Sophie's Path

Katia eyed her as she signaled the waitress. “I’ll have an iced tea and a romaine salad. Dressing on the side.”

Katia propped an elbow on the counter and turned to Sophie. A shower of auburn hair fell over her shoulder, acting like a privacy curtain. “It’s pretty coincidental that I ran into you today,” Katia said. “Jack and I were talking about you only this morning.”

Sophie sucked in a breath. “Really? Nothing good, I’m sure.”

Katia put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder.

Great. It’s that bad.

Since the accident, Sophie had been so busy with her job and battling her own demons that she’d almost pushed Jack Carter from her mind. Almost.

“To be honest, Sophie, I’m worried about him. He’s taken Aleah’s death very hard. Austin and I went to her service with Jack. I’d expected him to need our help to get through the day, but he was...well, I’ve never seen him like that. He’s always been the strong one in his family, you know? None of us had even known her more than a few months. But Jack is acting like she was his sister or daughter or something. I don’t have any idea what to say to him.”

“There’s nothing you can say, Katia,” Sophie reassured her. “Grief is its own timekeeper. Some people move on in a few weeks. Others never quite get there.”

Katia examined Sophie’s face. “And what about you?”

“What about me?” Sophie parroted with more sarcasm in her voice than she’d intended. She was instantly defensive.

How could Katia really know her when Sophie was in the process of regrouping? Reinventing herself?

“I don’t need a medical degree to figure out that those dark smudges under your eyes are not from too much mascara,” Katia whispered compassionately.

“Oh, that.”

“And that’s a lot of comfort food on your plate.”

“Yeah, well.” Sophie sighed, feeling like the culprit in a sinister caper.

Katia frowned. “Mashed potatoes was my go-to food. That was when I left Indian Lake heartbroken over Austin.”

Sophie followed Katia’s eyes to the burger. “Hmm. Not very original of me.”

“No.” Katia leaned back as her salad and iced tea were served. “I’m guessing you’re as upset about Aleah as Jack is.”

Sophie needed to bob and weave. She didn’t want Katia running back to Jack with some tale of woe that he could use against her. If Sophie told Katia anything that resembled guilt or wrongdoing, Jack could sue her and the hospital. Sophie didn’t really know Katia that well. And she was in the insurance business, after all. What if Katia’s friendliness was an act? What if she’d been sent to spy on Sophie? “You’re very observant, Katia.”

“I think I can help, Sophie,” Katia said, spearing a cherry tomato with her fork. “Spend a day in the city with me?”

“What on earth for?”

“For fun. We’ll go to lunch. Window-shop and pretend to buy clothes we can’t afford. It’s the kind of thing you do to take your mind off your troubles.”

Sophie smoothed the hem of her scrubs. “I don’t think shopping will help. Besides, I haven’t done anything like that since college.”

“Then you’re overdue. Maybe we can get Mrs. Beabots to go with us.”

“Is she up to that?”

“Are you kidding?” Katia’s eyes were round as plates. “Just mention shopping to her and watch her reaction. Has she shown you her treasures yet?”

“What treasures?”

“Her closets are a treasure trove. She’s got so much vintage Chanel, it brings tears to my eyes. I’m a discount junkie. Seriously. I drive into Chicago to do most of my shopping since I know where to get all the best deals. I took Maddie and Sarah last weekend. You really need to come with me. We’ll have a blast.”

“I’m not sure. I’ve never had the time—” Sophie’s voice dropped off as she realized what truth she’d spoken. She didn’t have girlfriends because friendships took time and effort. She poured all her concern and caring into her patients. That and the fact that once Sophie turned on her charm, most of her friends’ boyfriends couldn’t resist her. Sophie wasn’t beautiful like Katia. Who was? But she had magnetism, and in the past she’d used it to her full advantage. Right now, Sophie couldn’t muster a spark of allure for anyone. “Thanks for the invitation, Katia. But I don’t know when I could break free.”

