“I take it you haven’t talked with your boss yet?”
Tripp looked down at Doctor Smith’s much larger hand now clamped over the top of Andy’s hand and Tripp’s wrist. “No, sir. Sure haven’t. But tomorrow, first thing, I get to do that.”
Smith peered at Tripp from beneath his brows. “Mr. Stewart’s a good guy, isn’t he?”
Everyone knew that. “He’s a good shot, too.” And he’s going to kill me tomorrow, bright and early.
Smith drew in a deep breath, then blew it out slowly through pursed lips, like he was debating what to say next. “It’s not my place to tell you this, but…”
Shit, what now? Tripp honestly couldn’t see a light at the end of this godforsaken tunnel. Not this time. Trish had done it to him and Andy again. Through all her wrong choices, she was still stomping the shit out of the only two people who’d ever loved her sorry ass.
Tripp pulled away from Smith’s unwelcome touch and kicked his chair back from the table, sick at heart for his mom most of all, but too damned worn out to care about his twin.
“I think you should know that…” Smith ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “You and your mom aren’t alone in this endeavor.”
Tripp glared at the doctor. “Excuse me?”
“It’s true.” Smith’s head bobbed. “I’m going to tell you something I wouldn’t ordinarily share. It’s not confidential but…” His eyebrows lifted to his hairline. “Here goes. Mr. Stewart’s paying your sister’s medical costs. All of them. Even her rehab. Anything else she needs. He’s already called in two of my esteemed colleagues for second and third opinions. Do you believe that?” The man just could not stop smiling. “Trust me, Trish is in the very best hands, so are you and your mom.”
Unbelievable. “No kidding?” Tripp asked, at the same time Andy shrieked, “He what? No. Mr. Stewart can’t do that. I won’t let him.” She turned on Tripp. “You have to stop him. Tell him no.”
Tripp didn’t know what to say. “But Mom, he’s my boss, and once he makes up his mind to do something…” Telling Alex no won’t go over too well. It’s the right thing to do, but damn…
“It’s not his burden to bear.” Andy tipped her head into her hands, her shoulders quaking. “It’s mine.”
Tripp rested his hand between her shoulder blades. Man, her heart was pounding. So was his. “It’s ours, Mom, not just yours. Don’t cry. I’ll talk to him, and we’ll figure a way forward.”
She turned her teary eyes on him. “Promise?”
Not fair. He never could resist his mom when she cried. “Sure,” he said, patting her back to keep her from falling apart. “I have a meeting with him first thing in the morning. I’ll talk with him then.” And then I’ll file for unemployment.
Ashley turned her pretty blues on Andy. “I’d let Alex help. I’ve seen his workplace, and…” She glanced at Tripp out of the corner of her eye. “I heard him telling his friend about some land he just bought, and how he has great plans for his TEAM, and…” She swallowed hard. “One gift never diminishes another, Mrs. McClane.”
“But we’re talking a lot of money here,” Tripp argued.
She met his eyes and raised him one. “Sounds to me like Alex has more money than he knows what to do with. Don’t make him feel bad by rejecting his kindness. That’s not why gifts are given, to make someone else feel bad. I’ve only just met him, but if he wants to do this for Andy and Trish and, err, you, I’d sure let him.”
“Where did you find this gem?” his mom asked, her eyes bright with unshed tears.
“At the corner of King Street and forever,” Tripp murmured, his heart stuck up so high in his throat, he could barely breathe.
“So, it’s a go then? You’ll accept Mr. Stewart’s gift?” Doctor Smith asked, his enthusiasm for Trish’s recovery off the Richter scale again.
“I’ll have to talk with him first, but…” Tripp stalled. His mom’s pride and self-respect were on the line. They were all she had left. He refused to trample her wishes the way Trish always did. “I mean, Mom and I will talk with Alex.” He leaned into her and kissed her cheek. “You asked my boss for a miracle, remember. This might be it.”
Tripp thought back to the night he’d found Trish after her assault. He’d asked for a miracle then, too. Jesus, could Alex really be the answer to that hastily uttered prayer?
Andy turned to face Tripp. “But I never meant for him to be so… so…”
“Generous?” Doctor Smith offered the seemingly innocuous word, that was right then choking the shit out of Tripp. His boss was doing this for him? For his mom? Trish’s care would run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. What did a guy say to a gift like that? No? Yeah, sure, thanks? Tripp couldn’t come up with the right words.
Ashley wrapped an arm around Andy’s shoulder. “Maybe Alex Stewart is your guardian angel in disguise. We all have one. I know I do. Alex must be yours.”
“I don’t believe in angels anymore,” Andy sputtered. She was blinking, trying to keep her composure. “And I never meant for anyone to do this.”
“Here you go, Andy.” Doctor Smith handed her the box of tissues from the credenza behind him. “It is a huge monetary gift, and, of course, accepting it would be hard. I understand that, but Alex Stewart is one of our biggest donors. He and his wife built the new pediatric intensive care unit upstairs. Trust him. He’s only doing this because he can, and because he cares.”
Tripp knew damned well that his boss cared. Else why did he absorb
