Did he say what was wrong?
Montgomery? Of course not.
She knew the woman was worried. Monty had joked about Agnes and her concern for him, but deep down, she knew he appreciated it. Cindy glanced once more at his empty office, as if she needed the reminder, then turned around. Can I use a phone?
Agness gaze wandered through the room, then settled on Montys office. You might as well use Montgomerys phone. Hes usually very particular about his office, but I think for you hed make an exception.
She dialed Montys number but only got his answering machine. When he didnt answer after she called out to him to pick it up, she phoned Robert. While she waited for him to answer, she studied Montys office. Every paper and accessory sat in perfectly straight order. The only thing that might have been considered out of place was a pile of computer disks neatly stacked beside Montys keyboard on the otherwise empty desk. She didnt dare touch anything, but the label caught her eye, only because it was the single thing in the office that wasnt perfect. The words Trashing Troy had been crossed out, and beneath that, neatly printed, were the words Princes Perils. She turned her head. Cindy didnt think she wanted to even guess what that was all about.
Without divulging any details, she confirmed with Robert that her errand would take longer than originally antic.i.p.ated, said a quick good-bye to Agnes, and hurried back to her car. On the way to Montys apartment, she made a quick detour at the drive-thru of the local hamburger joint. If she needed to justify herself, she could admit on the surface that she was doing this as a favor to Robert, followed by the excuse that she knew how important this business alliance was for Monty. As she got closer to Montys apartment, she could no longer make excuses for herself. She was worried sick about him.
When she arrived at the front door, she noted that his apartment was the penthouse, which shouldnt have surprised her. She buzzed his number, but as she expected, he didnt answer.
While she fidgeted, wondering what to do, a woman exited the elevator and walked toward the door. Taking her chances, Cindy hustled inside before the woman could protest her unauthorized entry into the building.
The elevator rose quickly and silently. At the twenty-fifth floor, she stepped onto the thick red carpet and tapped lightly on his door. When he didnt respond, she tapped louder.
Monty, open up. Its me, Cindy.
She waited, but he didnt answer.
Cindys heart pounded as she knocked louder. Monty, please, open the door. I know youre in there.
Silence answered her. Panic started to overtake her as she banged on the door with her fist.
She heard his voice, m.u.f.fled through the door. Im not accepting visitors.
The door didnt open, nor did she hear movement inside. Please. . . Cindy rattled the doork.n.o.b. At least now she knew he hadnt died after speaking to Agnes earlier this morning. I brought you some lunch. She hoped that perhaps food if not her presence would entice him.
Nothing. She knocked again. Monty, open the door. Im worried about you. Im not leaving until you open the door, even if it means I stay here all day.
When that garnered no response, she leaned both palms against the door and spoke loudly into it. If you dont let me in, Im going to find the building superintendent and tell him theres an emergency, that I think youre dead or something, and h.e.l.l use the master key to let me in. Im not kidding!
She pressed her ear to the door, and when she heard a shuffle, she straightened and waited.
Slowly, the door opened, and Monty appeared, scowling. His usually impeccably neat hair hung in clumps, a few locks hanging over his forehead. Dark stubble shadowed his jaw, and instead of the power suit and neatly pressed shirt, he wore a wrinkled T-shirt, baggy sweat pants, and his feet were bare. Dark circles beneath his eyes contrasted the washed-out hue of his normally dark complexion.
And he was leaning on a cane.
Cindy struggled to breathe.
This was her fault. She had let her desire to spend time with him overshadow good sense.
His mouth drew into a tight line. Yes? he ground out between his teeth.
She tried to keep her expression blank and her attention riveted to his face instead of staring at the cane and the way he was leaning on it to support himself. She thought hed be sore, but she hadnt expected this.
Cindy sucked in a deep breath, stiffened her posture, and held out the bag containing the hamburger and fries, keeping the envelope with Roberts contract tucked under her arm. I brought you some lunch. And some work.
He stared at the bag in her hands.
