The Big 5-Oh! (18 page)

G
oodness me! It seems like you’ve been here a very long time,” Georgia sang on that velvet Southern drawl of hers. “How much longer will you be with us here on the island?”

Liv forced a smile upward, making the conscious choice to avoid answering the latter part of the inquiry as she replied, “It feels just the opposite to me. I feel like I’ve only just arrived.”

“You and Jared are certainly spending a lot of time together,” she said, and Liv followed the track of Georgia's long
red fingernails as they raked her teased-and-sprayed platinum coif. “Just about every time I see you, he's right there at your side.”

“He's been showing me around Sanibel. Making sure I have a good time.”

“He's polite that way,” Georgia nodded. “But I wouldn’t read too much into it if I were you. He's just that nice to everybody.”

Liv felt the rumble of a groan move up from the pit of her stomach, but she managed to harness it before it reached her throat.

“Everybody in this part of the state knows Jared,” Georgia expounded. “And they just love him.”

“I’m sure they do.”

Are you listening, Lord? Are you getting a load of this? Where is Jared?

Her question was answered immediately as she spotted him, heading toward her, beaming from one ear to the other, and carrying a large paper plate bearing a concoction that looked a little like a giant mangled donut.

“What on earth?” she asked as he reached her.

“Jared Hunt!” Georgia exclaimed. “You are not going to put that thing into your body.”

“I most certainly am,” he retorted. “What kind of trip to the fair is complete without an elephant ear?”

“A what?” Liv cried.

“Elephant ear,” Jared repeated, and then he broke off a piece of the thing and held it to her mouth.

“Mmmm,” she nodded after tasting it. “What is it?”

“Fat and cholesterol, sprinkled with sugar,” Georgia stated.

“It's a sort of twice-fried donut,” Jared corrected, and he elbowed Georgia playfully. “With powdered sugar. It's a Florida tradition!”

“Which explains your booming medical practice,” Georgia added.

“Look, a table!” Jared exclaimed, and he grabbed Liv's hand and dragged her off toward one that had opened up on the fringe of the concession area. “Georgia, see you in the morning!”

There was no mistaking the disappointment on the woman's made-up face, and Liv almost felt sorry for her. Her feelings for Jared were obvious, and it couldn’t be easy for her to see him holding hands and sharing elephant-sized treats with another woman.

“Are you up for the Ferris wheel?” Jared asked her once they were seated.

“Promise you won’t laugh?”

“I promise to try not to laugh.”

“I’ve never been on one before.”

Jared raised an eyebrow and stared at her.

“I know. But it's true. What can I say? It was a sheltered life.”

“This is a night of firsts then,” he told her. “Your first elephant's ear, and your first ride on the Ferris wheel.”

Liv's stomach did a little flip-flop as she gazed at the ride off in the distance.

“Are you game?” he asked.

“I am.”

“Excellent.”

Once they had devoured most of the confection, Jared tossed the rest into a nearby trash barrel and took her hand again. They navigated the cresting waves of people along the way, and then stepped into line.

“You know what's funny?” she asked him.

“Do tell.”

“It's forty-one degrees in Cincinnati today. I saw it on the weather channel. And here I am, getting ready to ride a Ferris wheel at an outdoor fair in eighty degrees. I love that.”

“We should call Hallie and Josie and tell them,” he said with a laugh.

“Jared. That would just be mean.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

Then on second thought, she giggled as she added, “Maybe we’ll call them later.”

Liv's breath caught in her throat twice, once as she stepped up on the platform, and another when she and Jared sat down on the hard plastic bench seat, and the fair worker lowered the bar over their laps and snapped it into place. She gasped as the wheel began to turn and the ground moved away from them. After several more stops to load passengers, the movement became far more gentle and smooth.

She squeezed Jared's hand as they rolled up-up-upward, and her eyes felt as if they were glued wide open by the time they reached the top and all of Sanibel Island appeared to stretch out like a lighted carpet at their feet.

“Fifty years old, and I’ve never done this before,” she exclaimed.

“You like it then.”

“Oh, Jared, I love it.”

She gazed into his eyes and saw the reflection of the ride's lights there and something else too—another reflection, something akin to admiration, or possibly joy. She wondered if it belonged to him, or was it her own joy shining back at her?

“Jared, I—”

She stopped herself. What was she thinking? The words that were just about to skip off her tongue in such a carefree and unguarded manner were so uncharacteristic for her.

“What is it?” he asked, and then he brushed a lock of hair away from her face. “What were you going to say?”

“I, uh …”

I love you.

She bit back the words until she felt the puncture in her bottom lip.

I love you so much.

The warmth in Jared's eyes stroked her cheeks and, as their gondola moved over the arch at the top of the ride and started its downward slope again, Liv's stomach went with it.

Jared didn’t chase her words again. Instead, he placed his hands on either side of Liv's face and guided her toward him. When their lips touched, a crackle of electricity sparked between them, and the breeze pushed her hair around in a way that made Liv think of a growing nest of cotton candy. Suddenly, she was cocooned by the sweetness of their kiss, the citrus taste of her hair dancing on the twilight of a perfect day, the utter bliss of unprofessed love lingering at the tip of her tongue.

I love you.

She couldn’t speak the words. It was too ridiculous. She’d known him for about twenty minutes! And yet …

Jared tangled his fingers into her spiral curls and tugged gently, elongating her neck and allowing the back of her head to fall against his open hand.

Oh, Lord. What's happening to me?

Jared's lips eased away from hers as the wheel rolled to a stop at the platform, and Liv's eyelids were heavy as she tried to blink her way back to the moment. The fair worker took care of that for her as he snapped up the bar and stepped back.

