Page 58 of A Heart of Little Faith
“No thanks, I’m fine.” Gideon grabbed a magazine off the table. He thumbed throughEntertainment Weeklyas he waited for her to return. He’d begun an article about Angelina Jolie when Lily’s words caught his attention.
“…sure, Tom, that sounds great. No, I don’t have any plans, and certainly none I can’t change…”
Tom? Who’s Tom?He didn’t remember a Tom. He wracked his brain as he replayed names of people she’d mentioned from work, or acquaintances of Samantha’s, but he couldn’t think of anyone. Who was this guy and what plans were they making? And what plans would she change? He took a deep breath and attempted to concentrate on the article. Angelina Jolie was sexy as hell, especially her voice. Actually, he liked more than her voice. Speaking of which, Lily’s had a lilt he hadn’t heard before. She bubbled and he frowned.Ugh, there I go again. Exasperated, he tossed the magazine onto the table and waited for Lily to get off the phone as he drummed his fingers on his knees. He met her gaze as she entered.
“Sorry.” She sounded out of breath. Her face was flushed as she flopped onto the sofa. “That was Tom, an old friend of Daniel’s.”
“Oh.” Somehow, that tidbit of information did nothing to satiate his desire for knowledge.
Lily paced. “I haven’t spoken to him in ages, not since I moved to New York. He tried to convince me to stay in Philly.”
So he wanted her to stay. Why?
“In the end, I did what I wanted and we haven’t spoken since.”
“He didn’t approve of your decision?”
“I don’t think it was that as much as his belief it was his job to take care of me in Daniel’s absence—which he did for a while.” Lily brushed imaginary lint off her pants. “But I realized in order to move on, I really needed to move on.”
“He didn’t call to check in on you?” Gideon found it hard to believe.
Lily leveled a gaze on him. The look in her eyes defended Tom more than her words could ever do, and Gideon backed off mentally. “I think we both have been so busy with work and life in general, we haven’t had a chance to talk. And we were both close to Daniel; I don’t think either of us wanted to discuss how we were coping. But, he’s coming to the city for work and we’re going to get together. I’m excited to see him!” Her eyes sparkled.
He held it a moment and released it. “That sounds great.”
“You have to understand, he and Daniel were like brothers. They went to Yale together, only Tom continued on to medical school. Now he’s a pediatrician in private practice outside of Philadelphia. He’s one of the nicest men I know —smart, funny, kind. The three of us used to always be together. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until he called.”
“You’ll have to introduce me.” He wanted to meet the man who had taken care of her. Maybe this Tom would answer a few questions for him, questions he couldn’t ask Lily.
Chapter 21
The phone on his desk rang, a shrill peal that attempted to divert Gideon, but he ignored it. Instead, he concentrated on his meeting proposal, as he tapped an uneven beat on the buttons of his keyboard. At the second ring, he flared his nostrils and glared at it as he waited for Stella to pick it up. On the third ring he swore, pushed away his keyboard and grabbed the phone. “Gideon Stone,” he barked.
“It’s me,” his sister said on the other end. He inhaled. “What is it, Sam? I’m busy.”
“This isn’t a social call, so chill. I just got a call from Claire’s school.” Her voice was high with concern.
Gideon frowned and rested his arm on the desk.
“Lily never showed to pick her up and there’s no answer at her office or at home or on her cell.”
His chest tightened and his knuckles whitened. Gripping the phone and pressing it to his head, he swallowed in an effort to keep his heart from pounding out of his chest. Lily was too careful to ever “forget” Claire. Something was wrong. “I’ll pick her up,” he said as he shut off his computer and threw things into his briefcase.
“No, I’ll go to her school; I’m the emergency contact. They’ll release her more easily to me. You go to Lily’s apartment and see if she’s there. There’s a spare key in my apartment on my fridge if you need it.” Her staccato commands emphasized her worry.
Gideon realized his sister made sense halfway out his office door. “Okay, I’ll call you when I know anything. And thanks for calling me.”
He left a brief note for Stella at her desk, grabbed a cab and rushed to Lily’s apartment. Once there, he let himself into the building, found Lily’s spare key on the refrigerator, hurried over to Lily’s and knocked on her door. When no one answered, he knocked again, louder. Still no answer. By now his pulse pounded in his ears and he gasped for air as if he had run a marathon.
He unlocked the door and entered her apartment. The stillness weighed on him. He smelled traces of coffee from breakfast and heard the sounds of Lily’s voice and Claire’s giggles as clearly as if they stood in front of him. But they didn’t. The hair on the nape of his neck prickled at the idea of being there alone. However, when he spotted Lily’s briefcase lying in the middle of the hallway, dread replaced his discomfort.
“Lily?” No answer. “Lil, are you here? It’s Gideon.” Still no answer. He searched the living room and kitchen, but didn’t see her. He peeked into her bedroom. She lay sprawled on the bed, her eyes closed. Her waxy face had a sheen of sweat on it. He wheeled over to her and shook her gently. She moaned, but didn’t wake up. He felt heat through the sleeve of her suit jacket and her forehead burned with fever. He continued to shake her and spoke to her in urgent tones.
“Lil, come on honey, open your eyes. It’s Gideon.” She remained unresponsive. Fear clamped down on him and for a moment, he couldn’t move. Another moan released him and he rushed into the bathroom, found a washcloth and ran it under cold water. After he wrung it out, he rushed over and put it on her forehead. Then he called Samantha. “Sam, I found her. She’s sick and I’m calling an ambulance. Keep Claire with you.”
He called 911 and continued with the cold compresses as he tried to quell his fear.
“Come on, honey, wake up. We need you. Claire needs you,” he crooned as he attempted to get through to her. Her teeth chattered, the sound reminding him of his earlier typing at work and he wanted to cradle her to him. But she had to be cooled down.