"If you want my professional opinion, I think you should go and eat dinner. I'll call you if anything happens, but I don't think it will. Dr. Gla.s.s will meet with you later to discuss your options."

Gina smiled at Mike. It irked Ben that she was spending a lot of time smiling at Mike and not even looking at him. She must have seen him scowl since she shot him a warning look, and turned to Gramps. "I have your wallet. Do you want me to take anything else? Your watch, your ring?"

Gramps nodded. "Yeah, that would be good. Just don't go on a shopping spree without me while I'm stuck in here."

Gina rolled her eyes. "Darn. Now I'm going to have to cancel the appointment with my personal shopper."

"Don't worry. Once I get out of here, I'll buy you whatever you want."

Gina reached over the side rail of the bed and brushed what little hair Gramps had away from his forehead. "All I want is for you to get better, so you listen to the doctors, and don't give them a hard time. Ben and I will be waiting for you on the fifth floor. We'll see you later." She squeezed his hand.

Gramps held her hand, not letting her go. "You take care of Ben for me, huh. Mike wasn't kidding when he said Ben's not lookin' too good."

"I will. Don't worry. He'll be fine."

Two orderlies walked into the small s.p.a.ce and released the brake on the bed.

Ben moved when Gina shoved him toward the hall. He took a last look at his grandfather. "I'll see you later, Gramps."

He and Gina stood aside as they wheeled the bed out and turned to follow.

Mike stopped him. "Ben, listen to me, man. You look as if you're about to drop. Go and eat. Gina doesn't need to worry about you too. I'll call if you're needed. I know you left your wallet at your place. Here-" He reached for his wallet and Gina waved him off.

"I have money. I'll take care of Ben. Just call if there's any change."

Mike nodded. "Will do."

Gina took one look at Ben and wondered if she should get him some juice before they went hunting for the cafeteria. "I think I saw a soda machine in the waiting room. You need something to drink right now. Sit here and I'll get you a Gatorade or something." It would also give her a moment of much needed s.p.a.ce. She hadn't been prepared to see Ben, and she certainly hadn't expected him to look so lost. He was more of a mess than she was, and that was saying something. She'd dealt with an awful lot in her life, but she'd never seen someone she loved in the hospital. If it was this hard on her, she couldn't imagine how hard it must be for Ben. Gramps was all he had. Well, except for Kate, Karma, and the boys.

After digging through her purse for change, she took a few deep breaths and snuck a glance at him. The look on his face broke her heart. All she wanted to do was run up to him and hold on for dear life.

She had the urge to bang her head against the soda machine. Madre de Dios Madre de Dios, Tina had been right all along. She'd gone and fallen in love with Ben. Now what the h.e.l.l was she supposed to do? The orange Gatorade fell into the slot and she bent over to get it. When she rose, she found herself cornered between the machine, the wall, and Ben. "Here. Drink this." She shoved the Gatorade at him.

"Thanks." He took the drink. He didn't step back, he didn't open it, he just stared at her.

"You're supposed to drink it."

Ben shook his head. "I don't need it. Gina, all I need is you."

G.o.d, what was she supposed to do now? She put her arms around him and hugged him. She would have done the same for anyone who was upset. Of course, she probably wouldn't have breathed in the scent of anyone else. Even though he was sweaty, he smelled like heaven-no, he smelled like Ben and he felt as good as she remembered every night when she'd close her eyes.

They held each other for a moment until Ben took a deep breath and kissed her head. "I'm so glad you're here. I don't know what I would have done without you."

She looked away and slid to the side-anything to get some much needed distance. "You would have been fine without me." Okay, she lied. He really did seem to need her.

Ben shook his head. "No, I haven't been fine since you left. I've been a mess."

G.o.d, she couldn't handle this right now. "Come on. Drink up and let's get you something to eat. We'll deal with one disaster at a time."

Ben nodded and took her hand. "As long as we can talk about us later."

She was afraid to look at him, and fought the urge to run. She didn't know which was worse, being away from him or being with him and waiting for the next shoe to drop. "Okay. We'll talk after we know Gramps is out of the woods."

"Thanks." Ben bent his knees so he was eye to eye with her. "I just need one more thing."

Gina opened her mouth to ask what when he swooped in and kissed her, pulling her hard against him. She dropped her purse and pressed her hand against his chest, not that it made much of a difference. His beard brushed her chin as he nibbled her lips. The feel of his lips against hers, his arms holding her, and his heart racing beneath her hand had every nerve-ending standing at attention along with few other things. She stilled, trying not to melt against him, and failing miserably. Kissing him had become second nature. She drowned in him, took comfort, and lost herself for a moment. Now what? She'd just set herself up for another heartbreak.

