Chapter 19

Evening, Three days before Christmas...

Julie stared out the window at the man Jess was leading over from the rental next door. Her half sister raised her hand and waved enthusiastically so Julie returned the gesture with the same energy.

"Same old Jess," Leonard chuckled as he sipped a cup of coffee. "Which one of the Hastings is that?"

"The older brother Andrew," Aunt Evie answered.

"The lawyer, eh?" growling, Leonard cracked the knuckles on the hand not holding a coffee mug.

"Leonard. Be nice, he's trying to keep Jessica out of jail for leaving Florida without permission."

"Yes, Aunt Evie."

Julie sighed, "We're all just so mad about the lies they made up about Jessica." Then she went to the foyer. "Half-sissy!"

"Half-sissy!" Jessica hug-mauled Julie as they laughed.

Leonard followed and held out his free hand to Ian's brother. "I'm Leonard."

"Andrew, thank you for coming so quickly. I thought Jess was going to let those doctors turn her into a mummy taking blood for Lily," he admitted then revealed, "She almost fainted when we came home from the hospital this morning."

Leonard pulled up his sleeve, showing a cottonball taped to the crook of his arm. "That's why we're late. We both gave a pint before coming to the Inn."

"Andrew, this is Julie the coffee-brandishing badass of the family," Jess introduced them as Julie flushed as red as a strawberry and meekly held out her hand to shake his.

"I'm so sorry for how the P.I.s treated your family," he apologized sincerely.

Leonard smirked, "If they didn't want to get treated like criminals, they shouldn't have acted like thugs."

Nodding, Andrew agreed, "Your family showed their boss that they needed to change the way they did things."

Julie glared at him with a surprising ferocity and she hissed quietly, "How could you believe any of those things about Jessica? Or that she and Lily were the same person?"

"I know... I know... it was a mistake on my family's part, and we are willing to do anything to fix it," Andrew confessed.

"And you won't try to take baby Ava because Lily has post-partum?" Julie demanded and surprisingly poked him in the chest hard enough to make him take a half-step back.

Giggling, Jess grabbed her hand. "Easy... He can't, they can't. I already have a notarized document to that effect."

"Dinner," Aunt Evie called from the dining room.

"Aunt Evie made lamb stew," Jess announced as she led Julie back to the dining room by the hand, then she glanced over her shoulder at Andrew with a wickedly teasing gleam in her eye, "You don't mind having it twice in one day, do you Mr. Black Card?"

Andrew felt his face twist into a wry grin, as he admitted, "I usually eat the same meal two or three times in a row. I can't cook to save my life, so I always order in enough for a few days, or get carry-out when I eat out. Honestly, I asked Aunt Evie earlier if she could ship me a week's worth of dinners and praline rolls at a time. I'm getting spoiled."

Leonard agreed, "Aunt Evie is the best cook in the family, but Julie is catching up."

Lily and Kitty's elderly aunt smiled at them, "Feeding the family makes me happy. Now, sit down. Jack texted that he and his grandfather can't find one of those chamber things for sale. Dr. Harris is trying to find somewhere for Lily to get treatments because the one in Chicago is booked solid."

As they ate, Andrew constantly glanced over at Jess who was feeding Ava. Leonard watched them as he listened to Aunt Evie revealing the need for the treatment and how bad Lily's scarring and disability could be without it. He had never seen any man look at his half-sister the way Andrew Hastings did. Men always looked at Jessica like she was a piece of meat or a conquest to be chased, but Andrew looked at her and listened to her with respect. As Julie and Evie collected the dishes, Jessica carried Ava upstairs to change her diaper. To Leonard, Andrew seemed reluctant to leave.

Leonard turned his half empty mug until the door to the kitchen closed behind Evie and Julie.

"Go ahead and say it," Andrew said. He had felt Johansen brother watching him like a shark watched a diver for the last hour.

Leonard raised an eyebrow as he emptied his coffee.

"The protective brother spiel." Andrew refilled his mug.

Snorting derisively, Leonard eyed him. "You already know what I am going to say. I noticed how you look at her, so I don't need to tell you that if you hurt her, it will be the last thing you do. My brothers and I are ready to disappear your whole family for what happened to Lily and the way your family slandered Jess..."

