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“He’s a real puzzle, isn’t he?” Eric asked. “I got the impression from Colleen he was suspicious of you and this business of Lincoln DuBois’s will, but he was acting like he’d take on a whole platoon single-handed to ensure your safety when we got here this afternoon.”
“Nick was standing at your bedroom door like a watchdog when we arrived,” Colleen informed her quietly. “He looked so intense, I wondered if his stare could burn a hole through the door.”
Deidre’s cheeks turned hot. She knew precisely what Colleen meant about Nick’s stare.
“He’s an enigma, all right,” she said before she changed the subject.
Deidre had to promise Eric and Colleen at least half a dozen times she’d take it easy that night and get plenty of rest. The couple left at nightfall to go and pick up Coleen’s children, Brendan and Jenny, from Brigit’s house. Deidre took a long, hot bath once she was alone. At around five o’clock that afternoon, her cell phone began to ring. She tensed, dread welling up inside her. The response had been programmed into her since coming to Harbor Town. She’d been worried about her mother calling. Increasingly, she was also growing anxious about receiving the call about the genetic testing from GenLabs. She told herself she was being ridiculous. Surely it’d be a week or more before she received that call.
She checked the number and saw an unfamiliar prefix. She answered, her heart starting to race.
“Hello?”
“Am I forgiven?”
A rush of warmth went through her when she recognized Nick’s blunt, matter-of-fact voice.
“I suppose, seeing as you did your part to revive me,” she said, smiling.
“How are you feeling?”
“Embarrassed, mostly. That’s never happened to me before.”
“I kind of figured. You didn’t seem too happy about it. I guess it’s true what they say about doctors and nurses making the worst patients.”
She wandered over to the pretty Christmas tree and ran her fingers over some soft needles. “I was very compliant when Colleen fed me. I’m much better, I promise.”
“It’s amazing how the body needs little things like food and sleep,” he murmured mildly enough. Maybe it was her guilt that made her hear a hint of remonstrance.
“I’ll take care of myself. I honestly hadn’t noticed how run-down I’d gotten.”
“Neither had I. I knew you hadn’t had much of an appetite while you were at The Pines, but I’m kicking myself for not realizing how bad things had gotten.”
Deidre swallowed thickly. It wasn’t his job to monitor her physical health, after all. She couldn’t help but recall how Colleen had said Nick had been standing at her door like a watchdog.
A charged silence ensued.
“I’m sorry about shouting at you the way I did,” he s
aid.
“You didn’t shout at me. What you said was true. I need to come out of my shell and look at the bigger picture here. There are a lot of people depending on DuBois Enterprises. Lincoln would have wanted me to understand that.”
Was that relief she heard in his ragged sigh?
“I’m going to give you the number for Abel Warren—Lincoln’s personal attorney. He’s handling the will. He’ll be able to explain the details of the will and give you the information for how to access your funds. He’ll probably want to fly out here to see you.”
“No,” Deidre said quickly. “I’m not ready for that yet. I’d rather wait for the genetic testing before I make any moves in that direction.”
“If that’s what you want, but I still want you to have Abel’s number. He can inform you of your legal rights, Deidre. I’ll text his number to you, and you’ll have it for reference.”
Deidre couldn’t find a reason to disagree with that. It was hard to explain to Nick that it was daunting to try to plan a life that was precariously perched on shifting sands, especially since he seemed like one of the aspects that might change at any moment.
“Do you think you’ll feel up to going out tomorrow afternoon?” he asked.
“I feel up to going out now, to be honest.” She smiled when she heard his doubtful grunt. “Don’t worry. I promised to rest up tonight. What did you have in mind for tomorrow afternoon? Do we need to discuss something else about DuBois?”
“I’d like to get your signature for the Vivicor transaction, if you’re still agreeable. More importantly, I just want to take you out, if you’re up for it.”
