The Billionaire's Christmas Wish Read online

  “A carol service? As in Christmas carols?” A tense note entered her voice, but she wasn’t sure how to get rid of it.

  “You’ve never heard of Carols from King’s?”

  “Yes, but I thought that was pre-recorded earlier in the month.”

  He nodded. “The actual program is, but the college also holds a carol service on Christmas Eve at three o’clock.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not much of a Christmas person, for the reasons I explained earlier. I tolerate the season, but would rather not attend anything dedicated to it.”

  “It’s a church service. Santa Claus doesn’t even make an appearance.” He took her palm and placed the ticket in it. “It’s extra. I have my own ticket. So keep it in case you change your mind.”

  Her fingers closed around it, trying to ignore the warmth from his body that permeated the piece of card. “You won’t be offended if I decide not to go? Maybe someone else can use the ticket.”

  “No, I normally go by myself. The extra ticket has gone to waste for the last four years.”

  Because he’d taken his wife before that? That made her heart ache, and she couldn’t bring herself to refuse to keep it. How many of those extra tickets had he tossed in the garbage?

  “Thank you.” She took out her notebook and slid the ticket inside it before replacing it in her pocket.

  Just then the elevator doors opened and Marco Ricci emerged. He started to turn left then stopped and glanced their way. He gave a half-wave. “I was just getting ready to head to your office,” he called to Theo.

  “Is the surgery docket full again?”

  “What?” Then, as if he realized what Theo was asking, he headed over toward them, reaching out to shake his hand. “No, today we have it all under control.”

  He glanced at Madison. “By the way, I heard you lent a hand in the surgical suite the other day. Thank you.”

  “I did more observing than anything, but you’re welcome.”

  He smiled again. “Actually, it’s good that you’re both here. Alice and I are planning a private little soirée on Saturday evening.” He cleared his throat. “Actually, we’re getting married. We’re going for a big celebration in Italy later, but neither one of us wants to wait. And...we need two witnesses. We would be honored if you would do that for us, if you can. You’ve come to mean a lot to Alice in the time you’ve been here, Madison, so she really wants you to be there. She was going to come and ask you directly, but she’s been swamped with work and with plans for the baby.”

  Alice was pregnant and positively glowing with health and happiness.

  Looking at Theo, she suddenly didn’t care if he agreed to do it or not. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was Alice and Marco. “I’d love to. What time?”

  “Six in the evening. Will that do?”

  “Yes. Absolutely.”

  Marco stuffed his hands in his pockets. “And you, Theo. Are you game?”

  “I would be honored. Just let me know where.”

  “It’ll be at Hotel Cambridge du Monde.”

  Theo gave a quiet whistle. “Flying high nowadays, are we?”

  “In more ways than one.” He clapped Theo on the shoulder. “I can hardly believe my good fortune. Alice and our baby. What more could a man want?”

  “What more indeed.” There was a wistfulness to Theo’s voice that made sharp tears prick behind Madison’s eyelids. Was he thinking about his late wife and all he’d lost?

  “It’s going to be a very small ceremony, but Alice wants her colors to be green or red, since she’ll have red roses and green ivy in her bouquet. So, if you can scrounge up one of those two colors, that would be great. If not, just come as you are.”

  Madison racked her brain, but she hadn’t brought a dress at all, much less a green or red one. Which meant she’d have to go out and buy something in town. Instead of spending a whole day with Theo, and feeling like she needed to go to that carol service with him, maybe they could just roll the wedding and a quick shopping trip into one joint venture. Hopefully that was one of his half-days off.

  It would help keep her mind focused on a task rather than the man she was with. The timing was perfect. And Theo would know the town much better than she did. “Is it formal?”

  “Not black-tie formal, but we’re doing dresses and suits.”

  So not long dresses but something short. And a fascinator? Did they wear those to less formal events? She would wait and ask Alice the next time she saw her. Or Naomi. Wow, she just realized that people were falling in love and getting married all around her. She was on the outside, looking in.

  Just like always.

  The way she liked it.

  “I’m really happy for you both,” she said. She hadn’t gotten up from her seat like Theo had because her legs were currently shaky and she felt a little out of sorts after everything that had happened.

  “Thanks, we’re quite over the moon ourselves.” Marco glanced at the elevator, which had long since traveled to some other floor. “Well, I’ve got a surgery to scrub for. I just wanted to come up and ask you in person rather than ring you. Alice will be thrilled you’ve both agreed to come. If you have any questions, call her. She’s the boss.”

  They said their goodbyes and then Marco was gone, off to his next stop in a full and happy life.

  “I have nothing to wear to a wedding. Any chance we can skip Thursday and shop for something before the ceremony? I can just change at the hotel before that. Unless you can’t get the time off.”

  “It won’t be a problem. I’ll get a tie to match your dress while we’re at it. It wouldn’t do to have Alice be cross with me. Because that would make Marco cross and probably everyone else at the venue.”

  So much for them each going their separate ways in town. It seemed that they were stuck shopping together. But since they had a destination afterwards, their day would be pretty much programmed down to the last second. Which left no time for anything else to happen.

