Page 33 of Just One More Temptation

Because he stood so close, he could hear the conversation.

“Hello, dear. I’m sorry to bother you but I’m at the gallery and I’m not feeling well. I can’t reach Oliver and I’m worried,” she said, lowering her voice.

Fallon’s body stiffened and she turned to Noah. “I need to go to her.”

He nodded, knowing how close she felt to her boss and mentor. “Why don’t you have her call 911, find out what hospital they’re taking her to, and we can meet her there?”

“You should stay with your family, I can take a rideshare.”

He shook his head. “Not happening.”

She shot him a grateful look, her gaze softening, then returned to the call and repeated what he’d said to Clara.

They said their goodbyes to the family, calmed the girls, assuring them Clara was a friend of Fallon’s and she’d be fine, and they were off.

Fallon was silent on the ride to the city, her worry for Clara causing her foot to tap while drumming her nails on the leather on the door.

Though he attempted to join Fallon inside the ER, he wasn’t family and they only wanted one person at a time. After claiming to be Clara’s daughter, she was allowed in.

She paused to talk to him first. “I don’t know how long I’ll be here, so you should go home. I can take an Uber home.” She rushed off to see Clara before he could reply.

He had no intention of leaving her to come out alone later. So Noah settled in to wait.

Chapter Thirteen

Fallon was directedto a cubicle with a sliding door to which Clara had been assigned. Her boss lay back in bed, her skin pale, oxygen being given to her through the small cannula in her nose.

“Clara, I’m here. I’d have come sooner but I wasn’t in the city. How are you?” Fallon pulled a chair over to the bed, lifted Clara’s hand, and held it between her palms.

“I was dizzy and out of breath. Oliver said he tried to get me an appointment with a specialist but there were no openings for six weeks. He said I should go to work and it would be mind over matter. I’d feel better being busy.”

Fallon clenched her teeth. Sylvie was supposed to work today and she was bringing a friend to train.

But what was wrong with Oliver? Was he trying to work his mother to death? “Oh, Clara. I wish you’d called me sooner.”

“Sylvie was working with her friend, so I had help. I was able to relax at my desk. But the shortness of breath returned when I wasn’t exerting myself and it frightened me.”

“What are they doing for you?” she asked, gently holding her hand as she met her gaze.

Clara’s blue eyes appeared cloudy. “They are doing blood tests to see if I had a heart attack and they want to run some other tests too. They explained them but I’m so tired I didn’t process much of what they said.”

Clara’s son should have been there to bring his mother to the hospital and play interpreter with the doctors. “Where is Oliver?” Fallon asked.

“He said he had an important meeting but I left a message on his phone that I was here. I’m sure he’ll come rushing in any moment.”

Fallon had her doubts.

“Fallon, while we’re alone, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Of course,” Fallon said, leaning forward. “What can I do for you?”

Clara cleared her throat. “I spoke to my lawyer about my will.”

“Yourwill? Clara, please. Don’t dwell on that.” Nobody liked thinking about death, but Fallon hated it from personal experience. She shuddered at the memories that came back and focused on Clara.

Reaching up, the other woman removed the oxygen from her nose, probably so she could speak more clearly. “It’s prudent for someone of my means to think ahead. And when I wasn’t feeling well it made me start thinking and act on what’s important.”

Not wanting to think about a world without Clara in it, Fallon swallowed over the lump in her throat. Just the idea reminded her of the gaping loss of her mother. Her father and brothers had tried hard to compensate, as did Lizzie, but a little girl needed her mom.

---