Chapter Ninety-Five

Toward the end of the evening, Trapper corralled Leah who had proven to be a worthy hostess, making small talk with those she had just met and cutting up with those she knew between her trips to the kitchen to keep food and drinks moving.

Standing in the middle of the living room, Trapper raised his glass and tapped it with a spoon, calling for everyone’s attention. “I know you all think you’re here celebrating the recent grant the hospital received. Well, you’ve been deceived. The real reason Leah and I threw this party, inviting our closest friends, those who we most wanted to share this occasion…”

Moving the back of her hand to her head, Ernie leaned back against Gonzo. “Someone catch me. I’m think I’m going to faint.” The room erupted in laughter.

“Thank you, Ernie, for the melodrama,” said Trapper, laughing with everyone else. With his arm around her, he looked down at Leah and smiled. “When I asked her to marry me, she said ’You said you’d never marry again, that it costs too much.’” The room groaned. “‘We fight too much.’” Another groan ensued. “And ‘I need time to think,’ to which I said, ‘you think too much.’” This time there was chuckling and nodding. “She didn’t actually say the word ‘yes’ until she walked in the door tonight. But she did say it, and I’m holding her to it.” He bent and tenderly kissed her smile.

“Where’s the ring?” asked someone at the back of the crowd.

Trapper cleared his throat. “Excuse me for just a minute.” He turned to face Leah and stuck his hand down the front of her blouse, eliciting catcalls from the room.

She turned bright red. “This is embarrassing. Stop groping and grab the chain.”

Chuckling as he pulled the chain up, he let her slip it over her head and unfasten the clasp, then took the ring and slipped it on her finger. ‘Aws’ and light laughter spread around the room as Trapper kissed her one more time. “The ceremony will be at Antonio’s next Friday night at seven in the evening after which we will have dinner. You’re all invited.”

Gonzo stepped up in front of them and raised his glass. “May I propose a toast…to Dr. John Trapper McIntyre and Mrs. John…” He stopped at the daggers shooting his way from her eyes. “Oh, maybe not what tradition would expect…and the future Mrs. Leah Haverty McIntyre.”

***

Leah had gotten into the habit of swimming most mornings when she had spent the night alone. She’d take the seventy-two steps down to the beach below the pool house, walk down the shore to China Beach and swim laps back and forth in front the gently sloping sands. This particular morning was no different.

“Good morning,” said a young man who looked like he had just come out of the water.

“Good morning. How’s the water?”

“I’ll just say thank goodness for wet suits. Enjoy your swim.”

She donned her wet suit, waded to the drop off and then swam another ten feet out. Turning parallel to the shore, she began to swim her laps.

An hour later, a mother and her two children walked down a deserted China Beach and came upon a woman’s body washed up on shore. She hurried to the nearest house and called the police. It wasn’t long before the beach was swarming with police, ambulance attendants and representatives from the Medical Examiner’s office.

“She’s warm,” said the officer kneeling beside her. “Is the ME here yet?”

“Dr. Stephens!” called the officer who was standing at the other side of the body.

“Have you moved her?”

“Yes sir. Just to get her out of the water. But she’s warm.”

Stephens looked up at the sun, shading his eyes with his hand and squinting. “It’s the black wetsuit. Without it, it would have been too cold to swim. Any witnesses?”

“No sir. A woman and her two children found her while they were walking. They said there wasn’t anyone else on the beach. There’s no ID on her.”

“Does she have all of her limbs?”

“Not a mark on her. “

“Anything around to suggest foul play?”

“Nothing so far. The beach is clean other than footprints.”

Turning to his assistant, Dr. Stephens said, “Process the body and get her back to the morgue. And get a good picture of her face. We may need help to identify her. Officer, send a copy of your report to the morgue.” Taking one more look, he saw something familiar and knelt next to her, moving her hair from her face. He sucked in a quick breath when he realized he had met this woman very recently.

***

“Dad, when was JT supposed to meet us?”

“You know your brother, Kim,” he answered with a smile. “He likes to keep his father waiting whenever possible.”

“Can we go ahead and order? I’m starved.”

