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“Why do you look so perky?” Leslie asked as she passed Chelsea in the office hallway. “A certain doctor coming around to your way of thinking?”
“We’re just friends.”
Leslie nodded. “If Jared had looked at me once the way he looks at you, I’d have jumped ship a long time ago.”
Chelsea paused and stared at her pale friend. “You have feelings for Jared?”
Had she been wrong about Leslie and Will? Had Leslie had a thing for Jared? Was that what had been wrong with Leslie lately? Because although her friend hadn’t missed any work, Leslie hadn’t been herself. She’d become quiet, reserved, and had refused to go to lunch with Chelsea several days in a row.
“Not anymore and never like you obviously do,” Leslie quickly assured her. “He’s a gorgeous man, and I’m not blind. That’s all.”
“So you’re not…?” Chelsea couldn’t fin
ish putting her thoughts into words. Leslie was so pretty and smart. She probably didn’t have physical and emotional scars to turn off a man’s interest. Actually, she’d thought Leslie pretty darn near perfect—for her brother. For Jared was another matter entirely.
“No, I’m not.” Leslie shook her head. “I found him an attractive man when he first started at the clinic, but there weren’t any sparks. I…” Her voice trailed off, and she nervously glanced around the hallway. Betty stood at the nurses’ work station, but otherwise they were alone in the hallway between patient exam rooms.
“You what?”
Leslie shrugged. “We were destined to just be friends. Although I’m not buying friendship’s what destiny has planned for the two of you.”
“I wouldn’t count on anything more than that,” Chelsea mused, watching her coworker closely. The truth was plain on her face and Chelsea had a pretty good idea she knew exactly who had stolen Leslie’s heart, and if her brother returned the nurse practitioner’s sentiments, she couldn’t be happier.
At least one of them could be happy in love.
Jared rapped on the exam room door then entered.
“Hello, Connie.” He smiled at his favorite patient. “You look well.”
Surprisingly, she really did.
“Are you flirting with me, Dr Jared?” She winked at him, giving a glimpse of her former feistiness, and his spirits lifted. Connie looked more like herself than she had at the end of their last visit.
“Always, Connie. Always.”
The older woman smiled, her pale blue eyes lighting up with her inner strength.
She looked rested, calm, at peace. Not at all like a woman preparing to start chemotherapy the following Monday.
“I took a little trip out West. The travel was good for me. Cleared my head.”
She’d gone on a trip? That’s why she’d delayed starting her chemotherapy?
“Where out West?”
“The Grand Canyon. Rose and the boys went with me.” Her face glowed with excitement. “Paul and I talked about going for years, but never did. I’ve always wanted to see the Grand Canyon.”
The Grand Canyon? Interesting.
“I’m glad you felt able to go.” Had Dr Goodall OK’d the trip or had Connie opted to go of her own accord?
“It’s an amazing place,” Connie continued, and although she looked at him Jared suspected she saw the multi-hued ridges of the canyon rather than the neutral beige of the exam room.
“You feel close to God when you stand there, looking over such a glorious sight. No wonder it’s one of the seven natural wonders of the world.” She paused. “Have you ever visited?”
“No.” There hadn’t been the money for trips like that when he’d been growing up. When he’d gotten old enough to do things on his own, Laura had been a part of his life and he’d fallen into her plans for the future. He’d…he’d what?
He’d betrayed someone he’d cared deeply for. Betrayed her and ultimately killed her. He’d died that night, too. He’d locked himself inside a protective shell and had quit living just as surely as Laura had. Why? Out of guilt? Out of love and respect for Laura? To keep himself from falling for anyone else? Since the evening he and Chelsea had tumbled into the sea, he’d wondered.
