by D. F. Jones
Anna looked at Sandy and smiled. Boy, she had missed her friends. “Okay, y’all, go on and leave your suitcases in your rooms. I’ll go and pull my car out of the garage. Oh, I have to wear sunglasses tonight just in case I run into someone from work. They won’t understand how quickly I’ve recovered. The last one out locks the door.”
Anna left through the sliding glass doors in the kitchen while Ruby and Sandy crooned Corey Hart’s, “Sunglasses at Night.” Anna shook her head and laughed at her friends. She walked around the pool to the main garage. She had bought a new VW Quantum and rarely drove it unless she was going to the grocery store or it was pouring down rain. Anna backed out of the garage and pulled around to the side of the guest house where Ruby and Sandy were waiting. They had changed into sundresses, too. She said, “Y’all look gorgeous. Now get in and put on your seatbelts.”
Sandy opened the back door, and Ruby opened the front passenger door, and they jumped inside. Sandy said, “Lady with the baby gets shotgun, and as usual, I get stuck in the back.”
Anna turned around and said, “Thanks, Sandy.” She pulled out of the driveway and headed the short distance to the restaurant. Along the way, they chatted about the flight from Nashville.
Sandy leaned in and placed her hands on the back of the front passenger seat. “You’re never going to believe who we saw on the flight.”
Anna glanced in her rearview at Sandy. “Who?”
Ruby let out a sigh and turned to Anna. “Brent and he’s still hot.”
Sandy placed her forearm on the armrest. “Damn right. He looks good and still not married. I gave him my number. Maybe we could have a quickie reunion if you know what I mean.” Sandy wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “But then again, Brent has always had the secret hots for Ruby. You should’ve seen him being gaga over our girl until Ruby told him she was pregnant, and he turned white as a ghost.”
Ruby twisted around in the seat to look at Sandy. “You have an overactive imagination.”
Sandy laughed and said, “It’s what wins me awards, baby.”
“So, what’s Brent doing down here?” Anna clicked on her left blinker and pulled into the restaurant’s valet parking.
Sandy reached down for her clutch purse. “He’s bidding a job in Destin. I told him we’re staying with you. Is your number listed?”
Anna pulled her car to a stop, handed her keys to the valet, and turned to the girls. “Yeah, my phone’s listed. If he calls, I’d love to see Brent. Hey, we’re a little early. I’ll put our name in with the hostess, and we’ll go around back for cocktails. The sun’s setting and the view is killer.”
Anna, Sandy, and Ruby followed the lush tropical path to the back of the restaurant until they were in the bar area. The club had a Jimmy Buffet sound-a-like band playing music. Anna said, “I never get tired of Jimmy Buffet, white sand beaches, and the Florida sunsets. Oh, I see a table.” The girls followed Anna to a table, and a waiter came over to get their drink order.
Ruby ordered water, and Anna ordered for her and Sandy. “Two Sex on the Beaches, please.” Anna glanced at Sandy. “Have you ever had that?”
Sandy laughed so hard she had to hold onto her sides. “Not the drink, but I’ve had sex on the beach.” Anna rolled her eyes and shook her head and laughed. It was good to know some things never changed.
The girls easily fell into their old routines. There was something pretty spectacular about having best friends. Even though miles, and sometimes months, separated them, when they got together it felt as if they’d just seen each other yesterday.
At dinner, Anna ordered the chef’s feast for them. The seafood came on one huge platter, and they shared it between the three of them. Scallops, shrimp, and oysters baked, fried, and broiled. Anna placed her hand over Ruby’s and said, “Don’t eat the oysters, just to be on the safe side. You’ll thank me in the morning.”
Ruby placed her hand over her mouth and closed her eyes. A minute later, she said, “No worries, the thought of oysters makes me sick. Fried shrimp is all I want and bread. Lots of bread and butter.”
Sandy popped a fried scallop in her mouth and moaned. “God, girl, this food is choice. I haven’t tasted seafood this good since I went to Aruba last year with Paul. And don’t ask. He was some dude I interviewed last year. He’s in the music industry in Nashville, and it was a fling. So, Ruby, please enlighten us on how you and Reed stay so much in love? I mean, for the rest of us, it’s hard. The moment you think you’ve found Mr. Right, it doesn’t take long to figure out his flaws. Either you burn or get burned.”
