Читать книгу Accidental Family - Joan Elliott Pickart - Страница 11

“My goodness,” Hannah Sharpe said, after Patty related what she had discovered about David’s amnesia. “That is quite a story. It sounds more like a soap opera than something taking place in real life.”

“I know,” Patty said, then took a sip of lemonade as she once again sat across from her mother at the kitchen table. “But it’s true, unfortunately, and there is no way to know how long it will be before David gets his memory back.”

“That would be so frightening,” Hannah said, frowning. “Imagine waking up in a hospital and not knowing who you are or… I’d be absolutely terrified.”

“David admitted that he is terrified,” Patty said, running one fingertip around the edge of the glass. “I thought that was very honest of him, very real. Anyway, Sarah Ann will just have to stay with me until David gets out of the hospital.”

“Oh, honey, two three-year-olds and a newborn baby is going to be a lot of work.”

“It won’t be so hard, Mom. Tucker will have someone to play with instead of wanting me to entertain him all the time. He’s going to miss going to the Fuzzy Bunny, so having Sarah Ann at the house could very well make things easier for me.”

“We’ll see,” Hannah said.

“All I can do is take this one day at time,” Patty said. “Well, I’d better gather the gang and go to David’s to get Sarah Ann some clothes and let her collect a favorite toy or blanket if she has one.”

“David can’t remember anything about where Sarah Ann’s mother is?” Hannah said.

“David can’t remember anything…period. We agreed that if the opportunity presents itself, I’m going to ask Sarah Ann about her mother.”

“Hi, Mommy,” Tucker said, running into the kitchen. “Sarah Ann and me is watching Blue’s Clues.”

“Sarah Ann and I are watching Blue’s Clues,” Patty said. “Tucker, has Sarah Ann ever said anything about where her mother is?”

“Yeah, ’cause I asked her and she said her mommy was in heaven and she doesn’t think she saw her mom before she went to heaven but she isn’t sure but that’s okay ’cause she has her daddy. I told her I don’t see my daddy too much so she said I can say hello to her daddy whenever I want to. Can I have a cookie, Grandma?”

“No more cookies, Tucker,” Hannah said. “You’ll spoil your lunch.”

“’Kay,” he said, then ran back out of the kitchen.

“Well,” Hannah said, “that was easy enough. We now know that David is a widower and apparently has been for quite a while.”

Patty nodded, then shook her head. “Did you hear what Tucker said? He’s resorting to borrowing Sarah Ann’s daddy because he doesn’t see his own very much. How Peter can turn his back on his own son and… No, I’m not going to get started on that subject.”

“Good,” Hannah said. “Fussing, fuming and raising your stress level is not going to change Peter Clark’s behavior.” She paused. “I was going to suggest you leave the kids here while you go get Sarah Ann some clothes and what have you, but I suppose she needs to be there to pick her favorite things.”

Patty nodded, then got to her feet. “Thanks for babysitting, Mom. I now have to convince Sarah Ann that staying longer at our house is super-duper. She and David are very close and I’m expecting Sarah Ann’s happy bubble to burst and the tears to start at any minute. Do you realize that David doesn’t even know what his daughter looks like? That is so grim. I feel so badly for him.”

“Why don’t I take a picture of Sarah Ann with my digital camera,” Hannah said, “then print it out on the computer? I’ll come over to your place tonight, give the kids baths and put them to bed, while you take the picture to David at the hospital.”

“Oh, I can’t ask you to…”

“I’m volunteering,” Hannah said, rising. “It will be fun. I have nothing planned because this is the night for your father to attend his monthly meeting of retired police officers with your Uncle Ryan.”

“Well, okay, thank you,” Patty said. “I’ll go get the kids and you can take Sarah Ann’s picture. That really is a wonderful idea.”

Tucker wanted his picture taken if Sarah Ann was getting hers done. Hannah printed out one each for the children, then an extra of Sarah Ann for Patty to take to David.

“Is my daddy coming now?” Sarah Ann said. “I want to show my daddy my picture.”

“Sarah Ann,” Patty said, “your daddy bumped his head and his leg and got boo-boos. He has to be where they fix boo-boos for a few days. You’re going to stay with me and Tucker until his boo-boos are better. You and Tucker can color him nice pictures this afternoon and I’ll take them to the place where they tend to boo-boos and—”

“My daddy is in the place with the doctors that give shots and stuff,” Sarah Ann yelled, then burst into tears. “I want my daddy.”