His voice broke through and sent her plummeting back to earth. “Watch your step.”

Jared's hand felt like a hot brand on Liv's back as he led her across the platform and down the stairs.

“What would you like to do now?” he asked her.

“I, uh, think I’d like to visit the ladies’ room.”

One foot in front of the other
, she reminded herself as she marched toward the painted-brick building and followed the metal arrow adorned with a hoop skirt and high heels. Once inside, Liv leaned over the chipped porcelain sink and ran cold water over her hands.

Jared's kiss still tickled her lips, and the warmth of his handprint still glazed her back. Even in all her years with Robert, Liv had never felt this kind of connection with a man, and yet she’d only known him for little more than a week. It made no sense. And Olivia Wallace was nothing if not sensible!

“So we meet again.”

She darted her gaze into the mirror, and her eyes met Georgia's in the reflection.

“You look a little ‘deer in the headlights,’” the woman pointed out as she painted a clean line around her lips with a hot-pink brush.

“First ride on a Ferris wheel,” she commented.

“That's not the flush of an amusement park ride,” Georgia said, poking the lip brush into its tube and tucking it into her purse. “That is something else entirely.”

Liv lowered her eyes to the floor for a moment and then looked back at Georgia and made a failed attempt at a smile.

“Can I be blunt, Olivia?”

Must you?

“I suppose.”

“I’ve been watching you with Jared ever since you arrived that night of the barbecue. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but I don’t just work for Jared. I’ve known him almost since he moved here from Chicago. I’ve put a lot of time and energy into this man. I think you know what I mean.”

“Well, I—”

“Let's call the Queen of Hearts just as she is, shall we, Olivia? I haven’t put in all these years with Jared just so you could mosey into town and undo everything in a matter of days. If you think I’m going to let that happen, well, you’re just as wrong as Splenda in the sweet tea. Do I make myself clear?”

“I—”

“Good, because surely the time has almost come for you to go back to your life up in Ohio and leave the rest of us to our lives here.”

Liv watched Georgia smooth her helmet of hair with both hands, lick her lips, and touch up her lip gloss with the fingernail on her pinkie, and then Georgia's eyes poked a hole in Liv as she regarded Georgia warily.

“It's good advice I’m giving you here, Olivia. Move on and leave Jared where he belongs.”

“With you,” Liv replied. “Just to be clear, that's where you think he belongs?”

“More to the point, not with you. I think we both know that's true.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

“Like I said, you’re Splenda in the sweet tea, darlin’,” Georgia remarked. “It just doesn’t belong.”

Georgia's spiky little heels
tap-tap-tapped
against the concrete floor as she made her determined exit.

She’d referred to Liv as a deer in the headlights, but the reality was that she felt more like a gazelle caught in the crosshairs of a mountain lion. And this bleached-blonde cat had barely broken a sweat as she’d torn Liv to pieces, leaving her carcass there in front of the bathroom mirror at the fair.

Liv paced in front of the counter, her coffee cup sloshing a little as she moved.

“I don’t know why I let her talk to me like that. I mean, I didn’t say a word in response. And it's none of her business, is it? If I want to have a little vacation fling, or if I want to fall in love and marry Jared after knowing him only thirty minutes, well, that's my decision. And Jared's. It has nothing to do with whether she's been trying to land him for five years or five decades! The nerve of that woman. Honestly! Can you believe the nerve of that woman?”

Clearly, Boofer could not.

“You’re a good listener,” Liv told the dog, and then she slid her still-full coffee cup across the granite countertop. “But I was sort of looking for some input, Boof. What do you think?”

Boofer stared at her for a long moment, wide-eyed, and then just rolled over to her side to take a nap.

“Oh, fine.”

Liv opened the sliders as wide as they would go, crossed the patio, and sat down in the wicker lounger. There were a dozen other chairs and loungers surrounding the pool, but for some reason this was the one she always chose. Stretching out on it, she tilted back her head and closed her eyes.

Day Ten in Florida. Just a couple more days to go, and then back to the real world.

And in that moment, something dropped on Liv with a thud! She opened her eyes with a slight
boing!
and stared straight ahead.

“It's my birthday.”

Liv almost couldn’t help herself, and she winced. She scanned the sky on the other side of the screened lanai, searching for whatever disaster was sure to overtake her at some point that day. Perhaps the gator would come back, which, of course, made her think of Georgia Brown.

One potential disaster after another meandered across her horizon, and then those of the past began to play out before her. She was almost relieved when her cell phone jingled from inside the house, and she hurried in to find it. By the time it was in her hands, however, the caller had gone to voice mail, and Liv pressed the button to listen to the message.

“Olivia, this is Becky from Human Resources at Providence. We have a situation here. Irene Stamopolis has had a stroke, and Jennifer Cavanaugh has given her notice, so we’re more short-handed than ever. I need to hear from you about coming back to work on Monday, or I’m afraid we’re going to have to fill your slot. We just can’t hold it indefinitely, Olivia. You know how things are around here. Give me a call, please?”

There it went again. Liv's heart thudded at the pit of her stomach as she flipped shut the phone.

The understanding kindness in Becky's previous messages had left her voice, and now she was all business. Liv knew she shouldn’t be surprised. Becky had been calling her since before she left Ohio, but she just couldn’t wrap her brain around making plans to go back to her pre-cancer life. Liv loved her job in the operating room, and her team was a tuned machine. But more than eight months had passed since she’d stood beside them, and Liv had begun to doubt that she had the edge of an O.R. nurse anymore.

“It's probably like riding a bike,” Hallie had reassured her.

Thinking of her most recent efforts with a bicycle, Liv tossed her head into her hands and laughed out loud, thinking that she sounded a little like a seal.