Chapter 17
Molly stood at the back of the church. For once, she wasn’t wearing black. She wasn’t wearing white, either, but a pale cream lace dress. Beneath it she wore daring blue lingerie. Her mother’s pearl earrings and a pretty gold bracelet she had borrowed from Lori completed the old saying: Something old, something new. Something borrowed, something blue.
The music started up and Hank took her hand. “I’m real happy for you, Molly. I wish I could have been a better husband for you, but I think it all worked out for everybody in the end.”
“No regrets, Hank. We have three wonderful children,” she said, and squeezed his hand. Then he walked her down the aisle. Ahead were Lori, Suzanne and Elizabeth in matching dark green dresses on one side. On the other side, Thomas and two of David’s friends from college wore matching tuxes.
And there was David. Her pirate man. She felt such a wave of love that tears threatened to fall. She tried to hold them back but one escaped down each cheek. Fortunately Lori knew Molly well, and had done Molly’s makeup using waterproof mascara.
Hank gave her hand a final squeeze and took a seat. Molly and David made their vows. He had tears in his eyes, too, and then they were married.
The reception was a blur of activity. Nearly everyone in town was there, the Green family conspicuous in their absence but totally unmissed. Molly and David took the floor for their first dance and then Tommy cut in, awkwardly but gamely leading his mother across the floor as they’d practiced, blushing at the unaccustomed attention. Suzie whirled by with David, totally in her element.
Next to the cake they had put together a collage of family photos of those who were missed. Molly had included several photos of her parents and grandparents, including her parents’ formal wedding portrait. David had one of his parents as well. And he had made a copy of the picture of his great-grandmother walking down the staircase in his house; it was the one from the society page all those years ago. He had also found a copy of their engagement photo from the same source. He had had it enlarged and though it was a bit blurry, you could clearly see his great-grandfather’s prominent widow’s peak. That was all the evidence he and Molly needed to believe that Conrad blood ran in his veins.
When it was time to throw the bouquet, Lori caught it and howled with laughter. “Not bloody likely!” she said. She and the cardiologist had broken up; but she had brought an anesthesiologist with her to the wedding.
Molly took only tiny sips of champagne during the toasts. They had decided not to tell anyone yet that they were expecting a baby in about six months. She ate little during the buffet dinner; she was still a little queasy with the same morning-noon-and-night sickness she’d had with her first three children.
Lori, a little drunk, came up to Molly and gave her a big hug. “You might be fooling everybody else, but I’m a nurse,” she whispered. “I know a knocked-up bride when I see one. I am sooooo happy for you and your pirate man,” she said. “I love ya, Molly!”
“I love you, too, Lori. You’re the best friend I ever had. Don’t tell anyone about the baby, OK? We’re going to announce it when we get back.”
“My lips are sealed. And don’t worry, I’ll keep a good eye on the kids and Clarence while you guys are gone.” Molly and David had a two-week trip to Jamaica planned. Lori had talked Molly into packing the first bikini she’d worn since she was a teenager. Molly hoped her baby bump wouldn’t look too conspicuous on the beach.
“Happy, Mrs. Conrad?” David asked, squeezing her hand.
“I’ve never been happier,” she said, squeezing back. “My pirate man.”
∞∞∞
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I invite you to catch up with me on social media and get to know all the women of Fairview. Learn what Fairview resident will find love next — you can even vote for your favorite characters! For now, get to know Molly’s best friend. Lori Randall loves being a nurse, and she loves working with doctors. Her No. 1 goal in life is to marry one. But it hasn’t worked out that way. A painful tragedy nudges Lori into making some big changes in her single life. Maybe, she thinks, it’s time to give up on love. But then she meets a man who changes her mind. He isn’t who she was looking for. He’s a real estate agent who seems to care about nothing but money, and he wants to sell her an outrageous house. As it turns out, her first impressions of both the man and the house are pretty far off the mark. Should she take a chance?
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Kiss and Tell
Small-Town Secrets: Book 2
By Sophia Sinclair
Chapter 1
Lori Randall expertly slid the IV needle right into the vein so quickly that her patient, who was turning his head and making a face, didn’t even know she had done it. She held a cotton ball against the injection site and carefully placed a strip of adhesive to hold the needle in place, and removed the rubber tie, which had helped make his veins pop up, from his upper arm.
“All done, Mr. Wright,” she said.
“Eh? I didn’t feel it this time,” said the elderly man. He was what the nurses in the Emergency Room referred to as a “frequent flyer,” so Lori was familiar with the man’s hatred of needles. Still, for someone who purported to hate needles, hospitals and pretty much every other form of medical care, he sure did find enough reasons to hit the Emergency Room. Some of his visits appeared legit. But other times, she suspected, he was just lonely.
“You have good veins. Easy as pie,” she said.
“The last nurse poked me like I was a pin cushion,” he said. “I’m gonna ask for you from now on,” he said.
