When the plane landed, she pushed her way through the lines, apologizing as she went, and raced for ground transportation and a cab. She needed to assess the situation and try to make some plans.
“Methodist Hospital,” she told the driver. “And please hurry.”
* * * *
The snowstorm demanded Luke’s attention as he headed out of Boston, but not enough to keep thoughts from clogging his mind. Julia’s face kept floating in front of him. His lips still burned from their kisses, his skin branded by her touch. Watching her leave, walk away from him, was like having his heart ripped out of his chest.
Knowing Julia, sharing himself with her in more ways than the physical, made returning to his solitary life a difficult task. When he’d walked away from his wreck of a marriage, solitary seemed like the best choice. It had taken him far too long to realize what a shallow woman he’d married. By then their two sons were born and the chain around his neck was firmly in place. He’d stayed believing whatever the cost, no other man would raise his children.
But things hadn’t worked out quite the way he’d expected. His sons were in Alabama with Patty and she’d done her level best to ruin any relationship between them. With Julia, he saw hope for the future. A life he’d never thought he’d have.
Damn Charles anyway.
The closer he got to his condo, the more uptight he felt. Life had apparently decided to kick him in the teeth again and he needed to figure out how to handle it.
* * * *
Julia paused at the entrance to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit waiting room. Forcing herself to breathe slowly, she slowed the accelerated pace of her heart, wet her lips, and swallowed. For this, she needed to be in control of herself. Every available seat seemed to be filled, but she spotted Claire in a corner, leaning back, eyes closed. She walked over to her and touched her shoulder gently.
“Oh!” Claire startled, then focused her eyes as she recognized Julia. “Oh, my God. Julia.” She stood and hugged her friend. For a moment, the two women took strength from each other.
“Why are you still here?” Julia asked. “You must be exhausted. Not to mention the fact your husband is probably wondering where you are.”
“Brad’s fine. He was here, too, as a matter of fact, but I finally sent him home. I figured you’d rather have just me.”
“Thank you for that.” Julia motioned toward the doorway with her hand. “Can we go into the hallway and talk?”
Claire nodded. They walked to the far end of the corridor and paused near a tall window, wet with the rivulets of rain skating down the surface.
All of her crises seemed to occur on rainy days.
“All right.” She touched Claire’s arm. “Tell me everything.”
“Okay. I had to pry this out of the jackass he was with.” Claire rubbed her forehead, an effort to sort out her jumbled thoughts. “He and Rod McGuire apparently were having dinner at the Downtown Club, then ran into a couple of clients and sat in the bar talking with them for a long time. Charles got up to say goodbye, grabbed his chest, and fell down in terrible pain. McGuire called an ambulance and they brought him here.”
Rod McGuire, of all people. Damn.
Not only Charles’s partner, but his oldest friend. They had been friends since they were toddlers, playing together, supervised by one nanny or the other. They’d gone through boarding school, college, and law school together. Now they were law partners, in practice with their fathers. Julia knew strong friendships formed under those circumstances. The first time she met Rod, however, she’d sensed an allegiance that went beyond that. A loyalty from Rod that might be admirable if she knew what brought it about. Something stronger than normal friendship, that was for sure. The man was also a consummate snob, as was everyone else in their circle. When Charles married Julia, Rod had made it patently clear he thought she was a poor choice and he’d never bothered to mask his dislike.
“Oh, God.” Julia bit her lip. “It’s the divorce. I know it is.” A feeling of blame surged through her, trailing nausea in its wake. Apparently, she was one of those people destined never to have real happiness in their lives. When she reached for it, everything else went to hell.
“Stop it.” Claire’s voice was sharp. “Get this through your head. Nothing you did caused what happened. Nothing. Are we clear? This would have happened no matter what.”
“If you say so.” Julia took a deep breath and let it out. “All right. Go on.”
“About three in the morning, McGuire finally figured someone should call the house and let you and the children know what was happening.”
“Charles didn’t know I was out of town,” Julia told her in a low voice. “I’m glad they brought him here. His doctor is on staff.”
“McGuire filled out the insurance papers. He sure wasn’t happy to see me. Told me bluntly he’d handle everything and I could go home.” She made a sound of disgust. “Said I didn’t have any business here but it would be nice if Charles’s wife showed up.”
“He knows about the divorce.” Anger crawled up her spine. “Everyone does.”
“He was just being an arrogant ass. Ignore him.”
“I don’t know how to thank you for coming down here.” She hugged Claire again.
“I didn’t want you to walk into this by yourself with no one but the Ice Man for company.”
“What have you been able to find out?”
“By the time Dr. Vinoy got here, Charles was in Emergency and stabilized. Then Vinoy called in