  Like kissing.

  Or worse.

  Because when they’d been kissing, she’d definitely wanted it to lead to something worse. Thank God they’d come to their senses before Marco had come up here. Because that would have been a disaster in the making.

  And with Ivy’s life hanging in the balance, that was something neither she nor Theo could afford.

  * * *

  Thursday evening, Theo had gathered his and Hope’s medical records and spread them out on his desk for Maddy to see. She pored over them page by page, her green eyes slowly perusing charts and tests, down to the smallest details such as blood types. “Your mom had diabetes. No sign of anything in you, though.”

  “No. She had type one. I don’t.”

  And diabetes certainly wouldn’t be behind whatever was happening with Ivy. It was a lost cause. She’d already been through Hope’s records and found nothing. No hint of a genetic anomaly, although it still couldn’t be ruled out. Theo could have told her that, but he understood why Maddy wanted to see it for herself. No muscle-wasting diseases in either of their family histories that they knew of. And definitely no Huntington’s disease.

  Having Hope’s records on his desk hurt, but not in the sharp, unfathomable way it once had. It was more of a wistful longing for his daughter to have known her mother. He’d loved Hope, there was no doubt about it. But she was gone. It had taken him a long time to accept the fact that she wasn’t going to walk into the room one day and wrap her arms around his neck the way she once had.

  Was he okay with that?

  He’d accepted it, if that counted. He would always carry a part of her with him. Ivy was the greatest gift she could have given him. And he would always be grateful for what they’d had. His biggest regret was not having been a better husband to her. He had the same regret with his daughter, although he had learned his lesson and ma
de a conscious effort to spend more time with Ivy. Not as much as he’d like, but her illness had been a wake-up call to focus on the truly important things in life.

  With fewer distractions.

  Like the beautiful distraction sitting on the other side of the desk?

  Yes, he had been distracted ever since she’d set foot in his hospital. That seemed to be growing worse by the day. He was hoping that going shopping together would fix the shock of awareness that happened every time he ran across her in unexpected places. Like sleeping in his daughter’s room.

  Which reminded him. “Are you spending the night in Ivy’s room?

  She blinked, her teeth coming down on her lip. “Not every night, no. Sometimes if I’m working on a case late at night, I stop in to check on her, and I’m too tired to go home. I end up falling asleep in the chair next to her bed.”

  He knew. He’d come into Ivy’s room and caught her curled in a ball in that chair beside his daughter’s bed, her hair flowing down the dark fabric. As hard as he’d tried not to stand there and watch the pair of them, he’d been held in the grip of some strange emotion. It was like seeing Hope and Ivy together again. Only Madison didn’t look like his wife. She wasn’t Ivy’s mother.

  And right now she sounded a little defensive. He hadn’t meant it as an accusation. Time to put her mind at ease, even if he couldn’t do the same for his own.

  “I wasn’t criticizing. I’ve just been sleeping on the pull-out couch in the next room and have tried not to wake either of you. That chair can’t be comfortable. I was just going to offer the couch in my office on the nights you work late.”

  “I had no idea you were going in and sleeping there—I’m sorry for intruding.”

  “You weren’t. I’m normally out of there early in the morning. But I didn’t want you to think she was alone at night, if that was part of the reason you were staying there.”

  “I know. And she has nurses check in on her regularly. It’s just quieter there than in the staff lounge, and the chairs in the rooms aren’t that uncomfortable.”

  “For sleeping? Yes, they are. Just stretch out on the couch in my office. It is quiet, and I promise I won’t disturb you.” He grinned. “You can hang a sign on the door if you want.”

  “Thank you. I may take you up on it. There are days I could fall asleep anywhere.”

  “Please do. Like I said, since we moved Ivy into the room, I’ve been sleeping on the couch in there, so the office is unoccupied at night.”

  And seeing her dozing in that chair, looking so soft and vulnerable, also did a number on him. Maybe the subtle hint would move her out of reach. Or at least out of his sight. Several times he’d been tempted to offer the guest couch in the adjoining room. But Ivy was his daughter, and his place was there with her, not in his office.

  “Thank you again. That sounds like a great idea.” She turned her head to the right. “And maybe I can get rid of this crick in my neck.”

  A quick stab of guilt went through him, even though he knew she hadn’t meant it that way.

  “I’m sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be. It was my choice to sleep there.” She straightened a row of papers on his desk. “I, um, didn’t realize you’d been coming in at night. The couch is never unfolded in the morning. I hope I wasn’t snoring or anything when you walked by.”

  “I try to fold everything back up before I leave. As for snoring, you hardly make a peep. Just a tiny snuffle every once in a while.”

  Which he found adorable and charming.

  “A snuffle? Ugh. Don’t tell me that.” She paused. “You must not sleep for eight hours at a shot, or I would have seen you at some point.”

  “No, I rarely do. My body doesn’t need more than six hours at any given time.”

  Plus the fact that he hadn’t wanted to come face to face with Madison in the morning with sleepy eyes and mussed hair. So he set his watch for a time he knew she’d be still asleep. Another reason to offer her the couch in his office. Those restless nights were beginning to tell on him.

