Tender Kisses (15 page)

“Hmm. She might have potential. What does she do?”

“She works in public relations.”

“And she has a job. I'm impressed.”

“Can we talk about something other than my personal life, please?”

Jocelyn laughed. “Sure—why not? How did your meeting go with the company interested in your alert system?”

“I haven't met with them yet. They had an emergency and postponed the meeting. We're supposed to meet tomorrow, but I'll call first thing in the morning to try to reschedule.”

“Did you ever resolve the problem with the temperature?”

“No. If I had been more focused in the last month or two, I could have had it finished. And if I wasn't so stuck on partnering with Gray's, it might already be on the market. Then maybe Dad would have found Mom sooner.” The tightness in his chest increased.

“Justin, don't start. You did the same thing after Grandpa died. And why would you even consider settling? Your alert system is so much better than anything I've seen—and you know I pay attention—so why would you cut corners and throw something out there? Think about how many lives will be saved because you took your time and, instead of putting out a good product, put out a great one. Mom and Dad would be really angry with you if they heard you talking like this.”

“But—”

She laid her hand on his arm. “No buts. You used to tell me studying is good, but to always make time for something fun to clear my mind. That one piece of advice has helped me more than anything else these last three years. You have to live your life, too.”

Justin heard her, he knew it, but it didn't ease his guilt. It was time to reassess his priorities. Maybe he wasn't as ready for a committed relationship as he believed.

Chapter 15

A
fter less than three hours of sleep, Justin, Yvonne and Jocelyn were up and at the hospital by seven. He cracked open the door to his mother's room and saw his father asleep in a recliner. He turned and signaled his sisters to be quiet. He opened the door farther, and his heart lurched upon seeing his mother. Her normally healthy dark brown skin had paled, and she looked as if she'd lost several pounds since he had seen her two months ago.

He let his sisters take the two vacant chairs while he leaned against the wall.

“I don't like to see Mom like this,” Yvonne whispered, tears filling her eyes.

Jocelyn nodded. “Me, either. I'm scared.”

Seeing the tears in his sisters' eyes always did something to Justin. He couldn't take it when they cried. He hunkered down in front of them and took each of their hands. “I know you're scared. I am, too. But I know Mom is going to be fine. We have to stay strong for her and Dad, so no tears, you two. You know I can't handle it when you cry.”

“This is exactly why I told your father not to call you,” his mother said softly.

He shot to his feet, and his sisters rushed over to the bed.

“Mama, you scared us to death. Are you okay?” Yvonne asked.

“I'll be fine,” she said with a tired smile. She reached for Jocelyn's hand. “Stop crying, baby. I'm all right.”

Justin leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Hey, Mom.”

She cupped his face with her palm and frowned. “You look tired, Justin. Don't tell me you drove up here in the middle of the night.”

He grinned sheepishly. “Okay, I won't tell you.”

“Boy, I don't know what I'm going to do with you.”

“What happened, Mom?”

“I've had this darn flu for the past couple of weeks. I thought it was getting better. Then two days ago, it came back again, fever and all. I was putting some dishes in the cabinet and got dizzy. Next thing I knew, your daddy was holding my head in his lap and I was on the floor. Turns out, I have an ear infection...and at my age.”

“Did the doctor say how long you'd have to stay in the hospital?” Jocelyn asked.

“She said today or tomorrow. They want to make sure this fever goes down.”

Justin placed the back of his hand on her forehead. “You still feel a little warm to me, so I'm guessing it'll be tomorrow.”

She rolled her eyes. “I'd be much better in my own bed.”

He shook his head. Same old Mom. “I'll be right back. I have to make a phone call.” He found a waiting room and dialed Gray Home Safety.

“Good morning, Gray Home Safety. This is Gloria Avery. How may I help you?”

“Good morning, Ms. Avery. This is Justin Cartwright. I have an appointment with Mr. Gray this afternoon at three.”

“Yes.”

“I apologize for the short notice, but I had to leave town last night for a family emergency. My mother has been hospitalized. Is it possible for me to reschedule?”

“Certainly, Mr. Cartwright. Hold on just one moment while I check the schedule. I have an availability next Tuesday at eleven or Friday at ten.”

“I'd like the Friday appointment, please.” That would give him time to make sure his mother was home and on the mend.

