Page 5 of Every Little Kiss
CHAPTER 2
An hour later, Liv had dropped off a very tearful Paxton at camp, fielded three calls from the camp counselor saying Paxton was still standing at the edge of the park waiting for pickup, and pulled into Mercy General with twenty minutes to spare.
Paxton had taken a huge step in the right direction today, and now it was Liv’s turn.
And she was ready. She had to be ready. It had taken her a full year to accept that Sam was never coming home, which was step one inFinding Life after Death. Step two had been terrifying, experiencing the loss and grief, which was why she’d acted on that step right away. Moving back to Sam’s hometown to be around people who had known and loved him was as much for Paxton as it had been for Liv. Which got her to today.
Step three:adjusting to the environment without the deceased.
Liv pulled out her phone, pushed the bottom button, and said, “Siri, what is listed in ‘Olivia, Take the Wheel’ under step three?”
“All right. Here is what I found in your notes, Take the Wheel, for what is listed under step three,” the computer-generated voice, which she’d set to sound like 007, said. “Survivor must assume some of the responsibilities and social roles formerly fulfilled by your husband. Change a tire, empty the rain gutters, tie a tie, throw a curveball, master the grill, and bring home the bacon.”
Check. Check. Check. Check. Work in progress. And as soon as she had her meeting with the head of family medicine, check.
Even though it was summer, a crisp early breeze blew past, bringing with it the scent of fresh earth and rustling the pine trees. Liv looked up at the jagged Sierra Nevada, which towered high above the small town she’d only recently begun to think of as home, and guilt seared a hole in her chest.
If she could come to think of this treacherous terrain that took her husband’s life as beautiful, then why did the idea of moving on feel like such a betrayal? Sam had been gone for two years, and nothing she could say or do would change that.
At least, not now.
And Liv was focusing on the now, the future. She had to if she wanted to give Paxton the kind of childhood he deserved. And he deserved so much more than a mom who worked swing shifts.
Shoulders back, Liv grabbed her job application and updated résumé off the passenger seat and headed into the hospital. If there was anything the past had taught her, it was that nobody cared about her family’s future as much as she did.
It was a mantra that had seen her through some of the roughest patches, and a mantra she’d adopted long before Sam’s accident. So when she reached the office of her boss’s boss, unannounced, she gave a strong, confident knock.
“Olivia,” Nicole said, glancing up from her desk.
Dr.Nicole Brown looked like a preschool teacher with her brightly colored glasses and pigtail, but she ran her career like a sniper. Precise and purposeful—leaving no room for surprises or error. Which had earned her the respect of her peers and the position of head of family medicine at Mercy General.
She looked at the papers in Liv’s hands and lifted a brow. “Did we have an appointment?”
“No,” Liv said, channeling her inner Xena, Warrior Princess, and entering the office, because while Liv’s surprise appearance might not have been a smart choice, with the board picking the final team in a few weeks, it was the only option she’d had. “I had some time before my shift started, and I wanted to congratulate you on your new Mobile Medic project.”
A project Liv desperately wanted to be a part of. It would get her out of the ER and into a position with stable hours and potential for career growth. It was also a project that spoke to Liv’s heart.
Having a mother who’d passed from diabetes, Liv knew how important it was to get medical care to residents who had difficulty getting to the hospital, and that’s what Nicole’s Mobile Medic project was—a fleet of mobile clinics that would service the surrounding community.
“Thank you,” Nicole said skeptically.
“I also wanted to speak with you about applying for the open RN position,” Liv said.
“You know that I’m only considering senior staff for the position,” Nicole said.
“I know I’ve only been at Mercy General for eighteen months, but I’ve been a practicing RN for more than ten years.” Granted, eleven of those eighteen months she’d been working part-time, but she didn’t need to point that out. “That’s four years longer than Kevin, who is one of the board-approved options, so I wanted to come and deliver these to you personally.”
Liv held out her papers, and to her utter surprise, Nicole took them. “I see you’ve done your homework.”
It wasn’t an official invitation for a meeting, but Liv knew that in order for her to take the wheel, so to speak, she first had to take a seat. Then lean in. So she did both. “They don’t call me the research queen for nothing.”
Nicole didn’t smile, just flipped through the pages of information, spending extra time on the referrals—of which Liv had collected several. She skimmed the last page and then set the papers down.
“Last week the board approved Mobile Medic on a trial basis, and they want me to finalize my team so we can be ready to go next month,” Nicole said. “However, they only funded one van so far.”
“Which means you’re only hiring one team,” Liv guessed, thinking that she hadn’t researched enough.
“You got it,” Nicole said. “And while I think you’d be an asset to any team, my job is proving this is an effective solution to the problem so that they will continue to fund this project. To do that, I need to pick the right team.” Nicole studied Liv for a long moment. “Do you know why Kevin is on the short list?”
