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Noah cracked a smile.
“Good.”
27
One month later
It had been one of those days.
The ER was packed from the second Claire walked in to the moment she made her way back to her car. She’d officially transitioned and her responsibilities as an NP were different than they used to be as a nurse, but it definitely wasn’t easier.
She didn’t mind being busy, but it just so happened several things had reminded her of Graham today, which threw her off-kilter.
She’d spent the past month thinking, healing, and giving a relationship with Matt the dentist a fair shot.
He was as hot in person as his picture portrayed. Even better, he was as kind and funny in person as he’d been through messaging. He’d also been very up front about his divorce, which had been finalized a year ago, and no current girlfriends showed up to interrupt their first date. It was going surprisingly well.
As far as getting over Graham, some days were easier than others. But this past week in particular Claire had actually felt the possibility that she might be moving past what happened.
Which was why everything that happened today was so irritating. Could the universe not let her move on?
First, she saw Marvin, which sent her back to the night Graham had witnessed their good-night kiss. Which then shifted her memory to her first kiss with Graham, which had been incredible. Her traitorous heart compared it to her first kiss with Matt, which, while it had been sweet and surprisingly pleasant, had no hope of toppling Graham from first place on her list of Best First Kisses.
She saw Dr. Mackey, the orthopedic surgeon who’d done Graham’s surgery the day of the accident, and he stopped to ask her how Graham was doing. Too embarrassed to say she didn’t know, she lied and said he was doing great.
She didn’t know if he was great or not. She hadn’t even let herself ask Mia if she’d seen or talked to him. The one time she had, the week he’d moved out, it had been too painful. He should have been out of his cast for two months by now. Was he walking normally? Going into the mountains with that breathtaking smile on his face, using the fresh air and adventure to forget about her and what happened?
Then, a firefighter came in. Turned out to be a sprained ankle from playing volleyball at the station, but anytime she saw someone brought back in that navy uniform her heart temporarily ceased beating.
Have you considered you’ll have the same reaction for the rest of your life, whether you’re with Graham or not? You let yourself get in too deep, and you’ll never go back.
She frowned at the thought as she walked to her car, telling her subconscious to shut the hell up. Her phone rang just as she tossed her purse onto the passenger seat and she dug it out before starting the ignition.
She glanced at the screen and winced, knowing she couldn’t keep avoiding her best friend.
“Hey, Mia.”
“Whoa, sorry,” came Mia’s voice. “I wasn’t prepared to interact with a live person. I had my standardHey, it’s Mia, remember me? Call me backready to go.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t.” Claire stopped short of giving excuses like,Work’s been busyorI wasn’t feeling well for a few days, because they were bullshit and they both knew it.
She wasn’t even sure she could fully explain why she’d put off talking to Mia. She missed her friend’s company and always felt better after spending time with her.
But Mia knew Claire better than anyone. She’d see too much and might ask questions Claire wasn’t ready to answer. For once, she was trying to sort through things on her own.
The emotional roller coaster she’d gone through at work today indicated it wasn’t quite working out as planned. It was probably time to hash things out with Mia, something they’d done countless times throughout their friendship.
She’d been a coward to put it off in the first place.
“No problem.” Another thing Claire loved about Mia—she didn’t hold grudges. “But I’m seeing you tonight and I won’t accept no for an answer. If you don’t want to go anywhere I’ll just come over.”
Even if Claire hadn’t come to her senses in the last two minutes, it was nice to know Mia would have forced the issue. Sometimes good friends had to barge in uninvited to get shit done.
“We can go somewhere,” Claire said. “I have some questionable stains on my scrubs, though, and based on the caliber of patients I saw I’d like to go home and change first.”
Mia emitted a grossed-out sound. “Please do.”
They decided to meet at a casual café halfway between their places, and half an hour later they were seated across from one another on the patio. They kept the conversation light while they ate and Claire’s ravenous stomach appreciated that. Being hangry wouldn’t encourage a calm, reasonable mindset.
