They laughed. “I know I’m a little bit early, but I couldn’t wait to see you.” They hugged again. “Hmm, something smells incredible. I stopped and grabbed wine and dessert.”
“Perfect and perfect,” Pearl said, smiling. “Come on into the kitchen. I’m just finishing up dinner.”
“What are we having?” Shauna asked.
“All your favorites,” Pearl said.
Shauna hugged her again. “Thank you, Pearl. I really needed to see a friendly face right now.”
Pearl looked at her and nodded. “You’ve got that and all the love you can hold in your heart. Now, never mind about your day right now. We’ll talk about what’s troubling you in a minute. Right now, go upstairs and wash your hands and get ready to eat.”
Shauna nodded and did exactly as she was told. When she returned to the kitchen, everything was ready, but Pearl wasn’t there. Shauna heard her humming out on the back deck. She walked over and stood at the screened door. Candle lanterns hung from the deck’s wooden beams and the joyous sound of wind chimes played music as the summer breeze blew.
“It’s so beautiful here,” she said softly. She stepped outside and glanced at the house next door, her house. It was where she’d grown up. It was still very large but it looked different now. The trees were cut and trimmed shorter, the white siding she remembered was now tan, matching the new roof. The playhouse she’d helped build with her mother and father was gone and a gazebo was in its place. She sighed thinking, If only...
Pearl stepped up and placed her hand on her shoulder. “They’re nice people with two sons and a daughter. They love the home very much.”
Shauna nodded. “I’m glad.” She looked out at the well-lit backyard garden with its fragrant, colorful flowers, large swimming pool, tall palm tree and privacy shrubs. “I always loved it here. When you took me in after mom died, I...” she began but stopped and took a deep breath.
“You know I have plenty of room here still. There’s no one but me. Why don’t you go back to the hotel, get your things and then come stay with me? I’d love the company, and think of the money you’ll save.”
“Thank you, Pearl. The Cura Group is putting me up, but I’ll tell you what, after I finish this job I’ll hang around the city a few more days. We can catch up.”
Pearl smiled happily. “Yes, that sounds wonderful. I can think of a dozen things we can do. It’ll be like a mini vacation.”
Shauna nodded. “I could use a mini vacation.”
“Good. Now come on. Let’s eat before the food gets cold.”
Shauna nodded and followed Pearl back inside. Lids came off pots and pans. Pearl had prepared a feast. They made their plates and went back outside on the screened-in deck to eat. By the time they finished eating, it was sunset and everything had been perfect. They each drank a glass of wine with dinner and sipped on sweetened sassafras tea with dessert.
“God, I forgot how wonderful it is to just sit and watch the sunset over the bay.”
“You need to slow down. Life isn’t a sprint—it’s a journey. Forget about chasing the hare, and take it easy and follow the tortoise. Too fast and you miss the best parts. To tell you the truth, I wish I had taken my own advice years ago. I wanted to be at the top of my field and I was for a very long time. I gave up family, surrendered relationships and passed on the love of my life just to be on top. Now retired, I look around and see my past mistake was traveling this journey by myself. Being alone is no fun.”
“You have me,” Shauna said as she leaned forward, reaching across the table and squeezing her hand softly.
“Yes, I do, and I need you to have someone.”
Shauna sat back in her seat and exhaled. “Pearl, I blew the job today.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she realized she was going to say them. “I messed up big-time,” Shauna said.
“What do you mean? What happened?” Pearl said.
“Truthfully, I have no idea. Talk about unethical. I can’t believe I just completely destroyed all of my credibility. One minute I’m picking papers off the floor and the next I had my tongue in his mouth.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up. Who are we talking about? You had your tongue in whose mouth? Start from the beginning and talk slowly. What happened exactly?”
Shauna told Pearl about her encounter with Dr. Coles, but she was more interested in the hospital.
“Dr. Dominik Coles thinks the Cura Group is gonna buy the hospital and then sell it off to eventually close down?” Pearl asked.
Shauna looked her friend in the eye. “I don’t know. I hope not, but I can’t guarantee they won’t.”
“So, he may have legitimate concerns.”
“Yes. They sold the last three medical facilities they bought, and within months they began to fail miserably. They resold and eventually the facilities closed.”
“Three hospitals closed down?” Pearl said, astonished.
“No,” Shauna said, “one small hospital and two medical clinics. They all had major problems. I rejected them all, but the new CEO bought them anyway. At first I couldn’t see the sense in it. Then I saw the bottom line. They made more money gutting and then reselling.”
Pearl shook her head. “That’s absolutely unthinkable.”
Shauna nodded. “I agree, but there was nothing I could do. There’s a new executive director. His name is Simon Patterson. The bottom line is all he sees. The Cura Medical Group you knew years ago is gone. It’s all about making money for the shareholders now. The medical element is out of the picture. Their methods are reprehensible.”
“Are you going to stay with them?”
“No. My contract is up and this is my last assignment.”
“What about the other company, Relso Health Care?”
“They’re completely different. They actually care about the companies they buy. They’d be a much better fit to purchase the medical center.”
