Page 69 of The Payback Adventure
Yet if it were him…
To go from all that to nothing.
Pride in Henry overflowed. After losing everything, he hadn’t given up. He’d taken the job at the berry farm and kept going. Her respect for him grew tenfold. As did her love. She touched Henry’s name on the plaque.
The elevators opened, and a nurse dressed in blue scrubs exited.
Elisabeth jerked her hand away from the engraving. “Excuse me, do you know how to get to the neurosurgery waiting room?”
The nurse nodded and pointed. “Down this hall and make the first left and another right.”
“Thanks.” Elisabeth glanced back at the plaque. She wanted to know the truth but didn’t want to embarrass Henry by asking Brett and Laurel.
“Do you know him?” Elisabeth asked impulsively, half expecting to be told Henry Davenport was a carbon copy of Mr. Jackson, a balding, rotund businessman in his sixties. “Henry Davenport.”
“Yes, he’s very generous, especially when it comes to children. He drops off presents for the patients here,” the nurse explained. “The kids call him their fairy godfather.”
Caitlin had called him “fairy daddy.” Elisabeth thought about everything Henry had done for them. He’d been like a real-life fairy godfather to all of them this past month.
Her heart lurched. A coincidence. It had to be a coincidence, right?
“That’s thoughtful of him,” Elisabeth said weakly.
The nurse nodded. “Did you know he donated money for a new neonatal intensive care unit? They break ground next month.”
That didn’t make any sense. Not if it was her Henry. Elisabeth’s spirits brightened. “Really?”
“Surprising, I know.” The nurse grinned. “You’d never think someone like him would care so much about children. I mean, he’s a rich playboy who dates famous models and actresses and pretty much anything with a decent pair of legs.”
A rich playboy?
It couldn’t be. He couldn’t be. Yet…
Elisabeth struggled to breathe. “I had no idea.”
“You must not pay attention to the society page, then, honey. He’s always in there and never with the same date.” The nurse checked her pager. “I have to go.”
So did Elisabeth. She needed to ask Brett and Laurel about Henry. They were nice. They would explain what was going on.
She hurried down the hall, following the nurse’s directions to the waiting room. She sighed in relief when she saw the maroon and forest-green modular furniture offering plenty of seating choices. A muted TV was tuned to a financial channel. The sedate and calming wall color made the room feel cozier and less institutional.
Laurel straightened the skirt of her gray dress. Her blue eyes clouded with concern. “We were getting worried.”
Elisabeth was worried, too. “I got lost.” In more ways than one. “Any word?”
“No.” Brett stood. He was as handsome as his wife was beautiful. His dark brown hair curled at the ends, and his chocolate-brown eyes softened every time he looked at Laurel. “Would you like a cup of coffee or a soda?”
“No, thanks.” Elisabeth wiped her sweaty palms on her faded and torn blue jeans. “But I would like to talk to you about Henry.”
“What do you want to know?” Brett asked.
Elisabeth tasted blood and stopped biting the inside of her cheek. She had to be wrong, simply letting her imagination run wild. “If Henry lost all his money and is homeless, how can he afford to build a new neonatal intensive care unit for this hospital?”
The troubled glance shared by Laurel and Brett told Elisabeth she wouldn’t like the answer.
“You should probably sit down,” Laurel said.
Elisabeth sat, took a deep breath, and prepared herself. For what, she didn’t know. But from the looks of things, it wouldn’t be good.