When reality intervened, she ended the kiss and Ben stepped back. "G.o.d, Gina, I've missed you every second of every day we've been apart."

Gina closed her eyes; she didn't want to hear this. She wanted to stick her fingers in her ears and sing to herself like she used to when she was a kid to drown out something or someone. When she opened her eyes, Ben was staring at her. "Let's go get something to eat."

"I'll be fine with this." He held up the Gatorade.

"Oh no, you heard Mike. Besides, I don't want to answer to Kate if you pa.s.s out and end up needing your own hospital bed. You really do look like you could use a meal. It's going to be a long night."

He took her hand in his and plied their fingers. "I'll eat if you eat."

Gina shook her head. "That's blackmail."

Ben tugged her away from the wall and up against him. "Yeah, I know. I'm a desperate man."

Ben wasn't stupid. He wasn't about to say that she didn't look very good either. She was hiding it well, but she was as upset about Gramps as he was, she just handled the hospital thing better.

While they waited for the elevator, he drank the bottle of Gatorade.

Gina watched him with a smirk on her face. "Feeling better?"

He tossed the bottle in the trashcan between the elevator doors. "What are you talking about? I'm fine."

"You looked as if you were about to pa.s.s out next to Grandpa Joe's bed."

"What did you expect? I'd just run ten miles on an empty stomach. It wasn't my brightest move."

"No argument here." The elevator dinged.

He put his arm around her and stepped through the open doors. "I've done a lot of stupid things lately."

He cursed under his breath when Gina's phone rang giving her the perfect excuse to ignore him. "h.e.l.lo?" she nodded. "As far as I know it wasn't a heart attack. They took him to ICU for more tests." She looked at Ben. "Yeah, he got here about a half hour ago. We're just heading to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat."

The elevator stopped at their floor and they stepped out.

"Do you want to talk to him?" Ben stepped closer to take the phone and she shook her head. "Okay, I'll tell him." She looked away. "Good, what time will you be landing? Ah huh. You're flying into Kennedy? Okay, I'll have Carlos pick you up. You can just leave your things in the cab and he'll take them back to my place." She shook her head. "Don't be silly, I have plenty of room for everyone. I'll see you in a few hours. Yeah, I'll tell him." Gina disconnected the call.

"Kate didn't want to talk to me?"

"She said she loves you and she'll be here soon."

"She couldn't tell me that herself?"

"I guess not."

"There's a lot of that going around."

"What?"

"Women not willing to tell me they love me even when they do."

Gina swallowed hard, stuffed her hands into her jean pockets, and looked at the floor. "Kate sounds as if she's having a difficult time keeping it together. It's hard when you're so far away and someone you love is hurting."

Ben put his arm around her and kissed her temple. "Tell me about it." They walked into the near empty cafeteria and looked around. Ben checked the clock. "I guess 4:30 at the cafeteria isn't a busy time."

"Yeah, I hope it's not just because the food is bad."

They each grabbed a tray. Ben took the first sandwich he saw and groaned when Gina put a salad on his plate too. "I'm not hungry."

"Tough. You look as if you haven't eaten in a week."

She was right. He couldn't remember the last time he had really eaten anything of substance. "Fine. Is that enough?"

She shrugged and picked up a yogurt with granola and a salad. Ben didn't say anything about the way she looked. As long as she was eating, he wasn't going to complain.

When they got to the cash register, he reached for his wallet only to remember he was still wearing his running shorts.

Gina opened her purse. "I've got it."

Ben didn't have much choice so he stood back and let her pay. He took their trays to a table by the window while she got them coffee.

Ben watched her walk back to the table and held her chair. She rolled her eyes. "Would you just eat?"

He sat and pulled the wrapper off the sandwich. It didn't look appetizing-nothing did but Gina. He wanted to talk to her, but he wasn't sure what he could say that wasn't off-limits. "How's Jasmine?"

"She's good. She's getting bigger every day, and she's doing well with potty training." Gina stirred her yogurt and added granola.

Ben picked at his salad. "Good, she's a smart puppy."

Gina nodded and licked her spoon. Ben tore his eyes away from her mouth and looked back at the salad.

"When did Joe come out?"

He was tempted to say the same day she'd thrown him out of his own house, but thought better of it. "He was waiting for me when I got home from your place last week."

She nodded. "This is really awkward. Maybe it would be better if we just didn't talk."

Ben reached across the table and placed his hand on hers. "Or we could stop avoiding the big white elephant in the room and talk about us."