“So much for the boo-boo bit,” Patty said. “Why are they always smarter than you give them credit for? Sarah Ann, sweetie, hey, don’t cry. Your daddy is going to be fine, I promise you.”

“We’ll take care of you, Sarah Ann,” Tucker said, patting the little girl on the back.

“Yes, we will,” Patty said. “Thank you for helping, Tucker. Sarah Ann, we’re going to your house now to get you some clothes. Do you have a favorite toy you’d like to bring to our house?”

Sarah Ann’s tears stopped as quickly as they had started.

“Yes, yes, yes,” she said, jumping up and down. “I want my bear. His name is Patches.”

“Okay,” Patty said brightly. “Then we’re off. See you tonight, Mom, and thanks again.”

“Do I get a hug goodbye?” Hannah said, bending down and opening her arms.

Tucker immediately rushed into his grandmother’s arms. Sarah Ann hesitated, then followed, allowing Hannah to hug her. A short time later the three little ones were buckled up in the back seat of Patty’s car headed toward the Montgomery house.

Patty knew the general area, as it was where her grandparents Margaret and Robert MacAllister lived in their majestic home. When she got closer, she pulled to the curb and consulted a map from the glove compartment. David lived two streets away from the senior MacAllisters, who considered the entire Sharpe family part of the huge MacAllister clan.

Within minutes she turned into the circular driveway leading to a two-story white stucco home with a red tile roof and a beautifully landscaped front area that sloped down to the sidewalk.

“My new house,” Sarah Ann shouted. “I see my new house right there.”

Patty turned off the ignition, assisted the children from the car, then scooped up Sophia’s carrier.

“Do you remember where you lived before you came to your new house, Sarah Ann?” Patty said, as they started toward the front door.

“Brisco,” Sarah Ann said. “Tucker, want to play with my toys?”

“Yeah,” Tucker said.

“Brisco?” Patty said, frowning.

“Brisco,” Sarah Ann said, nodding. “There were lots of hills on the streets and stuff and it rained whole bunches.”

Patty inserted the key into the lock on the front door, hesitated, then looked at Sarah Ann.

“Do you mean San Francisco?” Patty said.

Sarah Ann nodded. “Brisco.”

“Agatha Christie, eat your heart out,” Patty said smugly as they entered the house. “Oh, your new house is lovely, Sarah Ann, very nice.”

Patty swept her gaze over the large foyer, the sweeping staircase leading to the second floor, then stepped forward to peek into the large living room that boasted gleaming oak furniture and sofa and chairs in shades of blue, gray and burgundy.

A massive flagstone fireplace was on the far wall and flanked by floor-to-ceiling oak shelves that were partially filled with books. Cartons sat by the bookcases waiting to be unpacked. Patty placed a sleeping Sophia’s carrier on the sofa.

“Come see my toys, Tucker,” Sarah Ann said, heading toward the stairs.

“One hand on the banister,” Patty said, “and go very slowly. I’ll be up in a few minutes. I just want to check the refrigerator and make certain nothing is about to spoil.”

“’Kay,” the pair said in unison.

Patty walked down a wide hallway toward the rear of the house where she assumed the kitchen was.

This was David’s house, she mused, drinking in details as she went, that he was turning into a home for him and Sarah Ann. Just the two of them, because Sarah Ann’s mother was in heaven.

Was David still brokenhearted over the loss of his wife and didn’t even know his world had been shattered because he couldn’t remember anything? That was a rather depressing thought.

Patty entered the huge, sunny kitchen and made her way through a multitude of boxes to reach the refrigerator.

Well, she thought, looking around, the kitchen was obviously not high on the list of rooms to be set to rights. She would guess that David wasn’t eager to cook, maybe didn’t even know how to do much more than make a sandwich or heat up soup. He and Sarah Ann must have been eating out a great deal since moving to Ventura, or he was bringing in take-out food.

“I’m getting to be a very good detective if I do say so myself,” Patty said aloud.

She gripped the handle to the refrigerator, then stopped, looking around again.

Strange, she thought. It was as though she could feel, sense, David’s presence in this house that was becoming a home. She could picture him here so easily with Sarah Ann trailing behind him, chattering at her daddy.

It was a very large home for two people, yet it felt right for David. He would stride through these rooms on those long, muscular legs, his blatant masculinity demanding space to move freely. He would come to this refrigerator where she was now standing, intent on finding something inside to satisfy his desire to…

A man like David Montgomery would have strong, powerful desires in any arena into which he stepped, whether it be to quell the need for food or to reach for a woman, sweep her into his arms and…

A shiver coursed through Patty.