Ruby tore off a piece of bread from a basket on the table and began to slather it with butter. “Oh, Sandy, I hate you jumping from one guy to the next. Doesn’t it get old?”
Sandy tensed slightly and added with a touch of sarcasm, “Well, we don’t all get to marry a Reed, do we?”
Ruby’s eyes brightened, and she smiled, revealing her beautiful pearly whites. “Don’t get testy, my dear bestie. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I just worry about you.” Ruby’s face lit up as she began to talk about Reed. “I don’t know how we do it. All I know is I love Reed more now than I did when we first started dating. Y’all will always be my best friends, but Reed, he’s my soul mate.”
Anna took a sip of her cocktail and smiled. “And now Reed is going to be a daddy. I’m so happy for you both.”
Ruby looked down briefly while she pushed her salad around with her fork, and she looked up at Anna. “He is sweet and kind. It’s not like we don’t fight. We do. But it’s over stupid stuff like putting the toilet seat down or leaving toothpaste in the sink.”
Anna sighed with a tinge of jealousy. “So how is Jerry? And what happened after he called me?” A smattering of conversations swirled around them in hushed tones from different tables. A whoosh of air passed her as the wait staff ran back and forth from the kitchen.
Ruby’s amber eyes flickered in the candlelight. With a quirk of her brow, she said, “I told him not to marry Rachel.”
Anna spat out her bread. The lady at the table next to them turned her nose up and placed her back to Anna. Anna rolled her eyes at the old woman and turned back to her buddies. “What did Jerry say?”
Ruby added some lemon to her water. “Well, he yelled at me. Jerry was letting me have it when Reed came home from work, and Reed chewed his ears off.” Ruby laughed and reached over to squeeze Anna’s hand. “Honey, Jerry’s still in love with you, and from where I’m sitting, you’re still in love with him. Don’t let him marry Rachel.”
Anna sat stiffly in her chair and waved to the waiter, who came right over. She handed the waiter her credit card. “We’re ready to check out, please.” When the waiter walked away, Anna turned back to Ruby and tried hard to keep her emotions under control. “Ruby, I called Jerry and begged him not to marry Rachel. I told him if he still loved me at all, not to do it. Jerry told me he was sorry. Sorry. So what the hell am I supposed to do?”
Anna looked at her two best friends. “I want your opinion on something that’s been bugging me since I talked to Jerry. I tried calling him over the years, and when he never replied, I wrote him a few times. The last time I reached out I wrote him a long letter telling him how much I missed him and I still loved him. Jerry said he never received any of my messages or my letters. I want to know how long Rachel has been with him and whether you think she deleted my messages and trashed my letters.”
Sandy drank the rest of her cocktail and set the empty glass on the table. “I wouldn’t put it past her. Rachel started hanging around Jerry right after you moved to Florida. She was pretty slick about it and played the friend card first. Her father set it up with Jerry for Rachel to start hosting these dinner parties and stuff for Jerry’s business. Annabelly, you need to have a face-to-face with Jerry. If you two are still in love with each other, the sparks will fly, and he’ll take his blinders off. Rachel has gotten her claws dug in deep, and believe me when I say that she gets what she wants.”
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sp; Ruby munched on the last piece of bread, pressed the cloth napkin to her lips, and laid it down next to her plate. “Sandy’s right. Rachel was pretty slick how she handled Jerry. But Jerry didn’t start dating her exclusively until New Year’s. That’s when Reed told me he, well…when he…slept with her for the first time. Jerry doesn’t talk to me about his love life, but he does talk to Reed.”
Anna signed the dinner tab. “Well, I didn’t expect him to remain celibate. I have this feeling Rachel sabotaged me. Of course, how would I prove it? I’ll need more than a miracle to have a face-to-face with Jerry before I finish my residency. I still have a couple more weeks left. Even if I could get out of my residency before then, isn’t Rachel living with Jerry? Come on, let’s go back to the bar. The jams should be cranking by now, and I want to dance.”
The girls went back to the bar, and Anna pointed to the beach access. “There’s a table over there next to the little pathway that leads to the beach.” They walked over and sat down.
Sandy placed her purse on the table, and her eyes widened. “Hotties at three o’clock, and I do mean H.O.T.”