“It’ll just depend on who is on duty when you get here, Mr. Wright. No guarantees it’ll be me. But any of our nurses will take very good care of you.” She quickly cleaned up after herself and placed her rubber gloves in the trash. “The doctor will be in to see you soon,” she said. Then she was off to the next patient.
It was a Thursday night at Fairview Medical Center. So far it had been a fairly slow night. Mr. Wright, with his endless complaints about everything. A baby with a slight fever, whose first-time mother was worried sick and needed lots of reassurance. A woman with severe stomach pain who Lori suspected would be getting her gallbladder out sooner rather than later. That was pretty much it, and that suited Lori just fine — there were plenty of shifts she was so busy that she could scarcely find time to go to the bathroom or eat dinner. She usually worked days, but they’d needed her to switch her to a late schedule for a few weeks because one of the night nurses was on maternity leave. She didn’t mind much. She wasn’t dating anyone, so it’s not as if she were really missing out on anything by working until late into the night.
She had a new romance novel and an apple in her locker, and her eye was on the clock, just waiting for her break so she could devour both. Part of Lori’s regular routine was an apple and a few chapters of whatever romance novel she was reading for lunch, or, in this case, dinner. It was another pirate novel — her particular favorite in the romance genre. Her best friend, Molly, had recently married a pirate — or so Lori joked. He was actually a textbook editor, but he so closely resembled the pirate on the cover of the book Lori was looking at when she met
him that she still teased her friend about marrying the Pirate Man. In turn, Molly often teased Lori that the reason she hadn’t yet achieved her goal of marrying a doctor was that her apple a day kept them away.
Lori wished it were as simple as switching to a banana. Or a cheeseburger. Or anything else. She loved being a nurse, but a big part of the attraction of her profession for her was meeting doctors. As a teenager, she had declared her intention to become a nurse and to marry a doctor. She found doctors dedicated and intelligent and powerful. No lesser male mortal really appealed to her. Problem was, though she’d dated at least a dozen in the past few years, she was still single. She spent a lot of effort on her appearance. Her platinum blond hair was always flawless. At work she wore scrubs, but the rest of the time she took care to dress fashionably in a way that showed off the very good figure she was always careful to keep.
Five minutes, she thought to herself. Then she’d crack into “Sweet Savage Love” and escape from everything for a while. But then another patient came in. He was 36, the chart said. Jake Williams. Good-looking guy, she idly thought to herself, if he’d shave. Tall. Thick blond hair. Blue eyes. Her type, if he happened to be a doctor, and if he weren’t wearing dirty jeans and a flannel shirt. She thought she knew that name. He was here to have a splinter removed. “A splinter?” she thought to herself. No wonder medical costs were so high. Ridiculous. Then she saw it.
“How on earth?” she couldn’t help asking.
“I know,” he said sheepishly. “I’m a real estate agent. I was trying to pull a “For Sale By Owner” sign out of a client’s yard so I could put in my own. New clients. They tried to sell their house by themselves but finally gave up and hired me when they couldn’t get it sold. They had a homemade wooden sign in their yard and it was stuck. So I gave it a good pull and managed to do this.” He held up his hand, which was embedded with the longest splinter Lori had ever seen. It would have given a fit of the heebie-jeebies to the average person: A slender piece of wood several inches long was lodged firmly inside the skin of the palm of his hand, just under his four fingers. Lori visualized him gripping a wooden stake with both hands, jerking upward, slipping, and having a splinter of wood instantly jam into the soft skin on his palm. Ouch.
“The doctor will probably have to cut this out,” she said. “For now, let’s get your blood pressure.” She wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm and it automatically puffed up. She read the results and entered them into the electronic chart. “Blood pressure is 122/65,” she said. Normal pulse, normal temperature, no allergies, no other symptoms.
“Hey, I know you,” he suddenly said. “You’re Caroline’s friend. I just sold her a house. I think you were at her house-warming party, right?”
“Oh, yes, that’s right,” she said. She remembered him now. Caroline had gushed about what a great real estate agent he was. He’d looked quite handsome when she met him. He was clearly not dressed for the job today. But she had found him annoying at the party. The slick salesman type. He didn’t look so slick now. She mentally shaved him, combed his hair, and switched out the work clothing for a good suit. Yep, same guy. But not nearly as self-assured and arrogant-looking now that he was sitting there with a long piece of wood jammed into his hand. Or so she thought. His next words changed her mind about that: “Hey, if you are interested in buying or selling a home, let me know.” He used his uninjured hand to extend a business card, which she declined to take.
“Sorry, I’m here to help take care of your hand, not to make a real estate deal. The doctor will be with you soon,” she said. She turned and walked out, ready to escape to her apple and her book.
∞∞∞
Worth The Wait (Small-Town Secrets-Fairview Series Book 1) Page 17