What would Kate have done?
But why even wonder? Something told Allison that Kate had never faced this kind of choice.
Needing a distraction, she finished her coffee, picked up the magazine she’d abandoned earlier, and leafed through the pages. But the slick ads and celebrity faces blurred in her vision. It was as if someone had pulled the plug, draining every drop of energy and emotion from her body.
What if Burke was being overly cautious? What if Garrett was right, and the Edgeway Group was offering a legitimate bailout of the theater?
That was the last thought that filtered through her weary mind before her head drooped, and she fell into a doze.
* * *
“Hi, Daddy!” Brianna’s cheerful voice shattered the silence in the room. Allison woke with a jerk that was like being dropped off a twenty-foot ladder. Burke was awake, too, stirring in the bed. A glance at the monitors showed that his vitals were still good.
He gave his daughter a smile. “Hello, sweetheart. How was lunch?”
“Scrumptious. You know how much I love the Chateau.”
“Did Garrett come back into the hospital with you, Brianna?” she asked.
“No, he let me off at the main entrance. He said he had a meeting with the investo
rs.” She looked as if she’d been about to say more, then thought better of it.
Allison saw Burke frown. She knew he was worried about Garrett’s influence on his impressionable daughter.
Brianna danced around the foot of his bed, to the far side. “Garrett suggested a way I might be able to help you. Since I’m your daughter and over eighteen, you could give me power of attorney, to act in your behalf. That way I could help with your business while you rest and get better? Do you think that’s a good idea?”
Burke’s face was a thundercloud. “If I gave anybody power of attorney, it would be Allison. But I have no intention of doing that. My mind is sound, and I can make my own decisions. If Garrett asks you, you can pass on what I said.”
“All right. I told Garrett you’d probably say no, but he wanted me to ask anyway. So I guess that’s the answer.”
Allison said nothing. She was surprised and flattered that Burke would consider giving her legal power, but he wasn’t helping the situation by pitting his daughter against his wife.
The rising tension in the room eased slightly when a nurse bustled in. “I have orders to help you to the bathroom, Mr. Caldwell,” she said. “Then the physical therapist is coming to get you walking up and down the hall. After that, it’ll be time for a late lunch. Do you want to take it in a chair?”
“Fine.” Burke raised the upper part of the bed so the nurse could help him get up. Pausing, he scowled at his wife and daughter. “I don’t need an audience for this, or for walking down the hall with my damned gown flapping open behind me,” he said. “You two, go get a snack or something. You can come back in about twenty minutes. I should be eating by then.”
Allison didn’t need to be told twice. “Come on, Brianna,” she said. “The cafeteria’s down the hall. I know you just had lunch, but you might want some dessert or a Coke.”
“Whatever.” Brianna shrugged and followed her out of the room. Allison had never felt comfortable with her stepdaughter. In the past, the fact that Brianna was at school most of the time had made things easier. But now that this crisis had thrown them together, they had a common concern—Burke’s recovery. Maybe now they could bury the hatchet. At least it was worth a try.
In the cafeteria, they went through the line. Allison, who hadn’t had anything but coffee all day, ordered a cranberry chicken salad with a wheat roll. Brianna went for a hot fudge sundae. Like Burke, she seemed able to eat anything without gaining an ounce.
Allison paid for their food, then chose a table near the window. “So how is school going, Brianna?” she asked, making small talk.
Brianna gave her a sour look. “Do we have to have a conversation?” she asked.
“I guess not.” Allison poured dressing on her salad and buttered her roll. She’d tried, but if Burke’s daughter wanted to shut her out, there wasn’t much she could do.
Brianna played with her sundae, stirring the hot fudge into the melting ice cream and taking occasional bites, licking the chocolate off the plastic spoon like a child. At last she spoke. “Do you think my dad is going to die?”
Given the past, it wasn’t a surprising question. “Not from this,” Allison said. “He’s a tough man, and his injuries aren’t life-threatening. But it’s going to take time and rest for him to heal. And in the meantime, the less stress he has to deal with, the sooner he’ll recover. For you, that means not making demands on him or trying to force him where he doesn’t want to go. And don’t let Garrett use you to push his agenda. There are good reasons your father doesn’t want to sign that contract.”
Had she said too much? Allison studied her stepdaughter across the table. In Brianna’s defiant gaze, which was so like her father’s, she could see the girl’s defenses springing up.
“I would never let Garrett use me,” Brianna said. “I’m smarter than that. He’s a good friend, that’s all. Anyway, I have a boyfriend back in Evanston—oh!” Her fingers flew to her lips, as if she knew she’d revealed too much. “Please don’t tell my dad. He doesn’t need to know, and I don’t want him to know. Not yet.”
“All right, I can keep a secret for now,” Allison said. “But don’t put too much trust in Garrett. He’s a charming, sophisticated man who knows how to manipulate people and get what he wants.”