Chapter 2
“October’s weather is shaping up to be a mixed bag as Halloween grows near. We’ll see a combination of cool, crisp evenings with breezy, but warm, afternoons. There’ll be some occasional rain rolling in this weekend, and a few of these storms will bring heavy rainfall...”
I rolled my eyes at the forecaster as he droned on about the weather.
Halloween was a little over a week away, and I had already picked out my costume for this year.
Well, costumes. I would naturally have one for work at the hospital, and another for the costume party that our college friends from Boston University threw every year.
This was one of my favorite times of the year, and I could feel the excitement building within me.
I loved the cooler weather, including snow.
Born and raised in New England, there was nothing more beautiful than the leaf colors in Autumn, warm apple cider, and snowboarding in the winter.
And Boston came alive for the holidays. The hospital even sponsored a window in one of the storefronts that visitors and residents alike flocked to each year.
Despite my love for the drop in temperatures, I naturally stayed cold from October through March. A lot of it was due to my barely controlled iron-deficient anemia and Raynaud’s syndrome. While annoying, it was controllable. I just had to make sure to bundle up when outside and keep my condo warm.
And I loved the location of my condo, including the unit itself.
It was located in Cambridge, and not too far from the hospital and all the hotspots I frequented with my friends and boyfriend.
Drake. We’d met when we were freshmen, but by our sophomore year of college, we’d become an item and had been ever since.
Drake was still in medical school, while I was already practicing nursing at Massachusetts General.
Once he completed this final year, he would do his residency, then come to the same hospital where we would work together.
It was the final step before living together, and once that happened, there would be nothing stopping us from getting married and starting the family we had always talked about.
My cell phone rang and I snatched it up off the table. I was only slightly disappointed that it wasn’t Drake, but I was still somewhat happy at the sight of my bestie’s name on the home screen.
“Hey,” I said to her as soon as I answered.
“You about ready, Rory?” Braelynn asked.
“I am. I’ll meet you outside.”
Braelynn also lived in the same building as me, and while I had gone into nursing, she had taken up law instead.
She’d often tease me about Drake one day needing help when the inevitable malpractice case came in.
She had never truly liked my boyfriend, which hurt me to an extent, but the two of us had grown up together and been best friends for almost two decades.
She thought my boyfriend was a loose cannon.
While there had been rumors of potential infidelity on his part over the years, nothing had ever been substantiated.
He also liked to party, so it was no surprise that he would sometimes drink too much.
He was also from a very affluent family, so other minor transgressions were always handled discreetly.
The worst habit he had was gambling, and despite help from Gamblers Anonymous, he had yet to truly kick the habit, but he had pulled back from it.
That had been part of the reason he hadn’t finished medical school yet. After he had gotten in some trouble, the medical school had nearly kicked him out, but a hefty donation to the alumni from Drake’s family had smoothed their feathers, and the trouble had been swept under the rug.
“...that loser—”
At the sound of Braelynn’s voice, I knew exactly who she had been referring to. “He isn’t a loser. Drake just has some maturity issues that he’s working on.”
“Uh huh, Rory. Anything you say. Enough about him, though. If we expect to make our appointment on time, we should leave soon,” she said, effectively dismissing me.
I threw on my jacket, then picked up my cell phone and purse. “I’m on my way downstairs now.”
I hung up my cell phone the moment I stepped out into the hallway.
From there, I took the elevator to the ground floor, where my bestie was already waiting for me.
We embraced before I stepped back. Two other friends of ours—Monica and Barbara—were there, so I hugged them as well before we all piled into Barb’s Range Rover.
The day spa we had booked was a few blocks down, so it only took a few minutes to reach our destination.
It was located in one of the city’s best hotels, and upon checking in, we headed straight to the back to make use of their famous hammams. We all took our clothing off except for our panties, then waited for the spa technician to tell us our hammam was ready.
I followed the others inside the circular marble room, then spread out my towel. Finally, I took a seat with the other girls, and we all seemed to let out a collective sigh afterward.
“I wanted to wait until we were all together this afternoon, but... Look at this,” Monica said as she thrust her hand out in front of her. “Harrison finally proposed. I can’t believe that we’re now engaged.”
“Oh my God!” I said as genuine happiness bubbled up inside of me. Seeing one of my best friends so happy made it easier to swallow down the small lump of jealousy over another friend of mine getting engaged before me. “I’m so happy for you.”
And I was. Barb was already married, and I could still remember the beach wedding that she and her jeweler groom had thrown in the Bahamas. Sand, sea, and an endless amount of drinks on tap for those of us who were so happy for her, but depressed for ourselves.
“When are you getting engaged, Rory?” Barb asked me.
I smiled. “I think Drake is getting closer to popping the question. With any luck, I’ll be engaged as well before the start of the new year.”
While I had nothing concrete to base that on, there was a feeling inside me, akin to intuition, that made me think my life was about to change for the better.
Plus, he would graduate from medical school in the Spring, and he already had his residency lined up. There was no reason not to get engaged.
We cared about and loved each other. Although, the past few years had been hard for us.
Between his schooling and the start of my career, we found ourselves hanging out together less than before.
I suppose that was the reason the rampant rumors of his drunken indiscretions started, but I trusted him.
Whether I was a fool for doing so or not was still to be determined.
Things were just moving so fast after being stagnant for so long.
All relationships hit low points. I just felt like things were pointing up for us once more.
“What about you, Brae?” Barb asked our other friend, who nearly turned green at the thought of marriage.
“She’d need a boyfriend to land a fiancé,” Monica teased, and we all laughed.
A wistful sigh escaped me as Monica began to talk about her wedding, and one she hoped to have next winter in Montana.
Big Sky Country, as she called it. All I could think about were snow covered mountains and steaming mugs of hot chocolate.
As I closed my eyes and pictured it, the jasmine-infused steam enveloped me and the others.
Not long after, our technician returned with three others, and we were instructed to lie face down, where we were vigorously scrubbed down.
A certain spot or two made me moan. It wasn’t until now that I realized how tense I had been in recent weeks.
We were then introduced to our masseuse, who performed her magic before we got up to enjoy the steam bath.
Finally, we rounded out our afternoon with a manicure and pedicure before returning to my place.
Unlike the others, I had to work this evening, so I returned upstairs to get dressed. Once ready to go to the hospital, I received a text that left me grinning like a schoolgirl.
DRAKE:
I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.
Oh?
DRAKE:
Maybe after Halloween, we can escape to your parents’ cottage on the cape.
Just let me know when and I’ll make it happen.
DRAKE:
Perfect. Have a good night at work.
Thanks, and I love you!
DRAKE:
Likewise!
I frowned at his word. How hard is it to say, “I love you, too?” Since this was Drake’s usual response to my admission, I guessed it was difficult for him. Still, I knew how he felt about me, and that was all that mattered. If he wanted to talk to me about something, it could only mean one thing.
The goofy grin I immediately sported stayed on my face all the way to the hospital and throughout most of the night. I was actually still wearing it the next morning when my shift finally ended.