A Convenient Proposal(17)
When she opened her eyes again, the world—though still painful—had become at least bearable again. She was lying on her side, covered by a soft blanket in a very cool room, with Igor curled in his usual place along the backs of her legs. The only light came from behind a mostly closed door, and the only sound was the soothing hum of air-conditioning. Focusing on that monotonous drone, refusing to ask herself any questions, Arden fell back into sleep.
A slight clink of glass woke her the second time. “Sorry,” a man whispered nearby. “I thought you might want something to drink when you woke up.”
Memory flooded through spaces vacated by the headache. Griff. The engagement. A baby. “That sounds good,” she murmured. “A cold drink would be wonderful.”
“Water or tea?”
She moved her head slightly, and it didn’t hurt too much. “Tea?”
“Coming up.”
Propping herself against the pillows required more effort than it should have, but she managed the feat in time to accept the glass of iced tea Griff offered. “Thank you so much.” The first taste was heaven. “Perfect.”
He hovered between the beds, as if he couldn’t decide whether to sit or stand. “I bought pain medicines, if you want something.”
“Right now I’m just thirsty.”
After she’d downed the glass and he’d brought another, Griff asked, “Do you get migraines often?”
Arden sipped, sighed, then frowned at him. “Do you always ask so many questions?”
“An occupational hazard, I guess. The animals can’t tell me what’s wrong, so I have to get as much information from the owners as I can. And that usually means asking questions.”
“Could you bring me my bag? I have some pills….”
“Sure.”
With the tablets swallowed, she set her empty glass on the table between the beds and slid down to rest her head on the pillows. She remembered that she hadn’t answered his question. “I haven’t had a migraine in months. But before I moved to Chaos, I was enduring at least one a week. Stress, the doctors said.”
“I’m sorry.” Griff sat down on the other bed, propping his elbows on his knees. “I didn’t intend to bring stress and pain into your life with my proposal.”
“Of course not.” The medicine was beginning to take effect, making her sleepy and a little drunk. She stretched out her arm to drop her hand onto his wrist. “I’ll be fine tomorrow. Just need…sleep.”
She wasn’t sure, but she thought she felt him kiss her fingers before the world faded away.
ONCE CONVINCED THAT ARDEN was fast asleep and would stay that way, Griff left Igor on guard and went to the hotel lobby to make a phone call. His first act upon reaching the ocean six months ago had been to throw his cell phone as far as possible—and considering he’d played right field for his high school and college baseball teams, that was far enough to be sure the phone never washed up on shore.
Now, he had to call collect. Fortunately, his mother answered. “Yes, of course we’ll accept the charges. Griff? Is that you?”
“Hey, Mom. Happy New Year.” Hearing her Southern belle accent exposed a soft place in his chest. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. We’re all just fine here. When are you coming home?”
Somewhere in the house, his sister Dana screamed, “Griff? Griffith Major Campbell, you get your butt home right now!”
He chuckled. “That was clear enough. As a matter of fact, Mom, I guess I’ll be there sometime tomorrow afternoon.”
“Oh, Griff, that’s wonderful.” Now she sounded a little teary, too. “Can we have the family over for dinner? Is that too much for your first night back? Where are you planning to stay? I’ll air out the guest cottage—no one’s lived there since last summer, but I can have it ready in a jiffy.”
“That would be great, Mom.” The moment was on top of him before he’d planned how to deal with it. “Um…I’m bringing someone with me.”
“That’s nice, son. You know friends of yours are always welcome.” Her words slowed, then stopped for a second as she interpreted his tone of voice. “Do you mean a girlfriend?”
“That’s right. Arden Burke is her name.”
“Is this an important relationship?”
“As a matter of fact…” He took a deep breath. “We have been talking about getting married.”