but yes, I
am
happy.” She picked up her phone and looked at it as though she was angry with
it. “The funny thing is, I was going to call Mom tonight and talk to her about
it.” Her fingers closed around the phone. “And now this. If anything happens to
her, I don’t know how I’ll stand it.”

It was Morgan’s turn to be strong. “Well,
nothing’s going to happen. You heard Ken; she’s in good hands. Just think, you
can tell her about Chance in person.” She hesitated. “Probably tomorrow.”

Dale gave her a bleak smile. “You
promise?”

Morgan forced herself to maintain eye
contact. “I promise.”

The steward chose that moment to come
back into the cabin with some coffee and pastries. “You can make that call
now,” he said, arranging everything on the table between them. “Is there
anything else you’d like?”

“No thanks, Kurt. This looks wonderful.”
Morgan spoke for both of them; Dale already had the phone to her ear.

* * *

“She’s doing fine.” Ken was all smiles
when he picked them up. “The doctors informed us that they’ll start reducing
her medications overnight and they expect she she’ll regain consciousness
tomorrow.” He gathered each of them in a hug. “But still, I’m so glad you’re
here. Dad hasn’t left her side, of course.”

He glanced outside where a fuel truck
had pulled up beside the Zimco jet. “Nice ride. I’ve just begun to realize that
I’m working in the wrong business.”

Dale punched him lightly on the arm. “As
if you’d ever change. Cars are in your blood.”

He picked up their bags. “Still,” he
said, glancing back one last time. “It must be nice.”

Dale and Morgan looked at each other.
“We hardly noticed,” said Morgan. “All we could think about was getting home.”

She pulled her collar up as they stepped
outside into a cutting wind. “I’d forgotten how different the cold is here,”
she said. “I’m glad I threw in some warm slacks.”

“Come on. The car is just over here.” He
tossed their bags in the trunk and they piled into the late model sedan. “We’ll
go right to the hospital.”

* * *

Morgan’s chest constricted when she saw
her mother in the hospital bed. Her father had pulled up a chair as close as he
could get, and was stroking the back of her hand with one large finger. His
eyes were haunted but he looked up and smiled. “My girls,” he said, rising to
give each one of them a hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Hi Dad.” He sat back down and Morgan
laid a hand on his shoulder. “She looks so small, lying there.” Her mother was
unusually pale. A bag of clear liquid hung on a stand beside the bad, and a
tube led to a cannula which was taped to her mother’s left hand. The heart
monitor beeping steadily in the background did nothing to comfort her.

“Ken says they may allow her to wake up
tomorrow.” Dale spoke to Mr. Dempsey. “That’s good, isn’t it?”

He nodded. “Yes. That’s excellent.” A
nurse entered the room and he looked at her defiantly. “He told me to go home,
but that’s not going to happen.”

Morgan and Dale exchanged looks. “Maybe
later?” said Morgan tentatively. “You look terrible, Dad. You don’t want her
seeing you like this when she wakes up.”

For a moment, Boomer Dempsey looked
uncertain. “Maybe,” he conceded reluctantly. “But not for a while.”

“Okay.” Dale spoke in soothing tones.
“We’ll go home and put together something to eat. If you can come home later,
that would be great.” She moved to the side of the bed and kissed Cynthia on
the forehead. “We’re here, Mom,” she said, her voice tight with emotion. “We’re
here.”

There was little conversation on the way
home; each of them lost in thought. A few blocks from their home, Morgan spoke
in a soft voice. “He really loves her, doesn’t he?”

Ken frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“It’s just...” Morgan struggled to find
the right words. “Dad’s always been this larger-than-life figure in my mind.
Boomer Dempsey. Even the name is overpowering. I think of him as being the head
of the family and the rest of us trailing behind him like a bunch of little
ducks. Especially Mom; I always think of her as living in his shadow.” She
looked back at Dale. “I used almost those exact words just this morning when I
was talking to Adrian.”

A soft snort came from the back seat.
Dale obviously disagreed with something she’d said, but she continued on.

“When I saw him sitting beside her bed
like that, I realized just how much he loves her.” The Christmas lights on the
houses began to blur, and she brushed away unshed tears. “It was an
eye-opener.”

After a moment’s silence, Ken spoke. “Who’s
Adrian?”

“Adrian Zimmerman. That was his father’s
jet we came on.” Morgan paused. “I suppose technically it’s the company jet,
but ultimately, it’s his.”

Ken slowed as he entered their street.
“So that explains it. Is he nice?”

“He’s very nice.” Dale spoke before she
could reply.

Morgan twisted around to stare at her
friend.

“Well, he is.”