“Can’t you hook them up together?”
“No, on this I’m still under contract with Cura. If they release me, I’m free to offer my services elsewhere.”
“Okay, getting back to what you were saying before, what happened with Dr. Coles?” Pearl asked.
Shauna nodded. “Years ago we went to high school together. I had a crush on him—every girl in school did. He was the guy most likely to succeed at everything and I was the girl whose father just embezzled money and ran away with another woman, leaving his sick wife and daughter with divorce papers on the dining room table.”
“Shauna, what your father did was heinous. He was greedy and selfish and he lied to everybody, but that was his failing, not yours,” Pearl said adamantly.
“Yes, I know,” Shauna said softly. “I left this place fifteen years ago and never looked back. Now, coming back here brings back so many memories. Most of them aren’t so good. My mom died in Key West Medical. I took her there thinking they’d help her. She never walked out.”
“Shauna, your mother was sick and no one knew it. Ovarian cancer has no real symptoms and is nearly impossible to diagnose. By the time we all found out, it was just too late.”
“I should have paid more attention to her after Dad left us.”
“What happened was nobody’s fault, certainly not yours. No one knew, not even her until it was too late. It was misdiagnosed. Now, what happened today? What makes you think you blew the account?”
“I guess I just didn’t expect to see Dominik. It’s crazy. It feels like being seventeen all over again. It’s like the universe is messing with me again.”
“Okay, now you’re sounding a little paranoid. Tell me what happened after you kissed him. What did he say?”
“Nothing really. He was okay about it. He was understanding and even charming. He said what happened was just a physical impulse—the heat of the discussion—and that we should be able to distance ourselves and move on and continue doing our jobs.”
“He’s right, and you can do that. You do it every time you walk into a hospital
or medical office. You leave your emotions outside. It’s your job to be objective and remove the emotional element from the situation, and you’re very good at it, right?”
Shauna nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay, then it’s all good, business as usual. You’ll just pretend like it never happened, right?”
Shauna took a deep breath. “Right,” she said, agreeing with relief.
“Except one last thing—how was he?” Pearl smiled eagerly.
“You did not just ask me that question,” Shauna said.
“Come on, spill. I know exactly who you’re talking about. We’ve met on a few occasions. He’s a very intense man with a quiet and powerful presence. When he and his brother walk into a room, the women can’t help but stare. He’s a puzzle, though. I’ve never been able to see through his armor. It’s interesting to know that you’ve at least glimpsed a crack in it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean Dr. Coles is built and he’s gorgeous and as sexy as hell. And it’s a good thing I’m not a cougar or I’d go after him myself. And let’s face it, Shauna, you haven’t had a hookup in about three years. You’re due for a little L and L.”
“What are ‘L and L’?”
“Lust and love,” she said. “So, let’s hear details.”
“Seriously, I cannot believe you’re asking me this. It was just a kiss. It was quick and over with,” she said. She looked at Pearl, who was steadily shaking her head, not believing a word. “Okay, okay, it was without words. I swear my heart stopped beating the whole time. My toes curled and I wanted it to go on forever.”
Pearl nodded. “That’s more like it.”
“And that said, I’m gonna end this conversation and grab some more dessert before I head back to the hotel.” Shauna stood to go back inside.
“You know, I was just thinking,” Pearl began as she followed behind Shauna, “while you’re down here, and seeing as how you know the good doctor and haven’t had your toes curled since the turn of the last century, why don’t you and he...”
“Do not finish that sentence,” Shauna warned jokingly.
Pearl laughed. “It was only a thought, a hopeful suggestion. Are you going back to the E.R. tonight?”
“I don’t know. Probably. I don’t want to go back, but I know I have to. I don’t have a choice.”
“You’re right. You do have to go back. It’s your job and you can do this,” Pearl said. “Get yourself right back up on the horse. That’s what I like to hear. And speaking of going back, I presume you received your Key West High School alumni emailed newsletter?”
Shauna shrugged and nodded. “I unsubscribed years ago, but it still comes and goes directly to my spam filter.”
Pearl shook her head. “Well, you need to get it out of the spam filter and read it. Your class is having a high school reunion in two weeks. I hear it’s gonna be nice.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“As long as you’re gonna still be here, why don’t you think of attending this year? You didn’t go to your prom. You haven’t been back in fifteen years. It might be a nice evening out. So, what do you have planned for tomorrow?” Pearl asked Shauna, completely changing the subject.
“Nothing much. I’ll get some work done, of course.”
“Nonsense, you can work Monday. See, that was my big mistake—I worked all the time. My life just passed me by and all I did was work. Then what are you left with? Nothing. Tomorrow you can come volunteering with me. And don’t give me that ‘I don’t have time.’ You make time.”
Shauna smiled. “Volunteering. What kind of volunteering? Do you mean feeding the hungry?”
“There are all kinds of volunteering with so many in need and never enough people to help out. I usually put in hours with the senior citizens at the center, but tomorrow I’ll be hanging out with a couple of dear old ladies.”
