Page 114 of Love Medley
My heart spasming inside of me, I realize I can’t give up on her because of one panicked moment. I will show up and support her the way she’s always done for me. And I'll keep doing so until she tells me to stop.
Being there for her is more important than whether or not we make it as a couple.
What does Lucy need most right now?
And then it comes to me. She needs what I already promised her I’d do.
I shoot off a quick text to Trix, and she immediately responds that she’ll meet me at Bill’s.
Twenty minutes later, I pull into Bill’s parking lot—I’ve lost count as to how many times I’ve been here thismonth.
As I enter, Bill gives me a friendly wave as he expertly flips burgers at the grill. “Hey, Jake! Good to see you again so soon! Your regular?”
“Hey, Bill.” While I’m glad to see him, I still have to plaster on a smile I don’t feel. It’s unusual for me to feel so out of sorts here—but what’s going on with Lucy trumps everything. “Not yet. Have some business with a friend.”
His eyes twinkle. “Ah. You’ll find her in the back booth. Just let me know when you want your burger started.”
“Will do,” I say.
Trix likes the back booth—it’s far enough away from other people, and Bill knows to not bother her when she’s working. She has her headphones on, so I have to tap her shoulder to get her attention. Her piercing blue eyes meet mine only briefly before returning to her computer.
“Hey, Jake,” Trix says, the flow of typing never faltering.
“Hey,” I say, fighting a grin for the first time since I left Lucy’s apartment. Gotta love how focused Trix is. “New project?”
“I’m just cleaning out my inbox right now, but we do have something new,” she says. “I’m not personally working on it, but we hired a new consultant, and she brought this neat idea with her.”
“Anything I should know about?” I’m always interested to know what she’s working on, especially with TechMedCo’s focus on the medical field.
“Actually,” Trix says, finally pushing away her laptop, “you might. It’s an app for evaluating heart attack risk. And the app’s data is looking impressive—over 99 percent accuracy.”
I remember Frank from my ER shift a few weeks ago, the man who inadvertently brought Lucy and me together. God, I miss her.
“Damn. That’s amazing,” I say, my eyebrows raised. Can it really be that good? Seems implausible. But then again, this is Trix; I would never bet against her.
“Well, I can’t take credit,” Trix says, a strange gleam in her eye. “My consultant, Sydney Rose, did the bulk of the work. Everyone’s pretty excited.”
Trix doesn’t date, but I can sense something in her tone—admiration? “So… you and Sydney?”
She blushes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Trix blush. “We’re working together. Not a good idea.”
“I’m sure someone as smart as you can get around that problem,” I laugh.
“Anyway,” Trix says, changing the subject. “Tell me why you need my help.”
I’ll have to ask her about Sydney later, but I need to stay focused on helping Lucy. “I want you to look into someone. Weston Ashcroft.”
“Is that the asshole that’s been terrorizing Lucy?”
I should have realized that Trix was paying attention. “Yeah, that one.”
“Sure thing. It won’t take me too long—I should have some info in a fewhours. I’ll text you.”
“That would be great.”
Trix looks at me for a long moment. “Okay, Jake, you know that I’m not good with facial expressions. Is there something going on with you and Lucy or do you just have indigestion?”
I bury my face in my hands. “I don’t fucking know! It was going so well and now it feels like it’s over.”
