Page 35 of Love Sick

She married young, but my other three sisters are free spirits. Tori is a loner, a massage therapist with a side hustle of renting jet skis to tourists during Season. The twins, Bethany and Sabrina, are beach dive bartenders who are just as likely to bring a man or woman home to meet Mom as they are a new puppy.

Bethany shrieks and hops into the pool with the kids. When she pops up, she swims to the edge closest to me. “Don’t you miss home, though?”

“I didn’t match into any of the programs here, Beth. Remember?”

“I know. I just—I don’t want you to fall in love with Texas. We’ll never see you.”

Fall in love with Texas? Has she met me?

Sabrina lounges on a chaise with her sunglasses hiding her eyes. “I’ve done the research. Florida has really high malpractice premiums. Don’t let that scare you, BB.”

“Christ.” I massage my temple. “Why are we even talking about this?”

You love them, Julian. Remember that.

Tori drops onto the arm of my chair and throws her arms around me. Her silky brown hair tickles my nose. “Because we wub you, and want to smother you to death.”

“It’s working.” I swat her hair off my face.

She chuckles, then whispers in my ear, “I’ll distract them, and you can escape for a nap, okay?”

My spirits lift. “Really?”

She nods. “You owe me, though.”

I kiss the top of her hair and make like I have to use the rest­room. When I fall onto my childhood bed with a sigh, my phone buzzes. A thrill of energy zaps through me at the name displayed on the screen.

I open the message to find a selfie of Grace in blue scrubs, rainbow pens in pocket, sitting in our dictation room. She holds a black coffee mug right beside her beautiful smiling face. Written across the mug in white letters are the wordsDOs ‘DO’ it better. Another text comes, a simple message that flushes warmth across every inch of my skin.

Sapphire:Found this. Made me think of you.

I zoom in to her face and the little freckle on her lip, then to the rest of her, welling with pleasure when I find a splash of blood soaked into her scrub shirt. I circle it and send the picture back to her.

Me:You have blood on your scrubs.

Sapphire:I hope you die a slow death from palm tree poisoning.

I can’t help the laughter that overcomes me. Turning into my pillow, I snicker like a child. It should be concerning how much I look forward to riling her up, but I can’t find it in me to care. Grace Rose’s irritation is the most satisfying part of my life right now.

Imagine how satisfying she’d be if—

I cut the thought off before it drifts into dangerous waters.

Beware.

There be monsters.

Grace

DECEMBER, YEAR 1

Mom’s incandescent smile glimmers out from my phone screen. “I booked your ticket with points.”

“Thanks, Mom. I can’t wait to see you guys.”

“Me too, angel baby. Thanksgiving wasn’t the same without you. Can’t wait for you to get here.”

Dad’s voice echoes through the speaker, though I can’t see him. “Tell her Thanksgiving was weird without her!”

---