Page 28 of Falling for the Knockout

“There’s nothing really to spill,” Reacher mumbled sinking onto the couch next to her.

“Okay, then why the long face every time I bring up my son switching nights with you?” she asked.

“I’m not upset about switching nights with Yonkers. Wren deserves a night on the town,” he said.

“She does, I just wish that they’d let me babysit my granddaughter for them. They think that she’s a burden, but she’s not at all,” Gloria insisted.

“Wren and Yonkers just worry that she’ll be too much for you to handle until you’re better,” he said, trying to make her feela little bit better. “Plus, Hurricane, Tina, and Chasity were very happy to take her for the night, as I’m very happy to be here with you for the night.”

“Okay, now you’re just pissing me off, James Reacher,” she said. “What is going on with you tonight and why do I keep getting the feeling that you’re not being truthful with me?”

“I’m being truthful, Gloria, I’m just leaving some of the bits and pieces out of the story,” he admitted.

“Well, then, let’s have them,” she insisted. Gloria stared him down, waiting for him to spill his guts and he sighed, knowing that resistance was futile.

“Fine, I was supposed to meet with a guy about a job tonight,” he admitted.

“Is it that job that you told me about down at the docks?” she asked. As a biochemist, he was trained to handle dangerous chemicals, and working down at the docks would be perfect for him.

“It is,” he admitted. “I would have been the manager of chemical removal at three warehouses down there and the guy that I was supposed to have drinks with tonight would have possibly been able to get me in to interview.”

“And you gave up that chance to babysit me?” she asked.

“I can reschedule,” he insisted.

“Have you canceled yet?” Gloria asked.

“Um, no, but I was going to call him in a few minutes,” Reacher said. He didn’t want to just text the guy, and their meeting wasn’t for another two hours, so calling would be the polite wayto go for canceling.

“No, you won’t be canceling your meeting. I can call my new home care nurse to come sit with me for a few hours while you go and network. This job is too important to you, James. Besides, you would make an old lady feel horrible if you gave up this opportunity just to sit around with me.”

“Not a chance,” Reacher insisted. “You haven’t even met your new at-home nurse. How do you know that she’ll just come over?” he asked.

“I don’t but I can find out,” Gloria said, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. Reacher was about to protest when she held up her finger, signaling for him to give her a minute. “Hello, I’m trying to reach Brandi,” she said. Reacher waited her out while she told Brandi the whole story, including a few facts about him that he wasn’t sure the new nurse should know. Gloria was a bit biased, but she seemed to take great pleasure in telling Brandi how handsome he was. And when she got to the part about him being a scientist, he rolled his eyes at her, garnering him a smile.

When she finally ended the call, she looked over at Reacher and simply said, “It’s done.” As though she was acting out a scene from the Godfather movie or something.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he said, “especially the part about you telling your new nurse that I’m handsome.”

She giggled, “Well, you are handsome, James. Brandi will be here in twenty minutes,” she said. “And I want to hear all about your meeting tomorrow when you stop by to see me.”

“How do you know that I’ll be back tomorrow?” he asked.

She smiled at him and shrugged. “Just a hunch,” she breathed.

Brandi

Brandie Washington didn’t know much about her new home care patient, other than the fact that the woman was battling breast cancer for a second time. As a home care nurse, she got to see a lot of people, and most of them were in the end stages of cancer treatment. She knew not to get attached, but sometimes, that was easier said than done. Her last patient proved to be nearly impossible to forget, especially since the woman had left Brandi her cat after she passed. How could she say no? She couldn’t and that’s how she ended up with a geriatric, overweight cat named Mr. Cuddles Worth. Agreeing to take him wasn’t her finest decision, but she couldn’t just let the pound come and grab him after he had just lost his owner.

Sneaking him past her landlord was a pain, but she couldn’t keep him concealed forever. The old cat must have weighed about twenty pounds or so and he was probably half deaf, given the way that he shouted at her every morning for food.

When her new client called her to come over for a couple of hours, she wanted to tell her no. It had been an awful week,and the thought of putting back on her scrubs and wrapping her dinner up wasn’t one that she relished. She’d just have to eat dinner later—something that she was used to working all hours of the day and night. She never had a regular meal and catching up on cleaning and laundry was nearly impossible. Brandi usually threw herself into the job, no matter the circumstances, and that left her very little time for anything else.

She got dressed while her cat gave her the death stare from her bedroom doorway. “I’m sorry, Mr. Cuddles Worth. I need to go over to a new client’s house for a little bit. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she assured. The cat squinted his eyes at her and for some crazy reason, she thought for sure that he was calling her a liar with just a simple look. “Judgey,” she accused.

She grabbed her bag and jacket, tugging it on as she walked out the front door, turning back to lock up. With any luck, she could meet Gloria and do a quick intake before leaving her for the evening. Brandi hoped to sleep in her own bed tonight for a change.

She was pleasantly surprised to find that it took only fifteen minutes to drive over to Gloria’s home in Yonkers, although she knew that wouldn’t be the case tomorrow morning during rush hour. Her fifteen-minute trip would most likely become an hour ordeal, and she made a mental note to get up thirty minutes earlier to accommodate the traffic.

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