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“Gentry? Are you—”
“I’m fine.”
Was he? His face was a l
ittle pale. She fought back the desire to grab a chair and shove it toward him. He was a grown man. He could take care of himself.
“Stop looking at me as if I’m going to go down in a heap. I did that already, remember?” He flashed a quick smile. “A good actor never repeats a performance.”
Lissa nodded. “Sure. I’m just, you know, a little surprised.”
“The physio guy suggested I try using a cane a few hours a day.”
“The physio guy?”
“The physiotherapist that I work with. That I was working with.”
“You don’t anymore?”
“No.”
The “no” was hard and short. It didn’t invite questions.
“Well, if you came looking for coffee—”
“I came looking for you.”
“Oh.” Her heart did a little stutter step. Why it should have done that was beyond her to comprehend. “Did you hear from Hank?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And, he can be here as early as we want in the morning.”
Lissa reached for a bunch of washed carrots.
“Well, that’s great. I’ll just finish this and—”
“You’ve been working all day.”
“No. Not all day.”
“All day,” Nick repeated. He cleared his throat. “We should settle up.”
“Settle up what?”
“All the time you’ve put in. I wrote you a check. Tell me if it isn’t enough.”
Lissa turned toward him. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Take it,” he said, holding out the check. “And if it isn’t enough, just say so.”
“Gentry…”
“It’s Nick.”
“Nick. We said room and board, remember? And you bought me the boots and stuff today. That more than takes care of things.”
