Chapter 8
“What do you mean we can’t go again?” Smelling of eau de swamp, Dotty sounded like a small child. A small child with a large bump on her temple. A small petulant child being strapped into an ambulance gurney. “I didn’t even get the full ride.”
Standing in a puddle next to the gurney, Beck tried to let his anger drip off with the smelly swamp water. It was a miracle they hadn’t been eaten by Big Al!
“Grandma, you rode long enough,” Kitty said before Beck could speak. She was soaked, too. “Besides, you captained the boat.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Dotty’s faded brown eyes gleamed in triumph. “I even got it full throttle. It’s just…” Her voice dropped to a whisper.
Kitty leaned in and reached for Dotty’s hand. “What?”
“So many people fell into the water.” Dotty sounded remorseful, which she should considering the accident was her fault. She tugged Kitty closer. “Are you sure no one got eaten? Not so much as a toe?”
“No one got eaten,” Beck said through gritted teeth. Not that the people who fell or jumped into the water hadn’t been scared to death of that fate. It was only when they were back on the boat that they’d seen Big Al hadn’t moved. “We should never have stopped here.”
Kitty gave Beck a look that seemed to say: Really? You want to go there?
She drew a deep breath and schooled her features into the soft, helpless look she’d used on the hotel manager the day before, and smiled at the EMT. “I’m Dr. Kathryn Summer. As you can tell, my grandmother is a bit out of sorts. I’d like to ride with her to the hospital.”
The EMT had been taking Dotty’s blood pressure. He barely glanced up before responding. “I’m afraid that’s against protocol.”
“I require a chaperone.” Dotty sounded like an imperial princess addressing a storm trooper. Beck knew her well enough now to know she was just as good at manipulating people around her as Kitty was. “I’ve been told I’m irresistible. If I’m alone with you, you might try something.”
More likely, Dotty would try something. She’d crash the ambulance if someone didn’t watch out for her.
The young man studied the pair of them and relented, perhaps because he’d heard Dotty had caused the trouble on the boat. “If you agree you aren’t allowed to treat your grandmother, you can ride along.” He rested his metal clipboard on the end of the gurney and signaled his partner it was time to leave. “Mrs. Summer, we’re going to take you out of the shade. Can you close your eyes or do you need a blindfold?”
“Blindfold? Now I know I need a chaperone,” Dotty said thickly, placing her palms over her eyes.
Kitty turned to Beck and laid a hand on his chest. “One of her eyes is dilated. She’s most likely got a concussion. Most likely, given her age, they’ll keep her overnight.” Her gaze dropped to their feet.
They both wore alligator-themed flip-flops provided by the tour company since theirs had been lost in the swamp when they’d jumped in after Dotty. Thankfully, only Dotty needed medical attention. The park staff was efficient. By the time the boat returned to dock, the ambulance had been here.
“You should go to Tybee Island without us.” Kitty didn’t look at Beck when she said it.
Beck’s instinct told him to stay. Kitty might be a doctor, but they were still hours away from any other family. If he left, they’d be without transportation. If he left, Kitty would be without moral support. She panicked at boats. Who knew what else would rattle her.
“The longer it takes you to get back to Maggie, the less likely she’ll be to forgive you.” Kitty withdrew her hand from his chest. “You know it’s true.” She patted her wet board shorts pockets. “Oh, I almost forgot. I found this on your floorboard this morning.” She handed him his horseshoe good luck charm.
The small bit of metal was cool in his palm. He’d lost it the day of the wedding.
“Doctor,” the EMT called to Kitty. Dotty and the gurney were inside the ambulance. “It’s time to go.”
Kitty walked sideways, keeping Beck in her sights. “Call Maggie. Tell her what happened. Tell her you risked being eaten by an alligator to save Dotty. And tell her…” Suddenly, Kitty looked like she might cry. “Tell her you love her.” She spun away, dripping all the way to the ambulance.
Had Kitty just given Beck her blessing?
Beck clenched the horseshoe in his palm, unable to move. He watched the ambulance pull away, imagining Dotty being upset when they didn’t turn on the lights and sirens. Dotty liked anything she experienced to be full-service.
But thoughts of Dotty couldn’t keep his mind off Kitty. She may have been frightened on the boat, but that hadn’t kept her from jumping in the water when her grandmother was in danger. And she’d stayed in the smelly water with Beck until they’d helped the other passengers back into the safety of the boat. Such a fierce protector. He hadn’t lied when he’d agreed that she was hard to hate.
“These are for your family.” The boat driver had changed out of his wet things, having jumped in the water as well. He handed Beck a stack of dry clothes, which included gray Gator! Gator! Gator! T-shirts with a picture of Big Al on the front, jaws wide and ready to chomp.
Beck accepted them, holding them away from his wet body. Kitty would appreciate a dry change of clothes.
“My…uh…manager wanted me to remind you that you signed a release form before boarding our vessel.” The boat driver looked uncomfortable. “The police will be investigating and we’ll be cooperating. We hope you do the same.”
“Dotty’s not going to sue you for her mistake.” That wasn’t how she rolled. Beck walked toward the restrooms. “She was ready to take another ride.”
The boat driver paled beneath his tan. “God, help us.”
A few minutes later, Beck was driving toward the hospital and calling Maggie. She hadn’t changed her voicemail message. It still said she didn’t want to talk to or see him ever again. He should have called her last night. Or this morning. He hadn’t, because he hadn’t known what to say. And that had made him snap at everything and everyone. He liked clear paths and detailed plans. He stared at the horseshoe charm on his key fob. It had been his grandfather’s. Nothing was clear anymore.
When Maggie’s voicemail beeped at him to start talking, Beck did.
