“Honestly, I don’t know a lot, because Grandmillie doesn’t like me to worry,” Chloe said. “However, I know she fell for no apparent reason two and a half weeks ago. Her doctor thought she might have had a mild stroke, but there was no permanent damage that he could find.”

Ben asked her several more questions, most of which she couldn’t answer.

“Do you have her doctor’s phone number?” Ben asked. “With your permission, I could speak with him directly.”

Chloe wanted to hug him. “Yes, of course, you have my permission.” She pulled out her cell phone and gave Ben the number. He unbuckled his seat belt and moved to the back of the cabin to make the phone call.

She watched his retreating back with concern. Why didn’t he want to talk to the doctor where she could hear him?

“He doesn’t want to scare you with medical jargon,” Nathan said, taking her hand.

Chloe shifted her gaze back to him. He was looking at her with a combination of understanding and what might have been envy. He skimmed his thumb over her knuckles. “I guess this is the flipside of caring about someone so much. You worry.”

She felt the burn of tears at the back of her eyes as she nodded. “Love makes you vulnerable. But I’d rather worry all the time than not feel it.”

Nathan looked down at their hands. “I’m beginning to understand that.”

“That was a nice thing you did, telling your father the sword belongs with him.”

There was an odd, almost uncertain note in Nathan’s voice as he said, “I’m hoping I won’t need it.”

“Your father was really glad you came to his wedding,” she said.

“He said he was.”

“Don’t you believe him?”

His hold on her tightened, and he raised his eyes to hers. They were shadowed. “I might. I just have to wonder why.”

“Because you’re his son and he has every reason to be proud of you.”

He shook his head. “You don’t know my father.”

Chloe leaned over the arm of her seat to get closer to him. “I know what I saw in his eyes when he looked at you, and it was pride, pure and simple. He may not understand your passion, but he knows what you’ve accomplished with it.”

She saw the muscles of his throat work as he swallowed, but he shook his head. “He was just savoring his victory in getting me down there.”

She wanted to shake him. “You generally have a pretty high opinion of yourself, so I don’t get this whole unworthy-son attitude.”

Ed gave a muffled cough that she was pretty sure masked a laugh.

“What did your father want you to do with your life?” Nathan asked, ignoring his butler.

Chloe thought about it. “I don’t know. He mostly told me about his life, but we didn’t have a family tradition like yours.” She began to understand just how deeply Nathan felt he had let his father down, and she grew angry with the general. “You know, it’s your father’s fault.”

Nathan sat back, his eyebrows raised.

She went on. “He should have had more children if he was so determined to have one in the military. It’s just genetics.”

Nathan looked at the ceiling.

Chloe grabbed his forearm and shook it. “What I’m trying to say is that your father was wrong in trying to force you into a mold you could never fit. He should have been buying you the latest computer hardware available instead of teaching you how to polish a banged-up old sword. He was looking backward and you were looking forward. I’ll let you figure out which is more constructive.”

Nathan brought his gaze down and leveled it at her, making her feel as though she was being drilled through with a laser.

Ben chose that moment to walk back to their seating area. “Your grandmother’s doctor filled me in on the tests he’s run—” He stopped as he ran into the tension vibrating in the air. “What’s going on here?”

“Chloe is explaining that my father should have had more children if he had his heart set on continuing the military tradition,” Nathan said in an even tone.

“I never thought of that, but it makes sense,” Ben said, settling into his seat.

“Enough,” Nathan said. “Drop it.”

Chloe was happy to change the subject. She was trying to promote a reconciliation between father and son, not make Nathan furious. She nodded to Ben. “Did the tests show anything?”

“They suggest a few possibilities, but I’m not going to make a diagnosis when I’ve never met the patient, much less examined her,” Ben said.

“Thank God you’re a better doctor than shrink,” Nathan muttered.

Ed intervened, turning the conversation to neutral topics. Chloe listened with only half her attention as she worried about Grandmillie.

The one thing that kept her anchored was the feel of Nathan’s warm, strong hand around hers. Even when his anger flared, he hadn’t let her go.

Once the jet touched down, the trip to the hospital was a blur of Nathan guiding her through doors, past nurses’ stations, and down corridors. People and barriers just gave way before the force of his combined charm and authority. Ben helped with the medical staff and Ed handled logistics, but Nathan was the leader of the group.

They arrived outside Grandmillie’s room, and Chloe stopped to take a deep breath, bracing herself for what she might see in the hospital bed.

Nathan took both her hands in his and turned her to look at him. “The nurses all say she’s fine.”