Chapter 14
Jack
I run my hands through my hair, wondering where the last week went. The elevator is waiting for me when I walk into the lobby, and it sweeps me right up into Davis and Paisley’s condo. I step out into the apartment, but I don’t see anyone. “Hello?”
“Hi,” Arabella, Paisley’s younger sister, says from a corner of the living room.
“Hey. Where is everyone?”
“They’re out in the garden.” She waves for me to follow her. “I’ll show you.”
She guides me out the back to the rooftop garden, which is more like a small park covering half the building’s roof. Then she disappears back inside.
Paisley is on her knees pulling weeds as her son runs around with Davis. She stands when she sees me. “I’d love to know how I get dandelions in my flowerbeds eight stories high.”
“I’m just impressed you’re doing the weeding yourself.”
She smiles. “We’re lucky they mow the lawn up here. I don’t mind doing my part.” She looks down at the six-pack of Yellow Dog beers in my hand. “That looks very tempting.”
Today is one of those perfect spring days in Vancouver. The sun is shining, and the temperatures are warm enough for shorts, just with a long sleeve T-shirt. “Thanks for inviting me over.”
“Of course. It’s long overdue. We’ve been so busy between the kids and my installations.” Paisley’s son comes over and grabs her legs.
Paisley and Davis have custody of Paisley’s much-younger sister, Arabella, and last year they had Jenson, their first child. Paisley just got back from somewhere near Hamburg, Germany, where she installed one of her silver rock gardens for someone fancy. “How was your trip?”
She brushes off her hands. “I’m glad to be home. I love all those decadent German foods, but my waistline hates me for it.”
Davis walks up and slides his arm around her. “You always look fantastic, my dear.”
They kiss, and suddenly, I feel like I’m intruding. I look away.
“What did you bring?” Davis asks after a moment.
I hold up my six-pack. “It’s a mix. I got some Twin Sails because I like their American IPAs, and they also had your favorite stout. I picked up a sour and a wild barrel seasonal I thought we could sample too.”
Davis nods. “Fantastic. Let’s get started on that.” He walks over to the outside bar and pulls out two glasses, holding them up to make sure they’re clean. “The housekeeper sometimes forgets the glasses out here, and they can get a little dusty.”
I shake my head. “I’ve been exposed to worse.”
He snorts as he pops the tops off. “I saw the nurses were going crazy over Laine’s article last week.”
Here we go . I tsk . “I can’t believe marketing gave them that picture.”
“It’s super sexy,” Paisley says as she directs Jenson inside with the nanny and sits down at the table.
“Hey!” Davis teases.
She shrugs. “It is. Just like you can with women, I can appreciate the male form as long as I come home to you at night.”
Davis shakes his head. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Get me pregnant again?”
“I’m working on it. Anyway, the article was good,” Davis says without missing a beat.
“What? Oh yes. The article was good. I was pleasantly surprised. She has another one coming out tomorrow that focuses on Abdo. She’s changed his name and a few details to protect his privacy. It was really cool watching her do some of the reporting for it.” I tell them about Faheen and Amani knowing Abdo’s family back in Sudan and the huge boost they’ve been to him.
“What’s going to happen when he can be released from the hospital?” Paisley asks.
“That’s my next challenge. I know the government has been focused on finding his family. It will still be a while, but we need to sort something out. His health is too fragile to go into a foster-home situation.”
“Would you consider adopting him?” Paisley takes a sip of her sparkling water.
“I don’t think that’s the best option. We hang out together, so I’ve gotten to know him a little, but he’s so much more himself with the Biors. He needs someone who can share his language and culture, so I think if the government can’t find any of his family, he’d be better off with the Biors or another family from Sudan. Also, I’m hoping to continue spending half the year with Worldwide Medical Care, and he needs more stability than that.”
“Would the Biors be interested?”
“I haven’t brought it up with them. It would be much to ask since they’re refugees themselves. Right now, they live in a tiny and cramped apartment, but Faheen was an engineer in Sudan and just got a job working for Steve’s sister at Boss Construction. That should improve their financial situation, and it would be great if they were able to consider helping Abdo by the time he needs someone.” I consider all this, putting it together as I say it out loud.
“Have you moved back into the surgical rotation?” Davis asks.
“The schedule was already set when I got back, so not yet. I’m helping in the emergency room and spending time with Abdo, so that fills my day.”
