Page 19 of Beneath Her Hands
“I mean she’s traveled farther, but you both have similar jobs, similar backgrounds, at least somewhat, and I bet you get along well with each other,” Robert said.
Jane’s face fell into incredulousness before she thought to school her expression. Robert laughed out loud.
“So, you challenge each other,” he said. A statement, not a question.
“You could certainly say that,” Jane answered and shook her head.
“That explains a lot. Rosalind was always interested in a good challenge. Though I wonder what she’ll do after, well…” he gestured to the hospital room.
“She hasn’t really said,” Jane answered. “I can’t imagine she’d be happy just sticking around here, though.”
“Neither will you,” Robert said with a knowing smile.
“What gives you that impression?” Jane asked, feeling slightly flustered.
“Just a hunch,” he answered.
Rosalind and her mother walked back into the room as Robert settled into his bed.
“Well, I’ll give you some privacy,” Jane said quickly.
“No reason to rush out,” her mother spoke, but Jane was already halfway out the door. Rosalind watched her with pressed lips, almost like she wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Jane pushed through the door without looking back. She knew she couldn’t face Rosalind right now. She had to sort out her own feelings, and for some reason, Robert’s kind words and admiration for his daughter had gotten to her. Jane could admit that all the hero worship that surrounded Rosalind bothered her, she could even admit that she was jealous of Rosalind and her life full of adventure and travel. Jane had never really had that option; there was too much at stake, too muchresponsibility, that held her here in Phoenix Ridge. She couldn’t just walk away from the job and her family like that; her parents depended on her. Jane shook her head as she walked down the hallway toward her office. She had to pull herself together. That was probably all this was anyway—everyone hyped up Rosalind so much that it would be surprising if everyone wasn’t attracted to her already.
The family loyalty surprised her, though. She hadn’t thought about how hard it must have been for Rosalind to come home after all these years to care for her family. This was something she took for granted—she’d always taken care of everyone around her. Of course, taking care of a sick father would always be difficult, but there was a whole new layer of depth to Rosalind that Jane hadn’t realized. She wondered if Rosalind even thought of Phoenix Ridge as her home or just the place where she was raised. She certainly seemed uncomfortable in the position.
Jane took her coat off and hung it on a peg behind her desk. She sat down and flipped through some charts but didn’t really look at them. Her eyes scanned the room, set up almost identically to Dr. Mars, and she had a sudden distressing emotion come over her. What was she doing with her life, really? Was she just going to stay here in this position marking time until she retired? Would she ever allow herself the chance to travel? To grow? Was this it? Tears pricked at her eyes as the feeling washed over her. She loved her job, and she had so much to be grateful for, so why was this feeling of emptiness so overwhelming? The thought of Rosalind warmed her. She tried to figure out why she was fighting this. Rosalind seemed to be attracted to her also, but to what end? Her father would not be around much longer, so Jane wondered again if Rosalind would just leave once he was gone, and if she did, where would that leave them?
Jane shook her head again, trying to dislodge the thoughts. There was a simple way to figure all this out, but the thought made her mouth go dry and her stomach do somersaults. Finally, she stopped fighting with herself and stood up. Taking long purposeful strides, she crossed her office and pulled open the door, but her heart stopped when she found Rosalind standing there, her eyes misty and face taut.
“Everything okay?” Jane asked, immediately reaching for Rosalind without thinking.
Rosalind nodded and took a step back, putting distance between them. Jane fought to shake off the disappointment.
“Is your father…?” Jane asked, her heart fluttering with fear and just a touch of disappointment.
“He’s fine,” Rosalind said, then let out a mirthless chuckle. “Well, he’s still alive and stable. I just… I wanted to say thank you.”
“For what?” Jane asked.
Rosalind lifted her eyes to Jane’s and swallowed. “For being so good to him, he seems very taken with you.”
Jane’s heart fluttered with the echo of Robert’s words to her barely an hour ago.
“There’s no need to thank me, it’s my job,” Jane said and took a step backward to allow space for Rosalind to enter her office.
Rosalind took another step backward and shook her head. “I just wanted to stop by and say that these last few hours have been wonderful; it’s like the universe gave us a chance to say goodbye.”
“I told you I had nothing to do with that, I wish I could explain it,” Jane said with a slight smile.
“I know, I know,” Rosalind said with a wave of her hand. She looked tired, a far cry from the hard-ass sergeant that had started working at this hospital only a couple of days ago. “I should go,” Rosalind said and turned to walk away.
“Rosalind, wait,” Jane said without thinking. The butterflies in her stomach awoke and started fluttering like crazy. Maybe she was crazy. “Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? Maybe Chez Pierre’s?” She looked at Rosalind hopefully. “At eight?”
Rosalind blinked a few times, and Jane’s heart started to sink. She had to be looking for a reason not to, though Jane couldn’t imagine that the woman wouldn’t just tell her no if she didn’t want to go.
“That place is still open?” Rosalind said and began to shake her head. Jane could feel the panic starting to set in. “What about Mario’s?”