"Technically it was libel, not slander," Jess interrupted as she walked back into the dining room holding a baby monitor. "And I can fight my own battles." Her half-brother rotated to look at her as she hugged his neck, so she kissed his cheek. "But I appreciate the thought."

Andrew agreed, "She can. And we already agreed we aren't going to date until things with Ian and Lily are settled."

"I can live with that, I'll pass the word on to Jack and Jeff," Leonard stood up and stretched, "I am going to bed. I'm in the room right below Jessica's." He gave Andrew a look then carried his cup to the kitchen.

Andrew sighed and shook his head as he stood. "I guess I should go back and wait for Kitty to bring Mom and Ian back from the hospital. Or maybe I'll just crawl in my cold bed early and all alone."

She giggled at his roguish grin, "I'll walk you to the door, and your charm won't work on me, good sir."

Pretending to be offended, Andrew followed her to the foyer and began putting on his coat and mittens in front of the door. "I would never dream of taking advantage, my lady."

"Liar." Jess smiled at him in such a beautiful way his heart almost stopped, then she stepped forward, tugging his hat from his pocket and pulling it on his head over his ears. "You wouldn't have stopped here if you didn't intend to take advantage." She glanced up and so did he.

A sprig of mistletoe hung over the door.

"How did that get there?" He murmured as he bent his neck, because he was certain it wasn't there when he arrived.

Jess's eyes sparkled with mischief as she whispered against his lips, "Hmmm, I wonder."

<<@>>

Two days before Christmas...

As dawn colored the horizon, he stopped at the rear entrance of a newer home in a gated community. There were no lights on, so he walked into the backyard. He picked the lock on the French doors, but no alarm sounded when he opened it. In the living room, a dry, dying Christmas tree decorated in snowflakes and bows stood alone. Walking around the house, there were no pictures of people on the walls. Remembering the dorm room she shared with the Buddhist prayer bead girl, he knew there should be candid pictures of her friends decorating the walls. No women's clothing in the closet, or toiletries in the bathroom. He frowned at the scarred face reflected in the mirror. She wasn't here, it didn't seem like she had ever been here. This was a man's home.

His father's investigator was certain she lived here, but it was another lie. He needed to check out an apartment and a strip club in Tampa Bay under a slightly different name. Perhaps the one who scarred him, was pretending to be someone else like he was.

There was a flash of blue and red lights down the street from the house. He hurried back down the stairs and went outside, escaping the backyard before the police parked in front of the house. He jogged back to where he parked his car and left past the house. Watching the police walking around, he continued on his way slowly.

<<@>>

Lily looked in the mirror at the blackened skin of her face and ears under the numbing paste, before she put her compact back in her purse and dropped it beside the chair clumsily. Her swollen, gray fingers wouldn't let her hold her baby without help. She had never been vain, but the damage the cold did to her body was as traumatizing as the realization she had almost succeeded this time. Struggling not to weep, she pressed the heel of her hand against the call button. Bulbous swollen joints and fingertips were slowly turning from red to purple. She couldn't walk yet because she lost three toes, yet she hadn't looked at her feet since the surgery. She never realized how horrible and painful frostbite could be.

"Nurses' stations, can I help you, Mrs. Hastings?"

Lily's voice caught in her throat but she resisted the urge to scream at the nurse that she wasn't Mrs. Hastings anymore, so she whispered, "I have to go to the bathroom."

"I'm sorry I couldn't hear you."

"I have to go to the bathroom," Lily said louder.

"Someone will be right there, ma'am."

She stared out the window ignoring the pressure in her bladder.

"Sweetheart?" Ian's voice was gentle.

"Why did you tell them we're still married? You threw me away, threw us away," she accused without turning to face him. "I hate you."

"You're still on my insurance... I'm so sorry," he murmured. "I have so much to make up for."

The nurse came in and smiled then her expression faltered slightly as she noted their expressions. "Mr. Hastings, can... can you wait outside while I help your wife?"

"I am not his wife," Lily snarled as tears leaked from her eyes. "He divorced me the day our daughter was born because of some biyatch named Carly."

"It was a mistake." Ian seemed to shrink on himself. "I'll wait in the hall." He closed the door.

The nurse positioned her on a bedpan and wiped her down after she finished. Before she opened the door, she asked, "Do you want me to have him banned from your room?"