“You sound very fond of him,” Paisley notes.
“Laine said the same thing. It’s in her next article. I feel responsible for him. It’s my fault he’s here and so far away from any possible family.”
“He wouldn’t have survived if you’d left him behind,” Davis says, lifting his beer to me.
“Thank you. I appreciate the support. It seemed like the right call, but this is such a huge disruption to his life.”
“There’s no telling if they’ll find any family for him, even if he was still back home. There’s a war going on. You saved his life.” Paisley shakes her head and then looks at me. “What’s going on with you and Laine? We saw you sneak off from Michael and Nadine’s last week.”
“We weren’t sneaking. She was going to take the bus home in the rain, and I talked her into a ride.”
“That was very kind of you,” she says. “Not usually your style.”
I bristle at the comment. “It’s totally my style.”
Paisley tilts her head. “Not when it comes to Laine Seymour, at least not in recent memory.”
I sigh. “I was really bothered by her article last year.”
“Ya think?” Paisley shakes her head and laughs.
“How did she get the job writing about you?” Davis asks.
“The head of the marketing department at the hospital tricked me.”
“Tricked you?” Davis looks skeptical.
“She had me look at questions and pick the ones I felt most comfortable with. Somehow, she didn’t tell me the list I liked had been submitted by Laine. If I had to bet, I’d guess she told the other reporters she contacted that the hospital wanted an article focused on something else.”
“What do you mean?” Paisley asks.
I tell them about the airhead questions the other writers submitted.
“Ouch. Well, at least that photo would still have worked,” she says with a laugh. “If that’s what happened, I’m glad she did it. Laine’s a fantastic writer.”
I nod. I guess I have to agree with that.
“And you feel like you can trust her after last time?” Davis asks.
“What exactly do you mean?” Paisley looks at her husband, and Davis seems like he’s ready to dive under his chair. “She did her job. She’s not in control of everything that happens after the article is written. You know she didn’t sabotage you on purpose, Jack. Why would she do that?”
I open my mouth and then close it again. When you put it like that, I’m not sure what to think. That’s certainly how it felt. But then I consider how I feel when I’m with Laine. Maybe I didn’t handle that the best way I could have. But I…I was so certain I’d been betrayed. And then I really did just shut down.
I look up, and Paisley and Davis are both staring at me. I got lost in my head. “Anyway, uh, I guess there’s a lot to think about,”
“And you’re just now thinking about it?” Paisley asks incredulously. “What is taking you so long to get back with her?”
I sit back in my chair and cross my arms. “I asked her to dinner, and she turned me down flat.”
Paisley narrows her eyes. “Did you offer dinner at your place or a restaurant?”
“I started with my place, but she turned me down so quickly there was no chance to ask her anything else.”
“Yeah, that sounds more like you were asking for a booty call.”
“Well, what’s wrong with that?” I ask. “We have to start somewhere.”
Davis gives me the look that says, Shut. The. Hell. Up.
I hold up my hands. “I don’t know what I want from her. But I do miss her. It’s been surprisingly pleasant spending time with her again for these articles. When she returned her engagement ring, it hit me hard.”
“Why?” Paisley asks softly. “You hadn’t spoken to her in months. You just cut her off.”
I shrug. “I guess I’d put it all behind me. Having that ring stare at me makes it feel like I made a mistake.”
“Oh?” Davis asks, his eyes wide. “You’re finally hearing what we’ve been saying to you?”
“I was hurt and stressed and focused on leaving the country. That article called my entire career into question, and I had to think through things and justify myself when I didn’t remotely have the time.”
Paisley leans in. “You know, everyone is held accountable now and then. And none of us would have known you were conflicted about your place in the plastic surgery industry until you blabbed it all to us. Laine’s article was a product of research. It wasn’t about you.”
Wow . Did I really out myself like that? I think back to all the ranting and raving I did after her article came out and wince.
“Okay, if you’re so smart, what do I do to get her to try again with me?” I challenge.
“Well, that depends. Why do you want to get back with her?” Paisley asks. “And telling me you miss her isn’t a reason. That sounds like you’d be happy just getting together for sex.”
