He let out a little growl. "I told Helen not to worry you. I'm fine. It's not a big deal." Despite his words, her father's arms closed tighter around her than she could ever remember.
She inhaled his Old Spice scent.
"An aneurysm certainly is a big deal." She scowled at her dad before rounding the bed to give Helen a hug. "Thanks for calling me."
"He misses you so much even though he won't admit it," Helen whispered. "He talks about you every day."
"I've missed him too." Well, she missed the man who showed up at every dance recital and read her bedtime stories. Not so much the man who felt the need to dictate her life.
Eden released Helen and returned to the other side of the bed. Ignoring the oxygen sensor on his finger and the blood pressure cuff on his upper arm, she took his hand. "What did the doctor say?"
Helen did most of the talking as they explained how the doctor repaired the aneurysm by going in through the artery in the groin to place a coil and stent in the aneurysm at the base of his brain.
"How did they even discover that you had an aneurysm?" Eden hated to think how things might have ended if the aneurysm had ruptured.
"I've been having some pretty severe headaches for a while now," he said. "And when they started affecting my vision, my doctor decided I needed an MRI. The aneurysm was just over six millimeters."
"They often rupture when they hit seven," Helen interjected.
Thank goodness his didn't.
"And you're really going to be okay?" She squeezed his hand. "You're out of danger?"
"He has to lay flat for a few more hours before they'll let him sit up. Otherwise, he risks bleeding out in the artery in the groin. Then he needs to take it easy for the next two weeks."
Relieved that her father was mostly out of danger, she looked back and forth between him and Helen and grinned. "Now, tell me what's going on between you two."
Helen's face blanched and she fell back a step. "Nothing. We were...I was just...concerned about him, that's all."
Eden raised an eyebrow as she looked at her dad, daring him to deny there was something going on.
"Come now, Helen." He held his hand out to his housekeeper. "We've been talking about making our relationship public. No time like the present. Eden may as well be the first to know."
"I'd better be the first to know. How long has this been going on?"
Helen took her dad's hand and perched on the other side of the bed but didn't meet Eden's eyes.
Her dad was the one who spoke up. "For a number of years, I suppose."
"Years?"
"No, it hasn't." Helen gently slapped his shoulder. "I only went out with him for the first time eight months ago."
"But I'd been trying to get you to go out with me for years."
Eden couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her dad and Helen had been going out in public for months now? And he'd been interested in her for years?
She locked gazes with her dad. "So, do you plan to make this relationship permanent?"
"As a matter of fact, we were just talking about that before you arrived." He squeezed Helen's hand. "I've asked her to marry me, but she's concerned about how it might affect my business if I marry my housekeeper."
"And you're not?" Eden was careful to keep the censure out of her voice. She couldn't be happier for them, and she wanted them to know that.
Her father made a sound that was a cross between a growl and clearing his throat. "I'm tired of caring what all those pious, rich ba—"
"Uh-uh." Helen pointed a finger at him. "No swearing."
Eden bit back a smile.
