Yours Seductively

Chapter 11.2

   Wednesday morning started out badly enough for Tyler, but it had turned into a nightmare when his father collapsed in his office. They had been talking as they always about their cases, and there had been no indication that anything was wrong until Colton started to rise. And then he grabbed his chest, groaned and folded to the floor, his face as white as his snowy shirt.

   Tyler practically leaped over the desk in his desperation to get to his father. "Dad? Dad!"

   Still conscious, Colton moaned and tried to speak but he wasn't able to form the words.

   In panic, Tyler and Maria had called for an ambulance and then had sat in silent prayer until it arrived. Tyler wasn't sure he could handle losing his father now. He wasn't ready for this, he thought sickly. Not by a long shot.

Jane heard the new about Colton Hamilton the way one usually heard things in Honoria—through the grapevine. Her friend Sandy called her Wednesday evening. "I wasn't sure you would be home," she said. "I thought you might be with Tyler."

   Having spent the day painting and fretting about why Tyler hadn't called, Jane frowned. "No. He and I usually go out on Friday evenings."

   "I didn't think you were on a date, obviously," Sandy chided. "Now with his father in the hospital."

   "In the hospital?" Jane repeated weakly.

   "You didn't—surely you've heard that Colton collapsed at work this morning? Word is that he had a heart attack."

   "No. I hadn't heard." The admission was painful to make. She couldn't imagine why Tyler hadn't called her. Wouldn't he have known she'd want to be there with him? "Is he—is Mr. Hamilton—" she couldn't get the words out.

   "I've heard he's going to be fine," sandy reassured her quickly. "If it was a heart attack, apparently it was a mild one. Everyone's talking about it, and they all seem confident that he's going to pull through."

   "What a relief. He's such a good man. His family would be devastated to lose him." Tyler would be devastated, she added silently.

   'Why hadn't he called?'

   "Thanks for letting me know, Sandy," she added when the silence at the other end of the line stretched too long.

   "Sure. I just assumed you already—well, anyway, everything's going to be okay, so there's no reason to worry about it."

   Sandy, of course, had assumed Jane would know that her lover's father was in the hospital. It was a reasonable assumption. Jane found the fact that Tyler hadn't let her know very difficult to understand, herself.

   He hurt her before, but cutting her out this time was too much. It was time she found out once and for all just was Tyler wanted from her. And then she would have to decide if what he wanted was enough.