Page 10 of Necessary Roughness

The three of them cackled like Jordan’s possessions on the front lawn was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

“Why the end of the month?”

“We have another roommate moving in,” Becky sang out. “She’s doing all the housework and paying twice as much for the space.”

All three stood up from her couch in unison. She watched them straighten their clothes, fluffing hair that was fried from too much time with the flatiron. Jordan almost laughed when she saw Madison teetering on her five-inch stiletto-heeled boots. It wasn’t kind, but perhaps Madison should stick with shoes she could actually walk in.

“It was nice to meet you ladies. I wish you luck in the future,” Jordan said. They were bitches who deserved every bit of misery that came their way, but taking the high road never hurt.

Madison whipped around while climbing the stairs. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Jordan watched with fascination as Madison teetered, teetered, and finally lost her balance. It looked like dominos falling. She, Blair, and Becky slid down the basement stairs and ended up in a heap. The resulting shrieking and shoving wouldn’t have been out of place in a roller-derby match. It didn’t seem like anyone was hurt. Well, maybe their pride.

The three women managed to untangle themselves and flounced up the stairs. Madison flipped off Jordan as she went. Jordan sank down on her couch and put her face in her hands. She did not want to go through this again, but it looked like she had no choice. It was time to boot up her laptop and start looking for somewhere else to live.

***

THE NEXT MORNING, Jordan checked her smartwatch three times in five minutes. Tanner was late. She’d tossed and turned last night thinking about finding another place to live. When she wasn’t worrying about that, she wished she could come up with one snarky thing to say to him. Just one. It was like a three-day-old kitten attempting to start something with a Saint Bernard. The Saint Bernard would regard her pityingly, pivot on his good leg, and clomp out of the office. He’d pee on something on his way out too.

He could really get under her skin for some unknown reason, but then he’d do or say something sweet and she was totally confused. She kept thinking about the day she gave him the recommendation to Dr. Emma’s practice. She expected him to snap at her, but he was kind. Who knew? Some days, though, he brought the sarcasm, and she couldn’t resist letting him have it too. He brought out a side of her she didn’t think existed before the first day he’d walked into Eastside PT.

She glanced at her smartwatch again. Seconds afterward, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Marco didn’t want his employees on their phones during work hours, but Marco wasn’t in today. The number was unfamiliar to her. She hit Answer. She could hang up if it was a telemarketer.

“This is Jordan.”

“Good morning, Jordan. It’s Harrison Lane. Tanner’s had a bit of an accident. He won’t be in today.”

“What?”

“He’s on his way to the hospital. He wiped out in the shower this morning. He’ll probably need more surgery to repair what happened.” Harrison let out a sigh. “I told him. Everyone told him. He wouldn’t listen and now—oh, forget it.”

“Where is he going?” came out of Jordan’s mouth before she could stop it.

“He’s being taken to Virginia Mason in Seattle. They’re on Broadway. This probably means he won’t be at physical therapy for a while.”

“I see,” she said. She clicked over to her schedule on her phone. “Thanks for letting me know.”

Harrison had left his business card in her work space when he had dropped off Tanner yesterday. She’d e-mailed him this morning. He was a real estate agent, and she needed somewhere to live. Yesterday. If worse came to worst, she could move in with her parents for a couple of weeks, but she’d rather find another place instead. She loved her mom and dad. They’d welcome her with open arms. The problem: she’d like to meet someone special, and “Hey, want to spend the night at my mom and dad’s?” was a pretty big cock block.

“Anytime,” Harrison said. “Obviously, I got your e-mail. I’ll look at what’s on the market today and let you know if there’s a place that would work for you. We can talk later about pre-qualifying and what you’re interested in.”

She probably pre-qualified for a tent in the park in Sea-Tac, but she wasn’t telling him that yet. “I’d love that.”

“Great,” he said. “Talk with you later.”

His phone disconnected.

She sat on the weight bench in her area for a couple of minutes, staring into space. What the hell had Tanner done to himself? Even weirder, why did she care? She tried to remind herself that she didn’t want to spend any time with him at all outside of PT time, but she was already moving to the front desk. Maybe she should drive to the hospital and see if she could be of help. It wasn’t like she was doing PT with someone who’d just reinjured himself, but she might be able to find out if this was a huge setback or a couple-of-weeks’ annoyance. She could puzzle over later why she felt such a need to go find out how badly a man who allegedly bugged the crap out of her had injured himself.

“Hey. How much will I owe you for rescheduling this afternoon’s appointments?” she said to the receptionist. There were only two. One of them was a guy who’d cancelled his past five appointments, so the chances were good he wasn’t showing up anyway.

“I’ll take some cookies from Hoffman’s Bakery as payment,” the receptionist said.

“Done. I’ll be in tomorrow.”

***

IT WAS A goddamn good thing that Tanner had had the presence of mind to bring his phone (encased in a sealed Ziploc bag) into the shower with him. If he wiped out, at least he could call for help. Maybe he needed one of those “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” buttons or something. He hadn’t even washed his hair yet when he’d slipped in the water and landed flat on his back. He managed to shove himself across the shower floor to grab the phone on the built-in bench and dial 911. He hit Harrison’s number seconds afterward. He unlocked the security gate and his front door via phone before things got a bit fuzzy.

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