Food’s PR director and Gina’s cousin. Undoubtedly, Josh had been pressed into service as next of kin, since no one had known where Gina was. “Right now, we need somebody to hold down the fort. I think that should be you.”
“Actually, Ethan,” Gerrick said, glancing at Gina who was dabbing her eyes with a white tissue. “I think I should go with Gina to the hospital.” He noticed the ring he had given her was conveniently hidden by her paper hanky and though that struck him as coincidentally lucky, he didn’t question it.
Only now realizing they had been away together for the weekend, Ethan looked from one to the other then said, “Oh.” He faced Gina again. “The second seat is booked in my name. Gerrick might not have time to get it changed and make the flight. We’re late as it is.”
“Then let’s go,” Gina said, urgency evident in her voice. “Gerrick, you’re going to have to come up on a later flight.”
“And I’ll return home and hold the fort,” Ethan said as he began to drive away.
Gerrick felt as if a truck had hit him. He had been employed by Hilton Martin his entire career. In some ways he loved Hilton like a father. That might even have been part of the reason he had been so casual about getting involved with Gina. But he also loved Gina. And he wanted to be with her. As her husband he should be the one with her. But Gina very clearly didn’t want him. Or didn’t care…
He was worried about Hilton. Fearful for Gina. Upset for himself. And insulted. But he ignored the stab of offense recognizing that Gina’s first impulse was to get rid of him, not lean on him, because being offended had no place in a situation where a man’s life hung in the balance.
Unfortunately, that still left him with intense worry, fear over Gina’s pain and his own upset about Hilton. He didn’t know which emotion to deal with first. So he got into his car and pulled out his cell phone to make reservations on the next available flight to Pittsburgh. Then he phoned Hilton’s secretary to get directions to the hospital where Hilton was being treated. As he expected, Joanna had the information he needed.
Gerrick went home, packed a small suitcase, and drove back to the airport. Though his concern for Hilton was overwhelming, he couldn’t help but remember the things he and Gina had done in this airport less than two hours ago. He saw the place where they had kissed. He saw the gate at which they had arrived laughing, full of happiness and hope. But when he walked down the tunnel to enter the plane, he also remembered that she had been having serious second thoughts during their flight home. It had taken hours to get her accustomed to the fact that they were married. And in seconds, in one announcement, they were back to square one.
He knew there was a very good possibility he would lose her tonight, if he didn’t get to Johnstown, Pennsylvania before she completely changed her mind, succumbed to grief and fear and decided their marriage had been a mistake.
Chapter Two
Gina didn’t know who the woman in Vegas had been, but she did know it wasn’t her. She was Gina Martin, daughter of Hilton Cooper Martin. She was destined to become CEO and chairman of the board of her family’s grocery store conglomerate because she was the only child of the widower who had started the company and owned controlling interest in the stock. She didn’t gamble. She didn’t wear red bras and red lace thongs. She didn’t marry a man on a whim, no matter how gorgeous. And her relatively young, very strong father did not have heart attacks.
As far as she was concerned, the entire universe had gone awry over the weekend and now she had to fix it.
Getting off the bone-jarring commuter flight she had taken to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Gina slipped her three-karat diamond wedding ring into her trouser pocket, glad she had bought this pantsuit while shopping in Vegas. She not only had warm slacks and a blazer, but also a blouse. It wasn’t much protection against the freezing temperatures of February in the Appalachian Mountains, but she was dressed warmer than Ethan was.
“The hospital is a short drive from here,” Ethan said as they entered the rental car he had acquired at the one-man counter in the nothing-but-the-basics terminal. Wearing jeans and a T-shirt, dark-haired, dark-eyed Ethan looked like a man who had been unexpectedly yanked from enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon with his wife and new son. He didn’t even have a jacket. But worry about her father seemed to take precedence, because he made no comment about how cold it was. He simply started the car and turned on the heater.
“I got directions from the pilot.”
Gina grimaced. “Small cities are awfully casual.”
“But convenient.” It was already close to eight, and it was dark. Ethan flicked on the headlights. “You probably couldn’t get directions this good from anybody in Atlanta.”
As if taking off her wedding ring had magically transformed her, Gina stopped agonizing over her foolish weekend. She knew she couldn’t dwell on how stupid she had been or even how sick her father was. She had to get her mind in gear to make sure their company didn’t fall apart in her dad’s absence.
“So when Gerrick gets here you’ll be going back?” she asked Ethan as he drove down a nearly empty four-lane highway.
“Yes, I think one of us has to be there.”
She sighed. “No offense, Ethan, but you’re in the Legal Department. You’re not really up on the day-today business dealings.”
“Then Josh Anderson’s not a good choice to go home either, because he’s our PR man,” Ethan said, referring to Gina’s cousin, the third person of the trio of Josh, Ethan and Gina, who were slated to take over the company when her father retired. Though Gina would be CEO and chairman of the board, it was already common knowledge that Josh would head Operations and Ethan would continue to lead the Legal Department. Because Hilton Martin was only in his fifties, and no one knew what role Gerrick would have played had he not left the company, her father had not begun transferring responsibilities or even training them for their future roles. Though Ethan could completely handle his own area of expertise, none of them could step into Hilton’s shoes.
Particularly not Gina. It was her father’s idea to put her in Human Resources so she could get to know all the employees and become familiar with their strengths and weaknesses. After that, she assumed he would begin showing her the ins and outs of the business in general. She even guessed that eventually she would move into an office by her dad, serve as his assistant and ultimately get the reins. But as of this time, all she had done was manage the employees.
“He might understand the stores,” Ethan continued still talking about Josh. “But I don’t think he can run them.”
“So what we’re saying is Gerrick needs to go home.”
“He is vice president of Operations.” Ethan sighed. “It’s too bad we can’t call him and tell him not to come up at all.”
“He has to come up.”
“Oh?” Ethan said, stealing a peek at her.
“Don’t make a bigger deal out of this than it is,” she said. Her business tone of voice came back so quickly and naturally that Gina was shocked she could have forgotten who she was for a second let alone an entire weekend.
Neither Gina nor Ethan said anything for the rest of the trip. He dropped her off at the sliding door entrance of the hospital, then drove away to find parking.
