Summer of Love Marie Ferrarella (easy books to read in english TXT) 📖

“I know.” He laced his fingers through hers. “I gave her a sedative, so she should sleep through the night. We’ll start fresh in the morning.”

“I want to be there when she wakes up.”

He studied her for a minute or two, before shaking his head with what looked like regret. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Jess. When you and your mom left, she was agitated and withdrawn. I don’t want those memories to be the ones that resurface when she opens her eyes. Give her a day.”

“A day?” She couldn’t believe he was asking her to stay away from the hospital for an entire day. “I’m not the only one worried. Mom is, as well.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I see her. Are you working tomorrow?” He let go of her hand and reached for one of his pencils, jiggling it between his fingers as if he needed something to keep him busy. Or maybe it was a hint that he needed to get back to work.

“I’m on the afternoon shift, starting at three. I’d better get out of your hair.” She stood to her feet, then thought of something. “What if you get a call in the middle of the night?”

“If something serious happens, I’ll be in touch.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” He must have read her dubious smile, because one side of his mouth curved into that familiar half smile. “Would you like me to pinkie-swear, as well?”

Despite her worry, she found her own lips twitching. “Would you, if I asked you to?”

“Yes.”

Something icy hot nipped the air between them. She held her breath and then released it in a long stream. “Or you could come and spend the night at the house. Just in case.”

Why on earth had she asked that? It was too late to take back the offer, although she could clarify it. “On the couch, of course.”

His eyes softened, but he shook his head. “I have to work for a couple more hours. Besides, I don’t think my staying with you would be a good idea, Jess. Things never quite remain that simple between us. And I meant what I said about taking myself off the case if I think my objectivity has been compromised.”

Oh, Lord, that’s right. He’d intimated that he’d hand Chelsea over to someone else if things got too personal between them. “I wasn’t asking you to sleep with me. Not this time.”

She’d gone that route once before, asking him to make love to her by the creek, desperately needing a few minutes out from beneath her father’s thumb.

“I don’t remember complaining the last time you did.”

No. But then again she hadn’t seen him volunteering to hang around the next day—although it had probably been too late for him to back out of boot camp by that time. And who was to say he would stick around in Richmond now? Some servicemen loved the adventure of a new place every couple of years. Not Jessi. Once she’d gotten to high school, her father had finally seemed willing to settle down and stay until she graduated. Then she’d married Larry, who hadn’t known she’d had a dalliance with his friend. Not until that last day of his life.

She blocked out the thought and concentrated on the here and now as Clint got up and opened the door to his office.

She walked through it and then hesitated on the other side. “So you’ll call me tomorrow.”

“As soon as I have some news. Yes.”

They said their goodbyes, and already his manner was more aloof. Businesslike.

Once she got to the front door of the hospital she lifted her chin and made a decision. If Clint could keep his personal life separate from what happened at the hospital, then she could, too. For everyone’s sakes, she was going to have to learn to take her cues from Clint, adopting that same professional demeanor whenever she was here.

No matter how hard it was starting to be.

The suicide had come out of nowhere, and while it hadn’t been one of Clint’s patients it brought home the thin line he was walking with Chelsea and Jessi. The entire hospital was on edge because of it.

It wasn’t easy for any doctor to lose a patient, no matter what anyone said. True impartiality was hard to come by at the best of times … and with Jessi it seemed to border on the impossible.

He’d felt the anguish radiating from every pore of her body when she’d lifted that macabre paper figure out of her daughter’s drawer. And it had taken a lot of self-restraint to remain in his seat, observing Chelsea’s reactions, and not rush over to make sure the woman who wasn’t his patient was okay.

While he and Jessi hadn’t been involved emotionally in the past—a thought he stubbornly clung to, no matter what his gut said—there could be nothing at all between them now.

Not just because of his patient. Not just because of his and Jessi’s past. But because of his job and his own personal baggage.

Once they found a replacement for him, he was headed back to San Diego. It was either that or request that his transfer to Richmond be made permanent, something he couldn’t see happening. He was the one they called on for temporary assignments. It’s what he wanted. Moving around a lot kept his mind on the job at hand, rather than highlighting his lack of a personal life. And the unlikelihood that he’d ever have much of one.

Not that he hadn’t tried. He’d been in serious relationships. Twice. But both times the woman had left, saying she felt he was withholding himself emotionally.

He had been. Somehow he could never quite let his guard all the way down. His every move was calculated. Controlled. And that’s the way he liked it.

He was very aware that wasn’t what most women looked for in a man. He was just not husband material.

Because of his dad?

Hell, the