“I'll make sure to let Mr. Gray know about the change. I hope everything turns out well.”

“Thank you.” He ended the call and pocketed the phone. He had to get this system finished.

When he returned, his father was awake. He gave him a rough hug. “How you doing, Dad?”

“Back is stiff from trying to sleep in that thing,” he said, pointing to the chair, “but I'm fine.”

“Justin, Jocelyn told me you were supposed to meet with a company today. Why did you cancel that appointment?”

Justin shot Jocelyn a look. “Mom, the meeting can wait. I needed to be sure you're okay.”

She frowned. “Honey, you could have waited until after that meeting to come down here. Tell him, Jessie.”

His dad raised his palms. “Now, Ruby, ain't no use in trying to keep these kids away. You knew they would be down here the moment I called.” He placed a hand on Justin's shoulder. “This isn't going to ruin your chances with the company, is it?”

“No, sir. I just got off the phone and rescheduled the appointment for next Friday. So don't worry. I've already made the slides for the presentation, as well as a demonstration of the system.”

“I know you're going to do great,” his mother said. “I'm so proud of you, all of you.”

Justin sensed she was about to get emotional. “Mom, you should probably get some rest. You want to go home sooner, right? I'll take everybody to get some breakfast, and we'll be back in a little while.”

“Oh, okay. I am a little tired.” She yawned.

He and his sisters kissed her and stood back to wait for their father.

“I'm going to have Justin run me by the house to shower and change clothes. Don't you give these nurses any problems while I'm gone.” His father placed a lingering kiss on his mother's lips, and the two shared a look of genuine adoration.

Although he was used to seeing his parents' expressions of love, this time Justin's thoughts went to Siobhan, shocking him and causing his heart rate to speed up.
Love
, as it pertained to him and a woman together, had never been used in the same sentence.
Love?
He sucked in a deep breath. He needed to slow down.

“Justin? What's wrong with you?”

His dad's voice broke into his thoughts. “Huh? What did you say, Dad?”

“What's the matter with you? You're standing there spacing out with this weird look on your face.”

“Nothing. You ready?” His father studied Justin for a long moment then headed to the door. Jocelyn and Yvonne smiled at Justin, and he pointed to the door.

Instead of going to a restaurant, they went back to their parents' house, where Jocelyn and Yvonne prepared breakfast. Fatigue caught up with all of them, and instead of going back to the hospital right away, they decided to take a nap.

Justin woke up three hours later, and it took a second to remember where he was. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat for a few minutes to get his bearings. When his head cleared, he trekked to the kitchen for a glass of water. Not hearing anything, he assumed that no one else had awakened. He sat at the kitchen table and pulled out his phone to call Siobhan.

“Hey, baby,” he said in response to her greeting.

“How's your mom?”

“She's okay. She's had the flu for a couple of weeks and now has an ear infection. She said she got light-headed before passing out. They're going to keep her for a day or two.”

“I'm glad to hear it's not something more serious.”

“Me, too.”

“How long are you planning to stay?”

“I don't know. Through the weekend for sure, but probably early next week.”

“Oh. That long.”

“Yeah.” He didn't know how he was going to take being away from Siobhan for a week. Lately, it had been hard getting through two days without seeing her. “How's your day going?” he asked to distract himself from the path his mind was heading down.

“Not too bad.”

“Glad to hear it. Well, I'd better go. We're going back to the hospital. I'll call you later.”

“Okay. I'll be thinking about you.”

“I'll be thinking about you, too, sweetheart.”

How was he going to tell her that he needed some space, some time to focus on his work without distractions?

* * *

“Well?” Cynthia asked when Siobhan hung up the phone.

Siobhan stared at her two friends across the table. “Justin's mom has the flu and an ear infection.”

“I'm not asking about that. You two seem quite serious.”

“I didn't plan for this to happen.”

“Are you falling in love with him?” Kendra asked.

“I think so,” she answered.

“Don't sound so sad about it, Siobhan. Falling in love is a beautiful thing. Just look at me and Cynthia or your parents.”

“Yeah, but my judgment when it comes to men has been less than great.”
Except for Justin.

“Girl, that's a bunch of bull. You had
one
really bad relationship. Granted, it was a doozy, but it was only one. I wasn't going to say anything, but this has gone on for far too long.”

“What do you mean, Kendra?”