Anna looked up and said, “Double damn.” She slumped down in her seat and put her sunglasses back on. “Crap, it’s Jack. Of all the times for me to run into him. I’m on sick leave, dad durn it, and I’m out clubbing.”
Ruby strained her neck to get a look at Jack. “Geez Louise, Anna. That’s Dr. Yummy? Why haven’t you closed the deal with him?”
Before Anna could reply, Jack and another handsome man stepped over to their table. Jack said, “Anna? Hey, I thought that was you. How are you feeling? And who’re your pretty friends?”
Anna straightened her spine and said, “These are my two best friends, Ruby and Sandy. Girls, this is Jack, my boss.”
Sandy reached out and shook his hand. “Hi, Jack. Why don’t you and your friend pull up a chair?” He gave Sandy a million-dollar smile.
Jack pulled a chair next to Anna and reached over to shake Ruby’s hand. “It’s so nice to meet you both. Friends of Anna’s from Tennessee?” Anna moved her chair over to make room for Jack’s. He pulled off his jacket and draped it on the back of the chair, then leaned in and introduced his friend. “Anna, this is our newest board member, Dr. Frank Howard. Frank is breaking new ground with his research on Alzheimer’s.”
Frank reached over and shook her hand. “Dr. Kelly, your team speaks highly of your work.” Frank turned to stare at Sandy with an another-one-bites-the-dust look splashed across his face. “Are your friends visiting for long?”
“No, they’re here for just the weekend,” Anna replied.
Anna listened silently as her friends chatted away with Jack and Frank, and the drinks just kept coming. Jack placed his arm on the back of Anna’s chair. He leaned in next to her ear and said, “Dance with me, Anna?” She took a deep breath and her knee started bouncing up and down. The band played “One More Night” by Phil Collins. Sandy kicked Anna’s leg, and Anna kicked her back.
“Okay, Jack, let’s dance.” Anna rose from her chair. Ruby and Sandy were smiling at her like two Cheshire cats with a bowl of cream.
Jack led her onto the dance floor and pulled her up close to him. It had been a long time since she’d been in the arms of a man, even if it was Jack. God, he smelled good, too. Anna had the irresistible urge to run her tongue along the cord of his neck.
Jack nuzzled his cheek next to hers and muttered, “Anna, you smell like a little slice of heaven.”
Anna tilted her head to the side and looked up into his eyes with a laugh. “It’s the shrimp scampi.”
Jack joined in her mirth and with a low drawl said, “Maybe…but you sure as hell smell good enough to eat.”
At work, she and Jack talked over cases fairly easily, but right now she couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Her body had taken over her brain, remembering him in boxers, but it didn’t change the fact Jack was still her boss.
Jack kissed her so fast she didn’t have time to react. The dance floor seemed to blur, and the thumping beats of the music filled her ears. Instinctively, Anna hauled off to smack Jack across the face, but he caught her hand.
Anna became weak in the knees and didn’t think she could walk back to the table. “What in the blue blazes do you think you’re doing?”
“Anna, it’s just a kiss.” Jack lifted her sunglasses and froze. His mouth dropped open, and it hit her a second too late that there was no evidence left from her eye injury.
Jack stumbled over his words and said in apparent disbelief, “H-How, how? W-What did you do? I-I don’t understand.”
Anna took a step back from him and threw her palms up. “It’s a miracle, Jack. I woke up and went to the mirror, and my eye was completely healed.” It wasn’t a lie. She just left out the part about Ralph. Jack shook his head back and forth. His kiss was forgotten in the face of a miracle.
Anna went back to their table, and Jack followed her in silence. Anna looked at Ruby and Sandy and gave them a shrug. She placed her sunglasses back in her purse. Jack couldn’t take his eyes off Anna, but his look had nothing to do with desire. He kept looking at her like she belonged under a microscope in a petri dish.
Sandy sipped on a dirty martini and said, “Well, you two certainly looked cozy out there.” Jack nodded but kept staring at Anna. Sandy was trying to play matchmaker, and it just wasn’t going to work.
Jack turned to Frank. After a long pause, he said, “I told you how hard that patient hit Anna a couple of days ago. Well, look—she doesn’t have a shred of evidence left from the injury. Her eye was completely swollen shut yesterday. It should still be swollen, and she should have a bruise. Any ideas?”
