Chasing Bailey, page 15
part #3 of Lake Harriet Series
“Call me if he does. You know where to find me.”
He walked her to her car and Lisa drove back to the school to pick Abby up from day care. She was so relieved. She was pretty sure that after Andrew had given it some thought, he’d realize the judge had made the right decision. No matter what, she’d try her best not to give him a reason to go after Abby again.
That evening after Lisa had fed Abby her dinner and put her to bed, Avery texted her.
How did it go in court today?
She smiled. It was nice that he cared enough to ask. The judge ruled in my favor, she texted back. At least for another year. I’m hoping that Andrew doesn’t file again after that.
Congrats! I have wine. Do you want me to bring it over for a little celebration?
Lol. Thanks, but I should go to bed early. I hardly slept at all last night. Can I have a raincheck?
Sure, he texted. Let’s see. That’s one raincheck for wine and one for a kiss. You owe me, lady!
She laughed. You just keep track and we’ll see.
Goodnight.
Goodnight, she texted. She smiled the whole time she turned out the lights and headed off to bed.
Chapter Seventeen
Avery loved his life. It felt good to once again belong somewhere and be around people who cared about him. If he could just get Maddie back, everything would be perfect.
And maybe buy his former home. But that might be asking for too much.
Avery worked on his book all week and late Friday night, as he sat at his computer, he was surprised to see snow falling. An early October snow wasn’t unusual for Minnesota, but it wasn’t the norm, either. By morning when he’d awoken, it was piled high everywhere. Everyone in the neighborhood was out shoveling their driveways and sidewalks, Lisa included. He dressed quickly and headed across the street, his shovel in hand.
“Isn’t this crazy?” Lisa asked as he drew near. Abby was bundled up in her coat and snow pants and sat on the porch with Bailey, the latter wagging his tail happily at the sight of Avery.
“It is,” Avery agreed. “But at least it isn’t too cold out.” He began shoveling out her driveway while she did the sidewalk. Afterward, she offered to heat up soup and make grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. By mid-afternoon, the sun was shining, so the three of them went out into the front yard and began building a snowman. Avery started a small ball and had Abby help him push it around until it became bigger, with Bailey bounding around behind them. Abby laughed happily as they both slipped and fell in the snow. Soon they had three balls that Avery stacked to make a snowman. Lisa brought out buttons and a carrot for the face and Avery lifted the little girl so she could help place them. A scarf and a stocking cap Lisa found in the closet were the finishing touches. Already, the snow around them was melting, but the snowman was sure to survive at least a couple of days.
Kristen and Marie had also made a snowman in their yard and Kristen brought over a thermos of hot chocolate that they all shared on Lisa’s front porch. The little girls ran around Abby’s snowman, and Bailey and Sam followed. It was a happy day, a sweet memory, and Avery took a photo of the two little girls in front of the snowman so he could remember this.
That evening, Avery ordered pizza and the three of them ate hungrily after all their outside activity. Abby’s eyes grew heavy and Lisa put her to bed where she fell asleep immediately. Coming out of Abby’s room, Lisa dropped down on the sofa next to Avery, who’d just poured her a glass of red wine. She looked at him with a sparkle in her eyes.
“What?” he asked. “Is there something wrong with me?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No. There’s nothing wrong with you. In fact, you amaze me. You’re the real deal, aren’t you?”
His brows shot up. “The real deal?”
“Yes. Some men are nice to a woman’s child to get to her. But you really had fun today. You were so good with Abby. And you’ve been great with Bailey. You’re a good guy. The real deal.” She grinned. “That is, for a hermit.”
He laughed and reached his arm around her, pulling her close. “Hermits need love too,” he said. She laughed, and as he looked into her eyes, he thought how much he enjoyed her laugh and her smile. Making Lisa happy made him happy. He hadn’t felt this good in a long time. He didn’t have to wait for the right moment. This was the right moment. He pulled her to him and kissed her, just as he’d said he would. It was a soft, gentle kiss, and when he pulled away a moment, he saw her blue eyes twinkle and he wanted to kiss her some more. He could kiss her all night, and it wouldn’t be enough. Their lips met again, this time opening for a deeper kiss as his hand ran through her silky hair.
