Page 47 of The Playboy and the Widow
“I’m sorry, but I will have to ask Mrs. Collins to fill out all the necessary—”
Cliff silenced the receptionist with one determined look. “I can complete anything else.”
Diana scribbled her name where Cliff had indicated and gave the clipboard back to him.
“Take Mrs. Collins to her daughter,” he stated next in the same crisp, dictatorial tone.
The woman nodded and stood to walk around the desk and escort Diana to where they’d wheeled Katie.
Cliff watched Diana leave, reached for the clipboard and took a seat. It wasn’t until he read through the first few lines she’d completed that he understood what Diana had been trying to tell him about Stan. The last time she’d been in the hospital was when her husband had been brought in after the airplane accident. From the information George Holiday had given him, Cliff understood that Stan had been badly burned. On the advice of Stan’s physician, Diana had never seen her husband’s devastated body. One peaceful Saturday morning, Diana kissed her husband goodbye and went shopping with her daughters, while he took off in a private plane with a good friend. And she never saw her high-school sweetheart again.
Less than an hour later, Diana appeared and took a seat beside Cliff. She’d composed herself by this time, embarrassed to have given way to crying as she had.
“They’re putting a cast on Katie’s arm,” she said when Cliff looked to her. “She’s asking to see you.”
“Me?”
“Yes, Cliff, you.”
They stood together. Diana paused, feeling a bit chagrined, but needing to thank him. “I don’t know who told you about the accident or why you came, but I want you to know how much I appreciate your... help. Something came over me when we arrived at the hospital, and all of a sudden I couldn’t help remembering the last time I was here. I got so afraid.” Her voice wobbled, and she bit into her bottom lip. “Thank you, Cliff.”
“No problem.” He was having a hard time not taking her in his arms and offering what comfort he could. His whole body ached with the need to hold her and tell her he understood. But after their last discussion, he didn’t know how she’d feel about him touching her. He buried his hands in his pants pockets, bunching them into impotent fists. “I’m here because I want to be here—there’s nothing noble about it.”
Although he made light of it, Diana knew he’d left his law office in the middle of the day to rush to the hospital. His caring meant more than she could ever tell him. She wanted to try, but the words that were in her heart didn’t make it to her tongue.
“Cliff!” Katie brightened the minute he stepped into the casting room.
“Hi, buttercup.” Her face was streaked with tears, her pigtails mussed with leaves and grass and a bruise was forming on the side of her jaw, but Cliff couldn’t remember seeing a more beautiful little girl. “How did you manage that?” He nodded toward her arm.
“I fell out of the apple tree,” she told him, and wrinkled up her nose. “I wasn’t supposed to climb it, either.”
“I hope you won’t again,” Diana interjected.
Katie’s young brow crinkled into a tight frown. “I don’t think I will. This hurt real bad, but I tried to be brave for Mom and Joan.”
“I broke my leg once,” Cliff told her. The thought of Katie having to endure the same pain he’d suffered produced a curious ache in the region of his heart. He watched as the PA worked, wrapping her arm in a protective layer of cotton. Then he dipped thick plaster strips in water and began to mold them over Katie’s forearm and elbow.
“I’ve missed you a whole lot,” the little girl said next.
“I’ve missed you, too.” Cliff discovered that wasn’t a lie. He’d tried not to think about Diana and her daughters since the night of their talk. The past couple of days, he’d been almost amused at the way everything around him had reminded him of them. He’d finally reached the conclusion that he wasn’t going to be able to forget these three females. Somehow, without his knowing how, they’d made an indelible mark on his heart. What Diana had said about Becky and him had been the truth. Funny, he’d once told Diana to wake up and smell the coffee, and yet he had been the one with his head buried in the sand.
“Mom missed you, too—a whole bunch.”
“Katie!”
“It’s true. Don’t you remember you were cranky with me and Joan, and then you told us you were sorry and said you were still missing Cliff and that was the reason you were in such a bad mood.”
A hot flush seeped into Diana’s face and circled her ears. With some effort, she smiled weakly in Cliff’s direction, hoping he’d be kind enough to forget what Katie had told him.
“Don’t you remember, Mom? Joan thought it was Aunt Flo again and you said—”
“I remember, Katie,” she said pointedly.
“Who’s Aunt Flo?” Cliff wanted to know.
“Never mind,” Diana murmured under her breath.
“Will you sign my cast?” Katie asked Cliff next. “The only boys who can sign it are you and Mikey.”
