is wrong.”
“It is strange that he hasn’t phoned to say he’s running late,” Patty said. “You know, if he had a flat tire or something. He’s devoted to Sarah Ann and… You’re right. Something is wrong, but I don’t have a clue as to what it is.” She paused. “Well, I’ll just sit here, relax and wait. Susan, go.”
Susan glanced at her watch, cringed, then hurried toward the doors, disappearing from view moments later.
Patty shifted in the rocker to see that Tucker and Sarah Ann were still engrossed in their building project, then stared at the Mickey Mouse clock on the wall.
Something was definitely wrong, she thought, frowning. It was evident to everyone who worked there that David Montgomery’s world centered on his daughter. For him to be late picking her up without a telephone call to explain his tardiness was totally out of character for him.
Dear heaven, it was nearly six-thirty. Where was David? What had happened to him? What should she do?
David, please walk through that door. Now. Right now.
But David Montgomery did not appear and the clock kept ticking.
“Mommy,” Tucker whined at six-forty-five. “I’m hungry.”
“I know, sweetie,” Patty said, getting to her feet. “Why don’t you and Sarah Ann sit at one of the little tables and I’ll get you some juice and crackers.”
“My daddy?” Sarah Ann said, her bottom lip trembling. “I want my daddy.”
“He’ll be here, honey,” Patty said. “Your daddy is just a bit late, that’s all. Don’t cry, Sarah Ann. Your daddy will come in a wink and a blink.”
Now, David, she thought, staring at the doors again. Forget the wink and blink and walk through that door.
When Tucker and Sarah Ann were happily consuming their snack, Patty went into Marjorie’s office and sank onto the chair behind the desk. The walls were clear glass and she could see the two children from where she sat. Sophia slept peacefully in her carrier on a loveseat set against the wall.
Think, Patty told herself. Calm down and think. Okay. David had gotten a sudden case of the flu, was running a temperature and had fallen asleep at home because he was burning up with fever.
She went to the filing cabinet in the corner and found the application David had filled out when enrolling Sarah Ann at the center. Moments later she punched in the number listed and the telephone rang on the other end. And rang and rang and rang. There was no other information on the form. No place of employment, no one to contact in an emergency. Nothing.
She replaced the receiver, sat down again and pressed her fingertips to her now-throbbing temples.
So much for that brilliant deduction, she thought. Now what? Hospitals. Oh, as grim as the idea was, maybe David had been in an accident and… Well, she’d start with the hospital she knew best. Mercy. Where Tucker and Sophia had been born.
The telephone book produced the number and Patty ignored her shaking hand as she pushed the buttons on the telephone. It was answered halfway through the second ring.
“Mercy Hospital. How may I direct your call?”
“I…um… I guess I should speak with someone in the emergency room, please,” Patty said.
“One moment, please.”
Two seconds of music played, then a new voice came on the line.
“Emergency.”
“Yes,” Patty said, wishing her voice was steadier. “I’m inquiring as to whether a David Montgomery has been brought into the emergency room there at Mercy Hospital.”
“Are you a member of his immediate family?”
“Oh, well, I…” Patty said, her mind racing. “Yes. Yes, I am. I’m… I’m his wife. I’m out of town, you see, and phoned the house and David wasn’t there, and I’m so worried and…”
“Let me check, Mrs. Montgomery.”
More music echoed in Patty’s ear and she drew a shuddering breath.
“Mrs. Montgomery?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry to tell you this, ma’am, but your husband has been in an automobile accident and was brought here to Mercy. We tried to contact next of kin and finally found your home number through the operator as a new listing, but no one answered the phone.”
“I’m not there. I mean, I’m out of town as I said. Please tell me how David is.”
“Mr. Montgomery is in surgery at the moment to set a broken leg.”
“Oh, God,” Patty whispered.
“He also sustained a blow to the head, has a concussion and we’ll be monitoring him closely through the night for that. I know you want to get here as quickly as possible but please travel safely. We’ll be waking him through the night because of his head injury but we fully expect him to be groggy. He really wouldn’t know you are here.”
“I understand,” Patty said. “Thank you. Thank you very much for your time. Goodbye.”
Patty dropped the receiver back into place and pressed her hands to her cheeks, feeling how cold her palms were against her flushed skin.
Go back to thinking, she ordered herself. What to do, what to do. Think. Okay. She was calming down. Gathering the facts. David was battered but alive. Mercy Hospital was the best in Ventura. But any wife worth the title would drive above the speed limit to sit by his side, whether he knew she was there or not.
But she wasn’t David’s wife, and when she’d been Peter’s wife she hadn’t been worthy of the title, so…so she was going to operate in the role she did best. Mother. David was receiving the best of care and she would see to it that his daughter did the same.
Patty left the office and went to the table where the children were sitting.
“I have a wonderful surprise for you two,” she said, forcing a bright smile onto her face. “Sarah Ann is coming home with us, Tucker, and spending the night. Isn’t that fun, Sarah Ann?”
“I want my daddy,” the little girl said.
“Your daddy had a very important place he had to go tonight, honey,” Patty said, “and you’re going to have a wonderful time at our house. Tucker has toys to share with you and we’ll eat dinner together and… Okay? Sure. Now let’s get your snack stuff in the trash and off we go.”
“This is great, Sarah Ann,” Tucker said. “We’ll have a play date and a sleepover. ’Kay?”
Sarah Ann nodded slowly. “’Kay.”
Bless you, Tucker, Patty thought. And David? Hear me, please, somehow, somehow, hear me. Don’t worry about Sarah Ann because I’ll tend to her as though she were my own. I swear I will. Just be all right, David. Please, please,