What on earth was the matter with her? she thought, feeling the warm flush on her cheeks. She’d gone off on some embarrassing sensual trip about David sweeping a woman… Okay, Patty, admit it. The image in her mind had been David sweeping her into his arms, which was ridiculous. She didn’t entertain mental scenarios like that, for heaven’s sake, about a man she didn’t even really know or…

“Enough of this nonsense,” she said, then yanked open the refrigerator door. “Mmm. Pickings are slim.”

There was a bowl of grapes, several oranges and apples, a jug of orange juice, a carton of milk and ready-made individual containers of pudding, Jell-O and yogurt. Three eggs, a half a loaf of bread, a jar of strawberry jelly, and that was it. The freezer above held a large box of Popsicles.

“This is all for Sarah Ann, I think,” Patty said aloud. “Nope, David is not into cooking.”

Going on the assumption that David was going to be in the hospital for several more days, Patty checked the sell dates on the offerings in the refrigerator. She found plastic bags beneath the sink and packed the milk, orange juice and the small containers of desserts. That done, she headed back in the direction of the stairs, placing the bags by the front door.

She made her way up the stairs and when she reached the top level of the house she could hear Tucker and Sarah Ann laughing farther down the hallway.

Don’t get nosy, she told herself, as she passed several rooms on her way to the children. Well, one or two little peeks wouldn’t do any harm. No. But then again she might spot something that would give a clue as to what David did for a living and… No.

Sarah Ann’s room was large and sunny, a little girl’s paradise. It had a pink-and-white canopy bed, white bookshelves full of toys and books and a white dresser. The carpet was lush and the same smoky blue-gray color that she’d seen in the living room and covering the stairs and hallways.

“Sarah Ann,” Patty said, “do you have a suitcase, honey?”

“In the closet,” she said.

“I’ll pack some clothes for you while you get Patches the bear.”

“’Kay.”

Patty completed her chore in short order, then turned to see Sarah Ann hugging a faded teddy bear.

“Is that Patches?” Patty said.

Sarah Ann nodded. “He’s my bestis toy. He gots a hole one time and my daddy fixed him really good. See?”

A strange warmth seemed to tiptoe around Patty’s heart and a soft smile formed on her lips as she saw the repair job David had managed to accomplish on the precious bear. There was a strip of dark blue duct tape across Patches’s tummy, and hearts had been drawn on the life-saving bandage.

“Oh, that’s a fine job of making Patches all better,” Patty said. “Your daddy is a very good doctor.”

“He only doctors toys and my boo-boos,” Sarah Ann said. “That’s all, ’cause he’s busy when he wears a tie and doing turny stuff.”

“I’m hungry, Mommy,” Tucker said.

“What?” Patty said. Turny stuff? “Oh, hungry. Well, we’re leaving now and we’ll have lunch the minute we get home. Pick up those toys you were playing with, kiddos, and we’ll be on our way.”

He wears a tie to do his turny stuff, Patty thought, narrowing her eyes. Turny stuff. Tie. Suit and tie because he’s…

“Sarah Ann,” Patty said, nearly shouting, “your father is an attorney.”

Sarah Ann planted her little fists on her hips. “I just told you that. My daddy is a turny when he puts on his tie.”

“Got it,” Patty said. “Let’s go, my sweets. I may be the next Columbo but I still have to cook the meals.”

Just before seven o’clock that evening Patty peered through the open doorway of David’s hospital room and saw that he was propped up in bed watching the television mounted high on the opposite wall.

Goodness, she thought, the man just didn’t quit. Even beat up and bandaged and wearing a faded hospital gown, there was an earthy male sensuality emanating from David Montgomery. He wasn’t quite so pale tonight, his tawny skin standing out in stark relief against the pristine white pillow.

There was no readable expression on David’s face as he watched what she realized was national news. Maybe he had been able to become engrossed in what he was hearing, forget for a few minutes that he was a man without a memory. And she was about to break his peaceful bubble and tell him his wife was dead. Being a detective was not all it was cracked up to be.

“Hello?” Patty said from the doorway. “May I come in?”

“Patty,” David said. “Hey. Yes, come in. I didn’t expect to see you again today. This is a nice surprise.”

Man, he was glad to see her, he thought. His breath had actually caught when he’d heard her voice, seen her standing there. Patty was so lovely, so fresh-air pretty and…and he was overreacting to this woman due to the fact that she was the only lifeline he had to his reality, the slender link to his identity because she had known him before he lost his memory and she was taking care of his daughter.

