Her eyes flash.“I’m not.”
“You just threw up.”
She lifts her chin.“And now I’m done.”
Cally gives a humorless laugh.“That’s not how bodies work.”
Vesper’s gaze swings to him.“Oh, I’m sorry, areyoua doctor now?”
“I’m a man who knows you,” Cally says, and his voice drops into something real enough that it makes the air shift.“And I know you won’t stop.You don’t pause.You don’t ask.You just keep going until something forces you.”
“I hate to say that they’re right,” Philippe states, appearing in the doorway.“Harvey will be here to help and I’ll feel better knowing that you’re taking care of yourself.You heard the doctor.I don’t need stress.”
There’s a knock on the door and when Cally opens it, there’s a man wearing a suit.“Good afternoon.”
“Harvey.”Cally grins.“Just the man I needed.”
He’s dressed like a man who has never had a chaotic moment in his life.Crisp coat.No wrinkles.
Harvey’s eyes sweep the room—Vesper pale on the chair, me standing too close, Cally vibrating with restrained urgency, the sink evidence still there.
He nods once.“The driver and some of the crew I hired should be here in a couple of hours.They stopped to make a grocery run at that Happy Springs town.”Then he glances at Vesper.“Ms.Lafontaine, it’s nice to finally meet you in person.”
Vesper lets out a sound that’s half laugh, half disbelief.“You’re real?”
Harvey’s mouth twitches.“It seems like it.”
Cally gestures at the sink.“We need to head to Portland.”
Harvey looks at Vesper.“Your father is covered.”
Vesper’s posture tightens instantly.“I can’t just leave him?—”
Harvey cuts right through her.“I already have a crew coming over.Two additional staff arrive this evening.Meals are arranged.Medication reminders are arranged.A driver is staying.A camp operations consultant arrives tomorrow morning to handle compliance details and the contractor from Baker’s Creek will be here on Friday to start repairs on the buildings.”
Vesper’s face does that thing it does when someone tries to take a burden out of her hands—shock first, then anger, then grief because she wants the help but hates that she wants it.
“My dad?—”
“I’m fine with it,” Philippe agrees.“You have to go.Come back when you look less green in the gills and have a clean bill of health.”
She glares at him.“You needed me.”
He glances at Cally and then at me.“Boys, get my girl out of here before she burns herself to ash trying to be her mother.”
Vesper’s eyes fill instantly.She looks away fast, blinking hard.
“A helicopter is available,” Harvey says, like he’s ordering lunch.“If the weather holds.If it doesn’t, an SUV convoy is already staged.”
Vesper’s head snaps up.“A helicopter?”
Cally looks pleased.I don’t.Not because I’m afraid of flying, but because I don’t trust March in Oregon to behave.Because mountains don’t care what you want.
“March’s weather is unstable,” I say flatly.
Harvey doesn’t flinch.“Correct.Which is why there is a backup plan.”
Vesper presses her fingers to her temple.“No.No, I’m not leaving.I have to?—”
