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He smiles softly. “You too, child. You are radiant today. I checked for bugs by the way.”
I laugh appreciatively as he holds my hands for a few seconds longer. “Of course you did.”
Josef turns his attention fully to my companion. “And who is your friend?”
“This is Dr. Jameson Scott.”
Josef’s wise gaze sizes up Scotch as they shake. “So, I heard you saved my favorite little hellion.”
Scotch’s smile tips up on one side. “I did. But I heard you did it first. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Novotny.”
My heart grows and heats up like the summer sun coming over the horizon. Glowing. So bright and warm.
I almost can’t take it.
Having these two men together does something to my nerves. It warms me and makes me nervous in equal parts.
For some reason, it feels really, really important that they like each other. “You two, let’s sit down, please.”
Scotch holds out my chair. I catch the man who saved me when I was just a teen watching as he takes his own seat across from us.
I shrug off my down jacket and scarf with Scotch’s help. “I hope we didn’t keep you long.”
“I’ve only been here a few minutes. You were right on time.”
The waitress comes to take our order. Since we just arrived and I don’t know the menu, I suggest Josef order for us. Looking down his nose through his reading glasses, he considers the selections for a minute.
Scotch reaches for my hand under the table. My fingers are like ice and he folds them into his warm palm. The heat from him chases some of my worry away.
The thought of seeing my mother’s journal is hanging over my head like a cloud that’s ready to cover everything in ice.
When Josef’s finished ordering lunch and the waitress is gone, he engages Scotch in his barely accented English. “Dr. Scott. I’m quite surprised you won the trust of this one.”
Scotch squeezes my hand. With complete honesty on his handsome face, he says, “It wasn’t easy. And to tell you the truth, I’m not sure I have, completely.”
His words strike a chord in my heart. He’s so damn perceptive.
It’s true. I’m not sure I have let go of all the roadblocks to my trust. It’s a long hard road, one I don’t even have the map to.
Josef drinks from his coffee as he studies us together. “I can’t say she’s been fond of medical people since I met her. That makes this even more interesting.”
I huff. “You would be mistrusting too if you had a mother that preached that doctors were the root of all evil.”
Beside me, I feel a slight change in Scotch’s body. A tensing of his muscles. A shift in his warmth. “It’s understandable. It can be hard to trust if a doctor has hurt you or your family.”
When his eyes turn to me, I know he’s thinking about something. And I wonder if it’s the same thing that’s starting to unfurl in my head.
Did my mother’s hate of doctors have something to do with her hate for me?
Shaking myself out of the rabbit hole, I turn my attention back to my dear friend. “Have you thought of anything which might help me figure this problem out?”
“I did a little asking around about you.”
“Did anything new show up?”
“I actually know a woman that knew your mother when you were a very young child.”
The clenching in my gut is getting tighter by the minute. Soon, it’s going to choke the life out of me. “Yes, did she remember something important?”