When Snowflakes Never Cease (Crossroads Collection)

by Amanda Tru

  Geneva knew these tests were all repeats of ones Allie had experienced with her first bout of leukemia. However, with her age and the trauma involved, she doubted Allie would remember any parts of the process individually. Instead, it all blended into one nightmare, and she was understandably afraid.

  Carter turned to Kara. “We need to start the bloodwork today and schedule the biopsy for this week. What questions can I answer for you?”

  Kara wet her lips and looked nervously from him, to Allie, and back again.

  Recognizing Kara’s dilemma, Geneva sprang into action, speaking for the first time. “Allie, why don’t you come with me? On the way here, I spotted a popcorn machine in the waiting room. I think you definitely deserve a treat!”

  With Kara’s permission, Allie put her hand in Geneva’s, and they exited the room, allowing Kara the freedom to ask the questions she didn’t yet want Allie to hear.

  Geneva procured a bag of popcorn and two cups of water, and they sat and munched the buttery distraction.

  Kara soon appeared to claim Allie and escort her to begin her bloodwork.

  Carter was nowhere to be seen, and Geneva breathed a sigh of relief. She’d managed to get through the appointment without him speaking to her or even looking her way. Thankfully, the busy superman had already flown off to save his next patient, and Geneva was in the clear.

  “Do you need me to stick around?” Geneva asked Kara, checking the time to see how long she still had before needing to leave to make it back to her own patients in Crossroads.

  “No, you go ahead. We can handle this. Thank you for coming. I know you didn’t do much, but I really appreciate your support and knowing you are informed on all the details.”

  “Of course. Did you get your questions answered?”

  Kara smiled shyly. “Not really. He said the exact same thing you did. He wants to wait until the test results come back before discussing percentages.”

  Geneva smiled sympathetically and reached over to give a gentle squeeze to Kara’s shoulders. “Never feel bad about asking, Kara. Second -guess me. Second-guess every other doctor you encounter. Ask all the questions you can think of. It’s kind of your job, and I’d be disappointed if you did anything different.”

  With a nod and trembling smile, Kara and Allie headed for the lab, and Geneva hit the button for the elevator. The elevator doors opened, and she entered to join an older, balding doctor whose eyes lit up at the sight of her.

  “Dr. Geneva Hutchins! I heard a rumor that you were sighted in the hospital today. I was actually just mounting a search operation to locate you!” When he spoke, his baritone voice echoed throughout the small space.

  I should have dumped the white coat! Geneva thought regretfully. She knew she couldn’t exactly go incognito if she wore her white jacket with an embroidered Dr. Hutchins label neatly identifying her, but she just couldn’t seem to make herself part with it while needing to be in full doctor mode for Allie’s appointment.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met,” Geneva said formally, extending her hand and abandoning her efforts at avoidance.

  He didn’t really look the part of a doctor. He was a large man who appeared like he’d be more comfortable on a football field rather than an operating room. While he wore a pair of glasses on his bulbous nose, his most dominating feature was his massive, bald head that reflected the bright glow of the lights overhead.

  “No, we haven’t. Not officially,” the man said, eagerly accepting her hand in a shake. His voice was so low it reverberated in her ears every time he spoke. “I’m Dr. Douglas Neely, Chief of Medicine here at the hospital. You’ve probably seen my name on letters, emails, and maybe heard my voice on a few voicemails. I’ve been trying to catch up with you for quite some time. I’m very familiar with your work and exceptional reputation, Dr. Hutchins. I’d very much like to convince you to come work at our hospital, here.”

  At his words, Geneva immediately dubbed him “The Head,” for obvious, shiny reasons. She also remembered the emails, letters, and voicemails to which he referred. All of which, Geneva had ignored. Not that working at the top hospital in Brighton Falls and one of the best in the nation as a whole didn’t appeal to her, but it didn’t coincide with her life goal of avoiding the hospital’s golden boy. And, since Dr. Carter Solomon was still very much employed there, Geneva possessed zero interest in any offer Dr. Neely might employ. “I’m sorry I never responded to your efforts to contact me, Dr. Neely, but I’m not interested in a position here. I’m very happy with my private practice in Crossroads.”