Theres also been a slight change to Roberts contract. I know this is important to you, and he needs it back by one oclock.
He turned around slowly, carefully supporting himself on the cane. Cindys heart nearly wrenched in two at the pitiful sight of him. He said nothing.
Her words came out in a rough mumble. And I was worried about you. You didnt return my calls.
Stone-faced, he glared at her in silence.
Without asking his permission to enter, she pushed the door open and squeezed past him. Being very careful not to brush against him for fear of knocking him over, she sat on his couch.
She couldnt help but notice the size and elegance of the living room or the decor. She could see her footprints in the plush of the light gray carpet, which was the same color but a few shades darker than the gray wall. The sheer draperies were the exact color as the dark burgundy couch, as was the frame on one single piece of original artwork, which hung above a pristine gas fireplace. The furniture was all of a fine quality and obviously very expensive. The decorating was spa.r.s.e, but masculine and well chosen. It suited him.
The contrast between her half-duplex and Montys apartment only accented the differences between them. His home spoke success. Hers shouted rummage sale.
She set the envelope on the coffee table and held out the bag toward him. The smell of the burger and fries wafted out. Well? Arent you hungry?
Monty stood and stared. Hed wrestled with the decision to call Cindy back on Sunday, but he feared she would hear the strain in his voice and ask too many questions. When she phoned an hour ago, hed nearly picked it up, desperately needing to hear her soothing voice, but he didnt want her to feel sorry for him. Now he regretted his mistake. Hed never imagined that she would show up at his door unannounced.
He didnt want anyone to see him like this, least of all Cindy. His condition after the accident was bad enough. Hed had no control over that or his limitations during the course of his slow recovery, but his condition today was nothing short of pathetic. The surgeon had warned him about starting slowly and taking it easy. Monty knew the doctor hadnt meant it would be okay to hike the slow nature trail at the base of the mountain, but he hadnt expected the hike to affect him this severely. Hed gambled and lost, and now he was going to suffer for it, and suffer badly.
He struggled to stay standing, but the strain of leaning on the cane to support himself using the arm that had been broken was taking its toll. Before his arm gave out, mustering as much dignity as he could, he slowly made his way to the love seat across the room from Cindy and dropped himself into it.
The stiff muscles he could handle; he knew that would happen. What he had hoped wouldnt happen hit him with full force Sat.u.r.day night. He woke up in a sweat after a reoccurring nightmare of the accident, only this time, when he awoke, the pain didnt disappear. He could barely move his leg without agonizing pain, and when he could grit his teeth and get beyond that, he couldnt put any weight on it without collapsing. He could barely move all day Sunday, and it wasnt much better today. Knowing his injury was self-inflicted this time made it that much worse.
He noticed Cindy avoiding his eyes as she reached inside the bag. When she looked up at him, he felt sick at her stoic expression, trying to appear unaffected at the sight of him. Arent you going to see what I brought? she asked, too cheerfully.
He couldnt appear ungracious, and he was ravenous because he hadnt eaten since last night, finding it too difficult to stand to make anything and being too depressed to eat. Everything he had in the cupboard that didnt need preparation had been consumed Sunday down to the last sc.r.a.pe of peanut b.u.t.ter and the last broken cracker.
Now that he was sitting, he would have starved rather than allow Cindy to watch him struggle to get up. He sucked in his stomach in an attempt to stop the embarra.s.sing growl of his response to the aroma of the food when Cindy sat beside him, holding the bag.
You should eat your burger before it gets cold. This stuff is bad enough when its warm.
He let his voice drop to a low mumble. Thank you. Monty lowered his head as he accepted the wrapped burger and fries from her hands, not wanting to make eye contact. He closed his eyes in a short prayer of thanks for the food and ate in silence. Never had a greasy burger and lukewarm soggy fries tasted so good, and hed never eaten anything so fast in his life, not even during his days of living on the streets.
Would you like something to drink?
I dont need you to wait on me.
