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Aria clenched her hands in her lap. “I’ll work until you can find someone else.”
“I appreciate that,” Jay said. “But if you feel that you need to leave sooner, we’ll understand.”
“I’m sorry to have to put you in this position.”
Jay leaned back in his chair. “We all make mistakes. What you did wasn’t unforgiveable.” He paused, a frown forming on his face. “Or it shouldn’t be.”
Like his sister, Jay seemed more than willing to move past everything. If only Gareth felt the same way.
Jay’s gaze was assessing as he said, “Did you tell Janessa yet?”
Sadness swept through Aria as she shook her head. “I figured you’d be less likely to try to talk me out of this decision.”
The man’s brow furrowed at her words. “I hope you don’t think that I don’t want you to be here.”
“No,” she assured him. “It’s not that. It just seems that you have a more… pragmatic view of what’s happened. You’ve been willing to give me another chance, but you’re also realistic enough to realize it probably wouldn’t work for me to stay on.”
“I really did hope that it would,” Jay said. “You’ve fit in really well here, and being able to use you as both a receptionist and a nurse would have been a benefit to the clinic.”
What he described sounded so appealing, but it wasn’t to be. “Thank you for giving me this opportunity in the first place. I know that Janessa kind of forced the issue.”
Jay nodded with a wry smile. “Yes, she did, but she was also right. I hope you can see that.”
“Being here has helped me gain some breathing space and showed me that I can move past what happened in Sacramento.”
“I know you feel you can’t continue to work here at the clinic, but you don’t necessarily have to leave Serenity.”
“I think I do. Everything that I’ve loved about being here is also tied up with Gareth. I won’t be able to get over him if I have to deal with that, even if I’m not working here.”
“I understand. Just know that you can use me as a reference. I’ll have no problem telling anyone how much we have appreciated your work.”
Tears pricked at Aria’s eyes. She hadn’t expected this conversation with Jay to be emotional at all, but underneath his often-unreadable facial expressions was a heart filled with kindness.
“Thank you.”
Aria left Jay’s office with a mix of emotions. There was a gut-wrenching sadness that she would have to leave behind the man she loved, as well as the friends she’d made. But there was also relief. She couldn’t live with the tension and anxiety that being so close to Gareth created.
It was time to move on… yet again. And she prayed that wherever she landed next, God would help her find friends and a job that she enjoyed, like what she’d had in Serenity. What she didn’t want was another romantic relationship. The ones she’d had had come at too high a price, and she didn’t think she could handle any more heartbreak in her life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Gareth was hanging up his white coat in his office when he heard movement behind him.
“Got a minute?” Jay asked before Gareth had even turned around.
“Sure.” Gareth finished putting his coat on the hanger, then moved to sit behind his desk. Jay had already settled into his usual seat. “What’s up?”
“Aria came to see me yesterday after work.” He leaned back and crossed his arms. “She asked me to put out an ad for the receptionist position.”
Shock gripped Gareth at his brother’s words. “What?”
Jay stared at him for a moment before he said, “She’s put in her notice, though she said she’ll work until we find someone to replace her.”
“But I thought she’d agreed to continue to work here.”
“She had,” Jay said with a nod. “But she’s realized that it’s just too difficult.”
“Too difficult?” Gareth knew he was just parroting what Jay had said, but his mind was whirling with the idea of Aria leaving the clinic. Of disappearing once again.
