“I know, but I need you to know this. Madison and Scott know, but I want you to know as well. Lee’s insurance doesn’t cover her bone-marrow transplant. It’s crap insurance; we’ll just leave it at that. Remember James Crawford? He’s a neurologist in town. He told me about a fund hospitals have; he called it an indigent fund. Long story, but he’s managed to get this fund applied toward Lee’s transplant costs. It won’t cover the entire hospital bill, and I told James I would cover whatever is left.”

“What? Where in the world are you going to come up with that kind of money?”

Again, she couldn’t help herself. She rolled her eyes. “Brent, I know we don’t discuss finances often, if ever. But believe me, I am fully capable of covering this. I’ve transferred money into an account I set up in Charlotte’s name. She doesn’t even know about it. You know how I hate flying? Doomsday talk and all that? Before I left, I went online and set this up. If something were to happen to me—which I know it won’t, but just in case—I want someone to make sure Charlotte knows the money is there for the transplant.”

“That’s big stuff, Lauren. Big stuff.”

“I know. I’ll e-mail you the bank-account numbers, everything you need to know, if you’re okay doing this.”

“I’m okay with it, but I’m not okay with you and your doomsday crap. You’re going to be fine flying home. I heard you got to fly on the corporate jet, so maybe they’ll fly you home. You arrived safely.”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to go into details about her experience, for fear she’d reveal her feelings for John. It was too soon. “It was a fancy flight, I can tell you that. They served raw oysters, salmon, all the stuff I love but never seem to make when I’m home. It was a nice flight.”

“I’m impressed. Are they flying you home, too?”

“I think so,” she said, though she truly wasn’t one hundred percent sure if they would.

“If you do, sneak around and snap a few pictures, so us regular folks can get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a billionaire.”

“I don’t think that’s allowed. Kind of like certain things aren’t allowed on Air Force One. I’m sure you could go online and find something there.” She was not going to snoop around and take pictures of an airplane that probably had security out the wazoo, and even if it didn’t, it wasn’t her style.

“Probably can, but take a couple pictures for me anyway. I can say I knew you when,” he added.