Walking into the kitchen to pour a gla.s.s of milk certainly doesnt const.i.tute waiting on you.
He flinched and leaned away as her fingers rested gently on his arm. He didnt want her sitting next to him. He hadnt showered or shaved for two days.
Monty hunched over and buried his face in his hands. Dont touch me. Dont look at me.
Its okay. . . .
He shook his head, not caring that he m.u.f.fled his voice by speaking into his palms. No, its not okay. I cant think straight from all the painkillers Ive taken, yet still I can barely move. I didnt want you to see me like this. Thank you for the lunch, now please, I want you to leave.
Eleven.
Ill only leave if theres someone else I can call to come help you.
Montys heart physically ached to know that he had lost everything he had tried so hard to maintain after his accident. He had only been fooling himself. He wanted to think that after a little time all could be normal, as it was before. But that wasnt going to happen.
All hed done was walk. They hadnt climbed anything, they hadnt exerted themselves in any way, yet the little excursion incapacitated him. He had barely held himself up at the door to talk to Cindy, and his condition had improved ten times over yesterday. Yesterday he couldnt even hold himself up with the cane. Sat.u.r.day after their walk, hed had to support himself against the wall to get to the washroom in the middle of the night, and even then, his leg had given out and hed collapsed to the floor.
And it was all because of his own poor judgment. Hed wanted to get away from it all and spend time alone with Cindy, and in doing so hed ignored everything hed been told about his limitations. His disability. He had just learned the hard way what was in store for him the rest of his life.
If he couldnt take care of himself, he couldnt ask someone else to.
For the first time, he thought hed found someone he could share his life with. Now, all his hopes for a future with Cindy vanished.
Hed worked so hard to make a good life for himself and hed done it alone. The only friends he thought he had on the streets werent interested in making an honest living. Everyone told him he couldnt do it, the odds were impossible, and everyone had deserted him.
When things started going well, only due to his hard work and a number of calculated risks, his former friends suddenly started showing up. When he hadnt supplied everything to make their lives easy, theyd disappeared again, and he hadnt missed them.
His new friends were few and far between. Too often, people wanted to know he was up to their social standing before they would accept him. He didnt need those kinds of friends, either.
He maintained a professionally distant relationship with his staff, but he was their boss, not their friend. It could never be any other way. Hed befriended a few people at church but hadnt had time yet to nurture a real friendship with any of them. Hed grown fond of a few of the kids in the youth group, but he was an adult and they were just kids. They looked up to him as their computer guru, and while he tried to give them whatever spiritual guidance he could, many of the kids in the youth group had been Christians longer than he had. He was the one getting the education.
He shook his head. Theres no one.
All his life, hed had to guard himself carefully, both his meager possessions, and most of all, his heart. For the first time in his life, he started to let his guard down and allowed a chosen few people to see a bit of the real Montgomery Smythe. There were still many things he had never told anyone, not even his own pastor. Yet, he shared freely and openly with Cindy. In spite of all he told her, indications were that she liked him despite his idiosyncrasies. But now, when she saw him like this, everything he tried to do was for nothing. Hed tried so hard to show Cindy his strengths and hide his weaknesses, but hed failed.
He didnt want her sympathy; he wanted her to love him the same way he loved her.
He kept his face covered with his hands. The stubble on his chin sc.r.a.ped and irritated his palms, emphasizing how miserable he knew he looked. After the hike and after a few bad cases of the sweats from the pain, he didnt want to think of how he smelled. He didnt want her near him. He wanted her to remember him at his best, cultured and dignified and proud, not the pathetic humanoid hed become once again.
When her soft hands closed around his wrists, he flinched. Before he realized what she was going to do, she tugged his hands away from his face.
Look at you. I never thought youd be the type to just sit there and feel sorry for yourself.
Im not feeling sorry for myself.
No?
No.
What are you doing then?
Im being realistic.
Is that what you call it?
