Page 21 of The Wish List
“She’s too nice for her own good,” Beth said. “I was out of line that day at the hospital. She could’ve gotten me in big trouble. Instead, the nursing director told me Shauna went out of her way to praise me when she was discharged. Why would she have done that?”
A smile touched the corner of Declan’s mouth. “Because that’s the type of person she is, although I agree with you. I hope she learns some better self-preservation instincts.”
“Were you two family friends?”
“We didn’t have families in the way you think of them. Shauna and I met in foster care. It was my second placement, and the first time child protective services separated me from my older brother. I was not handling it well, and Shauna made it bearable.”
“That must have been awful,” Beth murmured. “My biggest fear was that my sisters and I would somehow be separated when we were younger.”
His thick brows drew together. “Why would that have happened? You had a mom.”
“I don’t know that we would have been put into foster care, but it was my fear. There came a point when my mom checked out on parenting and my dad had left. He’d moved to Vegas to pursue his dream of becoming a famous magician.”
“That’s an odd dream for somebody with three kids.”
“Especially considering he had both three kids and marginal talent. Although I’m pretty handy with the card tricks when I’m on the peds floor. I get that from my dad. We didn’t have any living grandparents. There were a few distant relatives who possibly would have taken one of my younger sisters during the times when my mom went on book tours or the personal development lecture and workshop circuit. She did a lot of that on the West Coast, so she was gone for extended periods of time. I did my best to keep us together. Freya and Trinity kind of hate me for it.”
“That’s because they don’t know what it’s like to be torn apart.” His stormy eyes were intense on hers. “If they understood, your sisters would thank you every day.”
She smiled through the ache in her chest that his kindness put there. “I don’t know. I was a bossy know-it-all back then.”
It felt easier to make a joke than to reveal how much his words meant to her. No one had ever told her she’d done the right thing by her family, and she hadn’t realized how much she needed to hear it until now.
He made a face. “Has that changed?”
Beth would typically take offense, and she’d gotten off to the wrong start with Declan in that stairwell. But like Shauna, he didn’t seem to hold a grudge, and Beth could use some more levity in her life.
“I like to think I’m more subtle about it these days.”
The microwave dinged at the same time Declan let out a gentle peal of laughter. The sound zipped through her, putting all of her nerve endings on high alert. She busied herself with stirring the ravioli, then placed it back in the microwave for another thirty seconds.
“So you and Shauna are just friends,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “Are you staying in town for a while?”
Did her voice sound breathy as she asked the question? How embarrassing.
“She’s non-weight bearing for three more weeks, so I’ll be here through the holidays to help. I’m taking over some of her more pressing jobs so she doesn’t lose business.”
“That’s nice of you.” Beth knew from her mother that Shauna was a painter, both residential projects as well as murals commissioned by clients around town.
Declan must have registered the question in her gaze because he flashed a sheepish smile. “I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, so I’m just handling walls and trim at this point. The people who have hired Shauna for decorative projects are stuck. She has a couple of nurseries booked, but it sounds like those people are willing to wait for her.”
Maybe Beth would’ve hired her if she’d actually needed a nursery wall painted. “And you’re able to take time off from your regular job and family?”
“My clients will wait for me. Most of them are desperate.”
Beth was intrigued. “What kind of clients are so desperate for you?” She half imagined him telling her he had some sort of Magic Mike review. She could certainly understand feeling desperate if somebody was waiting for him on that front.
“I’m a fixer.”
“What’s a fixer?” She took the ravioli out of the microwave and put it on a tray, along with a carton of Jell-O from the refrigerator and a glass of lemonade.
“I work with bars and pubs, although a few family-owned restaurants have hired me over the years. I help them turn things around in their businesses.”
“Like Gordon Ramsay?”
“Something like that without the swearing. Foul language is cheap. I can get my message across in a better way.”
Beth agreed about the language. She’d never been much for swear words. Freya could curse a sailor under the table. Beth wondered if her sister’s early penchant for swearing had been more about making Beth mad than caring about how she spoke. She’d watched a couple of Freya’s reality shows, and her sister wasn’t the type of contestant to rely on vulgarity to make a point.
