Mid Life Love: At Last (Mid Life Love #2)(64)

“Yes...”

He bent down and kissed my cheek. “Would you like to push the wedding back?” He looked over my body. “Until you feel better?”

“No.”

He raised his eyebrow.

“I don’t want to wait any longer—four weeks is long enough.”

He smiled and kissed my forehead.

“You didn’t change anything in that last meeting with Miss Corwin did you?”

“I did actually.” He smirked. “Quite a few things.”

I was alert now. “A few things like what?”

“Like the way the room will be set up, the dance floor inscription, the lighting...”

“So, you pretty much changed everything?”

“I guess so.” He kissed my cheek. “I didn’t have much help that day.”

“Jonathan, you said I could choose everything. I had the perfect ideas for the reception, and for you to go and...I can’t believe you. You just have to control something don’t you?” I groaned and he walked over to turn the TV off.

“I wasn’t done watching that, and I’m not done talking to you about our wedding reception. Can you get her on the phone so she can explain what you changed and I can make sure it all matches?”

“No.” He hit the lights.

“Can you at least tell me the specifics then? It’s not that I don’t trust your taste but—” I felt his lips covering mine—softly, tenderly, as if he wanted to be as careful as possible.

“Go to sleep, Claire.”

Chapter 17

Claire

Two weeks later...

I slowly walked across the room, ignoring the faint pain in my right foot, pleading with my body to keep moving.

So close....so close...

I took five more steps and collapsed onto the sofa once I made it to the other side.

My specialist clapped and handed me a cup of water. “Very good, Miss Gracen!” She was beaming. “That was two hours of walking! You are going to be strolling down that aisle with ease! Has your fiancée been letting you do a little more on your own now when you’re at home?”

No...

I told her yes, but Jonathan hadn’t let me do much of anything. He’d taken an extended vacation from his company so he could tend to my every need. He even had a replica of our bedroom built downstairs so I could get to it—via the wheelchair I didn’t really need to use.

I’d tried to convince him that the pain wasn’t that bad and that I really didn’t need physical therapy, but he refused to listen and he refused to let me go to work. He had my staff come over during the day time and we all worked in various rooms. And whenever I had an appointment with a client, I hosted it outside by the pool.

As far as the recommended exercises I was supposed to do at home, he was always ready to help me complete them. Even when it took me an hour to walk across the room without wincing, or when I cried for half a day because I couldn’t do the shoulder routine right, he was patient and encouraging.

“How long do you honestly think it’ll be until I can run again? And can you please write a note telling Mr. Statham that I’m fully capable of getting around without that damn wheelchair? I’m not taking it home with me today...”

She smiled and pulled a pad out of her pocket. “Of course. You can probably jog in four months...Running?” She shook her head. “We’ll talk about that when I see you again. I’ll be right back with your progress chart.”

My cellphone rang and I held it up to my ear without looking at it. Jonathan always called right after my session was over.

“I need a few more minutes.” I said. “I’m waiting for my progress chart.”

“Claire...” It was Ryan.

I hung up.

My phone rang again and I answered it, thinking it was Jonathan.

“Please don’t hang up, Claire.” It was the ass**le again. “I’m...I’m so sorry that I pushed you—I never meant to hurt you like that...Please believe me.”

“I don’t. And I really hope you’re out of town because there are lots of people looking for you right now.”

He sighed. “I just want to let you know that Amanda is recovering from her surgery very well.” He paused. “Phase two was a week ago and it was risky, but it actually worked.”

“Well, good for her and good for you. Try not to push her out of the window. Goodbye.” I hung up.

He called back but I didn’t answer. Then he called two more times before I finally put my phone on silent.

I was about to call Jonathan and tell him I’d be outside, but Ryan sent me a text: “One of your employees mentioned you being at St. Francis...She’s in the same place...Room 2323...I won’t be there so you won’t have to talk to me—or see me...Just tell her hello. That’s all I’m asking...”

I wasn’t sure what made me change my mind, but there I was in line for a visitation pass, considering coming face to face with the woman who’d drastically altered my life.

The bright lights and taupe walls were triggering memories of years past, years when Amanda would be bedridden for the entire summer, when I would bring her teddy bears and catch her up on all the gossip she’d missed from the first week of high school classes.