  As if on cue, she yawned. He glanced at his watch and saw it was almost ten o’clock. “Why don’t we call it a night? We can leave everything here, if you still need to look at them some more.

  “I think I’ve seen everything I need to see.” She hesitated again and then started gathering pages together into stacks. “Are you sleeping in Ivy’s room tonight?”

  “I am. I was just waiting to finish up here. So why don’t you take my couch, like we talked about?” He helped her finish straightening and showed her into the adjoining sitting room, which had the same cozy furniture as the rest of the hospital. “There are sheets and blankets and a pillow in the closet. Are you on call in the morning?”

  “Yes. At six.”

  Which made him feel bad about keeping her up so late, even though this had been her idea. “It’s settled, then.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Absolutely.” It was the best solution for everyone. He could sleep in peace knowing she was comfortable. And he wouldn’t be kept awake thinking about her being in the next room, with that quiet snuffling to remind him of that fact every couple of minutes. Although he would miss knowing she was close by. More than he cared to admit.

  “Okay, then, I appreciate it.”

  “You can just close the door to the suite and have complete privacy. There’s a bathroom with a shower in there as well.” Theo stacked the two medical folders on the corner of his desk. “I’ll return these tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good.” She suppressed yet another yawn, and he decided that was his cue to leave. “You can text or call me if you need anything or if you have a question.”

  With that he gathered his keys and wallet and headed for the door. “See you sometime tomorrow.”

  “Thank you again.”

  * * *

  She waited until he had shut the door before stretching her aching muscles. Leaning over that desk, even from a seated position, had caused her shoulders and neck to cramp. But, more than that, she was frustrated that she hadn’t found the answers she’d been looking for. No hint or clue as to what could be behind Ivy’s condition. Swiveling her torso from side to side in an effort to loosen things up, she prowled around Theo’s office, peering curiously at various medical degrees and awards he’d earned over the years—things she hadn’t noticed since she hadn’t been in his office very many times.

  Moving to get a closer look at a commendation letter on the wall about Hope Hospital, a frame on his desk caught her attention. When she’d been studying their medical charts the frame’s back had been to her, so she hadn’t known what was in it. She’d assumed it was a snapshot of Ivy. It wasn’t. Theo and a woman with a baby were in it. Theo was younger than the man she knew now, and there was no evidence of the frown lines he wore today. She picked up the picture to study it. The woman’s peaches-and-cream complexion glowed with happiness as she cradled a baby. It had to be Ivy and her mother. The woman was beautiful, her long blonde hair shimmering with life and health.

  She glanced at the wall again, something she’d seen earlier kicking to the forefront of her mind. There. Frame in hand, she moved past the far side of his desk toward the corner of the room. Hope Elizabeth Mueller was listed as having earned her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees—the equivalent of medical doctor degrees in the States. That had to be Ivy’s mom. So she’d graduated from medical school before she and Theo married. And he’d named the hospital after her. She held the picture up and looked at it and the medical certificate together, trying to picture what Theo’s and her life must have been like together.

  Happy. That’s what it had been.

  How could anyone get over the once-in-a-lifetime love they must have shared?

  A sudden sound behind her caused her fingers to open. The picture crashed to the floor with a sickening
sound of broken glass.

  She whirled around, already knowing she’d been caught red-handed, her snooping ending in catastrophe.

  Theo stood in the doorway, his head cocked to the side as his gaze went to the desk and then to her. Then he frowned.

  “Oh, God, Theo. I am so sorry. I saw the picture and was just looking at it and—”

  “It’s okay, Maddy. It was bound to break at some point.”

  Madison swallowed. What was bound to break? The frame? Or his heart?

  “I had no business looking through your things.” She squatted down to hurriedly gather broken pieces of glass, shuddering when she saw a white line down the photo where a shard had slid along the smooth surface. A hard knot formed in her stomach. What had she been thinking?

  That she wouldn’t have minded being the woman in the idyllic photo standing next to Theo, their baby cradled between them?

  No, she hadn’t been thinking that at all.

  Theo moved to the other side of the desk to help her. “Don’t worry about it.” He glanced at the picture and carefully picked up some of the larger bits of glass.

  She held out the photo. “Do you still have the file, so I can replace this?”

  “I do somewhere, but I’ll take care of it.” He dumped a pile of glass on top of his desk and then turned the frame around to get the back off it.

  He slid the picture free and shook it to remove any debris. There was writing on the other side of it. “To my love. A reminder to always come home to us at the end of the day.”

  She gulped, her vision blurring. It took several blinks to clear it. When she did, she realized Theo had spotted the words as well, a muscle in his jaw working as he stared at them. Then he turned it over and placed it flat on his desk. “I came in to get my shaving kit. Sorry. I thought you’d already gone to bed.”

  Obviously, she’d been rummaging through his things instead. No, she hadn’t. The picture had simply caught her eye. He wouldn’t have offered to let her use his office if he was embarrassed or ashamed of anything in here. Or if he didn’t want her to see this picture.