  Dr. Neely nodded enthusiastically. “I support that sentiment. But it is also my understanding that you have privileges and occasionally take shifts at a hospital here in Brighton Falls as well.”

  “True,” Geneva admitted reluctantly. The man had apparently done his homework.

  They stepped out on the ground floor, and Geneva pointedly looked at her watch, hoping to end this conversation quickly.

  Dr. Neely’s words accelerated in response. “Dr. Hutchins, I have a rather unique proposal that would not require you to give up anything at all in terms of your practice. As you know, our hospital leads the nation in treating childhood cancer as well as a few other specialties. We are inundated with referral requests, and our doctors are not able to sort through all of them or adequately refer them on the right road when unable to accept more patients. I would like you to take on the role of our first-round doctor. Patients and referrals come to you. With your wide range of knowledge, you are uniquely qualified to make the best recommendation for treatment or push through the referral to the most appropriate specialist. Your exceptional care of patients and bedside manner would ensure that a ‘no’ from our hospital will also be administered with compassion and knowledge. Our patients will leave here confident that, even if they aren’t seen here, they have a recommendation from Dr. Geneva Hutchins for the best possible care.”

  Geneva’s firm ‘no’ paused on her lips. Had he rehearsed his sales pitch? It certainly sounded like a dream job, and Geneva couldn’t deny that it sounded tempting. Some of the most unique, challenging pediatric cases in the nation filtered through this hospital. But, could the opportunity to help where it counted and work with the best outweigh the unavoidable reality of working with Carter?

  It can’t be done. Geneva thought doubtfully. And not just the part about working with Carter. What he described sounded like more than a full-time job, and while she loved challenging cases, she could not give up her small-town practice.

  Nevertheless, she was intrigued.

  Geneva glanced back down at her watch. “I can give you ten minutes. Then I need to leave for my appointments back in Crossroads.”

  Dr. Neely beamed, his shiny bald head seeming to glow brighter with his delight. “Let’s run up to my office, and I’ll give you ten minutes of details that include a very generous compensation package!”

  With the uneasy feeling that she was following the Pied Piper, Geneva trailed the shiny bald beacon back onto the elevator.

  Geneva turned the corner with her phone in hand, glancing down at the time. She looked up only to have her gaze collide with Carter Solomon’s. Geneva’s feet instantly turned to stone, and her breath whisked away as if the air had been knocked from her lungs. The contact lasted only a fraction of a second before Carter’s vibrant brown eyes skidded back up to the lights blinking above the elevator doors.

  Realizing he didn’t intend to acknowledge any kind of recognition, Geneva imitated his example and faced the elevator, studying the numbers above the metal doors as the lights blinked ever-so-slowly up and down the line.

  At least, Dr. Neely had kept his word and limited himself to ten minutes, but he certainly packed as much information as he could into a sales pitch delivered with such rapidly spoken words that Geneva would need to invest time later unraveling what he’d said from her memory. She knew Dr. Neely would contact her in another few days, hoping to convince her to accept his offer. Hope
fully, by then, Geneva would know how she felt about it, and more than likely, she would be able to deliver an informed refusal, never alluding that her real reason was the man who currently stood beside her.

  The tinny chime of the elevator arriving finally rang merrily into the tense silence.

  The door opened. Carter walked onto the elevator. Geneva paused, momentarily debating whether she should just wait for the next one.

  Don’t be ridiculous, she chided herself. You’re an adult. Get on the stupid elevator already.

  She was also a professional who had appointments to keep.

  With her head held high, Geneva entered the elevator and turned around to face the front, hoping another passenger would appear before the elevator doors locked her in with Carter.