“No, we’re waiting for someone else for lunch.”

Kim’s eyes brightened when she looked up at her father. “Mom?”

He gave her an apologetic look. “No, it’s not your mother.” He was about to tell his daughter for the hundredth time that he and her mother were not getting back together, but JT finally walked in the door of the restaurant. “Your brother is here,” he said, waving to get JT’s attention.

“Hi, Pop. Sis. I hope this is really important. I’m skipping a class for this.” Trapper frowned. “Don’t worry, Pop. I’m already way ahead in this one.”

“We’re waiting for one more person.”

“Yeah? Who?” asked JT as he took a piece of bread out of the basket sitting in the center of the table.

“I asked you both here to meet someone. And before she gets here, I want all your questions out of the way, so I’ll just tell you. I’ve asked her to marry me.”

“You brought us here to meet someone after you asked?” said Kim, her eyes and mouth wide in wounded astonishment.

“Yeah, Dad. How come you didn’t let us meet her before?” the young man asked, echoing his sister’s sentiment.

“Look, you two. I’m old enough that I don’t need permission to ask a woman to marry me.”

“But what about mom?”

“Your mother has already met her…and she likes her…and she wishes us well.”

Kim turned away wearing a frown, and JT shook his head. “Nice of you to spring this on us, Pop.”

Throwing his hands up, Trapper leaned forward so that he didn’t have to talk to the entire restaurant. “What do you think I asked you here for? It doesn’t matter that I’ve already asked her. What would really have been unfair would be to tell you after we were married. Now, she’s going to be here any minute. I expect you two to give her a chance.”

Kim and JT looked at each other. “Where’d you meeting her?” asked Kim sullenly.

JT shot another question right after Kim’s. “What does she do?”

Trapper met each of their eyes in turn. “I met her at the hospital when she was a contractor installing the new computer system. She’s the Chief Information Officer now. She’s a computer system engineer.”

“Intellectual type,” JT remarked.

“She was also a patient.”

“Aren’t you supposed to stay away from relationships with your patients?” asked Kim snidely.

“She wasn’t my patient,” Trapper answered, smiling. “Though I kept up with her progress.”

Taking a deep breath, Kim actually felt a little sorry for the woman. “What was wrong with her?”

“Her heart. She’s a heart transplant patient, and her new heart developed a hole. Dr. Gates and I repaired it.”

Both Kim and JT sat back and stared. “Dad, you’re not marrying her because you feel…I don’t know…sorry…for her, are you?”

“Of course not, JT. If you didn’t know she had a problem with her heart, you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. Just wait until she gets here. I just want you to give her a chance. I think you’ll like her.”

JT pulled another roll out of the basket. “Well, when’s she supposed to be here? I’m starved.”

Giving each of them a dismayed look, Trapper asked, “I give you enough money to eat well at school. How can you both be starved?” Their answer was interrupted by Trapper’s pager. “It’s the hospital. I’ll be right back,” he said, looking for the phone.

Looking over at his sister, JT pushed the bread basket toward her. “Why are you so down?”

“I thought it would be Mom.”

“Come on, Kim. Mom said she and Dad wouldn’t be getting back together a long time ago. Remember, she was the first one who was going to marry someone else.” He pulled a small piece of bread off his roll and slowly chewed. “Who knows? Maybe Dad’ll mellow out a little with someone in his life.”

“Excuse me. I’m Dr. McIntyre, and I’ve received a page from the hospital. Is there a phone I can use?” The man at the register moved a phone from the back counter to the front. “Thank you,” said Trapper, dialing. “This is Dr. McIntyre. I was paged.”

“Just one minute, Dr. McIntyre. I’ll transfer you.”

“Trapper, this is Ernie. You need to come to the hospital. It’s Leah.”

He had been watching his kids, but now turned his back to them. “Leah? Is she all right?”

“Just get here as fast as you can.”

“I’m on my way.” He trotted over to Kim and JT. “Come on. We’ve got to go to the hospital.”

“What about the lady we’re here to meet?” asked JT, rising and shoving a roll in his pocket.

“She’s at the hospital. Let’s go.”