That was the reason he got all hot and bothered when he saw Patty Clark. He was hanging tight to that explanation because the alternative was to admit he was having an adolescent testosterone attack, which wasn’t very flattering.

“Sit down,” David said, gesturing toward the chair next to the bed. He pressed the button on the remote control and turned off the television. “How are you? How’s Sarah Ann? My daughter. Daughter. How can a man have a three-year-old daughter and not even know what she looks like?”

“Don’t upset yourself, David,” Patty said, sitting down in the chair. “The fact that you have amnesia is not your fault.” She paused. “Dr. Hill was asking me earlier today what I knew about you while you were listening so I’m assuming it’s all right to tell you what I’ve discovered about you. You know, without breaking any rules regarding what is or isn’t said to someone whose memory is temporarily gone.”

“It had better be a temporary condition,” David said, frowning.

“I’m sure it is. I brought you a picture of Sarah Ann. Here.”

David hesitated, then with a visibly shaking hand he took the piece of glossy computer paper from Patty and stared at the image of the smiling little girl.

“Oh, look at her,” he said, awe ringing in his voice. “She’s beautiful.”

Patty smiled. “Yes, she is. She has your coloring. See? Black hair, your blue eyes. She’s very intelligent, full of energy and chatters like a magpie when the mood strikes. She’s small-boned, delicate, but that doesn’t keep her from wanting to play whatever the other kids are into. You can be very proud of her, David. She’s a wonderful little girl.”

“But…but I don’t recognize her,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment, then looking at the photograph again. “Damn it, I know she’s my daughter only because you’re telling me she is.”

“Give it time,” Patty said gently. “Oh, these are cards that Sarah Ann and Tucker drew for you after I told them you had boo-boos.”

David smiled slightly as he examined the pictures drawn with crayon on bright construction paper.

“Thank you,” he said. “Tell Sarah Ann and Tucker I really liked these, okay? I appreciate your coming all the way back over here tonight to bring me these things.”

“No problem. My mother came to the house and is doing her grandmother thing with all three of the children.” Patty drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “David, there is something I have to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“Sarah Ann told Tucker that her mother—what I mean is… Oh, David, I’m so sorry but your wife is dead. Sarah Ann said that her mother is in heaven and she doesn’t remember seeing her before she went there. But she also said it was all right because she had her daddy.”

“My wife… Sarah Ann’s mother is dead?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

David looked up at the ceiling for a long moment, then met Patty’s gaze again.

“Why aren’t I registering any emotions about that? God, I hate this. I’m an empty shell. I look at a picture of my daughter and think ‘cute kid, but I’ve never seen her before.’ My wife is dead, for God’s sake, and I have no reaction beyond ‘oh, well.’”

“David, stop beating yourself up,” Patty said, leaning toward him. “You must remember that your lack of memory is not your doing.”

“Yeah,” he said, dragging a restless hand through his hair. He narrowed his eyes. “Sarah Ann said she doesn’t remember seeing her mother? Wouldn’t I have given my daughter a picture of her mother?”

“There were no framed photographs in Sarah Ann’s bedroom at your house,” Patty said. “I didn’t think anything of it until now. It does seem strange that you wouldn’t keep her image where Sarah Ann could see it, feel connected to it, to her mother. Sarah Ann isn’t upset by that. Her emphasis is on you.”

“It still doesn’t make sense,” David said, his voice rising. “It’s as though I’m trying to get Sarah Ann to forget her mother even existed. What does that say about me?”

“That you don’t have all the facts yet,” Patty said. “Don’t stand in judgment of yourself until you know why you seem to be distancing Sarah Ann from the memory of her mother. As an attorney you should gather all the data before reaching a conclusion.”

“An attorney? I’m a lawyer?” David said, raising his eyebrows.

“Yep. ‘A turny,’ to quote your daughter. Oh, and you lived in San Francisco before you moved to your new house here in Ventura.”

“Well, thank you, NYPD Blue,” he said, smiling slightly.

“I’m Columbo, sir.”

“Oh, okay,” he said, chuckling. “You need a rumpled raincoat.” He paused and frowned. “This is nuts. I can remember television shows but I don’t recognize a picture of my own daughter?”

“Dr. Hill said there are no rules about amnesia, remember?”

“He wasn’t kidding,” he said, shaking his head.

“Well, I’d best let you get some rest.”