“I guess… I mean…” I sigh. “Look, outside of Davis, she’s still my best friend. I could always talk to her about what was going on at the hospital, and she was there for me when my mom died.” I look down at my hands and see a slight tremble. “I miss my friend. If she never wants to have sex with me again, it might actually kill me, but I could survive if I got our friendship back.”
“That is so incredibly sweet.” Paisley’s face softens.
I look at Davis for help, but his shoulders are shaking with laughter.
Paisley stands and walks into the house. “Excuse me for just a minute.”
“What was all that about?” I ask.
“She’s made it clear that if we had to choose between you, we were going with Laine because you were being an ass.”
Heat rises from my belly. “I did nothing wrong.”
Davis raises his brow. “Really?”
This is ridiculous. “You and Paisley have had some serious rows.”
“I never kicked her out of my house. She left me, but I never asked her to go.”
I sigh. “That was not one of my finer moments.”
“Nope. It sure wasn’t. And when Paisley left, I chased her down immediately.” He looks at me a moment. “Also, you have to talk about things. You can’t just decide what happened and act without all the information.”
“But she…” God, have I been an ass and not realized it all this time? “Okay, so what do I—”
“Look who’s here!” Paisley announces as she returns.
Just behind her is Laine. Rather than being upset or angry, I’m actually glad.
“Hey, Laine. How’s it going?” I say with too much enthusiasm.
“Good.” She watches me seeming a little unsure.
“I didn’t set this up,” I explain.
“No, I’m pretty sure Paisley did that all on her own,” Laine says as she accepts a glass of wine.
Davis laughs. “It was actually an accident. I invited Jack, and she invited you. We didn’t realize what we’d done until late last night.”
I look at Paisley. “I don’t have to stick around if you’d prefer I not be here.”
She shakes her head. “No. I was just grilling you because I wanted to make sure we were all on the same page.”
“And what page is that?” Laine asks.
“The page where you two work things out and get back together. We love you both, and it’s time you sort this out.” Paisley steps into my personal space. “And if you ever pull that shit again, you will never be invited to another event, nor will you be welcome in my home or any of your friends’ homes, and Davis will make sure Laine ends up with Kent Johns or maybe Griffin.” She locks her eyes on mine.
“That’s fine, but just know that if you want to remove me from the roster of high-society fundraising events, I’m good with that. I’m more of a jeans and T-shirt kind of guy and happy to let my tux get dusty.”
Paisley shakes her head. “Dream on. Julia is passing the baton to Allison and me, and we need your checkbook.”
I turn to Davis and roll my eyes.
“I wouldn’t screw with her,” he warns.
I hold my hands up. “Not a chance.”
Paisley gets another sparkling water, and she and Laine go inside to prepare for dinner while Davis and I get ready to work the grill. He has bone-in ribeyes, which are a treat since they can be hard to find here. We talk about the gossip in the hospital, and that’s evidently mostly about me and the article.
By the time we sit down, it’s gotten a little late and Jenson won’t stay in his highchair. He wants to sit in Paisley’s lap to eat. Fortunately, Arabella is much more cooperative. She sits and listens as we talk about Abdo.
“Jack’s really good with him,” Laine shares. “He lights up whenever he sees him.”
“I spend most of my evenings hanging out with him. He’s become quite the pro at Sorry.”
“Sorry?” Paisley asks.
“The board game,” Laine explains.
“Oh. Of course. Arabella always liked Monopoly.”
“He doesn’t have that one,” I say. “Maybe I’ll have to get it for him.”
“I liked Sorry just fine,” Arabella says.
“My mistake,” Paisley says. “But anyway, Abdo and Jack are bonded.”
I smile, but that actually breaks my heart a little, because as his doctor, we shouldn’t be so connected. I just can’t help it. He’s a fighter, and while these surgeries are difficult, he never complains. “He adores the Bior family too, and they’ve come each day this week. Amani brings him an early dinner, and they all eat together and talk.”
“When will he be released?” Laine asks.
“The rule of thumb with burns is a month in intensive care for every percentage of the body burned. Then at least a week in the hospital per percentage of burn due to continued grafts and other treatments. I’ll try to keep him longer, since he doesn’t have a place to go yet. And he’ll need additional surgeries as he grows. The grafts we’ve done won’t grow and expand like regular skin and will become painful. But we’ll be able to plan better since they won’t be emergency surgeries.”
“I didn’t realize it could take so long,” Laine says as she pushes her plate away.
