Читать книгу The Elliotts: Mixing Business with Pleasure: Billionaire's Proposition / Taking Care of Business / Cause for Scandal - Brenda Jackson - Страница 14

“Yes, Jessica, I had to cancel the dinner date with Gerald. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t make it. Something happened at work at the last minute.” Something stupid happened at the last minute and she’d bashed herself the entire weekend for letting Gannon happen to her again. In his office.

Erika rolled her eyes at herself in disgust. The one good thing she could say about this Monday morning was that she hadn’t crossed paths with the human object of her insanity.

“But you’ll go out with him some other time, won’t you?” Jessica asked. “I had to work to get this guy to do a blind date, Erika. You need to take advantage of this opportunity. He’s a doctor.”

Erika couldn’t muster any enthusiasm about going out with Gerald and she feared that every time she looked at him, she’d be reminded of the reason she’d broken the date with him and subsequently reminded of what an idiot she’d been.

“I don’t know, Jessica. I’ve just made a big change at work and it’s going to be very demanding and—”

“Oh, Erika, don’t pull the work excuse. Gerald is already thinking you’re not interested. And really what’s not to like about him? He’s TDH with brains, a sense of humor—”

The light for her second line began to flash. “I know, Jessica, but—”

She heard a tap on her door, and her assistant poked her head inside. “Sorry to bother you, but a woman on the line said something about you being her niece’s mentor and she sounded upset.”

Erika felt her chest constrict with concern. “Jessica, I gotta go. I’ll call you back when I can.” She switched lines. “Erika Layven.”

“Miss Layven, Tia’s been hit by a truck,” a woman said in a broken voice. “She won’t be able to meet you.”

Erika’s heart stopped. “Omigod, what happened? Where are you?”

“It happened this morning on her way to school. I’m at the emergency room. I don’t know what’s going to happen. No one will tell me anything.”

“Tell me where you are and I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Gannon learned Erika wasn’t in the office when he sent his assistant to deliver a feature article proposal to her. “How long will she be out?” he asked, wondering at the reason for her absence.

His assistant shrugged. “I’m not sure, but Rose said she thought she might not be back in until tomorrow.”

He nodded, feeling a prickle of concern. Erika rarely missed work for any reason. After a meeting with a monthly columnist, he gave in to his curiosity and dropped by Erika’s office.

“I’d like to get Erika’s input on a feature proposal. Do you know when she’ll be back in?” he asked Erika’s assistant.

Rose shook her head. “No. When she left for the E.R., she told me to hold her messages and she’d check in at the end of the day if she could.”

Alarm shot through him. “E.R.?”

“I’m a little sketchy on the relationships, but someone named Tia was apparently hit by a truck and was taken to a hospital.”

Gannon recalled that Tia was the young teen Erika had been mentoring. He shook his head. “Do you know her condition?”

Rose shook her head sadly. “No, but how can it be anything but bad?”

Gannon frowned. “Did she mention which hospital?”

“Yes, I have it here somewhere,” she said, rustling through some papers on her desk. “Here it is. St. Joseph’s.”

“Thanks,” he said and tucked the information in his mind.

He went back to his office and sat down in his chair, trying not to think of how frantic Erika must be. He could think of nothing else. Picking up his phone, he dialed her cell. No answer. His gut twisted. Not a good sign.

But not his problem, the pragmatic side of his brain reminded him. He clicked the mouse for his computer to check his schedule. He had a full plate of his own today.

Tia’s aunt Brenda couldn’t handle the sight of the blood from her niece’s injuries, so Erika sat with Tia until she was taken into surgery. She alternately paced the waiting room and gave a hug of reassurance to Tia’s aunt.

“I should have watched out for her better. I was in a hurry to get Jason to day care. I overslept, so we were all running late.”

Erika put her arm around the young woman’s shoulders. “You’ve got to stop blaming yourself. You couldn’t have stopped that truck driver. You heard the officer. The guy was drunk,” Erika said, still furious at the cause of the accident and shaken by Tia’s close call.

“I just hope they can fix her. She’s such a sweet girl. Smart. She deserves so much more.”

“You do more than you know.” Erika tried to reassure the woman at the same time she was worried.

“How is Tia?” a male voice asked from behind her.