Anna, Ruby, and Sandy each did their best to keep a straight face. They all knew it was a miracle. Ruby said, “You mean to tell me you’ve never seen or heard of medical miracles?”
Frank stood and put on his glasses. He went around the table and brought a penlight out of his coat jacket. “Anna, please follow the light for me. I just want to see for myself.” Anna blushed, but she followed the penlight. He clicked the light off and placed the pen back in his coat.
Anna jutted her chin and defiantly said, “Unexplained medical miracles go unsolved every day. I just happen to be one of them. I didn’t come back to the hospital today because of exactly what you two are doing to me now. I’m not a specimen, and I’m trying to enjoy my time with my girlfriends. You’re embarrassing me, Jack.”
Frank turned to Sandy and offered her his hand. “Would you like to dance?”
Sandy stood and placed her hand in his. “Frank, I would love to dance.” Sandy and Frank stepped away from the table.
Ruby grabbed her purse and stood. “Sorry to leave you, Annabelly, but I have to go pee. Pitfalls of pregnancy.”
Anna chuckled under her breath, and her gaze returned to Jack. The look he gave her made her hold her breath for a long second. She’d been so focused on becoming a doctor and establishing her reputation in her residency that dating had never entered her lifestyle equation. Jack was seriously handsome and a wonderful doctor. She was leaving in two weeks, so why was she placing the quietus on any interaction with him?
Jack stared at her like she was crème brûlée, and it made her nervous. She didn’t need any more complications in her life. “Jack, stop looking at me like I’m one of your groupies at the hospital. You have no effect on me.” Anna glanced up to make sure lightning didn’t strike.
Jack gave her a slow and sexy smile. He brushed his lips next to her ear and whispered, “I beg to differ, Anna. Your eyes are dilated, and your pulse rate is off the charts.”
Anna pushed the chair away from the table and left Jack sitting by himself. Off the charts, indeed. Night had fallen, and the beach club glowed from the tiki torches and candle globes on the tables. She muscled her way through the crowded dance floor to Sandy. “Jack’s getting on my last nerve, so I’m walking down to the water.”
Frank pointed to Jack, who stood behind her a
nd had heard every word.
Sandy chuckled and said, “You tell ’em, sister. We’re not going anywhere. You go for a walk on the beach. With this moonlight, you might get lucky.” Jack and Frank both laughed at Sandy’s comment.
Anna stomped away without looking back. Why was she so angry? Was it Jack? Or was she angry at herself? Maybe a part of her wanted to get back at Jerry, or maybe she wanted to live life again and was too afraid. As her feet hit the sand, Anna slipped off her sandals and ran barefoot to the shoreline. Once she reached it, she stopped and let the slow ocean waves roll over her feet. The moonlight was so bright that Anna could see a couple making out near the boardwalk.
Jack ran up beside her, and she noticed he had stopped long enough to take off his Italian loafers and roll up the bottom of his pants.
He shouted over the waves, “What did I do, Anna? How do I get on your nerves? Is it because I want you? Or is it because you want me?”
Anna turned around and yelled back, “I don’t know. I think it’s because I’ve been alone for too long and you scare the hell out of me.”
Jack scooped his arm around her waist and held her head with the palm of his hand. He kissed her senseless as she clung onto his biceps. She circled her arms around his neck. Then Jack abruptly let her go, and she lost her balance and landed in the sand on her rump. She looked up at him with her head tilted and he helped her to stand.
Jack gingerly ran his hand along her arm and then backed away. “Anna, I don’t want to scare you. Hell, it scares me, too. I’ve never felt like I do when I’m near you. I know I’m your boss, but in another two weeks, you’ll no longer work for me.”
Jack’s eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight, and his chest heaved up and down as if he was having a hard time breathing. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Anna, I want you, and when you make up your mind, you know how to find me.” Jack left her and walked back to the club.
Motionless, Anna stared out at the ocean. The moonlit night, the sand, and the ocean were aesthetically the stuff that made romantic fantasies. She didn’t think it was the fact she wanted Jack necessarily; she just wanted someone to love her. Someone to hold her. And Jack was hot and sexy as hell.