“Burns are no joke. Their healing is a complicated process. But Abdo’s doing great. If he had a clean and stable home to go to, we’d release him sooner, but he doesn’t have that right now.”
“He can’t live in the hospital forever.”
“I’m going to speak with Elise, and if Faheen and Amani are willing to take care of Abdo, I’d like to place him with them.”
Laine’s eyes fill with happy tears. “That’s fantastic.”
“Well, let’s hope. He still has at least two or three months in the hospital. And his road to recovery will be long.”
“I really want good things for him,” Laine says. “I’d love to do a follow-up story in five and then ten years to see how he’s doing.”
“People will eat that up,” Paisley says.
Laine says her editor is happy with what she’s written so far, and she’s looking forward to the next article tomorrow. They think it will be even bigger than the first one.
“You have four pieces to write?” Paisley asks.
Laine nods. “But the last one is more political, and they’re not sure about it.”
We talk a little while longer, and then Paisley goes inside to put Jenson to bed.
Laine stifles a yawn. “Sorry. I’ve worked the five-to-two shift every day this week at Steaming Mugs.”
I want to tell her to quit that job, but it’s not my place. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”
She nods. “Sure.”
After we say our goodbyes, we ride down in the elevator in silence. I can’t think of anything to say that isn’t completely awkward. When the doors open, an older couple passes us in the lobby. “What did you think of my dad and his girlfriend?”
She grins. “I knew she wasn’t his nurse, despite what the others thought.”
“How?”
“By the way your dad looks at her.”
“I hate it.”
“I get it. She’s not your mom.”
“Sort of, but I think I’m prepared for him to meet and marry someone else. I just didn’t expect it to be someone younger than me.”
“Eliza’s stepmother is only a few years older than she is, and her father started a new family.”
I shake my head. “God, I hope my father doesn’t have more children. He had a vasectomy after I was born but who knows. If it ever were to happen Stephanie will be in my life forever. She’s already tried to fix me up with some of her girlfriends. No, thank you.”
We get into the car, and Laine laughs. “That would be funny—you and your dad on a double date.”
“It’s worse than that. He’s discovered Viagra, and he’s a new man.”
Her face scrunches up. “Ewww. I don’t think I needed to know that.”
“He’s such a hypocrite too. He always worried that you were after my money, yet this woman manipulated him into telling her to quit her job and move in with him. I don’t know what they have in common. Last time I was there, she said she wants them to do a Vancouver Housewives show.”
“Oh no! Tell me you’re lying.”
“I wish I was.” A few minutes later, I pull up in front of her building. “Are you going to get the Sunday edition tomorrow morning?”
She nods. “I always do.”
“Can I pick you up again?”
I can see her trying to concoct a reason to decline.
“Look, I fucked up badly,” I tell her. “I don’t expect you to forgive me overnight, but I’m sorry about the way I handled things and the way I hurt you. And listen, the thing I miss most is our friendship. Let’s just start with that. We could do a repeat of last weekend—go out for breakfast, visit Abdo, and see where the afternoon takes us. These days, I leave so he can hang out with the Biors and they can speak without worrying about me not following along.”
She sighs. “I’ll consent to the paper and maybe breakfast. There’s always the possibility that I’ll be called in to Steaming Mugs if someone doesn’t make it.”
“Really?”
She nods. “That’s the way it works. And right now, I need to keep them happy.”
“What about your parents? Couldn’t they help so you don’t have to work there?”
She shakes her head. “I haven’t talked to them since Christmas. I’m waiting for them to reach out.”
I’d love to call her parents and tell them what shitty people they are, but I’m not even sure it would move the needle. “What about Trish?”
“She’d be happy to help, but that’s not something I want as part of our relationship. Plus, she and Phillip Martin are in serious like right now.”
“Like?”
“They aren’t in love. They’re in like. Which is more than friends.”
I perk up. “Davis’ little brother?”
She nods. “I tell you, we’re an incestuous bunch.”
“I guess that’s true.”
She gets out of the car. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I watch as she punches a code into the keypad to unlock the outside door, and then I wait until she gets in the elevator. I hate this part of town, but even here, her rent is off the page.
As I drive home, I’m excited about seeing her tomorrow. And as much as I resisted apologizing, now that I’ve done it, I feel so much lighter. Now, hopefully, Laine and I can find a way forward.