Angie was too tired and too worried about what was happening in the operating theater to explain that she would be leaving soon. Instead, she merely nodded.
“I don’t know if Sam will agree to an extended visit. On the other hand, he has a long list of things to do, and it might be helpful to know that he doesn’t have to worry about Lucy. I’ll speak to him.”
Winnie pressed her hands in gratitude. “Thank you. I know that you and I got off to a bad beginning, but—”
A humble Winnie Govenor was more than Angie could cope with at the moment. She patted Winnie’s hands and stepped back. “I believe the nurse said we could get some coffee downstairs. Shall we?”
She decided she had aged ten years during the last endless hours.
“She looks dead,” Lucy whispered fearfully.
“No, honey, she’s just sleeping.” Sam couldn’t take his eyes off the cast. The contraption seemed enormous. But it was also straight. Once again, he uttered a silent prayer of gratitude. His daughter would walk tall and gracefully. He dropped a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to spend a couple of weeks with your grandparents? You don’t have to.”
“Grandpa said he’d take me to the horse races, and Gramma is going to teach me how to play croquet.” Lucy brightened somewhat. “I can have all the ice cream I want.”
Slowly Sam nodded. He didn’t like the Govenors; he never would. But he felt Laura close to him today in a way he never had before, and if it hadn’t sounded foolish, he would have said that he sensed Laura was happy in a way he had never known her to be. He nodded again and sighed. The Govenors, damn them, were going to be part of his life. Maybe that’s how it was supposed to be.
I kept my promise, he said silently, speaking to Laura. The doctor says he doesn’t think another operation will be necessary. When the braces come off, no one will ever guess that she didn’t always stand tall. I wish you were here, sweet Laura. This would have been the happiest day of your life.
If he were a fanciful man, he would have acknowledged a small sudden warmth on his cheek and an impression that a tiny breeze pushed him gently toward Angie.
Instead he looked at the woman sitting beside the bed, holding Daisy’s hand while tears slipped silently down her face. He couldn’t have said who was more beautiful. His angel daughter, sleeping with golden hair spread on the pillow like a halo, or his wife, her face wet with joy and love.
When a stern-faced nurse appeared to shoo them away, he placed his arm around Angie and led her outside, where the Govenors waited. For a long moment he and Herb Govenor stared at each other, then Sam kissed the top of Lucy’s head and released her.
Govenor tapped his hat into place, scowled, then thrust out his hand. “I say let bygones be bygones.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time,” Sam said, shaking Govenor’s hand with reluctance. Frowning, he watched Winnie lead Lucy toward the Govenors’ private brougham. With a crest painted on the door, no less. Making a face, he turned to Angie.
And it suddenly struck him. They would be alone in the hotel room tonight. And for the rest of the week.
“Sam?” She watched the brougham ease into the street traffic. “I can’t stand this. If I’m going to leave, I want to leave tomorrow.” Anguish tightened her expression. “I know it’s cowardly, but I can’t bear saying good-bye to Daisy and Lucy.” Raising a glove, she dashed a tear from her cheek. “I can’t stand to even think about it.”
He wrenched his mind from the hotel room to a good-bye scene between Angie and his daughters, and winced. Lucy and Daisy had come a long way from disliking Angie and wanting her to leave. They loved her. They wouldn’t understand how long she had already waited for her life to begin, or about that bastard De Groot, or that Angie wanted to be with another man. They wouldn’t understand that Sam wasn’t successful or that the only thing he could offer was himself. Himself hadn’t been enough ten years ago. Why would it be enough now?
“I’ll tell them good-bye for you,” he said in a voice that sounded oddly hoarse. “I’ll buy your train ticket and wire you the rest of your money.”
Pressing her gloves to her eyes, she nodded. “Thank you.”
Taking her arm, he walked to the cabstand and handed her into one of the hansoms. When he didn’t enter behind her, she raised an eyebrow. “Sam?”
“I’m going to the nearest saloon, and I am going to get very, very drunk. I’ll fetch you in the morning and take you to the train depot.”
“Is this what you want?” she whispered.