Forget Me Not (6 page)

First, his mother, and now this. Queen Elizabeth always told him and his brothers,
“God never gives you more than you can handle.”
Right now, Gideon felt tested.

A passenger walked by him to get to the lavatory. Since he sat in the aisle seat and took up a lot of space in his area, Gideon shifted his legs to allow the woman to get by him.

A light dinging sound rang before the captain spoke. “We’re about twenty minutes from landing in Norfolk. We ask that all passengers return to their seats and fasten their seat
belts.”

Gideon hadn’t taken off his seat
belt the entire flight. His mind raced with thoughts about his brother. Would Gunnar be able to walk after this? Did the shooter shoot his brother in the head? Had his mother been there when all of this went down?

Gideon braced his elbows on his knees and rested his forehead on his hands. He took deep breaths, hoping to slow down his raging heartbeat. Hearing the hum of the plane’s engines helped him concentrate on something other than his negative thoughts. Without warning, he felt a hand on his shoulder that caressed him down to the middle of his back.

Gideon lifted his head and turned. The woman who had gone to the bathroom swayed back and forth as she headed to her seat. She didn’t look back to him. He took her touch to be an accident. Although he hadn’t felt any turbulence, there must have been some. He did see her looking unsteady on her feet.

When the plane landed, Gideon wasted no time getting off as soon as he could and headed to the baggage
-
claim area. He shifted in his spot as he waited for his one suitcase to show. Since hearing about his brother, he hadn’t felt any pains in his knee, a feat considering what he’d put himself through last night.

Gideon looked at his watch. He’d crossed over into Monday. Nine in the morning. No wonder the airport bustled. He had hoped to miss the big crowds when he came into town. At the first sighting of him, he knew it wouldn’t take the local media long to follow him around and ask him probing questions he didn’t want to answer.

Time slipped by so quickly. The waiting area around the baggage carousel filled with the passengers from his flight…he assumed. He had been too consumed with his own thoughts to even notice anyone else.

The red twirling light on top of the carousel lit up and spun as an annoying beeping sound honked before the scales of the carousel shifted and moved. Gideon kept one eye on the bags and the other on his phone. He called his mother’s cell phone first, knowing the woman would be awake and with Gunnar no matter the time.

“Gideon,” Elizabeth whispered. “What are you doing calling so early? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“Hey, Ma.” He took from her whisper that she must be in the hospital room with Gunnar. Knowing that eased some of his fears. “I’m in town.”

“What?”

Gideon had to blink when his mother raised her voice. She never did that.

She continued. “Why are you here? I thought you were in California.”

“I called after the game. I got Victor. He told me about Gunnar. Is he okay? Didn’t mean that. I know he’s not okay. He made it, right? You’re with him, aren’t you?” Gideon couldn’t stop his babbling, but every question he’d thought of on his way back home came rushing out of his mouth.

“Gunnar is resting. He got shot in the stomach.” Elizabeth’s voice hitched.

“Oh, God.” Gideon spotted his red suitcase. He grabbed it with one hand and pulled it off the conveyor belt. “Who did this? Did they catch him?” He went out the door to the front of the airport. A row of cabs sat off to the side. He got in the first one.

“No. The police tried asking Gunnar some questions when he got here, but he was pretty out of it. The wound is what they call a through and through, whatever that means.”

“Means it went right through him.” Bastard. Gideon gritted his teeth as he thought about the agony his brother must be feeling.

“Right. It did come out the other side. He got shot in his stomach on the side. It went through his intestines. He’s going to make it, but he’ll be here for a few days.” His mother sighed. “Eboni is here with me.”

“I’m coming there.”

“No, son.” This time his mother’s voice sounded firm. “You’ve had a rough enough day yourself with your game and all. You should be out celebrating, not dealing with all this.” His mother paused. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Gideon sat up taller in the backseat of the cab.

“There’s no one at the house to let you in. Shay is in the apartment over the garage behind the house, but I don’t want you to wake her.”

