Page 34 of Tom's Chance
“Yes, he was having an affair, he lost his job, and when Mrs. Bickers found out, she kicked him out,and cut him off financially. She even froze all the accounts. He had been out of the house for about a month when he arrived that night, drunk out of his mind.”
“Disgusting,” Dr. Henry said with a shake of his head. “I better get back. Thank you for what you did. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and send up a prayer that it helps Mrs. Bickers take a turn in the right direction. Do you have a business card before I go?”
Tom gave him a card, and after Dr. Henry left them, they turned and walked back to the front of the hospital. Before leaving, Tom ducked into the men’s room and after using the facilities, he washed his hands and scrubbed his face. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried, but for some reason it felt cathartic to have done so.
In the hall, he joined Lorissa, and with his hand on the small of her back, they both were silent as they made it out to his truck. Because they had agreed to go to the steakhouse prior to that night, he drove across town to his favorite spot. They were both quiet as they went in and he grinned at Lorissa’s shock when he said they had made a reservation.
They settled at the table, waited to order anything to drink, and looked at the menu. Five minutes later, Lorissa set her menu down and looked at Tom with a smirk.
“What?”
“How are you going to explain to Mrs. Bickers that you lied to her?”
They paused as the waitress came and they both placed their orders, and Tom ordered them each a glass of wine. When the waitress left, he turned to her. “I didn’t lie.”
“Fourfluffy white snowballs? Before I left, I counted three, with a fluffy tiger striped one in the mix.”
Tom grinned. “Hey, he’s fluffy.”
“That he is,” Lorissa laughed.
“I think the kittens will be in new homes by the time she is aware of her surroundings. I just wanted to put her at ease.”
“I know.” Before they could continue their conversation, Tom’s phone rang, and he looked at Lorissa with raised brows. “Go ahead.”
“Stolls,” Tom answered it in his professional voice and sat there in shock as he listened, not saying one word, then he hung up and looked at Lorissa with the same shock. She reached out and took his hand in hers.
“What?”
“That was Dr. Henry. When he went back to Mrs. Bickers’ room, all hell broke loose. She went into cardiac arrest. They couldn’t save her.”
“Oh, shit,” Lorissa said in shock, and when the waitress arrived with their drinks, Lorissa took matters into her own hands and turned to her. “I’msorry, we just received some bad news and need to leave. Could you have our orders made to go?” She looked at Tom and shook her head. “We’ll pay for the wine, but we won’t drink it. We live three hour’s drive from here.”
“I’ll get it ready,” she said, but before she turned away, she nodded to her. “I’m sorry for your loss.” Then she disappeared.
Twenty minutes later, after paying the bill, gathering their order, and getting Tom’s expression, Lorissa got them both out of the restaurant and into his truck. She knew he wasn’t in any condition to drive, so she got his keys from him, setting the box with their food on the floor in the back seat area. After he was buckled, she let him continue to zone out on the way home.
CHAPTER 14
The were drivingthrough Fool’s Gold when Tom shook his entire body and seemed to come out of his stupor. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to zone out like that.” He looked around and frowned. “Are we almost home?”
“Yes, you were out of it after that call from Dr. Henry, so I had the waitress box up our meal. It’s in the back.”
“You paid for it?”
“I did.”
“Let me know how much so I can pay you back.”
“Don’t offend me, Tom. It’s not a big deal, if it is, then we can try this again in the future and you can pay.”
“It’s a date,” he said with a chuckle and started to feel better. “I am so sorry for the way I reacted. It was such a shock. Wait, can you pull over here?” Hepointed and Lorissa did as asked and gave him a funny look.
“That’s Sheriff Jim’s personal car. I want to tell him about Mrs. Bickers.” As soon as he opened his door, the Sheriff looked up and started toward them. Tom sat in the truck, rolled the window down, and closed the door. As soon as Jim joined them, he introduced Lorissa to him. They shook hands and Jim looked at Tom in concern.
“How did it go with Mrs. Bickers?”
“Good and bad. I told her about her husband, then about Rose and Baby. The doctor said he saw movement on the monitors.”
