LITMIR.BIZ

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ranch,” he said. “Thorne McCafferty.”

      “So you are there!” a sharp female voice accused, and Thorne envisioned Annette’s pretty face in a scowl. He’d dated her for a few months, but had never really connected with her. “What in the world happened? We were supposed to meet the mayor last night!” Annette’s tone brought him up sharp and he gave himself a quick mental shake. He’d never called her. Never once thought of her after leaving his office yesterday.

      “There was a family emergency.”

      “So you couldn’t pick up a phone? You have a cell phone and you’re on one right now…oh, listen, I don’t mean to go off on you.” She took in a deep, audible breath. “Your secretary told me that your half sister was in some kind of wreck and I’m sorry for her, I really am. I hope she’s okay…?”

      “She’s in a coma.”

      “Oh, God.” There was another long, weighty pause. “Well, I, um, understand, I really do. Dear Lord, how awful. I know you had to get back there in a hurry, Thorne. That’s understandable and I made your apologies to my father and the mayor, but it seems to me that you could have called me yourself.”

      “I should have.”

      “Yeah…oh, well.” She sighed. “Dad was disappointed.”

      “Was he?” Thorne drawled, imagining Kent Williams’s reaction. The shrewd old man was probably in a stew as he’d wanted to invest with Thorne and was hoping they could cozy up with members of the city council and get an edge on a zoning ordinance that was up for review. “Thanks for giving him my apologies. You didn’t have to do that. I would have called him.”

      “And me, would you have called me?”

      “Yes.”

      “Eventually.”

      “Right.” No reason to lie. “Eventually.”

      “Oh, Thorne.” She let out a world-weary sigh and some of the shrewishness in her voice disappeared. “I miss you.”

      Did she? He doubted it and their relationship had always left him feeling alone. “It looks like I’m going to be in Montana a while.”

      “Oh.” There was hesitation in her voice. “How long?”

      “A few weeks, maybe months. It all depends on Randi.”

      “But what about your work?”

      “What about it?”

      “It’s—it’s your life.”

      Was my life, he wanted to say. Instead, added, “Things have changed.”

      “Have they?” Silent accusations sizzled over the wires.

      “Afraid so.”

      “What does that mean?” But she knew. It was obvious. “You know, there are other men who are interested in me. I’ve put them on hold because of you.”

      “I’m sorry.”

      She waited and the silence ticked between them. “So, what’re you telling me, Thorne?” she asked. “That it’s over? Just like that? Because your sister is in the hospital?”

      “No, Annette,” he admitted, “it’s not because of Randi. You and I both know that this wasn’t going anywhere. I was up front about that at the beginning.”

      “I thought you’d change your mind.”

      “It didn’t happen.”

      “So I should start seeing other men.”

      “It wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

      “Okay.” Again a frosty pause. “I’ll think about it,” she said.

      “Do.”

      “And you, too, Thorne,” she said with a renewed amount of spunk. “You think about what you’re giving up.” She hung up with a click and he replaced the receiver slowly, wondering why he didn’t feel any sense of loss. But then he never had; not with any woman. Not even with Nikki way back when, and she’d been the most difficult. But he hadn’t trusted her with his heart and when it came time to take off for law school, he’d left Grand Hope, his family and Nicole Sanders and never once looked back. Until now. While away at school, whenever he’d thought of her, which was often at first, he steadfastly turned his mind to other things. Eventually he’d quit thinking about her altogether and he’d lived by the axiom that women weren’t a priority in his life.

      But now, as he stared out the window into the dark, wet night, he felt a change inside him, a new kind of need. He reached for the phone as it rang again sharply.

      Annette. He should have known she wouldn’t give up without a fight.

      “Hello,” he said, as the receiver reached his ear.

      “Thorne? This is Nicole.” Her voice was cold and professional.

      He knew in a heartbeat that Randi’s condition had worsened. Fear clutched his heart and for the first time in his life he felt absolutely helpless. Oh, God. “It’s my sister,” he stated.

      “No. Randi’s still stable, but I just got a call from the hospital because they couldn’t get through to you—your line was busy.” Nicole hesitated a beat and before she got the words out, Thorne experienced an anguish the like of which he’d never felt before. He sagged against the wall as she said, “It’s the baby.”

      Chapter 5

      “What about him?” Thorne clutched the receiver in a death grip. His heart thudded in dread. For the love of Mike, how could one little baby, Randi’s son whom he’d never even held, make such a difference in his life?

      He heard the back door open and Matt, unbuttoning his sheepskin jacket, strode in. “Slade’s still—”

      Thorne silenced his brother with a killing glance and a finger to his lips.

      “What about the baby?” he repeated, bracing himself and he saw Matt’s dark complexion pale.

      “He’s lethargic, experiencing feeding problems and respiratory distress, his abdomen is distended, his temp has spiked—”

      “Just cut to the chase, Nicole. What’s he got? What went wrong?” Thorne was pacing now, stretching the telephone cord as Matt’s eyes followed his every move.

      Nicole hesitated a beat and Thorne found it hard to breathe. “Dr. Arnold thinks the baby might have bacterial meningitis. He’s going to call you later and—”

      “Meningitis?” Thorne repeated.

      “No way!” Matt broke his silence.

      “How the hell did that happen?”

      “When Randi came into the hospital, her membranes had already ruptured—”

      “What? Ruptured?”

      Matt swore under his breath, then looked up, his gaze locking with that of his older brother. “Let’s go,” Matt said. “Right now. To the damned hospital!” Thorne cut him off with a quick shake of his head. He had to concentrate.

      Nicole was talking again—her voice calm, though he sensed an urgency to her. “Her water had broken in the accident and there’s a chance that there was contamination, the baby was exposed to some source of bacteria.”

      “This Dr. Arnold? Is he there? At the hospital now?”

      “Yes. He’ll call you with more information—”

      “We’re on our way.”

      “I’ll meet you there,” she said as he slammed the receiver down.

      “What the hell’s going on?” Matt demanded.

      “The

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