“You’re concerned about me being alone while you go away. And since I refuse more nurses and therapists, at least for a while, maybe she will be the answer.”
“Why do you think that? You’ve met her once. For the space of a lunch.” Cal frowned.
“She massaged my arm and I’m not in any pain.”
“What? Where? Did you two go somewhere?”
“Nope. Right there in the restaurant. We were about to leave and she started stroking my arm. The pain went away and so far it hasn’t come back.”
“And you let this happen?”
Cal knew how sensitive Jake had become to people touching him. Most of them didn’t want to make contact. It was only the professionals who wanted to examine him, using the royal we to ask how he was doing.
“I didn’t have much of a choice.” Jake remembered how she’d begun. He would have stopped her, but the pain was subsiding and he couldn’t refuse the relief.
“And you think this person you met on the street can fill the job.”
“Not exactly I think she’ll fill your requirement that there is someone here in case of emergency and to make sure I get to appointments on time. And that’s why you get to do the digging.”
“All right,” Cal agreed. “I’ll check her out.”
“Cal.” Jake’s voice held a warning. “Don’t veto her just because she isn’t the nurse or therapy type you usually find.”
“I’ll be as thorough as possible. I don’t want to be leaving you with a stranger who has no credentials.”
“Don’t make that sound like she might have a criminal record.”
“I’ll check that out too,” Cal said as if the thought had just come to him.
Jake knew it hadn’t, but he decided to ignore the comment. When his brother said he’d be thorough, he meant it. Both of them would need to know if she had a criminal record.
“One more thing, Cal. She said she’s leaving the city soon, beginning a career somewhere else. That might be a problem.”
“If all goes well, I’ll contact her to see if she’ll take the job, at least until I return.” Caleb was a consulting engineer on a number of projects and traveled often.
Jake silently agreed with the plan. He just realized that he’d campaigned for Lauren. What was it about her that made him want to spend more time with her? They’d been in each other’s presence for only two hours at the most and he was willing to spend time with her each day.
This was wrong, Jake thought. He didn’t need anyone around to babysit him. He had a housekeeping staff that kept the place clean and a food service that managed his meals. He had a driver to take him anywhere he needed to go. Even if Lauren checked out, he could let her go if he had to as soon as Cal left for his job.
And he couldn’t be inconveniencing Lauren. She could go to her new place and begin her new career, whatever that was, sooner than she expected. It would work out for both of them.
However, before she left he’d get her to tell him what she did to his arm to relieve the pain.
Copyright © 2020 by Shirley Hailstock
ISBN-13: 9781488061820
A Bridesmaid to Remember
Copyright © 2020 by Amy Vastine
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