Her eyes continued to shoot daggers at Finn. No doubt, she assumed he would tease her after her workout, and had this happened yesterday, that’s exactly what he would’ve done. But not now. From this moment on, he would make every effort to avoid her and let nature take its course with Cole.
But if Cole doesn’t cooperate, I’m willing to give Mother Nature a little help.
CHAPTER 3
After the workout, Finn settled at his desk, ready to face a daunting number of unanswered emails. After reading the same line three times with zero comprehension, he gave up and closed his laptop. His mind drifted to his conversation with Cole a few months ago. Though Finn had pushed them together, he found himself worrying whether Cole and Laurie would be a good match, after all. Cole had never had a long-term relationship. He’d once joked in his Texas drawl, “Some cowboys have too much tumbleweed in their blood to settle down.”
Finn had criticized him. “Cole, you’re not even a real cowboy. You live in a mansion in Houston.”
“Shhh!” Cole had put a finger to lips that curved upwards. “Don’t tell anybody. The women don’t know I’ve never ridden a horse.”
Finn had the idea that Laurie would help Cole settle down, but what if he broke her heart, instead? Was Cole the type who’d lead a woman on and then dump her if things turned serious? Finn didn’t want to be responsible for Laurie getting hurt.
His office door opened, startling him out of his musing. He relaxed when Jarrett’s face appeared. That is, until he saw his friend’s grave expression.
“Jarrett?” Finn was on his feet, moving toward him. “What is it? Did something happen to Laurie?”
“Don’t come close.” Jarrett waved him off, pacing in front of the row of windows that looked out over the city. “I have a cough… sort of.”
“Are you sick?” Finn leaned against his desk, a respectful distance away, worried the cough meant he had a respiratory infection.
Shaking his head, Jarrett grimaced. “I don’t think so. I’ve had a little cough for about a week with no other symptoms. But today, on the treadmill, my chest started hurting, and it hasn’t stopped. And the coughing has picked up.”
“Which means?” Finn’s heart stopped beating. He had to ask, though he was afraid of the answer.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean anything.” Jarrett pushed his hand through his short dark hair. “But if the cancer ever came back, the lungs are the most common place.”
“So maybe it’s nothing?”
“Right. Maybe it’s nothing. But I need to get it checked.” His face twisted, and Finn read the worry in his eyes. The osteosarcoma that took his leg as a twelve-year-old wasn’t to be trifled with. He could’ve lost his life.
“You have to go.” Finn tried to sound buoyant. “It’s probably nothing, but you can’t take any chances.”
Jarrett’s throat convulsed as he swallowed. “I don’t dare waste any time. I have to get to my oncologist right away.”
Finn nodded as the lump in his throat fell into his gut. “Of course. Go. We’ll take care of things here. Have you told Branson and Cole?”
“Yes, they both know. The problem is the LA Fundraiser. I’d ask Cole to do it, but he’s going to have his hands full with the fiscal-year report, at least for the next two weeks. Will you take it over?”
And be stuck working with Laurie? The blood drained from his face.
“Why not Branson?”
“Bran doesn’t know my donors in LA.”
“I don’t know all of them, either.”
“But you know most of them.” As Jarrett flattened his hand across his chest, his jaw muscles flexed. “I’ve already done most of the groundwork. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble.”
As his friend’s eyes squeezed shut, a band tightened around Finn’s chest. He couldn’t worry about himself when Jarrett’s life was at risk.
“Of course, I’ll do it. Just go, and don’t worry about anything.”
Jarrett stood and took a few steps toward the door, his limp somehow more apparent, as if he’d lost confidence. He stopped, spearing Finn with the intensity of his gaze. “Listen, I really appreciate this. I know it means you’ll have to spend time with Laurie, but I could be back in a few days.”
“I bet you will be. If not, Cole can take over when the fiscal report is done.”
Finn walked toward Jarrett, who backed away with his hand up. “You’d better keep your distance. If this is some kind of respiratory infection, it could kill you.”
The tremble in Jarrett’s voice testified to his genuine fear. Ignoring his protest, Finn moved to embrace his friend, hoping this scare would be a false alarm like the one from three years prior. With an encouraging clap on the back, he said, “Some things are worth the risk.”
Laurie tried not to panic when Jarrett gave her the news. He was so sweet about it, she couldn’t even be angry. He’d said something vague about a “medical issue” and needing to “run a few tests.” But even with his swarthy Latino complexion, he looked pale, and Laurie could tell it was a serious matter.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure I can figure things out,” she told him. But inside she was screaming, Please don’t leave me! I’m going to screw everything up!
“Dara was fantastic, and she left meticulous notes on everything she did.” Jarrett clicked on a folder labeled LA Fundraiser on Laurie’s computer screen. “If you read through this file about last year’s event, you can practically train yourself. See? Here’s all the vendor contacts. You can find the reservations she made, but of course they’ll have to be confirmed. And someone always cancels at the last minute, but Dara has a backup vendor list, too. Everything’s summarized on this Excel spreadsheet.”
“Next, you’ll tell me she walked on water.” Laurie wondered about her job stability if they’d fired this perfect employee.
“No, but she did heal a few lepers,” he answered with what she was beginning to recognize as a dry sense of humor.
“What happened to her?”
“She left to have a baby.” His hand moved to rest on his chest, and his lips pressed together in a tight white line.
