Page 97 of Second Act
Chapter 22
A text pinged on Jessica’s phone as she finished up the notes on her last patient. It was probably Aidan. After she had told him about Hugh, her brother had appointed himself her sympathetic guardian, checking up on her multiple times a day. He even informed her he’d sent a blistering text message to Hugh, telling him what a heartless jerk he was. That had actually made Jessica smile, albeit with a sad twist. It took all her willpower not to ask if Hugh had responded.
The thought of Hugh sent a dagger thrust lancing through her, and she had to lean against the counter for a moment to get through the pain of his absence. She hadn’t expected to feel this level of anguish. Hugh had only been back in her life for a few weeks. How had he become so necessary to her?
She sucked in a couple of shallow breaths before she pulled out her phone. She might as well send Aidan a reassuring message.
But the text wasn’t from her brother. It was from Pete. She opened it with trepidation.
I know tomorrow is your day off, so I hoped I might be able to buy you a friendly drink, emphasis on “friendly.” Aidan says you could use one.
Jessica groaned. Aidan had evidently decided that five days was all she needed to get over Hugh, and it was time for her to move on. Or move back to Pete. But the truth was that she had been dreading the long, empty hours of her day off. She could use a drink with a friend. Maybe she should go.
Just then, Tiana ushered in a golden retriever mix and his owner. “Looks like Casimir has a hematoma in his right ear,” the vet tech said.
Jessica shoved her phone back in her pocket and forgot about the text. Until another ping sounded a couple of hours later.
I’m thinking Aidan might be wrong. Feel free to disregard my earlier text. No offense will be taken.
He sounded so Iowan somehow that a little wave of homesickness struck her. It might be a good distraction to talk about things so different from Hugh. Before she could change her mind, she typed back:A friendly drink would be nice. What time?
Pete texted back that he would pick her up at six. Now all the reasons she shouldn’t do this flitted around in her brain like bats, the principal one being that Pete might read something into it that wasn’t and would never be there.
She shrugged. He’d been the one to put the emphasis on “friendly,” so he should have no illusions.
Jessica swallowed the last of her Manhattan and ordered another one, even though she knew she had drunk the first one too quickly. She and Pete were at the same bar where they’d met for their last date, but this time they sat in wooden chairs on opposite sides of a square, tile-topped table. No more banquette seating. Pete was sticking to the “just friends” script like a champ. He must have come straight from work, becausehe wore khakis and a deep blue, button-down shirt that made his hair seem more golden than usual.
She wore jeans and a lavender sweater, her hair in a loose ponytail, keeping it casual and low-key, the way she wanted their friendship to be.
They’d talked about her patients, Pete’s business trip to Vancouver, and some old friends from Iowa. The only personal topic had touched on Aidan. Pete had volunteered that Aidan’s boss raved about his coding skills, which made Jessica proud and glad for her brother.
“He’s always been a tech whiz,” she said, picking up the fresh Manhattan the waiter had just delivered. “What he does is way beyond my comprehension.”
“Mine, too,” Pete said, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he grimaced.
Jessica took a sip of her drink and fixed him with a skeptical stare. “I think you downplay your expertise. A lot.”
“I have to understand what the guys like Aidan are doing in a conceptual way, but I’d flounder around like a mule in a mud hole if you asked me to actually do it.”
Jessica laughed at his simile. The combination of his folksy speech and the alcohol made her bold. “Since we’re just friends now, I have something to ask you.”
“Okay.” He put down his beer.
“We didn’t part on cordial terms, so why did you invite me out tonight?”
He sat back in his chair, making the wood creak. “I regretted our leaving it like that. And by the way, I think Hugh Baker is a complete idiot.”
“Oh God, I’m going to kill Aidan.” She took an oversized gulp of Manhattan and coughed at the burn of alcohol.
“He’s protective, like any good brother.”
“And he overshares.” But Jessica was touched by Aidan’s vocal concern.
Pete snared her with his pale blue gaze. “I’d rather have you in my life on your terms than not have you here at all.”
Pleasure and discomfort spun in her chest, combining with the drink to make her a little dizzy.
Pete took a swallow of beer. “Look, I know I came on strong right away in our relationship. Maybe I pushed too hard. But when you find someone you know is special, someone who makes everything in the world look better and brighter when you’re with them, you go after that person with all you’ve got, because they don’t come around so often.”
