“There’s Pop Tarts.”

“I only like strawberry. Those are blueberry.”

“How about a granola bar?”

“Ew. Those are gross.”

“Okay. How about those little muffins? They look good,” I lied.

“Sure. I like chocolate chip muffins.” She smiled.

I reached inside my pocket and pulled out my wallet, taking out two one-dollar bills and putting them in the machine.

“Press the buttons for the muffins,” I told her.

She did and reached inside and grabbed them.

“How about a drink? There’s orange juice over here in this machine.”

“I want apple.”

“They don’t have apple. How about some cranberry juice?”

“Yuck.” She made a face at me and I smiled.

“Go sit down. I’ll track down some apple juice.”

I walked over to the nurses’ station. “Excuse me, but I need someone to go find me some apple juice for that little girl over there.”

“We have apple juice in the cafeteria,” one of the nurses spoke.

“Well, I can’t very well leave at the moment.” I reached in my pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. “Whoever goes and gets that little girl some apple juice can keep the change.”

The nurse named Samantha took the twenty from my hand. “I’ll go get some apple juice for you.”

“Thank you.” I smiled.

I took a seat next to Hope as she sat there and ate her muffins.

“Your apple juice is on its way.”

“Want one?” she asked as she held the mini muffin up to my face.

“Umm. No thanks.”

“Just try it. They’re good. I know you’ll like it.”

“No. No.” I waved my hand. “You eat them all.”

“Please, Mr. Sutton,” she whined. “Just taste it.”

I sighed as I took the muffin from her hand and put it in my mouth. God that was the worst thing I ever tasted. Hope watched me eat it.

“You like it, don’t you?” She giggled.

I nodded my head. “Yes,” I lied.

The nurse came back and handed Hope her bottle of apple juice. A few moments later, a man in blue scrubs came into the waiting room.

“For Lorelei Flynn?” He looked around.

“Yes.” I stood up.

“Lorelei has pneumonia, and a pretty serious case of it. We have stabilized her and we’re trying to get her fever down. She’s very weak and dehydrated. It’s a good thing you brought her in when you did. I’m going to admit her. She will be here the next few days.”

“May we see her? This is her daughter.”

“You can visit with her but only for a few minutes. She needs total rest.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

“Follow me. I’ll take you to her.”

Hope once again wrapped her hand around mine as we followed the doctor down the hall and to the room where Lorelei was. When we walked in, she opened her eyes and tried to smile when Hope ran up to her.

“You’re in a good place, Mommy. They’re going to make you all better.”

I stood in the doorway and stared at Lorelei lying in that hospital bed. My heart ached seeing her like that. Then I thought of something else. If she was being admitted to the hospital, who was going to look after Hope? Shit.

Walking over to Lorelei’s bed, I placed my hand on her arm.

“I want to go,” she whispered in a weak voice.

“You need to get better first.”

“Hope.”

“Don’t worry about Hope. I’m going to see that she’s taken care of while you’re here.”

Lorelei shook her head no at me. I was offended.

“I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to leave now. Our patient needs her rest,” the nurse spoke.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be okay,” Hope spoke as she laid her head on Lorelei’s arm. “Get better, Mommy.”

A tear ran down Lorelei’s cheek. I pulled a dollar from my pocket and handed it to the nurse. “Could you take Hope to the vending machine and buy her a candy bar?”

“Sure, thing.” She smiled.

When they walked out, I placed my hand on Lorelei’s head and leaned closer to her, wiping the tear from her cheek.

“I don’t want you to worry about anything. Hope is going to be well taken care of. I’ll see to that. You just focus on getting better. I need my personal assistant back in the office.” I smiled.

She slowly nodded her head and then closed her eyes. I pressed my lips against her forehead.

“We’ll be back to visit you as soon as they say we can.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Jack

I had Tony drive us back to Lorelei’s apartment. As soon as I unlocked the door, I told Hope to go and pack a bag.

“Where am I going?” she asked.

“You’re coming home with me for a few days since your grandparents and Stella are out of town.”

She went to her bedroom and I stood in the living room wondering if I had made the right decision. I had no choice, but I knew absolutely nothing about kids. I took in a deep breath. I couldn’t let Lorelei down. I cared about her and she needed my help regardless if she wanted it or not. I dialed Madeline.

“Hello.”

“Madeline, make sure the guest room is ready. We’re going to have a visitor for a few days.”

“Sure thing, Jack. I’ll see to it now.”

“Thank you. We’ll be arriving shortly.” Click.

“I’m all packed,” Hope said as she emerged from her room holding her pink bag and a rag doll.

I grabbed her bag and we went down to the limo. As we were on our way to my penthouse, I looked at Hope’s doll.

“What’s her name?” I asked.

“Luna. I’ve had her since I was a baby. My mommy said it was a gift from my daddy and that he’ll always be with me.”

“She’s a special doll.” I smiled and she hugged her.

When we arrived at the penthouse, Hope’s eye widened as soon as we stepped off the elevator. Madeline walked into the foyer and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Hope.

“Hope, this is my maid, Madeline. Madeline, this is our house guest, Hope. She’s Lorelei’s daughter.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Hope.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” She giggled.

“Why don’t you show Hope to her room?”

They walked up the stairs and I poured myself a drink. Hope would be okay here with Madeline. She knew a thing or two about kids, so she’d be the perfect babysitter for her. As I walked into the kitchen, Madeline followed me in.

“She’s adorable. But I’m really confused, Jack.”

“Lorelei is in the hospital with pneumonia. She’ll be there for a few days, so I need you to look after Hope for me.”

“Umm. Have you forgotten that I’m leaving tomorrow morning to go visit my sister in New Orleans? I’ve had this vacation planned for two months, Jack.”

“For fuck sake. I did forget. Can’t you change it? Please, Madeline. I need you.”

“Sorry, but no. You know she’s not doing well. We talked about this and you said it was okay for me to go.”

“What the hell is with everyone not feeling well? I’m sorry, Madeline. You’re right. You go visit your sister. I’ll call Coco to help out.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure she’ll be any better than you. Listen, Jack, it’s instincts. You can do this. It’s not like she’s a baby. Hell, that little girl could probably take better care of you.”

“Very funny. Could you at least look after her while I go into the office for a couple of hours?”

“Of course.” She smiled.

Hope came into the kitchen and I knelt down in front of her.

“I have to go to work for a while, but Madeline is going to look after you.”

“Okay. Will you be back later?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

Just as I was about to walk out of the kitchen, Hope called my name.

“Mr. Sutton?”

“Yes.” I turned and looked at her.

“I don’t think you’re mean at all.”

I gave her a small smile and left for the office.

****

I walked into Coco’s office and shut the door.

“Hey, how’s Lorelei?” she asked with concern.

“She has pneumonia. She’s going to be in the hospital for a few days.”

“She’s going to be okay, right?”

“Yeah. They’re taking good care of her. Listen, I need to talk to you about Bradley.”