Page 112 of RomeAntically Challenged
“You okay?” he asked, and the gentle concern in his voice almost inspired the waterworks again.
“If you came to check on me as a friend, I’m fine. If you came as my boss, I’m still down with the smallpox.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny anything you’re telling me since you have a blanket over your head.”
Annie took a moment to gather herself together, settled on no new tears, and shoved the blanket off her face. “See, I’m fine.”
The look on Gray’s face said she was nothing of the kind.
“You need to work on your poker face, Doctor,” she said.
“You need to come up with a better lie than smallpox, since that was eradicated in the eighties,” he said. “I did go to medical school. I know things.”
“What kind of things do you know?” she asked, sitting up. His lips thinned and she said, “I see you know all the things. Friend and doctor.”
She anticipated how hard it was going to be to talk about Emmitt, but for Gray to be the first person she told made it so much worse. With Beckett or Lynn she could call Emmitt a bunch of crude names, and they’d call him even cruder names. But with Gray, she had to be mature about the whole thing. And she wasn’t feeling very mature at the moment.
“I am sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You don’t even know how sorry I am.”
“You hunted me down and barged into my friend’s house. I think I might have a good idea.”
“I went by your place a few times to check on you when you didn’t show up to work. When I called, it went to voice mail.” He shrugged. “I was worried.”
“It’s Emmitt’s place, and I left the night he did. As for my phone, I may have accidentally thrown it out the window and into oncoming traffic on my drive here.” She glanced at the clock on the wall, and Thomas was right—she’d slept through the morning. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
His concern turned to serious concern. “It’s Saturday.”
“Oh? Really?” She counted on her fingers and grimaced. She’d been here four days not two. Then she remembered Paisley’s party and shot up. “It’s Saturday! Paisley’s sleepover is tomorrow night, and since it’s a long weekend, the kids plan on spending Monday in the pool.”
Gray held up a hand. “That’s not why I’m here. I just wanted to check in on you and let you know that you can take as much time as you need.”
“Okay.” Was that his way of letting her know her job had already been filled? Not that she’d blame him.
Gray arrived to work every morning at nine and left every night at six on the dot so he could have dinner with Paisley. Some nights he came back to the office to finish up paperwork, after Paisley went to bed, but he never missed dinner. Rosalie said that was why Gray had merged his practice with Rome General, so that he could have more time with his family.
Then his wife had died, and he’d taken a two-month personal leave. He’d been back for less than a month when he’d hired Annie, so he could have the time he needed at home. With Annie calling in sick, he wouldn’t have been able to get home in time for dinner.
“I’m sorry if I left you in the lurch the past few days. I planned to come back on Tuesday. If you still need me,” she added, giving him an out.
And maybe giving herself one too. She wouldn’t leave until she could train her replacement. But then she was gone. There was nothing for her here in Rome.
“I hadn’t even thought that far.” Gray squeezed the back of his neck. “I came to check on how you were and to give you this.”
Gray pulled an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to her. She immediately recognized the writing. It was from Clark. It was also open. She looked up at Gray, and he shrugged.
“Rosalie intercepted it before I could. A lawyer came by the office this morning to drop the letter off. Rosalie said there’s a note and a check inside.” He held up a hand. “I didn’t look.”
Annie didn’t want to look either. She wanted to cry over the irony. Clark had finally come through, right after Emmitt had left her behind. It was as if the universe were struggling to find balance.
He held out the envelope, and Annie jerked back as if he were handing over a petri dish of Ebola. “Yeah, I’ll pass. I think I’ve read my fill of notes lately. I don’t even want to touch it.” With a scrunched nose, she waved it off. “Would you just tell me what it says?”
Gray’s face softened as he took out the letter. “Annie, I’m sorry for the delay,” he read, “but enclosed you’ll find a cashier’s check for the full amount of the deposit, plus interest. I’m sorry to hear you won’t be attending the wedding, but know you’ll always have a little piece of my heart, and my world is brighter for loving you.”
“Um, can you sum it up? This is too weird.”
“Thank God,” Gray said, wiping a hand across his brow. He scanned the note, then folded it and put it back in the envelope. Placing it on the coffee table, he said, “It seems your mom convinced the caterer, the florist, and someone named Molly-Leigh to withhold all future services until Clark, and this is in quotes, ‘makes things right with you.’”
The idea that her mother had riled everyone up on Annie’s behalf—including Molly-Leigh—was beyond touching. “I guess girl code works both ways.” She glanced at the check. “Looks like I won’t have a problem finding a new place.”
