“What are your chances?” Deb asked.
“They’d be better if there was a Mr. Miller and I didn’t work such long hours,” Scarlet scanned through her messages to see if any were urgent. “But Joey will likely go home requiring some level of specialized care that I am more than qualified to provide. I put down I’d take a six week maternity leave, like any new mom would get, to stay at home to care for her. So if nothing else, they may give her to me for the six weeks during which time I will figure out a doable work schedule to convince the decision-makers that permanent placement with me is what’s in Joey’s best interest.” Exactly what Holly would have wanted. What Scarlet wanted.
Deb shook her head.
“What?”
“Six weeks,” she said quietly. “I don’t know how we’ll survive without you.”
“I’ve budgeted for an assistant head nurse but never filled the position because up until now I haven’t needed to.” She looked at Deb pointedly, hoping to relay the message she was the only person Scarlet would accept for the job. “Maybe it’s time I started taking applications.”
Deb, quick on the uptake as usual, asked, “You think I’m ready?”
More than ready. “Yes. Let’s see how things work out with Joey. Promise me you’ll think about it.”
“Oh I will,” Deb said.
With a “Thanks for holding things together until I got here,” Scarlet left to say a quick good morning to her precious baby girl, before she got to work.
Hours passed like minutes, but Scarlet found the time to feed and cuddle Joey once and rush down to the cafeteria to meet Jessie for their standing three o’clock cafeteria date.
“Hey,” Scarlet said, placing her orange tray down on the table opposite Jessie’s. “You all ready for your trip?” She pulled out a chair and sat down.
Jessie picked up her apple and wiped it with a napkin. “Yup.”
“You feeling better about the lake and the swimming and boating?” Scarlet felt terrible that she’d missed meeting up with Jess on Tuesday so they hadn’t done much girl-talking since their Saturday outing.
Jessie chewed her bite of apple. “Grandpa Richard said everyone on the boat has to wear a life jacket—they keep you afloat if you should wind up in the water—even him and grandma.” She took a sip of milk. “And Grandma’s going to take the girls to the craft store so he can teach me to swim without interruption.”
Scarlet loved how Jessie now spoke excitedly about the trip she’d been dreading for months.
“Grandpa thinks I’m big and strong and smart enough that I should be swimming by myself by the end of the trip.”
“That’s great.”
“Then I won’t ever have to be scared of the water again.”
Scarlet hoped Grandpa Richard came through as promised.
After another bite of apple Jess turned serious. “Will you do something for me?”
Scarlet swallowed down a spoonful of yogurt. “Of course.”
“I’m worried about my dad.”
Who Scarlet hadn’t seen or heard from since their kiss.
“He’s been real quiet. And he hasn’t been eating much. I think maybe he’s getting sick.” She slid a key and a piece of paper across the table. “I’m going to call him every day. But if he doesn’t answer I’ll need someone to make sure he’s okay.”
“Jess.” Scarlet reached out to touch her hand. “I’m sure your dad will be fine. Maybe he’s sad about you leaving.”
“He’s all I have now,” she said. “What if something happens to him while I’m gone?”
Jessie didn’t say it but Scarlet heard, “What will happen to me?”
“I promise, if you need me to check on your dad, I will,” Scarlet said.
“I wrote down his telephone number so you could call him, too.” She shrugged. “If you want. And our address.” She pointed to the piece of paper under the key. “I told the man at the desk in our building that you have permission to go right up because you’re my friend.”
Scarlet smiled. “I’m glad we’re friends.”
Jessie smiled back. “Me, too.”
“I don’t want you to worry about your dad. Go on your trip and have fun. I’ll call him every day, so if you get busy and forget it’s no big deal.”
Jessie lunged out of her seat, around the table, and into Scarlet’s arms. “Thank you,” she said, squeezing Scarlet tight. “I’m going to miss you.”
“You’re most welcome,” Scarlet said, squeezing her back. “You’ll only be gone for four days, but I’m going to miss you, too.”
* * *
In the slightly more than twenty-four hours since Jessie had given her the key to Lewis’s condo, Scarlet hadn’t spent one second thinking she’d actually have to use it. Well...except for the dream where she’d snuck into his home late at night...under cover of darkness...into his bedroom...into his bed...naked.
Whoa. She shifted her bags and fanned herself, the motion futile in the stuffy elevator taking her up to the twenty-first floor of Lewis’s posh upper-east-side building. That’d been a hot one.
But since it had nothing to do with a well-being check, it didn’t count.
The elevator pinged its arrival and the doors opened to a décor of opulent elegance that mimicked the lobby. Two antique chairs upholstered in a floral maroon fabric with magnificently carved, dark-stained wooden arms and legs sat at an angle on either side of a small matching table and below a large ornate gold-trimmed mirror. Quiet and the smell of wealth greeted her.
It reminded Scarlet of her youth. The memories were not pleasant ones.
Each door she passed looked the same. Pristine. Just like the bland textured walls that surrounded them.
The hallway, the lobby, the entire building, while lovely, lacked personality. Where were the signs of life, the feeling of warmth and welcome? Scarlet loved her New Jersey apartment, for her crazy boisterous neighbors and the smells of their varied meal menus, as much as its proximity to New York City.
She found Lewis’s door and stopped. What if he was in there with someone? What if the reason she and Jessie couldn’t reach him was he’d turned off his phone so as not to be disturbed during his four days of debauchery.
“Please, Scarlet. You have to go. What if he’s lying on the floor dying and there’s no one to help him?” Boy Jessie had a vivid imagination.
She lifted her hand to knock. Stopped.
What if
