Page 19 of Heartbreak Hill

“You busy?”

“Nah, just sort of going through the motions. I pretend I’m busy, though, so they don’t fire me.”

“Would they?”

“I hope not. Honestly, being here sucks.”

“I get it. You’re probably spending all your time reading obituaries.”

Reid said nothing.

“Don’t tell me you are! I was kidding.”

“No, I’m not. I hadn’t thought about doing that. I think it would be weird to know someone died and then Grayson’s awake.”

“Awkward.”

Reid groaned. “What are you doing? Why aren’t you working?” Melanie sold high-end real estate in Baltimore. She’d graduated from American with a degree in business and had fallen into the real estate market shortly after graduation.

“Waiting for my next showing.”

“What football player are you selling a mega-house to now?”

Melanie laughed. “Nothing like that. I was thinking I’d come up after my showing, though. Spend the weekend.”

As much as she wanted to see her best friend, she didn’t want to miss time with Grayson. “I ... uh.”

“I know, you want to sit in the hospital with Grayson. I’m good with that, but we’ll also hang with Pearce, get something to eat, sit on your couch, and eat Dibs. I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Reid sighed as she gave in. “Fine.”

“And because I love you so much, I’ll come right to the hospital. Make sure I’m on Grayson’s list.”

“I will. Call me when you get there.”

“Love you.” Melanie disconnected the call.

Reid took her earbud out, then picked up the receiver of her desk phone and dialed Pearce’s extension. “Can you come to my office?” she asked when he picked up.

“Am I coming to HR because I’m in trouble, or is this a social visit?”

“Social,” she told him. Anytime HR had to talk to Grayson or Pearce, Reid made sure it was one of the other staffers. She never wanted to give any employees an excuse to accuse her of favoritism.

Moments later, Pearce strolled into the office, which had a large receptionist’s desk and four cubicles, one for each staffer. Only the director had a private, behind-closed-doors office.

“Hey, just here to see Reid,” she heard Pearce say. She leaned over her chair, her head hanging past her partition.

“Hey,” she said when he came into view.

“What’s up?” Pearce sat in the extra chair in her office. Both he and Grayson sat there often when they came to “shoot the shit” with her. Part of her hated that they treated her like one of the guys, but if they didn’t, she wouldn’t spend nearly as much time with Grayson. Maybe that was her problem—she was one of the guys, when she wanted to be the only woman in Grayson’s life. Aside from his mom.

“Mel’s coming to town tonight. She wants to hang out this weekend. Do you have plans tomorrow?”

Pearce waggled his eyebrows.

Reid swatted his legs. “Uh, did you forget you’re getting married?”

His face scrunched. “Yeah, about that.”

---