Chapter 35
When Caroline reached the hospital with Trevor, they discovered J.T. was already gone.
She tried his cell again, but he didn’t answer it. Trev was doing the same, cursing under his breath.
“I don’t like this,” Trev said. “He’s never looked…”
Caroline heard his voice break and put her arm around him. She knew what he meant. The young, vital man she’d come to love had seemed to fade away before her eyes. He’d looked haunted…no, broken.
Moira found her and pulled her aside, Chase hovering with concern. “Are you okay?”
“No,” she said, letting her phone finally fall back into her purse. It was useless. He wouldn’t answer them. “This is horrible! I hate that woman! I hate her!”
A nurse shushed her, but she didn’t care. That woman was out there, walking around in her furs or sipping champagne after devastating two men Caroline loved dearly. It wasn’t right. How could one person dish out so much hate and punishment?
Natalie and Blake appeared by her side, and Matt and Jane and Andy and Lucy closed in around her too. Everyone was trying to comfort her, but as much as she loved them, she doubted anything could help.
“Find her somewhere quiet, Moira,” Trevor said. “Chase, I need to speak with you.”
Her siblings drew her toward the hospital chapel, and then her mother was easing her into a chair. April Hale sat beside her and wrapped her up in a tight hug.
“Oh, Mom,” she said, and the simple warmth of her mother’s embrace broke the dam of her sorrow.
She sobbed her heart out. Every now and then, someone would press a tissue in her hands. All the while she thought of Uncle Arthur and J.T. and all the pain Cynthia Newhouse had wrought on the world in a hollow attempt to cure her own broken heart.
“I just don’t understand it,” she cried.
Then a strong hand touched her knee, and she felt her mother shift to the side. Sniffling, she looked down to see Chase kneeling in front of her. His face was drawn like everyone else’s, but the fire in his eyes told her he knew the whole tale. While tears rolled down her face, he told the rest of her family what had happened.
“We’ve got Arthur covered financially, of course,” he said softly, “although his pride won’t like it. Meredith and Tanner told him so. It’s well known people who are unconscious can hear. Caroline, he’s going to get well. Arthur Hale wouldn’t let anyone or anything put him down like this. Right?”
She nodded, wiping her nose. “He’d be all the more determined to recover.”
Chase simply said, “And we’ll talk some sense into J.T. It’s a huge shock. Of course he feels awful.”
She wanted to agree, but… “You didn’t see him. Chase, he—”
“I’ll talk to him again,” Trevor said, coming up behind Chase. “I always get through to him—even if it takes a while. Besides, I have you as my ally now.”
Even so, she wasn’t sure it would be enough.
“He’s awake,” she heard Andy announce from the doorway.
“Thank God!” she cried, feeling more tears well.
“See,” Moira said with a nudge, “it’s like Chase said. Nothing will get him down.”
“He’s one of the toughest men you’ll ever meet,” her mom said. “We can count on that.”
She could only nod as she went to see Uncle Arthur with the rest of the family.
His eyes were barely open, and his mouth was slack, but Uncle Arthur scanned the room as she and the rest of them crowded in, something Andy said he’d allow only for a few minutes.
“You look like you’re attending my funeral,” he rasped. “Trust me, this isn’t going to finish me off.”
“Dad and Mom are driving up from Arizona and want you to know how much they love you,” Meredith said, kneeling beside the bed.
Caroline imagined Uncle Alan and Aunt Linda were breaking all the speed limits. Her uncle had suffered a heart attack a few years ago, so he had to be especially worried about his father.
“My boy knows what I’m going through.”
“Save your strength, Grandpa.”
“I have reserves,” he said in that same voice. “Besides, I have to stay around. Can’t let the bank have my baby.”
“No one is going to take our paper,” Meredith said in a harsh tone.
“They sure as hell won’t,” Tanner said, putting his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “You have our word on that.”
“Dammit, Grandpa,” Jill said, coming over to where Meredith was standing. “You’re all making me wish I had black ink in my veins.”
“Ah, Jillie,” he said with a slow smile, “you make me laugh. That’s more than enough.”
Their solidarity prompted more tears in the room, and Caroline watched as Clara came to the other side of the bed. She sat in the chair Meredith had vacated and took Uncle Arthur’s hand.
“The paper isn’t in jeopardy,” she told him, “because you’re going to let me give you the money. I’m pulling rank on you, Trevor, as your elder.”
Caroline watched as his mouth tipped up. “We’ll talk it over later, Aunt.”
He grunted and then coughed loudly. “Like I’d take money from the woman I fancy—or any of you, for that matter. God, do you not know me? No, we’ll figure something out.”
“That’s the kind of lunacy that landed you in here from all the stress,” Clara said, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m not going to argue with you.”
“Enough. I’m too tired, but I will tell you this. Cynthia Newhouse messed with the wrong person—and so did Carlyle Bank. I don’t care how much money someone has, they can’t use their influence to make the bank call in someone’s loan. It’s a crime, and I’ll see her in jail if not hell for this. And if that department store asshole pulled his advertising—”
“Trevor thinks so,” Tanner said. “We’ll have to see what we can do to him.”
