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She nodded.
“Go find a comfortable place to be. I’ll bring it to you.”
She hugged him, then chose the sofa in the living room and stretched out by the fire. He was moments behind her with one of the ice packs he kept in his freezer. He had wrapped it in a hand towel.
She laid it on the side of her face, but she could tell he was at war with himself. He couldn’t fix her, but he didn’t want to let her out of his sight.
“Do what you need to do,” she mumbled.
“I need to do for you, because right now you hurt my heart,” Cameron said, then unfolded the blanket from the back of the sofa and covered her up. “I think we need to let your family know you’re okay. I’ll call them for you if you want.”
She gave him a thumbs-up and closed her eyes.
“TV, please?”
He picked up the remote and hit Power, then put it in her hands and walked out of the room to make the call.
Chapter 19
Liz Caldwell was already at work, but Ray was still in the penthouse.
The town was buzzing with news about the arrests and the shootings, and the stories ranged from the absurd to horrific. He couldn’t focus enough on work to bother going to the office until he’d heard from Rusty, and he didn’t know if it was kosher to call her first.
Patricia was due to come home today, and he could only imagine the fit she was going to have when she found out about all this. When his phone rang, he didn’t recognize the number, but at this point screening calls was the last thing on his mind.
“Hello, this is Ray.”
“Mr. Caldwell, this is Cameron Pope. Rusty wanted me to call and let you know she’s fine. All of the bad guys have been rounded up.”
“Thank God. I’ve been worried sick, but where is she? Why didn’t she call?” Ray said.
“She’s at my house. She has been working from here ever since she left the hotel. We were in on the episode out at the campground. Rusty has a sore jaw and a black eye, so talking is not on her agenda right now. But nothing is broken, and other than being miserable, she’s fine.”
“Thank you, Cameron, thank you. I feel like I can breathe now. Please give her our love, and ask her to let us know before she leaves town again.”
“She’s not leaving. And since her father isn’t alive to hear this, I’m asking you. I’m going to marry your niece, and I’m asking for your blessing. She’s put her life on the line for Uncle Sam for the last time.”
“This is wonderful news! And of course you have my blessing. Welcome to the family,” Ray said.
“And welcome to mine,” Cameron said.
Ray laughed. “I suspect you have us outnumbered, but Rusty never wanted to be an only child. She will be elated.”
Cameron laughed. “She hasn’t met them all yet, and some of them are characters, but there’s not a bad one in the bunch. And they’re going to love her. With all her heart and fire, she’s going to fit right in.”
Ray was still chuckling when he hung up, but it felt like a weight had just lifted from his shoulders. He dropped his phone in his suit coat, patted his pocket to make sure he had his key card, and headed for the elevator.
Just as he reached the foyer, the door opened in front of him and one of the bellhops emerged pushing a luggage cart full of bags, packages, and suitcases, with Patricia right behind him.
“Darling!” Patricia said, and threw her arms around Ray’s neck as the bellhop pushed the luggage cart down the hall to the master suite. “I’ve missed you terribly. I can’t wait to tell you what we did and the shows we saw while I was gone.”
Ray shook his head, smiling wryly. “You didn’t miss anyone. You called me once and Liz twice, and wait until you hear what all you’ve missed while you were gone.”
Patricia blinked.
The bellhop came back with the empty luggage cart, got on the elevator and went down, leaving them staring at each other in the foyer.
“What do you mean? Oh, never mind. Liz will tell me. I’m going to wake her up. She’ll be furious but she’ll get over it. I brought prezzies.”