“Malcolm, Arthur...and don't think we didn't know about that guy in college. Everybody's had something terrible happen or had their hearts broken, and they wallow in it for a while, then move on. But you've been punishing yourself for sixteen years for stuff that wasn't your fault, and you think by controlling everything around you and working hard enough, it will somehow atone for some crazy perceived mistake. The only problem is, you didn't mess up. You are not responsible for other people's choices.”

“Exactly,” Cynthia said. “And I know you're already trying to find some lame excuse to break up with Justin.”

“No, I'm not,” she argued.

“Mmm-hmm. Okay, so have you told him your real name?”

“No,” Siobhan confessed on a ragged sigh. “I was going to.”

Kendra pinned her with an angry stare. “When? When you're signing the marriage certificate and he just happens to glance over at your driver's license?”

“No. I'm going to tell him when he comes back.” She hadn't planned to wait so long to disclose her identity. “Truthfully, I hadn't expected to be in the relationship long enough for it to matter. Can we please just drop this and eat?”

Cynthia's gaze softened. “We don't mean to upset you, but we haven't seen you so relaxed and happy in years. Being with Justin is good for you.”

Siobhan couldn't deny that Justin brought out a side in her that she didn't often reveal. With him, she never had to worry about tempering her speech or being on guard waiting for him to ask about her family's business.

Somehow she forced down the rest of her soup, promised to call her friends and went back to her office.

While sitting, she closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like to come home to Justin every night—to see his sexy smile, to hear him say he loved her, to taste his tender kisses, to feel him sliding in and out of her as he made love to her. But life never worked out like that for her.

“Knock, knock.”

Siobhan's eyes snapped open. “Come in.”

Morgan entered with a sullen expression and dropped down in the nearest chair. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. What's wrong?”

“I don't think I can do this.”

“Do what?”

“This case.” She threw up her hands. “I've seen some of the pictures, and it doesn't look good.”

“But you know things aren't always how they look sometimes. Morgan, it's only been a week.”

“I know, but what if I lose? I don't know why Daddy gave this case to me,” she grumbled. “There are two other lawyers who have years of experience, and he gives the hardest case in the company's history to somebody who's been out of law school two years.”

“Obviously he believes you're the best one for the job. You're tenacious and confident, you don't back down and you have a big heart. Maybe it's the combination of all those things—being able to push hard when necessary, but also knowing when a soft touch is needed.”

“I guess. But I don't like losing.”

Siobhan chuckled. “Who says you're going to lose?”

“You haven't seen the reports and the pictures. They're going to be saying all these terrible things about us.”

“Morgan, you can't worry about things you have no control over.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Siobhan went still. She sat up abruptly and smiled tensely. “Hang in there, sis. You'll do fine. Dad did the same thing to Brandon and me. For some reason he has this baptism-by-fire thing going when it comes to us.”

Morgan released a deep sigh. “At least I know now that I'm not the only one.”

“Nope. Like I said before, you should think of this as your proving ground for when you get that first sports client. You're going to have to face down some tough old men.”

“Please, that's no big deal. I
know
football.”

She shook her head. “Ain't that the truth.” Poor Malcolm had suffered with his sister's sideline coaching from the first time he picked up a football at age eight, and it continued to this day. He was probably the only NFL player with a private coach. “Speaking of football, is Malcolm back from Belize?”

“He'll be back Monday.” Morgan stood. “Thanks for the pep talk. By the way, that's some good advice. You know...not worrying about things you can't control... Too bad you don't listen to yourself.” She winked. “See you later.”

Siobhan stared at the space Morgan had vacated. She was getting it from all sides today. Siobhan had tried to let go, but recalling her father teasingly saying before they left that day,
Make sure Malcolm doesn't try any of those daredevil tricks
, and seeing her parents' expressions after the accident, she couldn't help but blame herself. And dealing with the drama that came with her relationships... Didn't they understand life was so much easier when she set the rules and called the shots? Letting go meant opening up and possibly getting hurt, and with what she felt for Justin, this time would be worse. “I can't do this right now,” she muttered.

She flipped open a file, and for the next few hours, she maintained a steady work flow and responded to several media questions from the contact log they had set up.

Hours later, she heard her cell chime, letting her know she'd missed a call. She groaned.
Please don't let this be somebody else wanting to tell me what to do.
She snatched it up and pressed the button without looking at the display.