Katia nodded. “I understand. Apparently, you’ve been saving mankind. Admirable. Very admirable. But I still want to take you shopping.”

“I’m not that altruistic,” Sophie replied as the image of Jack’s face flashed across her mind.

Katia sipped her tea. “I think you are. Lots of people do.”

“But not Jack Carter.” Sophie was fishing for information. That definitely wasn’t altruistic, and it wasn’t even a good strategy, but Sophie felt the glare of Jack’s condemnation each time she did a shift in the ER.

“He’ll come around,” Katia replied with a reassuring look in her eyes.

CHAPTER SIX (#ulink_8ff7c521-5217-5ca8-81b9-dbfaa447eb00)

JACK COULDN’T BELIEVE he was nervous about his meeting with Indian Lake Hospital’s president, Emory Wills, but the butterflies in his stomach were about to drown in roiling acid. This deal had been over six months in the making. Katia had initiated the conversations with Emory and the hospital board, but as their inquiries and demands grew and their list of needs expanded, Jack felt it imperative that he take the reins in the negotiations. Katia had been present for most of the meetings so far, but a scheduling conflict had caused both Jack and Katia to do some quick shuffling. In the end, they decided that Katia would proceed with an extensive presentation to a group of local farmers that was nearly as important to Jack as the hospital’s insurance policy.

Jack shook his head. When Katia had suggested last year that he move his insurance company from Chicago to Indian Lake to save on rent and other Illinois taxes, he’d actually scoffed at her. No more. How could he have known that this small community would be vital and progressive in some ways, while its appearance was that of another era? On the whole, Jack liked Indian Lake more and more by the day.

The receptionist in the hospital’s admin wing was clearly above retirement age, and she appeared to handle a bevy of phone calls and issues with seasoned practice. As her hand flew over the phone intercom and dial pad, he noticed a large diamond wedding ring set. It wasn’t the kind of thing Jack noticed ordinarily, but for some reason, he’d begun paying more attention to just about everyone and everything since he’d moved to Indian Lake.

Especially since the accident.

This was the first time he’d been back to the hospital since that night. He’d seen his doctors, as prescribed, but in their clinic offices. It was strange, almost eerie for him to be here, thinking about business...or at least trying to thing about business. He kept seeing flashes of Aleah’s face from that day. Her eagerness during the seminar, asking intelligent questions of the speaker. Later, seeing her laugh and joke with Owen in the car. Then came the pandemonium in the ER as the doctors tried to save her. Sophie’s stricken face as she delivered the news that Aleah had died.

Jack told himself he’d never forgive Sophie for not saving Aleah, but already the grooves in that record were wearing deep. If he hadn’t pushed Aleah to go to Chicago... If only he’d signed her up for the webinars online that she could have studied on her own, in her free time...

If only he’d seen the other car coming at them. But he’d been laughing at one of Owen’s jokes. He’d glanced in the rearview mirror and in that split second, he’d missed it. He’d missed seeing death driving smack into them.

Jack’s head pounded with pain, but he knew it had nothing to do with his concussion. It was stress. He was thinking too much.

Feeling too much.

He should be grateful for the medical care he’d received.

His ankle had healed nicely, and except when he turned a corner a bit too abruptly, he didn’t notice it at all. The bruises around his eyes were a memory, but the scar over his eyebrow and those on his arms would take months, maybe years to disappear. It was just as well. They would remind him always of Aleah and what he owed her.

As his memories of the accident whipped up a fresh batch of guilt, Nate Barzonni walked up, accompanied by another man. Jack rose to greet them.

Nate grasped Jack’s hand and then squeezed his forearm. “Good to see you, Jack. You’re looking well.”

“Doing well,” Jack replied.

Nate turned to his left and said, “Jack, this is Dr. Roger Caldwell. It’s his ablation unit that you’ll be insuring for us.”