Heaven, he thought. This is what heaven feels like.
Her phone rang at that moment and she pulled away, looking stunned.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said, disappointed.
She glanced at it and frowned. “It’s the hospital.”
“Hospital? Who could be there?”
She sat back on the sofa. “I don’t know, but I should answer it.”
Avery nodded reluctantly. “Yes. You should.”
She answered the call and after talking for a couple of minutes, and asking questions, she hung up. “It’s Andrew. Apparently, he slipped on the ice and broke his leg.”
“Are you kidding me?” Avery asked. “Why did they call you?”
She shrugged. “I guess there’s no one else for him to call. I’m still listed as his emergency contact. He’s at the emergency room right now. They need me to go there. She said something about surgery.” Lisa stood. “I’m sorry, Avery. I’d better go. I don’t know how badly he’s hurt.”
Avery stood and wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the feel of her body next to his. She hugged him back, in no hurry to separate. “I can drive you,” he offered.
She pulled back. “I’d rather not wake Abby and drag her there. Would you mind staying here with her? She should sleep the entire time.”
Avery nodded. Lisa was right. It would be silly to wake Abby this late at night. “Sure.”
Lisa placed a sweet kiss on his lips. “Thank you. As usual, you’re a lifesaver.”
He grinned and held her tight. “Are you sure you want to go see him when you could be here, safe and warm, with me?”
“Honestly, I’d prefer staying here with you. But I’d better go. He has no one else.”
“Okay,” Avery said, disappointed. All he could think, though, was that Andrew didn’t deserve to have Lisa come to his aid. He didn’t deserve her at all.
***
Forty-five minutes later, Lisa was led to a room in the emergency department where Andrew was lying on a bed, his leg straight out in front of him. By the look of his pupils, he was on some heavy-duty pain killers.
“There she is,” he said cheerfully to the female nurse standing on the other side of the bed. “I knew she’d come.”
Lisa wanted to roll her eyes but refrained. Did she have a choice except to come? “How’s your leg?” she asked Andrew.
“Broken,” he said, a deadpan look on his face. Then he grinned. “Really broken. But I don’t feel a thing after what they’ve given me.”
“Are you his wife?” the nurse asked.
“No. I’m the ex-wife. But I was on his form as the person to call.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll tell the doctor you’re here and she can explain what’s going on.” She walked out a door on the opposite side from where Lisa had entered.
Lisa turned to Andrew. “How did you break your leg?”
He frowned. “It was a stupid accident. I’d gone into work this afternoon because the system was acting up and they needed it working properly before Monday. I was lucky enough to find a parking space right outside the building, and since it was a Saturday, I wouldn’t get a ticket. But the plow must have come through while I was inside, and snow was piled up next to my car on the driver’s side. I came out later in the evening and I thought it was just wet snow, but it had iced up once the sun went down. When I stepped on it to get into the car, I fell and slipped halfway under the car. I was lucky I didn’t get run over.”
Lisa winced. “That’s terrible. What part of your leg is broken?”
Before Andrew could answer, the doctor joined them and, showing them the x-rays, explained that he’d cracked his thigh bone in two places and would need surgery to add screws before putting on a cast.
Lisa couldn’t believe the damage he’d done to his leg just by falling, but Andrew was so drugged that he didn’t seem too worried about it. “When will you operate?” she asked.
“We’ll admit him tonight and operate in the morning. He’ll have to stay a couple of days. Once he has a cast on, he can go home,” the doctor said. “But we’ll need someone to fill out the paperwork and sign a release form.”
“Why can’t he sign it?” Lisa asked.