“Okay, what do I have to do?” Shauna asked.
“Nothing much. Just smile, be pleasant, help them in and out of the car and with their purchases. Most seniors don’t drive, so going to the store, going out to run errands or to the clinic is a major hardship. They have no way to get around. That’s where I come in.”
“So, you just play chauffeur all day.”
“Sometimes, but it’s mainly just being there with them. Most of them are alone. They don’t have any family, or if they do, they don’t see them much.”
Shauna nodded. It sounded good. She always wanted to volunteer but never found she had time. Pearl was right. You don’t find time—you make time. “Okay, that sounds great. I’ll do it.”
“Good.”
“Good,” Shauna repeated. Then they laughed and Pearl began telling her about the books she’d downloaded and the one she was currently reading. Shauna responded and commented when necessary, but her mind was on Pearl’s last comment about Dominik. It would be tempting to finally fulfill her teenage fantasy of being with him. She smiled to herself. Never in a million years would she have guessed her day would end like this.
Later that evening, after long hugs goodbye, Shauna went back to the hotel. It had been an arduous day, but still she was wide-awake. She didn’t want to go back to the hotel room and be alone, but she did. Pearl was right—being alone was the worst.
She sat down at the small desk and pulled out her computer pad and laptop. She transferred updates and synchronized the data between computers. She preferred to work primarily on her laptop for the majority of her work, but used her lighter computer tablet for taking notes and general information gathering.
Now that the laptop was up-to-date, she reached into her briefcase to get her flash drives. She pulled one out, then opened the case wider to retrieve the second one. It wasn’t there. She started digging and rifling through each compartment more thoroughly, pulling everything out. The case was completely empty. She looked again and again. She grabbed the case and nearly turned it inside out. Then she stopped and looked around the empty room. “Oh, no, this isn’t happening,” she muttered to herself.
The missing drive, although password protected, had a number of very sensitive files on it that related to her work and the Cura Group. Losing that flash drive wouldn’t hinder her job or performance, but it would make it take longer. And even though the same basic program was also on her laptop, she’d already begun singling out specific files to be examined more closely. She’d have to do that part all over again.
She had to find it. She began searching her briefcase again and then her purse and her suitcase. It was nowhere in sight. She sat down on the side of the bed and tried to remember the last time she used it. It was at her last job, but she knew she had it when she came here. Then it hit her. It might have fallen out when she dropped her briefcase on the floor in the E.R. waiting area earlier that morning. She needed to go back to the E.R. She grabbed her purse and keys and hurried out to the car.
Leaving anything behind was a huge misstep, something she’d never done. Leaving a very key component of her job because she was mesmerized by Dominik looking at her was an unforgivable breach in conduct. She’d never been so reckless before. She never allowed her emotions to get in the way of her job or get the best of her. But once was already once too many times. She knew she’d have to shield and protect herself more than ever now.
Chapter 7
There were only a few people waiting in the open area. This wasn’t about checking out the staff and procedures. Shauna stepped up to the nurse’s check-in desk. “Hi, I lost something here earlier. Is there someone I can speak with?”
“Sure. I’ll call for security.”
“It was this morning. Maybe housekeeping picked it up?”
“If they did, it still has to be handled through security.”
Shauna nodded, hoping that the same guards who’d escorted her out earlier weren’t on duty this evening. She was dressed in the same outfit and heels from this afternoon. Still, it was possible they could confuse her for a reporter again. A few minutes later a
guard came out through the security doors. He was thin and tall, well over six feet and probably weighed no more than one hundred pounds. “Hi, can I help you?” he asked.
“Yes, I hope so. I was here earlier this morning and I think I accidently dropped a flash drive on the floor in the waiting room. Did anyone turn it in?”
The guard shook his head. “Not to my knowledge. If they did, it would be in Lost and Found, but it’s closed right now. You can come back Monday morning at nine o’clock.”
Shauna frowned. This wasn’t good enough. She needed that flash drive. “Okay, here’s the thing. I need the flash drive tonight and this weekend. Is there any way you can just check? It’s really important.”
“Sorry, I wish I could help. That’s hospital policy. Lost and Found is in the hospital-services department. Their department’s closed on the weekends. No one gets in after hours. It’s for security.”
Shauna understood, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier for her. “Well, what if something is found in the middle of the night, like right now? Where does it go?”
“We hold it here in the back until the Lost and Found opens.”
“Can you check to see if someone turned in a flash drive?”
“Yeah, sure, I can do that,” he said. “I’ll check the daily write-up reports, as well. Flash drives would fall into the expensive and secure item category.”
“Thank you so much,” she said.
He disappeared through the security doors. Shauna waited impatiently a few minutes, then she glanced at her watch. It was just before midnight. She looked around the waiting area and decided to walk over and check herself. No one was sitting in the chair she’d sat in earlier that morning. She looked under, around and behind the seats, then moved the cushion. She went back to the security desk just as the guard was returning. He shook his head. “Sorry, ma’am. We have sunglasses, a book and a kid’s toy. No flash drive.”
Mine at Last Page 6