“Okay,” she replied around a huge yawn. “But somebody’s going to have to help me comb out and plait my hair when I’m finished.”
“I can help with the combing,” Mina said. “But not the plaiting.”
“It’s my ankle that’s hurt,” Miss Pearl interjected, sounding put out. “I’ll plait it for you when you’re ready.”
When Charm had gone to shower and Kiah was in the kitchen, Mina fiddled with the remote, trying to find the older woman something to watch on TV.
“Leave that, Mina,” Miss Pearl said, the timber of her voice commanding. “I want to ask you something.”
“Okay,” she said, giving the other woman her undivided attention.
“One of the mothers on the trip is a nurse at the hospital, and she says there’s talk that Dr. Hamilton has offered to bring you on staff.”
“I heard the same thing.”
Kiah’s voice was unruffled, and unexpected, since she hadn’t heard him enter the room. When she glanced at him, his expression was neutral, but his gaze was watchful.
She felt put on the spot, especially when looking from one to the other she encountered equally questioning gazes.
“It’s true,” she said, trying not to sound defensive. Then she held up her hand. “But before you start cross-questioning me as to why I didn’t mention it, I wanted to think the offer through, before either giving him an answer or telling you both about it. And I also got an email, just yesterday, offering me a position at Toronto South. So I have to take that into consideration, too.”
There was a clatter, as Kiah dropped something and it fell to the floor. When Mina finally looked his way, it was no use, since he was bending down to pick the utensil up off the floor, and she couldn’t see his face.
“So have you made a decision?” That came from Miss Pearl, while Kiah went back to laying out the cutlery on the dining table.
Mina took a deep breath and kept her gaze fixed on the older woman. She didn’t know how Kiah would react to what she was going to say next, and wasn’t at all sure she wanted to see.
“I haven’t. I spoke to Dr. Hamilton today, asking for more time to decide.”
“Well, I hope you make the right choice,” the old lady said, more than a touch of asperity in her tone. “I’m not surprised at either of those offers, but I know which one I think is the best fit for you.”
“Well, they both came as a surprise to me,” Mina confessed. “I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to continue practicing medicine, despite all the encouragement I was given after the accident. And I have to say, it’s nice to have options again.”
Even if both those options left her in an untenable situation.
“We’ll have to prepare Charmaine, in any event,” Miss Pearl said. “If you decide to go back to Canada right away, she’ll be sorely disappointed.”
That caused a hard pang of guilt and pain, but Mina acknowledged the truth of the statement. Charm had stolen a big piece of her heart.
“But—”
“Leave it now, Granny.”
Kiah’s tone brooked no argument, and even though the older woman pressed her lips together, she didn’t say anything more. Mina turned in time to see his back disappearing down the corridor to the kitchen, and even just the way he was walking told her he was angry. Miss Pearl looked toward him, too, and then back at Mina.
“You better go talk to him, child. He’s upset.”
Mina had to squelch the urge to put her fingers in her ears like a child, and insist she didn’t want to, but, with a sigh, she stood.
“I guess I should,” she said.
Miss Pearl held out her hand for the remote and Mina handed it over, before heading for the kitchen, trying not to drag her feet as she went.
Kiah was at the stove, stirring a pot of what smelled like beef stew, the microwave humming in the corner. He didn’t look up when she came in, although she knew, without a doubt, he was aware of her entrance.
“Hey,” she said, pausing at the end of the counter, where she could see his profile. “Are you angry?”
His eyebrows raised fractionally, then fell back into place. “Why would I be angry?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “Because I didn’t tell you about Dr. Hamilton’s offer, or the one from Toronto South? Something like that?”
He grunted but didn’t say anything, and Mina felt her annoyance level rising. This was Kiah at his uncommunicative best, and it never failed to rile her up. But this time she was determined not to get sucked in.
“I didn’t tell you when the offers came in, because I really needed to think it through. To my mind, it didn’t make sense getting everyone, especially Charm, wrought up over something I hadn’t figured out yet. I’ve been drifting along, letting things happen to me, rather than taking the initiative. That needs to stop.”
Kiah’s lips firmed, but he still didn’t reply, and Mina sighed.
“Okay, listen,” she said, letting some of her irritation bleed into her tone. “Whatever it is you’re thinking, let me know when you’re ready to share. Because I’m not standing here and letting you make me feel as though I’ve done something wrong, when I haven’t. I’m trying to do the best I can, and if you can’t figure that out, tough cookies.”
Then she turned and left, hugging her exasperation close, so as not to let any other emotion take over.
Damn Mina.
Kiah tossed the spoon into the pot and just barely missed getting splashed with hot stew.
Of course, he was angry.
Even more so now, after her pseudo explanation.
Was sleeping with him one of those things she’d drifted into? From Kiah’s perspective, it seemed as though that was something she’d wanted, nearly as much as he had.
And drifting into the job here had done her a world of good, helping to put to rest her worries