“Oh, we’ll do something all right,” Trevor said. “Don’t you worry.”
“Where is your brother? Didn’t my heart attack rate a visit?”
“He was here, Grandpa,” Meredith said. “Now you should rest. Andy…”
Her brother waved his arms like he was shooing swans. “All right, it’s time for most of you to go. Uncle Arthur should be okay, but he needs to rest.”
“That’s not what your text said,” Natalie told him, her hands framing her pregnant belly. “Even the baby got scared.”
“Well, he’s not out of the woods just yet,” Andy said. “He’s showing extreme stress and exhaustion. His heart isn’t too bad for his age, thank God, but he’s going to need to make some changes.”
“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Uncle Arthur barked.
Her brother turned to face him. “Bottom line. You’re overdoing it for a man of your age, and this is a wake-up call.”
“Balderdash,” he scoffed. “It’s just stress.”
“Dad had a heart attack in his fifties,” Meredith pointed out. “It runs in the family.”
“I’m a superior species of Hale, and I’ll tell your father as much when he gets here,” Uncle Arthur said. “Fine, so I’ll eat kale and go to Elizabeth’s Latin dance class and exercise more.”
This time Andy laughed. “If only… We’ll talk about proposed life adjustments with you tomorrow. Right now, it’s late. You really do need to sleep.”
“Sleep is for dead people,” he said. “I hate being here in this see-through gown, hooked up to all these machines.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Meredith said.
“Me too,” Jill echoed.
“No, you both go home to your kids,” he said. “Clara can stay with me. It’s not like she has anything else to do.”
A few of their relatives looked shocked speechless, but Clara just laughed, and Caroline found her smiling for the first time since hearing the news.
“Glad to see this heart attack hasn’t affected your common sense, Arthur,” Clara said, pulling her chair closer to his bedside. “I can have Hargreaves bring you anything you want from home.”
“Finally, your butler has a purpose,” Arthur said. “Caroline, dear, come here for a minute. You too, Trevor. Everyone else can skedaddle. Except you, my dear.” He said that last bit looking Clara in the eyes.
It was clear to Caroline that things had changed between them.
Clara nodded firmly, holding Arthur’s hand as people kissed him on the cheek and said their goodbyes. When everyone else had left, Caroline felt the urge to take Trevor’s hand. He looked so defeated, unlike his usually bullish self.
“Where is J.T. really?” her uncle asked.
Caroline looked at Trevor, who sighed. “I don’t know. He’s not answering his phone, and I haven’t heard from him.”
“What about you?” her uncle asked.
God, he looked so tired. She felt guilty for keeping him up any longer than needed.
“Let me look,” she said, pulling her phone out of her purse. “I’ve tried calling and texting him too, but it’s been a while. Wait, I have a text.”
She opened it, and her heart stopped.
“Well, what does it say?” her uncle prodded.
Trevor reached for her phone and then lowered his hand. “You read it.”
She would have given anything for the words to be different. For them and for her.
Caroline, I’m sorry to do this, but after what Cynthia did to Uncle Arthur, I can’t bear for anyone else to get hurt. Trev used to joke about the deserted island, and maybe he had it right all along. I’m disappearing for a while and won’t be back to start the museum. I’ll text Trev to handle the particulars.
There’s no reason the museum can’t go forward without me now that you and Aunt Clara have the Rembrandt. Please continue on like we planned. I like knowing you’re living your dream, even if I can’t live mine with you. Again, I’m sorry it came to this. I love you, but I just can’t risk hurting you or anyone else again.
Tears streamed down her face. He’d left. Just like that. Part of her understood. The other part wanted to beat her hands against his chest and make him see reason.
“That little shit,” Trevor muttered under his breath. “A deserted island… I can’t believe it.”
“You’ll have to find him, Trevor,” her uncle said, his voice thin. “I won’t have this on my conscience.”
“Nor I,” Clara said, standing up. “A Merriam doesn’t disappear. I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous.”
“He’s been kicked down too many times,” Caroline said, grabbing a tissue. “He couldn’t handle any more.”
“Bullshit,” Uncle Arthur rasped. “When you can’t keep going, you let the people you love carry you. Trev. Caroline. It’s your time. I would go, but I’m tied up to all these damn machines.”
“I’ll find him and drag him back by a chain if I have to,” Trevor said in a hard tone.
Caroline noted his fighting stance and decided to voice her fear. “What if you can’t find him?”
“Don’t insult me,” Trev said.
“I didn’t mean to,” she said. “What if he won’t come back?” Chains weren’t going to work, and they all knew it. He’d only return if he was willing.
“Then you do everything you can to convince him,” her uncle said. “Even if it means fighting a little dirty.”
“Can you do that, Caroline?” Clara asked. “Because I believe we’ve found ourselves at a decisive moment.”
They all looked at her, even Trevor. She thought about J.T. and how much she loved his sense of adventure and the way he gazed at her right before he kissed her, like she was his entire world. Then she thought about the letters his grandparents had exchanged from across the sea. They’d weathered so many challenges to build a beautiful life together after the war.
“How dirty are we talking?”