First Take (Star-Taken) (9 page)

He
motioned her over and she stepped to the bed until her thighs pushed into the mattress. Grabbing his hand, she leaned closer. “Promise me you won’t marry Nate.”

A startled laugh burst through her lips, and she straightened. “But I thought you liked him.”

He relaxed back onto the bed with a nod. “Sure, I like him fine. He comes around after your brother’s visited and asks if anything needs to be done, knowing full well Robert helps me if there is. He brings bribes to your mom, showing me up in my own house. But really, he’s nice enough. However, I’m not the one who’d have to spend ‘until death do we part’ with him, and neither is your mom.” He narrowed his eyes. “Plus there was that nasty business that caused you to break up with him in the first place.” By the end of his long speech, his voice was only a faint whisper and he licked his lips repeatedly.

Feeling helpless, s
he squeezed his fingers. Dad had never shared his opinion of any of the guys she’d dated, nothing good nor nothing bad, not even when she’d told him about the blonde bimbo. All he’d said was something along the lines of she was smart enough to know when to get out when the getting was good.

“Don’t worry. You know once I’m done with something, I don’t go back. I only look forward.
And Nate is most definitely in the past.” She smiled. “No matter how hard Mom pushes. You’re not the only stubborn one in the family.”

A ghost of a smile flittered across his lips. Was he remembering how the woman had begged, bribed, and threatened Rachel in an attempt to get her to resume her piano lessons? Or maybe the time, Mom had stopped talking to her after Rachel had announced she was moving out of state?

But rather than sharing whatever memory crossed his mind, he said, “You have the tendency to date assholes, Rachel.”

From somewhere deep inside, her father had found enough strength that “assholes” almost boomed from him in his normal tone.
Heat flamed her face. “Daddy—”

“Don’t ‘Daddy’
me. You’re strong, stronger than anyone else in this family. You don’t need someone who’s constantly going to be fighting you or trying to order you about or, worse yet, making you take care of him. You take care of everything and everyone already. You need someone to take care of you.”

Spee
chless, she just stared at her father. He’d never talked to her like this before. Finally, she stammered, “Th-thanks, I think.”

He closed his eyes
, his body sinking into the mattress as if all the words had left him empty. Worry flew through her and she glanced at the monitor. No marked increase in activity, but still she fretted until he nodded his head and said, “And if anything happens to me, you make sure Robert keeps his promise.” He peeked open an eye. “Hell, even if I come out of this, you make sure he keeps his promise.”

She frowned.
“When did you get Robert to make a promise?” He’d only arrived this morning and hadn’t had a moment alone with Dad.

“It’s this wonderful invention known as the telephone,” Dad said without opening his eyes.

“Okay, smart-aleck. What promise?” How could she force Robert to do anything? He was just as stubborn as everyone else in the family.

“Ask him.
” After a light squeezed of her fingers, her father dropped her hand and said, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a few minutes alone, pum’kin.”

T
hough everything in her protested, she nodded. What if in those moments alone, he chose to leave them all? It was a stupid, irrational fear. Her mother had sucked up her courage and left the room. Rachel could do the same.

“Sure.” She leaned over and dropped a kiss on his dry forehead. “See you
later, alligator.”

He smiled. “After ‘while, crocodile.”

~ * ~

NINE

Rachel tapped her foot against the
carpeted floor. She’d long ago placed aside her laptop. No way could she get any work done thinking about her dad under the knife. Robert and Mom had gone to find coffee and food while Nate had headed to work with instructions to Rachel to call only if it was an emergency. To her mother, Nate had offered “Call for any reason.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. She really
needed to have a talk with that man. He needed to get back to his life, and more importantly, out of hers. He was creating unrealistic expectations with her mother, and now that Dad had said he didn’t care overly much for the guy, it somehow strengthened Rachel’s resolve.

In the next chair, her phone buzzed a notification. She glanced at the screen. It was a
text message from Stephen. Her heart skipped a beat. Hadn’t he said he’d be busy? She swiped her thumb over the screen.

Stephen:
How’s it going? Any news?

She
chewed on her lower lip. A nurse had come in over an hour ago, before Mom and Robert had left, and said everything was proceeding normally. That’s why they’d felt secure enough to go for food. But there’d been no word since. She typed,
Still waiting.

A few seconds later,
How are you?
popped up on the screen.

She took a deep breath. Scared. Sick to her stomach with worry. Impatient.
Nervous
was what she responded.

Stephen:
Any idea how much longer?

She smiled. She’d been expecting some platitude like,
It’ll be all right
, but once again, he’d surprised her. Somehow he knew she needed something to engage her, make her respond and think about anything other than her stress.

Rachel:
Hopefully not much longer.

If she had to deal with
this level of stress for many more minutes, she’d have to go looking for some antacids.

Stephen:
Don’t forget to eat. It’ll help settle your nerves.