“We need someone who isn’t drugged and understands what it says. He’s been given morphine for the pain, so that’s why you were called in.”
“Okay. Fine,” Lisa said. After the doctor left, she said to Andrew. “Do you understand what’s going on here? They’re going to operate tomorrow, and you’ll be in a cast for a while.”
“Yep. I get it,” he said, sounding half loopy.
“So you’re okay with me signing the papers for you to go into surgery?”
“Yep.”
Lisa slumped down in the plastic chair by the wall. “Are you and Katrina completely over? Or should I call her?”
Andrew let out a big snort of laughter. “Over! Caput! Finished!”
“I guess that’s a yes,” she said.
Andrew’s eyes were getting heavy. “Absolutely yes,” he said. He shut his eyes and looked like he’d fallen into a deep sleep.
The nurse came in and handed Lisa the paperwork. Lisa nodded toward Andrew. “He’s out. How much morphine has he had?”
“He was in excruciating pain when the ambulance brought him in,” the nurse said. “I think that wore him out and the morphine helped to finally relax him. It’s good he’s sleeping. He’ll need his rest before surgery tomorrow.”
Lisa nodded. She filled out his paperwork, signed the consent form, and waited until he was settled into a room before going home. She’d decided she’d be back at the hospital tomorrow during his surgery just to make sure everything went fine. After that, he’d be on his own.
When she arrived home, she found Avery sound asleep on her sofa. He’d kicked off his shoes and had lain back on one of the pillows. He looked so comfortable, she didn’t have the heart to wake him. Lisa took the throw blanket off the back of the sofa and gently spread it over him, then placed a light kiss on his cheek. “Goodnight, hermit,” she said softly. She turned out the light and headed to bed.
***
Lisa and Abby were already eating an early breakfast by the time Avery awoke. “Hey, sleepyhead,” Lisa called from the dining room table.
He sat up on the couch and smiled when he saw them. “What time is it?”
“Seven.”
“Seven? Do you usually get up this early on the weekend?”
Lisa laughed. “Sometimes, but not generally. I have to be at the hospital by eight for Andrew’s surgery. Kristen is going to watch Abby while I’m gone.”
“Surgery? What did I miss?” Avery made his way to the table with Bailey at his heels.
Lisa explained what had happened to Andrew as Avery poured a mug of coffee and sat down with them.
“That sounds terrible,” he said, wincing. “If you give me a few minutes, I’ll go home and change, and I can drive you there. You don’t want to sit alone and wait.”
She smiled. “Thanks. I’ll take you up on that. I hate hospitals.”
He chuckled. “That coming from a nurse.”
She grinned. “You know what I mean, silly.”
They left a half hour later. The day had warmed considerably from the previous one and the sun shone brightly. Almost all the snow was gone. “Hopefully we won’t get snow again for at least another month,” Avery said. “But you never know.”
When they arrived at the hospital, Lisa learned that Andrew was already in surgery. She asked to be notified when he was done, then sat down in the waiting room with Avery. The room was large and decorated in green and brown, which Lisa figured they’d done to make it feel soothing. But waiting in a hospital, no matter what the color scheme, was never soothing. It was always nerve-wracking.
“Are you nervous?” Andrew asked.
“No. I’m sure Andrew will be fine. This is a good hospital. I was just thinking of the night we brought in Abby. Waiting for news is difficult.”
He took her hand and squeezed it. “Then I’m doubly glad that I came along.”
She smiled over at him. “Me, too.”
“So, I had my first sleepover at your place. Was it as good for you as it was for me?” He winked.
Lisa laughed, then placed a hand over her mouth to stifle it. “You’re terrible,” she said.
He waggled his brows, which only made her laugh harder. She loved how he could lighten the mood when she was feeling tense.
“Last night didn’t exactly play out the way we’d planned,” she said. “But at least you finally got that first kiss.”
Avery grinned. “That’s right. I’m looking forward to the second, and third, and many, many more.”