Morgan could still feel his lips on
hers. Good thing Dale didn’t know about the kiss in the hotel garage. She
smiled. “Yes, he is, isn’t he?”

* * *

Dale and Morgan put together a batch of
chili and some home-made biscuits. Boomer came home from the hospital, ate a
surprisingly large portion and then went back, promising to come home for a few
hours of sleep.

“That man is so stubborn,” Dale said as
they were getting ready for bed. “But at least we know he’s had something to
eat.”

She crawled into her old bed, opened her
Kindle and then looked up at Morgan. “Have you called Adrian?” A smile softened
her face. “I talked to Chance while you were in the shower and told him the
good news.” She gave a small sigh. “He misses me already.”

“I’ll bet he does. You two have been
almost inseparable lately.”

Dale lowered her eyes to her Kindle but
the smile was still there. “Go down the hall to Ken’s old room and call him,”
she said.

* * *

“Morgan?” Adrian answered almost
instantly. “I was hoping you’d call.”

She smiled into the phone and brought
him up-to-date on her mother’s condition.

“That’s wonderful.” He paused for a
moment. “We were talking about your mother just before you got the call from
Dale. Was that really just this morning?”

“I know. So much as happened. Did you
have a good day with your father?”

“Yes. He spent some time in with Mr.
Wynn-Jones, and they had lunch together in the restaurant. We had dinner
together tonight.” He chuckled softly. “He seems to think you’re some sort of a
miracle-worker for getting me on the Peak2Peak.”

“You’re the one who did it.” She looked
outside. “It’s snowing here. What’s it like there?”

“Clear tonight. I miss you, Morgan.”

Had she heard him right?

“Did you hear me?”

“I miss you, too.” She closed her eyes.
“A lot.”

“Good.” There was a comfortable moment
of silence. “Okay, then. I’ll say goodnight, but promise me you’ll call again
tomorrow and fill me in. Oh, and my Dad says to tell you that you’re to take as
long as you need.”

She laughed at that. “I’m sure
Wynn-Jones is thrilled at that news.”

“I wouldn’t worry about that. I have a
feeling that Mr. Wynn-Jones is going to be looking for new career opportunities
fairly soon. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but Dad wasn’t at all impressed
with him.”

“I can’t say that too many of the staff
will be broken hearted.”

“Dad got that impression too. So, you’ll
call me tomorrow?”

“I’ll call.”

“Good night, Morgan.”

“Goodnight.”

Dale looked up when she came back into
their shared bedroom. “You got through to him, I see.”

“How can you tell?”

“For crying out loud, Morgan. I’ve known
you since you were a kid.”

“You’re impossible.”

“So I’ve been told. Goodnight, kiddo.”

The doctor met them in the hallway the
next morning.

“She’s been conscious for about an hour
now.” He smiled at Boomer. “First thing she did was ask about you and the rest
of her family. She was worried about you all. Now, you can each visit her for a
minute or two this morning, and then we’re going to run some tests. You can all
come back later in the afternoon and see her again, but she’ll probably be
tired. What she needs now is rest, and a minimum of stress.”

Boomer opened his mouth to speak but the
doctor cut him off. “Mr. Dempsey, you can stay as long as you’re quiet. I think
it will be good for her if you’re here.”

* * *

“I feel useless.” Morgan stood in the
middle of her mother’s perfectly ordered kitchen. “There must be something we
can do for Mom while we’re here.”

Dale was gazing out into the back yard
and didn’t seem to hear her. “Did she say anything to you?”

“Not really. Her eyes kept closing. But
she looked happy to see me.”

“Yeah, same here. That’s a good thing,
isn’t it? The fact that she’s sleepy?” She wandered around the kitchen,
touching the familiar items.

“Yes, it’s good.” She caught her friend
in a hug. “She’s going to be fine.”

Dale blew out a stream of air, visibly
relaxing. “I suppose we could put up the Christmas tree,” she suggested
tentatively. Even in her later years, when she’d finally accepted that she was
part of the family, Dale had rarely participated in family traditions.

“That’s a terrific idea. Let’s send Ken
out for a tree while we get out the decorations. We can have the house all
decorated when Mom gets home.”

* * *

“Hello, girls.” Their mother was sitting
up when they went back to visit around six. Her colour had improved greatly and
the food tray showed that she’d eaten fairly well. She reached for her water
and winced. “The doctor tells me I’m going to be stiff for a while.” Morgan
handed her the water and she sipped gratefully through the straw. “Something to
do with the muscles tensing when we’re in an accident, I guess.” She looked
from one to the other. “I’ve been afraid to ask your father, but what happened
to the people in the other vehicle? Were they badly hurt?”

Dale indicated that Morgan should
respond.