“Maggie, I...” The L-word stuck in his throat. Did he have a right to use it? “We had an accident. Well, two accidents. One last night and one today.” Being Dotty-induced mishaps, they didn’t qualify as accidents in the strictest sense of the word. But he wanted Maggie to know he wasn’t hiding from what had happened in Boca. “We’re all okay, but your grandmother needs to spend the night in the hospital. She might have a concussion, and I can’t leave them, much as I want to see you. I hope you understand. I…” Again, he choked on making a declaration. “I hope to see you tomorrow.”
Beck hung up. It was telling that he was driving to be with Kitty, not Maggie. But telling of what? That the so-called omens of bad luck he’d noticed on his wedding day meant he didn’t love Maggie enough to marry her, even if she forgave him? That he agreed with Kitty about the depth of love Maggie deserved and he could give? That he’d save Kitty first in a barn fire.
Maggie, he corrected himself.
But he kept driving toward Kitty, swallowing back truths he didn’t want to acknowledge.
It took nearly thirty minutes to get to the hospital, park, and convince the emergency room staff that he should be allowed to see Dotty. It was the dry clothes that did it. That, and he told the desk clerk Kitty was his wife.
He rationalized it was nothing short of what Kitty or Dotty would’ve done.
“How is she?” Beck asked before Kitty could speak. He quickly added, “I brought dry clothes.”
Maybe it was the dim lighting in the room, but Kitty’s complexion seemed pale. Her lips pressed together in a thin line, and there was a wrinkle in her brow. She looked worn out and worried. Beck was glad he’d come.
“They say I’ll live.” Even Dotty lacked her usual spunk. Her eyes were glassy and she looked frail in a hospital gown that seemed to sprout tubes and wires. Her skinny legs were covered by a thin blue blanket.
Kitty’s gaze caught on the dry cotton in his hands. She was no longer dripping, but she was still wet and the room felt as chilly as a refrigerator. She needed to change.
“You shouldn’t have come.” Kitty’s eyes were soft and misty as she accepted his gift. “But thank you.” She shook out a T-shirt, and then shook her head with a bemused smile. “It’s a good thing I left my pride on the altar. First drunken flamingos and now…” She held the shirt to her shoulders. “Big Al.”
“I thought it was fitting, since we escaped the jaws of death.” Beck bent and kissed Dotty’s forehead.
Dotty gave him a coquettish smile. “What was that for?”
“So I could do this.” Beck leaned over and kissed Kitty’s cheek. She wasn’t looking at him with the helpless expression that had gotten her Maggie’s destination from the hotel manager in Boca and a ride in the ambulance. But he still wanted to enfold her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay.
Kitty covered her pinkening cheek with one hand. “Did you talk to Maggie? Is everything okay?”
“My call rolled to voicemail.” In his quest to understand the reason behind her near-tears, Beck couldn’t take his eyes off Kitty. “I told her I couldn’t leave you. What can I do to help?”
“Stay here.” Kitty backed toward the door, eyes growing mistier. “I’m going to change.”
“Remind me, prom boy,” Dotty said, her eyes still glazed. “How many dates have you had with my granddaughter?”
“Two.” He sat in a small plastic chair that wasn’t made for relaxing. The room had beige walls, a framed photo of a tropical island, and a television that wasn’t turned on.
“Kitty’s your type.” Dotty stared at the blank ceiling. “Traditional. Nurturing. Driven.”
“That’s why I asked her to prom.”
Dotty waved her hand. “Don’t humor me. I could kick the bucket any day.”
“You’re too tough and stubborn to kick the bucket.” He wasn’t about to give her sympathy, whether she was clear-headed or not. “Even Big Al didn’t want to eat you.”
That earned him a wry smile. “Why is it that men are so logical? Love isn’t about logic. It doesn’t tally up a score you can double check your answer against.”
He was used to Dotty’s abrupt conversation changes, but a jump from buckets to the mysteries of men?
Dotty met his gaze. Her hair had dried into a white frizzy cloud. Her nose was sunburned. And despite the possibility of a concussion, she looked rational. “You don’t know why you’re here, do you?”
Beck felt like a witness under cross-examination and decided to take the fifth.
“I thought not.” Dotty’s eyes narrowed. “Kitty told me you were leaving us to get to Maggie.”
“I couldn’t leave you.” Not either one.
“Why?” Her question was as cold and sharp as an icicle, very un-Dotty-like.
Beck hesitated. How was he supposed to answer when he didn’t know himself? “It’s the way I was raised.”
“By those parents you don’t think love you enough?” She waved a hand when he would’ve asked how she knew that. “Kitty told me about them. Well, probably not all about them. She’s quite good at keeping secrets.” Dotty’s sigh had an unhealthy rattle to it, as if she’d swallowed swamp water. “She’ll hold a grudge, but eventually she’ll come around.”
Kitty hadn’t told her grandmother everything. Not by any means. “There’ll be no grudge. Kitty and I understand each other.”
“I’m not talking about Kitty.” Dotty’s voice wound up high and tight. “I’m talking about Maggie. She’ll be hurt when you realize you love her sister.”
“I don’t–”
“Of course, you love Kitty,” Dotty snapped, making the L-word ricochet around Beck’s head like a loose ball bearing in a front wheel. “Why else did you come? Because of a false sense of honor? Please. I told you. Men think too much and rely on logic when they should follow their heart.”
Kitty opened the door. She should have looked like something the cat dragged in–ratty hair, no make-up, a too-large T-shirt with a tacky gator on it. She didn’t. She looked like someone Beck could spend the rest of his life with. Someone who’d answer the phone even if she was mad at him. Someone who’d stick beside him during good times and bad, during disagreements and rough patches. In sickness and in health.
He leaned forward in his chair and cradles his head in his hands, suddenly light-headed.