Rather than pull his hands out of her grip, he jerked his head in the direction of the kitchen. I cant stand long enough without falling to make myself a lousy sandwich. I made one error in judgment. One. And look what happened. Face it, Im going to spend the rest of my life bound by limitations and leaning on a cane. Unless my arm gives out and I cant even do that anymore.
Then hire a housekeeper or cook to help you or something.
Never.
She shook his hands, but he pulled away from her grip as she started talking again.
Why wont you hire a housekeeper? Are you too full of pride to admit you need the help? If you cant see past yourself, then consider this. The reason people do housekeeping is because its a job to them. Simply said, they do it because they need the money.
Monty glared at her without commenting.
Its not a glamorous job like yours, but its honest work. And you want to know something? When you need the money, youll take any honest work you can get. Cindy stopped talking for a second and abruptly poked herself in the chest a couple of times with her index finger. I did housekeeping when times were tough because there was nothing else I could do. I considered it a blessing because it wasnt charity. Many people in my church wanted to just give me money, but instead I worked for it by scrubbing their toilets. And I did it gladly, grateful to have been given the opportunity to earn it.
He cringed at the thought of someone else cleaning his home, but to think of Cindy doing the dirty jobs nearly made him ill.
And let me tell you this. It was exactly what I needed to get me by at the time.
And youre trying to tell me that I should do the same for someone else. That it would have nothing to do with the fact that I am helpless and cant do it myself.
Cindy shook her head. This is temporary, Monty. Think. Not long ago, you nearly died. When youre back on your feet, you can still use the services of a housekeeper, just to free up more of your time. Theres nothing wrong with that. Give someone else a chance. You can help them, and at the same time, theyd be helping you when you need it, too. Think of what G.o.d has given you. A second chance. Youre alive.
Monty stared into Cindys eyes as he contemplated what she was asking him. During his time in the hospital, he really had been grateful for a second chance. Being so confined, hed had lots of time to think. He couldnt do anything else.
Forced to stop and prioritize his life, he decided what was really important and what he was really aiming for. Before the accident, all he wanted was to be completely self-sufficient, never to be dependent on anyone for anything, ever again. Then, just when he could see it happening, when his goal was within reach, a random accident abruptly halted everything. Because of a special angel sent by G.o.d, he was alive, and he still didnt know why.
When he woke up after the accident, he talked to G.o.d for the first time in his life. He asked G.o.d why He would send an angel to someone like him, even after he came to terms with the fact that it wasnt an angel who saved him, but an anonymous stranger. Because of that stranger, Monty discovered just how much G.o.d loved him. He didnt know what G.o.d had planned for his life, but Monty was determined to pay attention to G.o.ds leading. And while he was searching for G.o.ds answers, trying his best to do G.o.ds will, G.o.d placed Cindy in his path once again.
You may be facing a few setbacks, but you have all your mental faculties. So what if you have to use a cane to walk? What difference does that really make in anything thats important? Because of G.o.ds grace, youre alive. All else is a bonus.
He stared into her eyes, her lovely gray eyes. He couldnt do anything else.
Well?
Hed never been so humbled in his life. She was right. He was feeling sorry for himself, and in doing so, he discounted all that G.o.d had done for him, including placing Cindy in his path once again.
His voice came out in a croak. Cindy. . . .
Before she could say a word, he threw his arms around her. Despite the throbbing pain in his leg as he shifted or the way every muscle in his body ached with every movement, he held her tight against him, burying his face in her hair so he wouldnt scratch her tender cheek with his rough chin. Today, she felt sorry for him, but he would pick himself up, shake the dust off his feet, and use the strength G.o.d had given him to overcome the obstacles in his path. Hed done it before; he would do it again. He would show Cindy the real Montgomery Smythe. This moment sealed in his heart the knowledge that hed found his soul mate, that one special person he could love the way G.o.d designed.
Slowly, he could feel her arms inch around him as she returned his embrace. Cindy, he mumbled into her hair. My special angel.
For a second she stiffened. What did you say?