Gina's phone vibrated on the table and she ripped her hand from under his to reach for it. "Dr. Gla.s.s is ready to talk to us. Grab your food and let's go."

Ben stood. "Okay, but this conversation is not over."

Several hours later, Gina flipped through a three-month-old People Magazine People Magazine trying hard to ignore Ben sitting beside her. His big body practically took up the entire couch. Whenever she moved away, he moved closer until she was jammed against the arm. A lot of good trying to ignore him did. She noticed his every move. She checked her watch for the thousandth time knowing Kate and the family would be there any minute, and thanked G.o.d because she didn't know how much more of this togetherness she could stand. trying hard to ignore Ben sitting beside her. His big body practically took up the entire couch. Whenever she moved away, he moved closer until she was jammed against the arm. A lot of good trying to ignore him did. She noticed his every move. She checked her watch for the thousandth time knowing Kate and the family would be there any minute, and thanked G.o.d because she didn't know how much more of this togetherness she could stand.

Ben threw his arm around her shoulder and slid even closer. Soon he'd be on her lap. "People have angiograms every day. Gramps is strong, you heard Dr. Gla.s.s. Maybe they can do that balloon thing."

She looked up from the magazine she hadn't been reading. "Did you even look at Dr. Gla.s.s?"

Ben turned to face her. "Yeah, sure. Why?"

The man was clueless. "Dr. Gla.s.s and Mike both think Joe needs bypa.s.s surgery. It was written all over their faces."

"It was?"

Gina blew her bangs from her eyes, tossed the magazine on the next chair, and got up to pace. "Yes. They have to do an angiogram, and maybe they'll be pleasantly surprised and find an angioplasty will do the trick, but I wouldn't bet the ranch on it." As soon as she said the words, she winced. d.a.m.n it. When she turned to make another pa.s.s, Ben stood in her way.

"I know how strong Gramps is. Either way, he'll b.i.t.c.h and complain, but he'll come out of it fine. Maybe now Kate will get him to follow his diet."

She gave Ben a long look. "You sure look a lot more confident since you ate."

Ben shrugged. "You were right, it was low blood sugar."

"I'm right about a lot of things."

Gina turned to continue pacing and stopped when Annabelle floated into the waiting room. Any woman who could seemingly float while carrying a baby seat complete with baby, baby bag, and a duffel bag had to be a freak of nature-and Gina meant that with the utmost love and respect.

Gina liked Annabelle, but if Annabelle wasn't so nice, Gina would really have to hate her. Annabelle was everything Gina was not-tall, long-legged, and social. But even in Gina's unhappy state, she had to admit that Annabelle deserved all the happiness she and Mike had found. It hadn't come easy.

Mike returned to the waiting room carrying more coffee and shook his head at his wife. "What are you doing here?"

Annabelle gave Mike a kiss before setting the baby carrier on a chair. "I brought Ben his wallet, phone, and a change of clothes."

Ben gave Annabelle a brotherly hug. "Thanks, Belle. Is Becca at the gallery?"

"Of course." She twitched her nose and shoved a duffle bag at him. "You need to take a shower and change. Mike, why don't you show Ben where he can take a shower?"

Mike didn't look pleased to know Annabelle had been elbow deep in Ben's underwear drawer. It was obvious he still hadn't forgiven Ben for proposing to Annabelle. It didn't seem to matter that Annabelle had never said yes, or that Ben and Annabelle were nothing more than friends.

Oblivious to or possibly ignoring the tension, Annabelle unstrapped three-month-old Maria. G.o.d, she was cute with her Kewpie doll stand-up mahogany hair the same color as her mama's with the most amazing blue eyes, and dimples everywhere-on her cheeks, her knees, elbows, and chubby hands.

Gina tickled Maria's tummy. She wore a onesie that said, "If It's Drama You Want, Here I Am" with an embroidered jean skirt and little pink socks that matched her top. "Look at how pretty you are."

Annabelle plucked Maria out of her car seat. "Here. You don't mind holding Maria for a minute, do you, Gina?" She threw a burp rag over Gina's shoulder and handed her the squirming infant.

"I, um..." Maria was thrust into Gina's arms. She had no choice but to cradle the baby against her chest. Maria's chubby little hands grabbed the edge of Gina's blousy top giving the world a show. Gina rubbed her chin against Maria's stand-up baby-fine hair while disengaging her hand. She tried to pull her blouse down while balancing the baby between her arm and shoulder.

Annabelle smiled. "Maria, meet your Auntie Gina."