She leaned over toward him and whispered, “I am too.”
They sat there, holding hands, for over two hours until a nurse came out and reported that all had gone well, and Andrew was doing fine.
“He’s very groggy right now,” the nurse told her. “He’ll be that way for the rest of the day with the pain killers we’re giving him. It would probably be best to come back later this afternoon if you’d like to see him.”
Lisa thanked her and the nurse walked away. “We might as well go home,” Lisa said. “There’s no sense sitting around here.”
“You’re the boss,” Avery said. They drove back to her place and she went next door to pick up Abby.
They ate lunch together then Avery suggested they all take a walk since the weather was nice. Lisa loaded Abby in her wagon and Avery put Bailey on his leash. They took off down the street, looking like a sweet little family. Once at the park, they stopped at the swing set for a while and Lisa pushed Abby in a toddler-friendly swing. The little girl giggled with glee each time the swing went up in the air and fell back. Avery sat on a bench with Bailey sitting by his side. After a while, Lisa and Abby joined him on the bench.
“This is nice,” Avery said, placing his arm around her shoulders. “I could do this all the time and never tire of it.”
Lisa turned to him and smiled. “I could get used to it.”
After the walk home, Avery offered to drive Lisa back to the hospital, and he could keep Abby with him while Lisa checked on Andrew. “Then we can go out for dinner,” he said.
She agreed, and they tucked Abby into her car seat and headed back to the hospital.
Lisa quietly walked into Andrew’s room in case he was sleeping. He had a private room, and it was actually quite big. She found him lying in bed, his leg bandaged and stretched out in front of him. He looked glassy-eyed, and there were dark circles under his eyes.
“Hey there,” he said when he saw her.
“Hi. How are you feeling?”
“Like I was hit by a truck. I feel so tired, but at least I’m not in pain.”
“That’s good. You must be on some high-powered pain killers again,” Lisa said.
He nodded. He looked so worn out that she didn’t want to stay long and tire him more.
“I just wanted to check on you. I was here this morning during your surgery and the nurse came out to tell us you were fine.”
“You were here?” he asked, looking surprised. “That was nice of you. Thank you.”
“I’m sure you would have done the same for me,” she said, not really certain if that was the truth.
“I’d like to think I would have,” he answered. “I appreciate you caring enough to come. Is Abby with you?” He glanced around, looking confused, like maybe he just hadn’t seen his daughter come in.
“She’s waiting downstairs with Avery. I thought it might scare her to see you this way.”
He frowned. “Avery? The gardener?”
She shook her head. “I guess no amount of drugs will soften your attitude.”
This actually made him smile. “Sorry.”
She changed the subject. “Do they know when they’ll be putting on the cast?”
“I think they said the day after tomorrow, depending on how fast the swelling goes down. Then I have to stay another day before they’ll release me.”
“That’s a long time,” she said.
He agreed. “Can I ask you a big favor?”
“Okay,” she said warily.
“Would you stop by my place and pick up a few personal items for me? Like a change of clothes—probably jogging pants that zip open on the sides—and my razor and toothbrush. I literally have nothing here.”
“I can do that, sure,” she said. “Can I take your keys?”
He nodded. His eyelids were getting droopy and she could tell he was fighting to stay awake. “They’re in the nightstand drawer.”
She took them out and dropped them in her purse. “I’ll see you tomorrow after work,” she said.
Andrew didn’t answer. He’d already fallen into a deep sleep.
“Goodnight,” she said softly, then turned and left the room.
Chapter Eighteen
Avery took Lisa and Abby to a family-friendly restaurant to eat. Afterward, they stopped by Andrew’s townhouse to pick up his things. Avery drove through the upscale community of brand-new townhouses, searching for Andrew’s section. There was a large park for children to play and a huge pool for the residents. He also noticed there were tennis courts and figured there was probably a private gym somewhere on the property too. He finally found Andrew’s parking space—number 209—and pulled into it.