“No,” David said quickly. “I mean, do you have to leave so soon? This has been a helluva day stuck in this bed, trying to deal with all this and… Can you stay a little longer?”

“Yes, if you want me to.”

“Thank you.” David paused and frowned. “Well, we can’t share things about each other because I’m a blank page. Tell me about you, Patty Clark. Why are you a single mother of two little kids?”

It’s none of your business, Mr. Montgomery, Patty thought with a flash of anger that dissipated as quickly as it had come. David was asking her a very fair question considering the fact she was poking around in her Columbo mode finding out everything she could about him.

“It’s not a unique story,” she said. “My ex-husband fell in love with another woman and that was that.” A woman who could meet Peter’s needs as she had failed to do. “Peter… Peter hasn’t bothered to see Sophia and rarely takes advantage of his visitation times with Tucker anymore. Sarah Ann was so sweet about that when Tucker told her. She said he could say hello to you whenever he wanted to because she had her daddy. She’s a darling little girl.”

“Why did you marry that jerk?” David said, frowning.

“Well, for heaven’s sake,” Patty said, laughing, “what a silly question. We were in love, floating around on cloud nine like any other couple who plans to marry. The first years were terrific. I taught school, Peter was climbing the ladder in the insurance company where he worked, we bought a home, the whole nine yards.

“We agreed that I’d be a stay-at-home mother and I quit teaching when Tucker was born. It’s heartbreaking for me to realize that I’ll need to go back to teaching second semester and leave my children with caregivers but…

“David, this is not interesting. It’s just another sad tale of a marriage that didn’t make it. I usually don’t pour out my woes like this. I’m living in the present now and looking to the future. There’s nothing to be gained by dwelling on what happened between me and Peter, except that I did learn something important about myself.”

“Like what?”

“Enough of this. I’m changing the subject. Oh, Sarah Ann did have a favorite toy that she brought back to my house from yours. It’s a worse-for-wear teddy bear that—”

“Patches,” David said, then sat bolt upward. He sank back against the pillow in the next instant, one hand clamped on the top of his head. “Oh, my aching head. Forget the head. Am I right? Is Sarah Ann’s favorite toy a beat-up bear named Patches?”

“Yes,” Patty said, her eyes dancing with excitement. “Yes, you’re right. Oh, David, see? Your memory is coming back in little bits and pieces. Do you remember anything else about Patches? You mended him with… Do you know?”

David stared into space. “No, there’s nothing else there.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“What did I mend the bear with?”

“Duct tape,” Patty said, smiling. “Then you drew hearts on it. I was very touched when I saw it. You really are a very loving father.”

“I wonder what kind of husband I was?” he said, frowning.

No doubt a much better husband than she had been in her role of wife, Patty thought. She hoped when David’s memory returned that would prove to be true, so he wouldn’t have to live with the kind of guilt that tormented her.

“What’s wrong?” David said. “You look very sad all of a sudden.”

“It was just a fleeting thought, but it’s gone now.”

“You deserve to be happy, Patty.”

“Oh?” she said, smiling. “You believe that, of course, because you’ve known me so well for so long.”

“Laugh if you like,” David said, looking directly into her eyes, “but while I don’t even know at the moment how I like my eggs cooked, I do know that you are a very special, very rare and wonderful person who deserves to be happy.”

“I’m happy,” Patty said softly. “I have two children, two miracles, and I cherish my role as their mother.”

“But what about Patty the woman? Is she happy?”

“I don’t separate the titles, David. Patty the woman is a mother and I am happy.”

“Mmm.”

“What does that mean, that ‘mmm’?”

“That even an empty-minded moron-at-the-moment like me knows that isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” David said decisively. “Nope. Now, according to what I’ve been told I’m a father and I’m an attorney. However, I am also a man who, when I can remember what they are, has wants, needs, desires as do you, Patty the woman.”

“Wrong.”

“No, I’m not,” David said, with a burst of laughter. “And I’m beginning to have no difficulty believing that I’m an attorney because I’m obnoxiously sure of myself when I take a stand.”

“That’s for certain,” Patty said, smiling.

“Ah, Patty, thank you,” David said. “You actually made me laugh right out loud and the way I’ve felt all day I wondered if I’d ever do that again. I owe you so much for so many things, the most important of which is your willingness to take care of Sarah Ann until I can get out of this place.”

“No more thanks are necessary, David.”

“Well, I do want to say that I’m very glad that you came into my life when you did, Patty Clark. Very, very glad.”