A January Chill. Rachel Lee

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      “I’m sorry.”

      He gave her a short nod.

      She reached out tentatively and touched his forearm briefly. “Let me buy you a cocoa?”

      He looked down at her and shook his head. “Joni, you’re courting disaster. You know what Witt thinks of me.”

      “Yeah. But I happen to disagree, and I’m over twenty-one. Cocoa?”

      “The cafeteria’s closed.”

      She gave him a wink that made him feel strangely light-headed. Lack of sleep, he told himself.

      “Hey,” she said, grabbing his hand, “I work here, remember? I know where the good stuff is hidden.”

      She took him away from the ICU toward the reception area, then steered him through a door that said Employees Only.

      Inside was a staff lounge. A nurse was sitting on an easy chair with her shoes kicked off, eating a snack. A man in scrubs was stretched out on a couch with a cushion over his face.

      Joni waved at the nurse, then put her finger over her lips as she looked at Hardy and pointed to the sleeping man. He nodded.

      She made two mugs of instant cocoa, passed him one, then indicated he should follow her. They left the lounge and went to sit in the reception area.

      “See?” she said. “Insider knowledge.”

      “Thanks.” He hoped it didn’t sound as grudging as it felt, because the cocoa was hot and delicious and contained the first calories he’d put in his system since a sandwich at noon.

      “You look awful,” she told him.

      She hadn’t changed a bit, he realized. She was still the mouthy fourteen-year-old who’d pestered the living bejesus out of him and Karen sometimes. Even back then, he’d tried to be understanding. A kid who’d lost her daddy and moved to a town that didn’t easily make room for new arrivals—yeah, she’d had a reason to be a pest. Everybody else in the world had kind of ignored her.

      “Have you slept within recent memory?” she asked.

      “I’ve dozed here and there. Don’t give me hell, Joni. I’m not up for it.”

      “Okay.” She sipped her cocoa and looked at him from those amazing blue eyes.

      “Don’t you need to get home and get some sleep yourself?”

      She shrugged. “I’m not on duty tomorrow. Day off.”

      “Even with the epidemic?”

      “I might be called in,” she admitted.

      “Then go get some sleep.”

      “Are you trying to get rid of me?”

      They stared at each other, letting her words hang in the air between them. Neither of them wanted to mention Karen, he realized, but she lay between them as surely as if she were there.

      “I’m trying to keep you out of trouble with your uncle,” he said finally.

      “My problem, not yours.”

      He cocked an eye at her. “What put you in such a feisty mood?”

      “I don’t know. Maybe it’s realizing that age doesn’t necessarily make a person wise.”

      He sipped his cocoa, wondering what she was getting at, and almost afraid to ask. He didn’t know Joni at all anymore, he reminded himself. Since Karen’s death, until today, they hadn’t passed more than a dozen words.

      “Can you keep a secret?” she asked finally.

      “Sure. But you shouldn’t be telling them to me.”

      “I’ve got a reason.”

      She always had a reason. He remembered that from way back when. According to Joni, she never did a thing without good reason. He had his own thoughts about that.

      “Witt won the lottery,” she told him. “But don’t tell anyone else.”

      “Yeah?” He felt a mild interest. “That’s neat. You all going to take a vacation in Hawaii?” His mother had always wanted to do that. It pained him that he hadn’t yet been able to make that dream come true for her. This year, he promised himself. Somehow, if she made it through this pneumonia, he was going to get her to Hawaii, if he had to move heaven and earth.

      “I suggested Tahiti.” She gave him a smile that struck him as uneasy and sad. Despite all his overwhelming emotional exhaustion because of the last twenty-four desperate hours, he still managed to feel a pang for Joni.

      “What’s wrong?”

      “Not a thing,” she said. “It’s a lot of money.”

      “Well, that’s a good thing,” he said generously. “Witt’s worked hard in the mine all his life. You can’t begrudge him an early retirement.”

      “I’d never do that. No, I’m really pleased for him.”

      “So, is he going to Tahiti?”

      She shook her head. “No.”

      “Seems a shame. But maybe it wasn’t enough for the trip.”

      She looked at him sideways. “How about eleven million dollars?”

      That set him back on his heels. Numbers like that were usually attached to major construction jobs, none of which he’d so far managed to garner for his company. “Wow,” he said after a moment. “Wow. But it doesn’t pay out in a lump sum.”

      “No, but even with the payout schedule it’s a lot of money.”

      “I guess he will retire.”

      “Actually…” She hesitated. “He’s thinking about a career change.”

      “That’s cool.” Like he cared.

      “He’s…um…thinking about building a resort on that property he owns west of town.”

      And suddenly Hardy understood why she was mentioning this to him. He looked straight at her and felt the entire world hold its breath for a few seconds. Then he said slowly, “Joni…are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

      Her mouth tightened, and she looked away. When she faced him again, her eyes were moist. “When Karen died, I didn’t just lose my best friend. I lost my other best friend, too.”

      In spite of himself, he felt his throat tighten a little, and he cleared it. “Joni…”

      She shook her head, silencing him. “It’s been twelve years, Hardy. Twelve years! And ever since we talked this afternoon, I’ve been thinking СКАЧАТЬ