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Authors: Mary Jo Putney
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unable to control her bitterness. "Whose fault was that?"
"Ours." Virginia's face was bleak in the harsh cafeteria light. "By the time you arrived in Baltimore, we had nothing left to give."
"What about today? Are you sorry I came here?"
"You're William's only grandchild. It was right for you to come." She stood, pushing her chair back from the table. "I must go back to him now. You might as well leave. The nurse said he won't wake up for hours."
A hint that heavy was impossible to overlook. Suppressing a sigh, Rainey got to her feet. "I'll stop by in the morning before I go."
Chapter 6
On the way to Val's house, Rainey used her cell phone to call Dr. Darrell Jackson in New York. Luckily, he was home and answered his private line. When she heard his deep voice, she said, "Hi, Darrell. It's Raine Marlowe. How are Sarah and the kids?"
"Raine! Great to hear from you. They're fine. Bobby's grown six inches since you saw him last. How's my favorite actress?"
"I'm afraid I have a big favor to ask."
"If I can do it, you've got it." His voice softened. "I'll never forget how you came to visit my mother. She died with a smile on her face because of you."
"That smile was because she was so proud of her children and grandchildren." Angie Jackson had worked hard as a domestic to raise her children. All had gone to college on scholarships with her encouragement. She'd deserved to live until she was ninety, pampered by her adoring family, but fate hadn't been kind.
Angie had been dying when Darrell contacted Rainey's office and said that Raine Marlowe was his mother's favorite actress, and would she consider visiting? Since Rainey was shooting a movie in New York City, it had been easy to fulfill the request.
Her first visit had been from altruism. The half dozen other visits she'd made had been because it was impossible not to love Angie Jackson. If only William and Virginia Marlowe had possessed a tenth of Angie's warmth.
"What's your problem, Raine?"
Tersely she described her grandfather's injuries and the aneurysm. "I don't know if you'll be able to help, but maybe what's inoperable to the average, garden variety brain surgeon is something you can pull off."
"I'm not God, but if you have the CAT scans sent up, I'll take a look."
"Thanks. If you can't help, nobody can."
"You didn't listen when I said I'm not God. We'll see."
After signing off, Rainey called Emmy in California to make arrangements to get the CAT scans from Baltimore to the neurosurgeon. How had she survived before the invention of the cell phone?
She leaned back in the seat, drained. The ringing of the phone jerked her up again. Retracting her prior kindly thoughts about cell phones, she opened it. "Hello?"
"How are you doing?" Kenzie asked. "I had to call Emmy, and she told me about your grandfather's accident. I'm sorry. Hard for him, and very bad timing for you."
As always, his rich, beautifully modulated voice soothed her. "I don't know quite why I'm here in Baltimore, given that he always wished I'd disappear."
"No matter how difficult your relationship with your grandparents, you're connected to them," he said quietly. "Connections are what keep us anchored in life."
"True. Plus my friend Val guilted me into making the trip. I'm glad I came, actually. I was just at the hospital, and my grandmother and I had the closest thing we've ever had to a real conversation. That was worth flying cross-country for."
"Indeed."
Was that wistfulness in his voice? Kenzie had a hundred colorful tales about his father, the colonel, or perhaps the viscount, and his mother, who'd been debutante of the year, or maybe a big game huntress in Kenya. But if he had any real relatives, Rainey had never met them. He was a man without a past. It was something they had in common—she had only half a past herself.
"Sometimes I wonder about my father, and what family I have on that side," she said slowly. "I probably have cousins, maybe even
"Ours." Virginia's face was bleak in the harsh cafeteria light. "By the time you arrived in Baltimore, we had nothing left to give."
"What about today? Are you sorry I came here?"
"You're William's only grandchild. It was right for you to come." She stood, pushing her chair back from the table. "I must go back to him now. You might as well leave. The nurse said he won't wake up for hours."
A hint that heavy was impossible to overlook. Suppressing a sigh, Rainey got to her feet. "I'll stop by in the morning before I go."
Chapter 6
On the way to Val's house, Rainey used her cell phone to call Dr. Darrell Jackson in New York. Luckily, he was home and answered his private line. When she heard his deep voice, she said, "Hi, Darrell. It's Raine Marlowe. How are Sarah and the kids?"
"Raine! Great to hear from you. They're fine. Bobby's grown six inches since you saw him last. How's my favorite actress?"
"I'm afraid I have a big favor to ask."
"If I can do it, you've got it." His voice softened. "I'll never forget how you came to visit my mother. She died with a smile on her face because of you."
"That smile was because she was so proud of her children and grandchildren." Angie Jackson had worked hard as a domestic to raise her children. All had gone to college on scholarships with her encouragement. She'd deserved to live until she was ninety, pampered by her adoring family, but fate hadn't been kind.
Angie had been dying when Darrell contacted Rainey's office and said that Raine Marlowe was his mother's favorite actress, and would she consider visiting? Since Rainey was shooting a movie in New York City, it had been easy to fulfill the request.
Her first visit had been from altruism. The half dozen other visits she'd made had been because it was impossible not to love Angie Jackson. If only William and Virginia Marlowe had possessed a tenth of Angie's warmth.
"What's your problem, Raine?"
Tersely she described her grandfather's injuries and the aneurysm. "I don't know if you'll be able to help, but maybe what's inoperable to the average, garden variety brain surgeon is something you can pull off."
"I'm not God, but if you have the CAT scans sent up, I'll take a look."
"Thanks. If you can't help, nobody can."
"You didn't listen when I said I'm not God. We'll see."
After signing off, Rainey called Emmy in California to make arrangements to get the CAT scans from Baltimore to the neurosurgeon. How had she survived before the invention of the cell phone?
She leaned back in the seat, drained. The ringing of the phone jerked her up again. Retracting her prior kindly thoughts about cell phones, she opened it. "Hello?"
"How are you doing?" Kenzie asked. "I had to call Emmy, and she told me about your grandfather's accident. I'm sorry. Hard for him, and very bad timing for you."
As always, his rich, beautifully modulated voice soothed her. "I don't know quite why I'm here in Baltimore, given that he always wished I'd disappear."
"No matter how difficult your relationship with your grandparents, you're connected to them," he said quietly. "Connections are what keep us anchored in life."
"True. Plus my friend Val guilted me into making the trip. I'm glad I came, actually. I was just at the hospital, and my grandmother and I had the closest thing we've ever had to a real conversation. That was worth flying cross-country for."
"Indeed."
Was that wistfulness in his voice? Kenzie had a hundred colorful tales about his father, the colonel, or perhaps the viscount, and his mother, who'd been debutante of the year, or maybe a big game huntress in Kenya. But if he had any real relatives, Rainey had never met them. He was a man without a past. It was something they had in common—she had only half a past herself.
"Sometimes I wonder about my father, and what family I have on that side," she said slowly. "I probably have cousins, maybe even
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