The 23rd Deletion Bride novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: Flowers

By morning they had moved me to a quiet room with a window.

The doctor said I could go home Sunday if I stayed flat and calm.

Calm was not on offer.

At nine o'clock Dalton came in with a huge bouquet of white lilies and a paper cup of tea from the lobby.

He had changed his clothes and shaved.

He looked rested.

"Hi," he said softly.

A nurse was checking my drip.

He waited until she looked up, and then he smiled at her, the smile that worked on investors.

"I'm her husband," he said. "We're expecting."

"Congratulations," she said, and went on working.

Dalton set the lilies down on the windowsill.

He pulled the chair close to the bed and sat with his elbows on his knees.

"Linnea. I've been awake all night. I know I've been terrible."

I didn't say anything.

"I didn't realize it mattered to you this much," he said. "The gala. The list."

"I thought it was small, and you were making it big. I see now that it wasn't small to you."

He took my hand.

His palm was warm and dry.

"I'm so sorry. I want to fix this. I've told the board that Delaney is gone, effective this morning."

He shook his head.

"She'll never work in this city again. I'm ashamed that I didn't see what she was doing."

"You didn't see it."

"I swear I didn't."

"Her emails were signed with your name."

"She forged them."

"Eight months of them."

"She's clever." He squeezed my fingers. "Please. Come home. We'll start over, the three of us."

"I'll take a month off," he went on. "I'll clear my calendar. We'll hire the best nurse in the city, and you'll just rest."

The nurse had stopped moving.

She stood very still by the drip, with her eyes on the monitor.

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