  Unfortunately, the doors slid smoothly shut, leaving Geneva suddenly unsure if she could muster up enough “adult” and “professional” to make the journey down to the ground floor.

  She looked to the buttons on the side panel of the elevator, but the button for the ground floor already glowed from where Carter had pressed it. She faced the closed doors and watched as the numbers slowly ticked backward. Not even elevator music filled the silence.

  “Good seeing you, Geneva,” Carter’s husky voice spoke right before the final light blinked.

  “Unless you’ve suddenly grown an extra pair of eyes in the back of your head, I don’t know that you can actually say that you’ve ‘seen’ me at all.” The retort escaped before she could clamp her mouth over it.

  The merry bell chimed, signaling the immanence of the opening door and her escape.

  Carter’s hand shot out, pressing the close button to prevent the sliding doors from moving. With his finger holding the button firmly, he turned his intense gaze directly on her. His brown eyes raked her from the bottom of her most comfortable flats, over her white jacket declaring her a doctor, and ending with a deep, soul-searching gaze into her own dark blue eyes.

  Geneva didn’t breathe, gazing back at him with equal intensity, almost daring him to search until he found what he was looking for.

  “There.” He said, pointedly completing his scrutiny and proving that he really had seen her. “I really didn’t need to look at you to know you’re still beautiful. Or that you haven’t changed a bit.”

  It wasn’t a compliment. The last phrase was delivered with such distaste that his meaning far overpowered the actual words. He still had absolutely no desire or use for her. In his mind, though she might look good on the outside, she was the same abhorrent creature that he’d tossed aside without regret four years ago.

  He released the button, and the door immediately slid open. “I’ll let you know when I have Allie’s test results.” Then he stepped from the elevator, his gait quickly taking him through the hospital lobby and down a side hall.

  Geneva stepped from the elevator and turned the opposite way toward the front doors.

  It shouldn’t bother her. Carter was right. Nothing had changed. She’d known four years ago that their issue wasn’t that they’d had some big fight. Carter had never been angry with her, so it wasn’t really anything that he could “get over.” You don’t really change your mind when you decide you don’t even like who a person is. Since Carter had openly told her he didn’t like her as a person, she’d never had any false hope that he’d change his mind.

  Yet, none of that explained why it hurt so bad right now. A four-year-old rejection shouldn’t feel like a knife in the heart. It shouldn’t make it hard to breathe. She shouldn’t need to force a smile past her tension-filled expression while greeting those she passed.

  Geneva got into her car, turned it on, and drew on every ounce of professionalism to bury all her genuine thoughts and emotions behind the folders of medical files living in her head. She mentally began reviewing the charts of the patients she would soon consult this afternoon.

  With a deep breath, she pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to Crossroads.

  She blinked, trying to focus on the road.

  There should definitely not be tears clouding her vision.

  “Excited?” Surfer Boy asked, pumping his eyebrows up and down jauntily.

  “Absolutely!” Geneva replied. “It’s been a while since I’ve gone rafting.”

  “You’ve never gone rafting with me,” he smiled, using the front of her life jacket to pull her closer.

  Geneva looked appreciatively at the sleek, tanned muscles of Josh’s bare chest above his swimming trunks. With his long blond hair and blue eyes, Josh looked every inch of the “Surfer Boy” Geneva had mentally dubbed him.

  “That is the source of my great excitement,” Geneva replied, returning the flirtatious exchange. “I’m sure you can make even the tamest river exciting.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to worry about this one,” Josh assured. “Besides, if things get a little dicey, I’ll be right there to save you.” Josh winked and quirked a confident, flirtatious smile her direction.

  Geneva concealed her laughter by simply returning Josh’s smile. While Josh was one of the most physically attractive men she’d ever met, he often slightly misunderstood the finer nuances in conversations. Subtlety and jokes seemed to go over his head, and he’d misunderstand, unknowingly taking the conversation a different direction than the original intent. Just like in this instance, Geneva’s flirty comment had in no way meant to suggest that she was fearful of the float. Though she wouldn’t mention it and ruin Josh’s heroic persona, this float trip couldn’t compete with the more dangerous whitewater rafting trips she’d experienced.