She frowned at the screen and then glanced around the near
-empty waiting room. An elderly woman sat in the corner with her knitting. How’d he know she hadn’t eaten?

Rachel:
Mom and brother went first.

Though she hadn’t intended to leave once they got back
. With luck, there was a vending machine nearby, or she could run to the gift shop right outside the elevator banks on the ground level and see what they had.

Stephen:
K. But you need to take care of yourself too.

Rachel:
Will do.

After sending
the message, she sat back in her chair. What had her dad said? She needed someone to take care of her. Hysterical laughter bubbled inside her. Somehow, she doubted he would believe an action hero was stepping up to the task.

What would her dad think about Stephen? There seemed to be a general assumption that movie stars had big egos, but really, she hadn’t seen that with
him. He was grounded, down-to-earth, and even somewhat insecure. She smiled. And definitely not an asshole. How many men would step up to provide support during a major life crisis of a woman they’d just met? A lot of people didn’t deal well with other people’s problems, but yet, he was checking in with her regularly. Warmth speared her chest.

The
phone in her hand vibrated, startling her. She’d thought the last text had been the end of her and Stephen’s conversation. She swiped her thumb over the screen.

Stephen:
One more thing. What’s your e-mail?

Work or personal? That was a silly question though. Why would he want her work
e-mail? So she sent him her personal.

Stephen:
Got it. Chat later. ~Stephen

A bemused smile danced across her face. She liked how he signed the end of his correspondence, short notes and texts alike. What was he
e-mailing her?

“Hey, sis. Brought you back a turkey sandwich with all the fixin
’s.” A six-inch sub followed by a bag of jalapeno-flavored chips landed in her lap. Suddenly starving, she set her phone in the opposite chair, the one with her laptop and other paraphernalia, since Robert looked like he intended to sit in the one it previously occupied, and met her brother’s gaze.

He rattled a
cup, the ice rattling inside. “Your favorite, unsweetened tea with lots of ice.”

She held out a hand. “You know, brother dear, sometimes you’re not such a bad egg.”

He held the tea just out of reach. “Admit I’m the smarter one first.”

Nodding, she said,
“Oh, sure, you’re the smartest.” She grabbed the cup when he held it out then took a long pull on the straw, savoring the coolness against her throat even though the waiting room was a bit chilly. Good thing she’d thought to bring a sweater. Setting the drink aside, she smiled. “Smartest of the bad eggs, that is.”

He pursed his lips as Mom
laughed. “You two, play nice.”

“Mrs.
Harrington?” At the chipper voice of one of the ICU nurses, they faced the door. The nurse smiled. “Your husband’s out of surgery and we’re settling him into recovery. You can come back and see him.” Rachel started gathering her things, but the woman’s smile faltered. “He, uh, asked for your mom only. Sorry.”

Ra
chel relaxed, relief washing through her. She didn’t want to see her dad post-surgery and he’d told her and Robert, prior to the procedure for the first stint, that he didn’t want them in the room afterward. He didn’t like appearing weak in front of them. Remembering the ornery way her otherwise friendly and flirty father had growled at the nurses, she was more than happy he hadn’t changed his rule. She smiled. “No problem. Tell him I’m too busy eating lunch to come see him anyway.”

A frown drew
down the nurse’s brow and her smile faded before she repaired it. “Uh, sure. Okay.”

Mom sho
t a frown toward Rachel and shook her head.

“What?” Rachel
asked, ripping open the bag of chips.

“You kids can be so rude sometimes. I don’t know where you get it from.” She turned away and joined the nurse. “Pay no attention to my heathen children
,” With a quick glance at the woman’s name tag, she smiled and added, “Diane. Sometimes I think aliens replaced them after they moved out on their own.”

Mom and
Diane left the room while Robert settled into the empty chair beside Rachel. She popped a chip in her mouth. The tangy spice hit her tongue and started a slow burn. After she swallowed, she took a sip of tea then placed the cup on the floor in front of the empty chair. She’d hate to accidentally kick over the drink.

“So what do you think the odds are she’s now trying to get that nurse to go on a date with me even though she just described me as rude and possibly even non-human?”

Unwrapping the sandwich, Rachel said, “Pretty good. It’s no secret she wants us married and producing grandkids.”

Robert grunted.

She slewed her glance toward him as she bit off a mouthful of the sub. His eyes closed, deep furrows lining his brow, he rested his head against the wall. Sporting dark circles, he looked like someone had given him two shiners a week ago. Even though her mouth was half-f, she couldn’t resist saying, “You look like shit. Dad’s going to be okay.”

Cracking an eyelid, he said, “You don’t look so hot either.”

After wiping her mouth with a napkin, she stuck out her tongue.

“Nice. No wonder Nate’s in love.” He cracked up at her wrinkled nose and frown. “Good to know you haven’t changed your mind about him, sourpuss.”