The name Shay didn’t sound familiar to Gideon. He assumed if Elizabeth had allowed her to stay in that apartment
,
she must be someone special to her.

“Don’t worry about that, Mom. I had planned on staying at my house.” As much as he loved his mother, Gideon valued his privacy more.

“Oh, no, you’re not. You’re staying with me like old times.”

Gideon imagined the stately, gorgeous African-American woman wearing one of her many designer outfits and stomping her stiletto-heeled foot. The thought of his mother standing in a hospital room dressed to the nines had him smiling.

“Mom, I’ve been to your house since you’ve remodeled. You’ve changed all of our old rooms into something else. I think my old room is your shoe room now.”

“No, yours is the exercise room. But there is a futon in it, dear.”

Gideon waited a beat before continuing. “You’ve got someone else staying with you.
And I’m betting Gunnar will be recovering at your house. You have your hands full right now. I’m going to stay at my home. When Gunnar is discharged, I’ll have him stay with me. You should stay with me. I have an in-law suite that’s connected to the house, and it’s on the lower level so you don’t have to climb stairs.”

“No, son. I’m your mother. I take care of you, not the other way around. For tonight, or rather today, you can stay at your house. Then I want you back at my house, understand?”

Gideon forgot how tough his mother could be. “We’ll talk about it. For now, I’ll get a couple of hours of sleep,
and
then I’ll come to the hospital, okay?”

Elizabeth sighed. Knowing she got some relief with his news unknotted his shoulders.

“I can’t wait to see you again. I’m so glad you’re home. I wished it could have been under better circumstances
.”

“You and me both.” Gideon hadn’t even waited long enough to see who made MVP. He’d missed the full celebration.

“I’m proud of you, Gideon. Not because of the game. You put family first.”

A warm feeling washed over Gideon. Only his mother could weaken him like this. No one else. “Of course. You taught me well.”

“By the way, have you cut your hair? I don’t want to see you coming here looking like a
hippie
.” Elizabeth tsked over the phone. “Gunnar finally cut his off. I want you to do the same.”

Gideon had grown his hair out as a personal style choice. He knew his mother would have a problem with it. Good thing she owned a hair salon. If he decided to make that drastic cut, he could do it at her business. He didn’t feel the need to conform yet.

“Oh, wow, Mom, I can’t hear you. The phone is breaking up.” Gideon made a screeching sound with his voice. He had to pull the phone away from his face to keep from laughing.

“Gideon Nathaniel Wells, don’t you hang up this phone without answering my question.”

This time Gideon did hear what sounded like his mother stomping her foot on a tile floor.

“I think we’re losing connection. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

“Love you, you rascal. You and your brothers are going to be the death of me.”

Gideon smiled as he disconnected the call. Elizabeth would hate his hair. No doubt about it. She
would
love them being together as a family. Too bad Thane wouldn’t be here. It would be like old times.

On the cab ride to his home, Gideon thought about the game. He hadn’t forgotten the virtual daggers his friend had thrown at him after his final play. Dennis didn’t understand. Gideon couldn’t fail. He couldn’t let his team fail. Because of what he’d done, they’d won. That should be all that mattered.

When his cell phone rang, Gideon looked at the screen first to see the caller. Would his mother be calling to go for a second round of arguing about his hair?

No, as soon as he saw
Coach Brick
across the top of the screen, he clicked
Ignore
and shoved it back into his jacket pocket. Coach would want to yell at him for several things right now—leaving the game, his bum knee, the cheerleader. Too many issues to think about as he approached his home.

Gideon arrived at the security guard to his beachfront sanctuary. His huge five-bedroom, four-bathroom house could have held a large family. As a teenager, he used to proclaim how one day he would have a house like he and his brothers had seen riding their bikes up and down the Oceanfront boardwalk. He had planned on getting married and filling the house with children. Plus, the place afforded him a little bit of privacy.

When the cab stopped at the guard station, Gideon popped his head out the back window to address the guard. “Hi. Would you mind opening the gate? I live here.”