"It doesn't matter. Nothing matters." She turned her face back toward the window and watched the snowflakes swirling against the glass from the gray clouds.

"The doctor is sending someone in to talk you about... your accident," the nurse smiled gently at her. "I'll bring your breakfast and morning medications."

Ian stood in the door after the nurse left, but Lily refused to look at him, even after he sat in the chair by the window. She stared out at the snow. When the therapist came, she refused to speak to the woman so Ian spoke. He talked for the whole half-hour about how it was his fault, why he reacted the way he did, and Carly. Lily listened in silence with tears running down her face.

Dr. Harris came and looked at her face, ears, hands, and feet. "Lily, we are trying to get a hyperbaric chamber but there are none available to bring here. The one in Chicago is all booked until February, but they say they will get you in when there are cancellations."

"Dr. Harris, can she come back to Florida? There are dozen of those in the Miami area for divers and there are even a few at day spas," Ian revealed.

"Palm Harbor, Florida has a medical facility with them, but for her condition, the HBOT center in San Rafeal, California has the best reputation for dealing with burn victims. And Lily, your frostbite is the equivalent of third-degree burns." Dr. Harris glanced from Ian back to Lily, who was still very pointedly ignoring them. "Lily, do you wish to go back to Florida or California? The treatment will greatly speed up your healing time."

After her silence, Dr. Harris added quietly, "Lilyanna, what would your Aunt Ava say? What would she think about you trying to take yourself from little Ava's life too soon?"

"Please, Lily, I need you," Ian begged, "Ava needs you."

Lily hiccupped a sob then held her damaged hands over her face. She nodded, unable to voice her guilt and regret. Ian held her as gently as he could while she wept onto his shoulder.

She whispered, "I don't want to go back to Florida."

"Then we'll go to California," Ian promised as he glanced at Dr. Harris.

The elderly doctor nodded and went out. In the private waiting room, he glanced around at the gathered family.

"Lily has agreed to go to San Rafeal, California for Hyperbaric chamber therapy. They are the best in the country at treating burns and the Bothin Burn Center in San Francisco is close enough to do any skin grafts she needs."

Nodding Hillary added, "I will find them a house."

"I'll go with them," Kitty volunteered.

"No," Evie stood straighter, "I'll go with them to take care of Ava. I'm sorry, Kitty, but they need a softer touch right now."

Kitty looked about to protest, but Leonard insisted, "She's right, Kitty. We all know you love Lily, but you're still looking at Ian like you want to murder him."

Jess sided with him and Evie. "Sissy, they need to repair their relationship for Ava's sake. They can't do it with you giving him the stink eye twenty-four/seven. It has to be Aunt Evie because I have to go back to Florida."

Julie sat in a chair, sipping a large fruit smoothie after having given blood for the second day in a row. She murmured her question almost too quietly to be heard, "Who will run the inn?"

"I'll just close up," Evie announced.

"But Aunt Evie, you're booked solid through February," Jess reminded.

"Lily is more important," Evie declared staunchly.

Leonard looked at Julie sharply as she murmured something. "Are you sure?"

"Sure about what?" Kitty demanded.

Julie straightened and lifted her chin, "I'll stay and run the Inn. I lost my job and may get expelled for hitting that investigator. It's bad press for the school to have one of their students assault someone with hot coffee."

"It was self-defense," Jess insisted as Leonard echoed her.

Andrew shook his head then announced firmly, "I'll have a word with them."

"No," Julie squeaked then looked at her family and the Hastings, "It's okay, I hated that school and Las Vegas. I just went to make the family back home happy and to have an excuse not to get married yet." She shrank on herself a little, admitting quietly, "Grandmother already thinks I'm a spinster."

Jess barked a laugh, "I can't imagine what she thinks of me."

"She doesn't approve... but at least, you have a marketable trade," Julie admitted sheepishly as Jess cackled loudly. Their humor made everyone relax and even share in the mirth.

Kitty was the only one still scowling but Evie squeezed her in a side hug. "Don't be angry, I know you only want to protect and take care of Lily, but you're too strong for what she needs now."

Sighing, Kitty nodded, repeating something Ava had said to her for years, "I know, I'm a bull, and she's a china shop."

Evie kissed her temple then looked over at where baby Ava slept in a carseat. "We'll have a family Christmas at the Inn, then we'll see how the season changes."