She shuddered. “Mom’s the only one in this family who loves Nate. Now that Dad’s out of surgery, she’ll focus on his recovery, and I can tell Nate to hit the road, again.” She chuckled. “Dad made me promise not to marry the guy. Can you believe that? Oh, and speaking of promises, what’s the one you made Dad?” She popped another chip and savored the spiciness and crunch.

“Oh man, did he tell
you
?” Robert groaned. “Now I’m never going to hear the end of it.”

Nodding, s
he chuckled. “I think that’s
why
he told me. You can’t go making promises you don’t intend to keep, even if it’s what you think he wants to hear, Robert. You should know that by now.” She bit off a more modest piece of sandwich. Maybe she should’ve waited until after finishing her meal to start this conversation. Her stomach growled at her to eat faster. Oh well, it wasn’t like Robert hadn’t seen her pig out before.

“Sheesh, Rach, I already have a mom.”

“Yes, I believe I know the woman well,” she said, picking up her cup. After taking a long sip, she said, “Which is why Dad told me. He’s got to have someone on
his
side. So spill.” Expecting a long, detailed confession, she ripped off another large chunk of sandwich.

“I might have said I’d move back home.”

Surprise shot Rachel’s eyebrows to her hairline, and she almost choked on her food when she about gasped. At eighteen, he’d been the first to move out, over their mother’s protests. Rachel had at least stuck around through college. Around the mouthful, she said, “Wow.” She chewed fast then swallowed and added, “That’s unbelievable.”

While she waited for
his response, she nibbled at the remains of the meal, one last bite and a few chips. When he didn’t speak, she studied his profile. Why wasn’t he meeting her gaze? A dull flush crept up his neck. Pausing with a chip halfway to her mouth, she said, “Wait. Do you
want
to move back home?”

Finally he looked at her. “Kind of. Dad wants to take Mom traveling, you know
, like he used to when he was working. But he knows Mom won’t leave the house empty.” He sighed and glanced away. “Lately, I’ve been feeling…” He shrugged, “…out of sorts, I guess. I thought maybe if I moved home, it would, you know, somehow ground me.”

While she contemplated his revelation, she finished her meal. She’d always thought Robert had it all together. Hell, he had a freaking upcoming AP byline.
Aside from a book deal, she couldn’t imagine anything better for his career. He wasn’t talking about his professional life then. She frowned. What was going on in his personal life? As she crumpled up the sandwich wrapping and stuffed it into the empty chip bag, a weird sense of guilt washed over her. She’d never asked about his personal life because, well, it was personal. She shoved aside the useless emotion. There wasn’t anything she could do about their past relationship. After one last sip of tea, she asked. “Out of sorts how?”

He
blew out a heavy breath and once again shut his eyes. What was he hiding? With the exception of their mother, who played it pretty straight, the rest of their family approached life with an outward sort of levity, which could camouflage a lot of pain.

She touched his arm. “Hey.”
When he looked at her again, her breath caught at the pain in his eyes, but there was also pleading. She offered a half smile. “Maybe Dad has ulterior motives.”

His brows pinched together.
“What’s that?”

With a straight face, she said, “
If you move back home, Nate won’t come around as much. It’s no secret the two of you don’t get along.” Relief washed over his features. He hadn’t wanted to get serious, had needed her to lighten the mood, and she finally grinned.

He snorted. “That could only be good. Sometimes I worry Mom’s gonna leave Dad for him.”

They both cracked up. After a minute, she sobered. “I think you should. If it’s what you need to do, then definitely.”

He crooked an eyebrow
. “You don’t think it would be weird for a thirty-two year old to live at home with his parents?”

“No, but
it doesn’t really matter what I, or anyone else, think. Besides, it’s not as if you’ll walk around wearing a sign saying ‘Living with Parents.’” She craned her head around and stared at his vanity T-shirt. “Or maybe you will.”

He rubbed a hand down his chest. “Hey, I’ll have you know, this is in style.”

She knew it was, but it wasn’t her style. “More power to you, brother mine. When are you gonna move?”

He sighed. “My lease is up at the end of the month, but I’ll go ahead and make arrangements. Mom’s gonna need
help with Dad when he goes home. His picture should be in the dictionary next to ‘stubborn.’”

Snorting, she
grabbed her trash then headed toward the door, where a garbage receptacle stood. Stubborn pretty well described all the Harringtons. Pitching in the bag of empty wrappers and cup, she said, “Well, since he made you promise, my guess is he’s looking forward to having you around more.” After using the hand sanitizer station above the trash can, she returned to her seat.

Robert stretched
out his legs and folded his hands on his stomach. “He’d be happy to have you nearer or at least visiting more often.”

She and Dad hadn’t talked about that earlier, but they’d talked about it before. He said he’d given her the wanderlust blood, not that
Rachel had traveled much lately. She’d been too busy working, but she loved her job. Maybe there was a compromise somewhere in there, but she hadn’t looked for it yet.