Page 64 of The Payback Adventure
But next week, he would be home.
Home.
The word no longer held the same appeal. His estate in Dunthorpe, a wealthy area just south of Portland, was large, with all the comforts anyone could imagine. Laurel Matthews and her interior design studio had seen to that during a massive remodel. But compared to this run-down farmhouse filled with kids, clutter, and animals, his elegant home and exciting life were suddenly, and strangely, unappealing.
But what had happened over the past month wasn’t his life. No matter how well he’d adjusted to the work, he wasn’t a farmer. And the Wheelers weren’t his family.
He belonged to another world separate from the one he’d been living in during his adventure in Berry Patch. Though his real life seemed inconsequential and meaningless after one day on the farm.
Could Cynthia have been right?
Maybe he needed to rethink his over-the-top birthday parties and adventures. Maybe he needed to rethink a lot of things. Though not matchmaking. His friends still needed him to do that for them. Well, everyone except Elisabeth. He swirled the coffee in his mug.
But first, Henry needed to tell her he would be leaving. He’d tried on more than one occasion, but the words just wouldn’t come. He’d stared into her blue eyes and wondered how it would feel to see them clouded with longing again like they were at the lake on that rainy day. He’d imagined wakingup each morning gazing into them as their years together passed by. Those thoughts had rendered him speechless.
But those fantasies would never come true. He was playing a role. Henry the farmhand was simply a disguise—a ruse, so to speak—so far removed from his true identity it wasn’t even funny. Sure, he’d been able to step out of his real world for a few weeks and see another side to life, a side he’d never imagined existed. Yes, being on the farm had been liberating, but his real life was in Portland. His real self was someone Elisabeth would never want to spend the rest of her life with.
He couldn’t deny another truth, either. She hadn’t asked him what his plans were. She hadn’t said much about Manny returning. But sadness had descended over her, and that concerned Henry. They were tiptoeing around each other, walking on proverbial eggshells, trying to avoid the subject, but the tension would crack sooner rather than later. He downed the rest of his coffee.
The telephone rang, and Elisabeth answered it. “Hello.” She paused. “Yes, this is her. What?” The horror in Elisabeth’s voice made him look up. Her ghost-pale face had him rising from the table. She clutched the receiver until her knuckles went white. “W-which hospital?”
Hospital?
The million and one thoughts racing through Henry’s mind were not good. He walked toward Elisabeth, never taking his eyes off her.
Her lower lip trembled, and she reached out for him.
Not one of the kids. It couldn’t be one of the kids. He laced his fingers with hers and listened.
“Did she say—?”
She.Abby or Caitlin?
His stomach knotted, twisting and turning until he thought he would be physically ill.
“No, I understand.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I’ll be right there.”
As she hung up the telephone, she took a deep breath. “Caitlin fell off the play structure at preschool. She hit her head. Or they think she did. She was unconscious. They’ve taken her to the hospital. I—I have to go.”
“Let’s go.”
She grabbed her bag. “My keys?”
“I’ve got them.” Henry grabbed her ring of keys off the counter. “I’ll drive, and you navigate.”
Her hands trembled. “Thank you.”
She said the words, but she was simply going through the motions. Her eyes appeared unfocused, and the color hadn’t returned to her face.
Henry couldn’t imagine what was going through her head, not with what he was feeling. Driving kept him from losing it altogether. All he could think of was his tiny princess in a deep sleep. A kiss wouldn’t wake her now. Henry hoped the doctors could.
The drive to the county hospital seemed to take forever. He tried to stay focused and get them there in one piece. This wasn’t the time to make any mistakes. Not with so much at stake.
Still, a continuous stream of questions played in his head. Why wasn’t someone watching Caitlin? How did she fall?What sort of head injury? How long had she been unconscious?
Henry glanced over at Elisabeth, who sat with her hands clasped on her lap, the knuckles white. Her face was drawn tight, her entire body stiff.
He was worried sick. She must feel…
