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For some reason, I kept thinking about the hospital here. The waiting room filled with people. Nurses scrambling around. And Dr. Kay. The only one on the floor.
It was wild.
Granted, this hospital was smaller than where I worked in the city, but still. I was sure they were searching for more providers, but I knew they were hard to come by. Everyone knew. And as I’d scanned over the chart notes for the patients in my unit, I felt grateful they were in good hands while I was gone…which made me wonder whose hands my mom would be in if Dr. Kay wasn’t there. If he was sick for a day. When he went to retire.
“Goddammit,” Cheryl huffed and flattened her cards on the table. “Are you cheating, Reese?”
“Me?” I balked and then laughed. “You know I could never.”
“I can tell—I can always tell when she’s lying,” Mom said and then tapped on the table. “Look at me.”
I smiled and complied, staring into her eyes. I wasn’t worried. One, I wasn’t cheating; Cheryl was just a sore loser. And two, Mom wasn’t that perceptive.Obviously.
“Are you hiding something from us?”
My smile faltered. She didn’t ask if I was cheating at cards. She asked if I was hiding something. And for a second, I had to wonder if maybe she did realize—if somehow, she knew I was keeping something from her.
Decker.
I’d replied to him in one-word answers all day except for the message where I’d told him he was “sick.” That earned me some silence for a while. Long enough that it really started to eat at me. Here I was, practically forcing this man into a farce of a relationship, and then the second he got too close, I inflicted him with an unknown illness to keep him away.
Nice, Reese.
“I’m not cheating,” I answered, firming my smile as I popped a pink jelly bean into my mouth.
The phone rang, putting an end to the conversation.
“Who’s calling this late?” Cheryl grumbled and rose to pick it up.
I checked my watch. It was only a little past ten. We’d done Chinese food for dinner, reruns ofFriendsduring dessert, and then Mom wanted some poker. Something with sense and strategy so she didn’t feel as helpless as she was.
As long as she didn’t ask for Decker, I didn’t care.
I reached for the stack of cards to shuffle them. “I’ll deal.”
“Reese, it’s for you.”
I looked over, my brow scrunched.
“It’s Decker, honey,” Cheryl added, motioning for me to hurry up like he’d disappear if I didn’t speak to him instantly.
“Why is he calling the house? Where’s your phone? Have you checked on him recently?”
“Mom,” I warned and then shrugged. “I must’ve left my phone in my room. And I’m sure he’s fine.”
In fact, I was very, very sure.
“Hello?” I took the phone from Cheryl and answered.
“I’m not sorry about the kiss, Reese, but if you want to break up, I understand.”
I quickly turned so Mom and Cheryl couldn’t see my face. “No. I mean, that’s not—”
“Reese, is he okay?” Mom called.
I took a deep breath and muttered, “Hold on.” Turning, I answered her. “He’s doing okay. Just getting ready for bed.”
“Oh, am I?” His voice rumbled low in my ear, and that was all it took to bring me back to last night—to the things he’d actually whispered to me.
