Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92636 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“What about Mom and Dad? You going to tell them what happened?” Sam asked.
“I’ve spoken to Mom. And as soon as Dad finishes his last treatment, we agreed to sit him down and explain everything, including that Rex contacted her through Facebook.” He’d already told his brother and sister the background before he went to Vegas.
“Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that conversation,” Erin said with a shake of her head. “Good thing their bond is tight enough to withstand anything.”
“Amen,” Mike said.
“So. Does anyone have any good news to talk about?” Erin grinned.
“Same old,” Sam muttered.
They finished eating in relative peace, for which Mike was grateful. His cell rang as he was finishing, and he took the call from work.
He listened without much interest. “Just leave it on my desk,” he said to the desk sergeant on call. “I’ll get to it when I come in tomorrow.” He disconnected the line.
“Anything important?” Erin asked.
Mike shook his head. “Someone left an envelope for me.” And he hoped that was the most interesting thing that happened to him for the rest of the week. He could do without drama and excitement for a little while.
* * *
Cara had been back in Serendipity for almost a week when Alexa finally had time to meet her at Cuppa Café Saturday morning. Cara needed a female pal fix desperately, and she’d had to wait until her friend’s day off.
“Sit. I have your drink ready and waiting,” Cara said when Alexa arrived. “I have so much to tell you!”
Alexa shrugged off her winter coat. “I wish you’d told me you needed to talk! I’d have made time sooner,” she chided.
Cara waved a hand. “As if I’d ever ask you to drop a patient or turn down an emergency. You’re a workaholic, but don’t worry. I know that if I needed you, you’d be there for me. I guess I wasn’t ready to share just yet.”
Alexa listened, her eyes glazing with a bit of envy at the description of Las Vegas—at least before meeting Rex. From the suite in the Bellagio, to the most intimate dinner she’d ever experienced, to the light show, where Mike had encircled her in his arms and held her while they watched, Cara was falling hard.
“Your man sounds yummy. Are you sure we’re talking about Mike Marsden?” Alexa asked on a laugh, as she drew a sip of her black coffee.
Cara winced at the way her friend drank to keep herself awake and downed her own heavily sugared latte. “I’m sure. When he’s hot, there’s nobody sweeter.”
“But?” Alexa prodded, waiting for Cara to pull her thoughts together and answer.
Which wasn’t easy. The but was the whole reason she was here with her friend. Cara was falling hard, and it had to stop. Her runaway feelings were getting out of hand, and she needed a reminder that anything more than a hot affair with Mike would burn out fast. And she needed to hear it from another woman, not from Sam.
Cara swallowed hard. “But when he’s cold . . . Brrr.”
Alexa narrowed her gaze. “So he’s not Mr. Perfect.”
Cara shook her head.
“Good. Who is?” Alexa grinned. “Glad to know he’s as human as the rest of us.”
Cara sighed. “Listen, we talked about this a few weeks ago at Joe’s. I know who and what Mike is.”
Alexa tipped her head and eyed Cara with those appraising, smart eyes. “And you love him for it.”
Cara blinked, stunned at her friend’s words. “No. No, of course not.” She couldn’t be in love. “I told you I’d only love a man who I can trust with my whole heart. I need security and predictability, not someone who blows hot and cold or who’s reminded me more than once he’s not interested in anything permanent.” Her heart squeezed at the reminder, but that was what she wanted out of this talk. The brutal truth said out loud. “I need to know what to expect from a man and when.”
Alexis shook her head and put her empty cup down. “Not every man is your father.”
Cara’s stomach cramped. So maybe she wasn’t looking for anything quite that brutal. Still, Alexa had a valid point. “True. And I’m not saying Mike’s anything like my dad. He wouldn’t hurt me—or anyone—that way, but I don’t have to wonder if Mike’s the guy I can entrust my heart to because he doesn’t want it.” She rose and tossed her cup in the trash. “I’m so glad we had this talk!”
“Cara Hartley, sit yourself down!”
Cara stared at her normally quiet, sedate doctor friend. So did everyone else in the small café. In order to avoid making a scene, she lowered herself back into the chair. “Who are you and what have you done with my friend Alexa?”
“I am your friend, and as such, I’m here to tell you to get your head out of your ass,” she said, much more quietly this time. “Mike took you with him to Vegas to meet the man who abandoned him for the first time. And you don’t think he’s someone you can trust your heart to?” Alexa held up a hand. “And I don’t want to hear about some relationship he had when he was pretty much still a kid himself.”