“I don’t know,” she said into the phone. “Gut instinct, I guess. I can tell she’s hurting but she wouldn’t let me give her one of her pain pills.”
She was quiet, listening to the other side of the conversation he couldn’t hear. “Well, you know how stubborn she can be. Maybe you should come over a little earlier than you planned and see if you have better luck.”
She paused. “Yes. I need to go check on the caterers and I’m supposed to be helping decorate but I can certainly wait until you get here. Oh, you’re that close? Good. Thank you, Helen. You’ve been wonderful.”
She hung up and gazed down at her hat, with its flowered ribbon around the base of the brim.
“What can I do?” he asked softly, reaching for her hand.
Her fingers trembled a little and he thought she would pull away from him but she turned her hand over and clasped his fingers while Ethan played in the dirt and the clouds continued to gather.
“Nothing,” she finally whispered. “You’ve done plenty. It will make her happy to know her house and her garden are in fine shape again.”
She held his hand for a moment longer and he wanted to think he was offering some small measure of comfort. They stayed that way until a small car pulled up and a plump woman in nursing scrubs climbed out.
“That’s Helen,” Alexandra said, unnecessarily.
As the nurse approached, she slid her hand away from his, much to his regret. Before the other woman could reach them, she touched his arm, her fingers cool.
“Thank you,” she said simply with a small, strained smile, then walked down to greet the nurse.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“EVERYTHING LOOKS spectacular,” she said to Evie Thorne, head of the decorating committee for the gala a few hours later. “You’ve really outdone yourself this year.”
“Thanks, Alex. I don’t know what I would have done without your help. All of you.” Evie’s smile encompassed her committee: Maura, Mary Ella, Angie, Charlotte. Even Ruth Tatum, Claire’s mother, was there, though she had grumped through the last hour of hanging tea-light lanterns throughout the ballroom.
Though she was crazy-worried about Caroline, Alex had done her best to put her concerns away for now and concentrate on the job at hand. Helen had assured her Caroline was sleeping peacefully after reluctantly agreeing to take pain medication.
At this point, Alex couldn’t do anything to help and Helen had urged her to continue on with the rest of her Giving Hope Day responsibilities.
She had a sudden, fervent wish that Brodie hadn’t decided to close the restaurant to give his employees the chance to participate in the day of service. She desperately needed the distraction and comfort she found in a kitchen.
“She wouldn’t want you to miss the whole day, moping over her. Now go,” Helen had insisted.
She hadn’t known what else to do but obey. At least she was surrounded by dear friends, all of whom continued to cast worried looks her way.
“Is there anything else we need to do?” she asked Evie.
“Not a thing, except I’m ordering everybody to get out of here and go change for the benefit.”
“I understand one of us here has a hot date.” Maura grinned. “Charlotte’s going out with your sexy carpenter.”
“He’s not my carpenter,” Alex said sharply. Too sharply, she realized, when her mother and Maura both gave her careful looks.
“He finished the kitchen at the restaurant,” Evie said with a teasing smile. “That makes him yours, doesn’t it?”
“Technically, that makes him Brodie’s carpenter,” she muttered.
“I guess that’s true,” Evie said. “Brodie has so many projects going right now, he’d probably like to keep Sam on permanent salary. He’s got several other jobs lined up once he finishes the work at the recreation center. That’s what happens when you do good work. Everybody wants a piece of you.”
Couldn’t she go anywhere without the conversation coming back to Sam?
“I hope you have a fantastic time, Charlotte,” she said firmly.
Her pretty features colored but her eyes sparkled and she somehow managed to look embarrassed and excited at the same time. Evie knew she was trying to reach out of her comfort zone socially. About time, she thought.
“It should be fun. Most of the guys in town still look at me as, well, the way I used to be. It’s refreshing to meet someone who has no preconceptions.”
Charlotte was one of the nicest people Alex knew and she had worked so hard to remake herself over the past few years. Around their circle of friends, she was warm and bright and funny but she tended to draw into herself when others were around.