The guard screwed up her lips as though preparing to argue with him. As soon as her stare met his, she stopped. Her mouth dropped open. “You’re Gideon Wells of the Wolves! I can’t believe you’re here. I saw you play.” The young woman pointed to a TV screen in her little shack. “You were great, especially that last play.”

Too bad not everyone would think that last play had been perfect. Gideon would have to call Dennis. No way would he allow this to mess up their decade-long friendship.

Gideon gave her a slight smile. “Thanks.”

“I’m new here.” She craned her body outside of the guard window and presented her hand to him. “My name is Pearl. Nice to meet you.”

He shook her hand. Although small, he felt calluses across her palm. A part of him respected her implied work ethic. “Do you need to see my ID?” Gideon reached into his pocket for his wallet.

“No, sir.” The thin Asian woman with shaggy brown hair started typing on her computer. “I recognize you.”

“I appreciate that.”

“I can’t believe you’re home so soon after the Super Bowl.” She winked at Gideon.

“Had a family emergency.” Gideon shrugged and started to lean back into the cab.

“I hope everything is all right.”

Gideon hoped so. The guard opened the gate for the cab driver after issuing him a temporary pass.

Weariness caught up with Gideon the longer he sat in the cab. He yawned more than once before getting to his house. He needed to get some sleep and rest his knee for a bit. Now that he moved around, it started to throb.

Gideon paid the driver and took his bag into his big, empty house. “Hello!” he shouted if only to hear the echo reverberating back at him.

The inside looked the same. The same colorful Spanish tile floors greeted him. His oversize, custom-made furniture decorated the rooms. Having furniture made that fit his height and stature had been another perk of getting paid the ridiculous amount of money he’d been given to throw a ball and get pummeled by buildings posing as men.

He peered down the hall to the kitchen area. With it being morning, light streamed through the windows. The all-white kitchen looked clean. Although the small bag of peanuts on the plane hadn’t satisfied his hunger, Gideon didn’t feel like eating right now.

He looked straight ahead through the patio doors that led to his backyard area. His in-ground pool remained covered, and on top of that cover sat a layer of blinding
-
white snow. February in Virginia. He had to love it.

Gideon set his house alarm and started to drag his body and suitcase upstairs to his bedroom. Thankfully, the maid service kept his house cleaned. He knew he would come home to a bed with fresh sheets.

The first step he made on the bottom landing step shot a painful reminder to his brain
of what he’d put his body through last night. The excruciating pain crumbled him to the floor until he had to take a seat on the step for a moment.

“Damn it!” He grasped his knee over his jeans.

Through the denim, he felt the tight bindings he’d used to wrap around his knee to keep it steady and stave off some of the discomfort. Too bad it hadn’t worked. Not this time.

Gideon rubbed his knee. “One more day, and then I’ll get it looked at. I need more time.”

He took a couple of deep breaths before standing and taking the stairs with ease and careful precision as to not aggravate his knee further. Had Dennis been here, he would have given Gideon the I-told-you-so speech for not having an elevator installed in his home. At the time he had his house built, the contractor had asked Gideon if he wanted an elevator. Gideon had turned down the offer flat without further argument. Honestly, he liked his house, but he hated being in a gated community. With rabid fans, he found it to be a necessity.

He breathed a sigh of relief once he got to his bedroom.

He flicked on the light in his bedroom and released a curse. His heart felt like it rocketed up to his head and pounded out of control until the steady beat filled his ears.

“Hi, Gideon.” The perky cheerleader he’d been trying to avoid sat up on her knees in his bed…naked. “Welcome home.”

Gideon took a deep breath before speaking
;
otherwise this young woman would hear a string of profanities that would make his mother blush. He also made sure to keep his stare directly on this woman’s eyes.

Scanning down at her body would only get him in trouble. Breaking up with a starlet had managed to get him out of the media’s eye. He didn’t need to go back with some new controversy.