His Sugar Baby(66)

“Oh God, oh God! Are you sure?”

Cathy gave a laugh that ended in a sob. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop the wave of shivering that overtook her body. “Yes, yes! He just told me.”

“Thank God,” breathed John, shutting his eyes briefly.

Pam wiped her reddened eyes and shook her head, a smile breaking out. She leaned back against her husband. “I’m so, so glad!”

Cathy felt exhaustion fall on her like an anvil. She swayed. She was grateful when her brother-in-law steadied her with a hand under her elbow. “Thanks. It–it just hit me. I’m so tired all of a sudden.”

“You need rest. You’ve been here day and night! You’re coming home with me, Cathy.” Pam turned her head up to meet her husband’s gaze. “You can stay here for awhile, to look in on Chloe, can’t you, John?”

“Sure. You go on with Pam, Cathy. I’ll call you if I hear anything else.”

Cathy shook her head. “No! No, I don’t want to go home with you.” She was still shuddering. She couldn’t stop or force out more words. What was wrong with her? She felt the cracking inside of her deepen. An ominous tide was rising inside of her. Her thoughts scrambled in panicked confusion. Losing it. She had to get out, she had to go.

“Of course you are! John, tell her. She can’t go back to that horrible apartment by herself!”

Cathy understood. The panic sharpened her wits. Pam didn’t want her to be alone, wouldn’t let her be alone. She forced herself to form sentences, to make sense, an excuse. “I–I called someone. Earlier. A friend.” Cathy snatched up her coat and her purse. She took a step backward, toward the waiting room doorway, toward escape.

“Cathy, are you sure that’s what you want?” There was honest concern in John’s expressive face. “At least let one of us drive you.”

“No, no. I have my car.” Cathy turned swiftly and barreled straight into an immovable object. She staggered back with the impact. Strong hands caught her arms, steadying her. “Sorry! I didn’t see—”

“I’m glad I found you.”

Her head snapped up. “Michael!”

She stared at him. Horror slammed through her.





Michael saw the color drain out of her face. It was a huge breach of her privacy, he knew that. “I came down when I realized where you were calling from. I asked at the desk for Chloe, and they sent me up here.” The tightness in her expression didn’t lesson. He gentled his voice, trying to make her understand. “I had to come.”

“Michael? Michael Lambert!”

Michael turned his head, at last focusing on the couple that was standing nearby in the waiting room. The man’s eyes had widened in recognition. Michael realized that he knew him. John Thompson. His brows creased, grappling at the significance of his international business contact’s presence. He knew it to be an odd coincidence, but at that moment, it didn’t seem particularly important. He nodded stiffly, putting a polite smile on his face. “John.”

John reached out a hand. Michael automatically shook it. “How do you know Cathy?”

The woman exclaimed in delight. “John! Is this Cathy’s Michael?” She stared at him, excitement lightening her expression. She also reached out to shake his hand. “I’m Pam, Cathy’s sister.”

Michael felt the air rush out of his lungs. Things were hitting him all at once. His mind made a leap back to an evening in Singapore and a certain conversation. He had not met the man’s wife before. She had been away helping a family member. “I’m sorry! I didn’t realize—”

John’s thoughts had obviously paralleled his own. “I never mentioned Pam’s sister’s last name, did I?”

“No.” Michael shook his head, with a shrug. He didn’t bother to explain having that piece of information would not have clued him in. He had never known her by any other name than Winter.

“You’ve come at a good time! We just heard. Chloe is going to get better!”

“I’m glad to hear that!” Michael felt a sharp shaft of relief. A grin broke free. His smile faltered as Winter stepped away from him, still wearing an expression of profound shock on her face.





Cathy felt all of the morbid fascination she might have at watching a train wreck. Her gaze flicked back and forth between the two men. The thudding of her heart was so loud she wondered that no one said anything. Her brother-in-law and Michael knew each other. It was inconceivable. It was appalling. It was a disaster.

Shame and panic hit her. They were going to know. Pam and John.

She tried to breathe. Crushing pressure built, squelching the air out of her lungs. She practically flew out of the waiting room. “Cathy!”

She evaded Pam’s hands. “Please! I can’t bear—not now. Just let me go!”

She heard her brother-in-law’s voice. “No, Pam! Let her go. She’s got to do this her way.”

Cathy didn’t turn or look back as she ran down the hospital hall to the elevators. She repeatedly stabbed the down button, the breath sawing harshly out of her lungs.





At her sister’s hasty retreat, Pam shook her head. “I’m glad you came, Michael. She needs her friends. She needs all of us. She’s carried the burden alone for so long.” Tears glittered in her eyes. “When I think about everything she’s had to go through…”