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Heartened by her response, I texted back once more.Excellent work defusing that visitor.Would have been awkward to have to restrain him and then go treat his wife.
Thanks for being ready to jump in if I was unsuccessful, she wrote back.You bring so much to this friendship.
I knew that last line was also a Connect phrase, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she did think of us as friends. The thought was surprisingly agreeable.
Not that it mattered since I only wanted Jenna for Grandma’s sake. Still, spending time with Jenna on vacation wouldn’t feel like a chore.
I quickened my pace with a new sense of urgency. Hopefully we could stabilize the patient so I could get home quickly and come up with what to say to her later. Everything depended on my ability to convince Jenna to join me on the cruise.
After a hectic day filling in for another nurse at the last minute, I made it home with barely enough time to change before Ellie drove me back downtown to meet with Adam.
I stood in front of my closet and held up a maxi dress with a large, ruffled collar that draped over the shoulders. “This?”
Ellie shook her head. “That’s brunch wear. What about this?” She reached past me to pull out a blue and white striped blouse with an enormous bow.
“I don’t know,” I hemmed. “It kind of has a nautical vibe, and I don’t want to give him any false signals.”
“Ahoy, Adam, let’s set sail!” Ellie joked. “Good point. Ooh, what about those jeans and we tie this scarf as a halter?” She waved an impossibly tiny floral square like a flag. On Ellie, such a top would look cute and chic, whereas I’d probably land in jail for public indecency.
I grabbed a black knit jumpsuit that would hopefully signal casual and cool at the same time. “I’m just going to go with this, I think.”
“Oh, okay. But with heels?” She reached for the crazily tall shoes from her birthday.
I shook my head. “Don’t want to risk falling on my face.”
Ellie laughed and settled on my bed to wait while I changed. “He’s a doctor, though. He could fix you.”
“He’s not that kind of doctor.” I pulled the jumpsuit up over my body. “Actually, I saw Adam today.”
“At the hospital?” Ellie threw a hand over her mouth. “Did anyone ‘Connect’ the two of you?”
I half-groaned, half-laughed at her terrible joke, then explained about the eventful elevator ride. “I don’t think anyone realized we’d already met, which is good, because the other nurse who rode up with us is a huge gossip.”
My lip curled as I remembered Amy’s “shocking” news about Dan and Jordan infecting each other with the flu. Though, if I was honest, the way she’d watched Adam like a cartoon coyote ogling a jackrabbit and then attacked him with her bony elbows had bothered me even more.
I still wasn’t certain I was going to go on the cruise, but during a lull in my shift, I’d requested the days off. Only because it was coming up so quickly and if I did decide to go, I couldn’t wait until the last minute to find cover.
“You should change your jewelry,” Ellie suggested. “Those big hoops, maybe?”
I got a text from my mom as I was putting on the hoops.I’m going to take your silence about the Rogers boy as a no.
I winced. Between work and matching on the app, I hadn’t found time to write Mom back.Sorry, I typed, but before I could add that I’d been busy, another message came through.
But Patrick has a friend who’s available to come with you to the wedding!She attached a picture of my teenage brother standing next to another boy in front of the local hardware store.
“Oh my gosh,” I groaned.
“Did Adam cancel?” Ellie demanded.
“It’s my mom. She wants me to go to Beth’s wedding with a high school student.” Mom thought that attending alone would invite the relatives to comment on me being single and ask me questions about my ex-boyfriend. She probably wasn’t wrong, but I’d rather deal with Aunt Kathy’s insensitive remarks than go with some random guy.
“What?” Ellie screeched. I showed her the phone. “That’s crazy! Just tell her you’re fine going alone.”
“I can try...” My mom didn’t tend to take no for an answer.
The matter needed delicate handling so I lead with some humor.I don’t really want to rob the cradle, lol.
Mom replied immediately.Okay... Your dad has a coworker who’s single. Let me see if I can find his picture!
