Chapter 8
Jane
Rosalind and her mother had gone to get some dinner, and Jane went in to check on her father.
His mind was still sound, but his health was certainly failing.
The love and care in Rosalind and her mother’s eyes warmed her soul, but she had no medical reason for this turn of events and spent most of the time waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She was sure Rosalind felt the same way, but for now they were taking their borrowed time for all it was worth.
“Hey, Robert, how are you feeling?” Jane asked as she walked into the room.
“I really wish I knew,” he answered honestly. “I’m not in pain, but I just have this feeling… I can’t explain it, like this is it, my last chance.”
Jane nodded as he spoke. It was something of a medical anomaly, there was no real explanation, but almost as often as not, people understood that their body was shutting down and that they were not going to be around much longer, though a situation as strong as this one was rare.
“Rosalind seems very taken with you,” Robert said.
Caught off guard, Jane blinked a few times at the chart she was pretending to look at.
“She didn’t exactly say as much, but she’s always looking for you, always looking at you,” Robert said with a chuckle.
“Well, I, um… that’s flattering,” she finally managed to squeak out.
“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Robert said, seeming to forget that he’d almost made her choke.
“I don’t guess I know her that well, yet,” Jane answered and started fiddling with the machines.
“I wish I could take credit for raising her, but I was always working. I wish I had spent more time with her when I had the chance,” Robert said.
“I know she cares about you and looks up to you,” Jane said, finally looking at him.
“I know; she’s never made that a secret,” Robert said.
“She’s something else, that’s for sure, I think she has a hard time fitting in sometimes,” Jane said.
“She does. She always has,” Robert said. “I think that’s why she joined the military; she was always too big for this city.”
Jane narrowed her eyes at the man.
“I had all these ideas, you know,” Robert said, “and she blew them all away.”
“I don’t understand,” Jane said. She wondered if his mind was starting to slip again.
“I guess as a parent, especially as a father, I just had this idea of what my child was going to grow up to be, and it was never intentional, but she never went the way I expected,” he continued.
“Don’t misunderstand—I’m so glad I was wrong about so many things.
Rosalind turned into something amazing. She’s fought so hard for people who had no one to fight for them, without any personal stake in it.
She just did it. She never complained, she never let the fight die, she always kept going after what would likely have destroyed anyone else.
She’s seen so much, been through so much, and still, she shows up every day. ”
Jane could only nod her head; the emotion in Robert’s voice was almost overwhelming.
“I hate that she had to come home for this, for me,” he finished in almost a whisper.
“She loves you—and your wife,” Jane attempted to reassure him. “She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t want to be.”
“I’m not completely sure I believe that,” Robert said and shook his head. “She was always too big for this city.”
“Maybe so, but she never felt too big for you, or her mother,” Jane said.
“Thanks for that,” he chuckled again and shook his head. “So, what’s your story?”
“I’m sorry?” Jane blinked again. This conversation was giving her whiplash.
“I’ve never seen Rosalind quite like she is with you,” Robert said and grinned. “I’m sure she won’t admit it, but she’s fascinated by you, at the least, and since I know I don’t have much time left, I’d like to know a little more about you,” Robert said.
“Oh… well, I’ve uh, I’ve always been around,” Jane said and furrowed her brows. “My parents were from here, and I never really left, I guess. I have a lot of siblings and mostly take care of my parents now. I’m pretty boring compared to someone like Rosalind.”
“Boring is in the eye of the beholder,” Robert said.
“I don’t think that’s how that saying goes,” Jane said with a smile.
“It’s true, you and Rosie are very different, but I bet on some level you’re not so much,” Robert said. “She just has more mileage.”
Jane furrowed her brow at him.
“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 much responsibility, 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?”
“Mario’s shut down for a few years a while back, but his daughter reopened it about five years ago. I actually haven’t been there, yet, it’s Maria’s now,” Jane answered, unsure whether this was just conversation or suggestion.
“Let’s go there instead. I’m not a big fan of French food,” Rosalind said, then her eyes widened in surprise. Perhaps she hadn’t meant to suggest it after all, but Jane wasn’t going to let it slide.
“Sure,” Jane said with a smile. The butterflies were doing full on tumbling in her stomach now, but Rosalind’s face had brightened, and that had to be a good sign. “Maria’s then, I’ll meet you there?”
Rosalind smiled and turned away from the door. Jane was slightly irked that she couldn’t tell if that was affirmation or not. It didn’t matter, she would go to Maria’s anyway and if Rosalind showed up, then great; if not, she would eat well and get a few margaritas.
She felt as though she was walking on air as she went back to her desk.
Then the apprehension set in. Was this what she wanted to do?
She fought to convince herself that they were just going out to have some fun, nothing serious.
She didn’t want to get too tangled up with someone she barely knew and would likely run out of her life before she could even get comfortable.
That’s all it was, just two colleagues getting dinner.
It would be fine. Yet, the warmth spreading in her belly suggested otherwise.
Checking the time, she realized that eight o’clock wasn’t that far away, she had about thirty minutes to finish up her work and get ready.
She chastised herself for not paying more attention to the time, and she wished she could go home and get ready.
She kept a few changes of clothes here at the hospital, but this was a date, an actual date…
well, maybe. She thought it was, but she had no idea what Rosalind was thinking.
After the times they’d already spent together, it had to be.
It was a date, Jane was sure. Maybe. She huffed at herself and looked down at the computer.
Quickly finishing up the notation in the charts, she put her things away and headed to her in-suite bathroom.
The closet held a couple of outfits and Jane finally chose a cute blue dress that had been in there for a while.
She had brought it in a while back, but it was a little too risqué for the office, though she’d never bothered to take it back home. Jane smiled at her luck.
After a quick shower, she applied some make-up in the mirror and finally stepped back to view her full-length reflection.
Her dark hair fell in soft curls around her shoulders, and the dark blue of the dress set off her bright green eyes.
The dress hugged her curves nicely, seeming to elongate her already long legs and accentuate her waist. A little more cleavage than she was used to peaked from the halter top, but she felt good about herself.
She spent more time in the mirror than usual before noticing the clock, and she pulled on a pair of heels and quickly left the office.