  Geneva sighed, watching Josh appreciatively as he tossed his blond hair out of his eyes and released her to prop his hands on his hips, surveying the scene before him. She was fully aware that in a world of high-speed internet, Josh’s brainpower sometimes seemed to only use dial-up.

  And somehow, Geneva was okay with that. After all, he was awfully nice to look at.

  Josh turned back to Geneva. “We’re still waiting on a few people. By the time they arrive, our guide should have the raft ready to go.” He reached out and tightened the straps on her life jacket, once again pulling her close. “I think this life vest should work okay for you.”

  “It should. It’s mine,” Geneva couldn’t resist clarifying. “It fit when I bought it at the store, and every single time I’ve taken it out of the closet since then.”

  Josh laughed. “Well, you never know. Some things you have to try on frequently to make sure they still fit.”

  “Oh, I agree,” Geneva said, sliding a teasing glance his way. “For instance, I think at some point, it might be a good idea to try your lips again, just to make sure they fit properly.”

  Josh grinned. “I think we’d better take care of that one right away.” His arms came around her.

  Geneva’s lips tingled in anticipation.

  The sound of a phone ringing froze Josh’s lips a fraction above hers.

  “Isn’t that your phone?” he asked. “Don’t you need to answer it?”

  “No, I really don’t,” Geneva answered, even as she groaned slightly and pulled away to retrieve her phone from the waterproof bag she’d stored it in minutes before.

  Her quick glance at the number didn’t result in any recognition, but she answered right before it went to her voicemail. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Geneva. This is Carter.”

  She stifled another groan. I really shouldn’t have answered this!

  “Carter…?” she asked as if she didn’t know exactly who was on the other end of the call. She heard him chuckle.

  “Carter Solomon.”

  He must be calling her from his personal cell phone. She’d deleted his contact information long ago, and now she regretted it. If Carter’s name had shown up on the screen, she definitely wouldn’t have answered and would have instead been tempted to toss the phone in the river.

  “Oh, right. What can I do for you, Dr. Solomon?” she asked formally.

  “Okay. K
nock it off, Gen. Really not in the mood for games,” Carter said irritably. “Where are you right now?”

  “I’m getting ready to jump in a raft and be unavailable for the next few hours as we head downstream,” she replied smartly. “In other words, hurry up and tell me why you are calling and get it over with.”

  “Are you here in Brighton Falls? Are you at the river launch for Whitewater Mavericks?”

  “Yes,” Geneva replied slowly. Why did it matter where she was? This river guide company was the most popular in the area and started most of their floats from right outside Brighton Falls.

  “Stay there. I’ll be there in five minutes,” Carter said quickly.

  “Wait a minute! What? Why?” Geneva sputtered.

  “Geneva, I’m already in the area, and I’d rather talk to you about this in person.”

  “Carter, I really can’t think of a single thing you need to tell me in person versus over the phone. Besides, we’re getting ready to leave, and I’m not waiting for you.”

  “Gen, I have Allie’s test results. See you in a few minutes.”

  Then he hung up on her without so much as another word.

  “Is everything alright?” Josh asked, trotting back up from the river where he’d headed when she’d answered the phone.

  “Um… yes,” Geneva said, fumbling but trying to grasp hold of her carefree, pre-phone call attitude. “A colleague is in the area and stopping by in just a couple of minutes. He has some news about a patient. It shouldn’t take long.”

  “No worries. We have time. Being a doctor and all is pretty serious stuff.”

  Yes, it was—which was precisely why she didn’t want to discuss doctor issues right before embarking on her rafting trip. She had the day off. She wasn’t even on call. Instead, she was in her swimsuit and completely unprepared to process or handle any work issues, especially if those had anything to do with Allie.