Promises in Paradise

“I don’t believe that,” Jenna demurred. “Your speech was so warm and loving. I’d say, like father, like daughter. Right, Hale?”

It was too long a moment before he responded and Diane braced herself for something sly and cutting.

“I think that’s fair,” he murmured.

The elevator eased to a stop and the doors opened. The entrance lobby was almost deserted, except for night staff, the director and several others who, once again surrounding Diane, congratulated her father and asked that he be thanked for so generously donating his award check to the cause.

Before Diane could finally bid Hale and Jenna good-night, Hale’s voice halted her.

“Is your car in the museum lot?”

Diane looked puzzled. “Yes. Why did you ask?”

“So’s mine. If you follow me I’ll lead you back to 295. That will take you right to the Belt. You’ll find your way home from there.”

“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to…”

“Do you leave the lot and go to your right or left? The highway entrance is a quarter of a mile east of here.”

Diane stared blankly at him. Jenna laughed. “I think it’s a man thing. I couldn’t tell you if we’re east or west, either. Come on. It’s not going to take us out of the way.”

Diane wanted to protest again but she knew she’d only come off as ungrateful and stubborn. She glanced covertly at Hale only to find him regarding Jenna affectionately.

Okay. So she’s pregnant, pretty and nice.

“Thanks,” Diane murmured, quietly giving in.

Diane watched Hale help Jenna with her winter coat that, when buttoned, ballooned over her protruding belly. She found it humiliating to trail several feet behind Hale and Jenna as, her hand looped through his bent arm, he slowly walked them all back to the parking lot. Diane tried to control her shivers, the rush of frosty air biting into her skin and penetrating deep to her bones. To add insult to injury, her nose was starting to run. She began sniffling.

If Jenna or Hale noticed they gave no indication. The pace continued leisurely for Jenna’s sake, and Diane gritted her teeth, her eyes now watering from the cold, until they reached the lot. Her car was brought out first. She gave the attendant a very large tip for having turned on her heater full blast. She fell into the seat, closing the door with a deep sigh of relief.

She waited for the same service for Hale and Jenna, watching them both through her windshield. Not so much Jenna but Hale.

Patience, consideration, kindness and tenderness were not words she would ever have associated with him. At least not the Hale she used to know. But Diane was taken aback, almost mesmerized, by his attention to Jenna. She didn’t know what to think, what to feel. Their whole encounter that evening had so been outside their history that she felt as if she’d stepped back to the year she was seventeen. That’s where she and Hale Cameron had left off. It was obvious to her now, that’s where she’d gotten stuck.

Hale helped Jenna into the passenger seat of the car, making sure she was comfortable before closing the door and coming around to the driver’s side. Diane at last felt her ire, her long-held indignation, seep out of her. It was pointless. Plus, she felt ashamed. She had not risen to the occasion as she’d always planned if their paths had ever crossed, but had reverted to the spoiled girl Hale had once accused her of being. She had not been able to bridge the gap of years since their last meeting but he had. He had moved on and put her behind him.

His car moved out ahead of her and Diane followed as she’d been instructed. It galled her that she was now beholden to Hale.

They were surprisingly close to the highway entrance, and he stuck his hand out the window indicating the right ramp. Hale then changed lanes, giving her space to pull around his car. She saw that Hale continued to wait, making sure she was well on her way.

At the last minute Diane flashed her headlights as a thank-you before picking up speed. This was something else he could hold over her, no matter how trivial.

Chapter Two

Diane stood at the nursing counter, dressed in a pair of slim black slacks and a dove-gray cashmere turtleneck sweater with fashionable black leather boots. Simple pearl ear studs were her only jewelry. Not exactly holiday colors, she realized when she dressed that morning. Christmas was in the air but she was not about to act like a walking advertisement.

There were makeshift vases of holly and evergreens, wreaths made of fake fruit and poinsettia plants on the counters and a sprig of mistletoe over the entrance to the visitor’s lounge. Cutout foil snowflakes were taped to doors and mirrors. It was hard to avoid. But Diane also knew she just wasn’t feeling it yet.

“Hey. Haven’t seen you lately. When did you cut your hair?” the nursing supervisor asked, sitting at her terminal and working on her computer keyboard.

“About a month ago,” Diane answered absently, focused on the paperwork in front of her. “I got tired of dealing with it. Too much work.”

“You look different.” The nursing supervisor nodded.

Diane shook her head, amused. “Thanks. I think.”

Her hair was trimmed short across her nape but was layered full at the crown and sides, framing a light brown face that was youthful and animated. And except for the unbuttoned traditional white lab coat and the stethoscope folded into one of the pockets there was nothing else about her appearance or posture to indicate she was a doctor.

At that moment she was multitasking, checking messages on her BlackBerry, listening to voice mail from an earpiece and quickly checking off on a hospital form the procedures she’d followed with her last patient. She was also sucking on a piece of candy cane, rolling it around her mouth.

“What are you doing here, anyway? You’re not even on the schedule.” She checked to make sure.

Diane consulted her BlackBerry once more. She entered a text message before finally turning it off and dropping it into her pocket along with the earpiece.

“I was called in for two late referrals that couldn’t wait, according to the attending physicians. The referrals turned into one emergency and the other required a full workup. And there was a bunch of as-long-as-you’re-here-doctor-can-you-take-a-look-at-this requests. You know how it is.” She sighed.

She wasn’t about to admit there was more on her mind than just the obvious routine of her work. To be honest, over the past week or so she found her work was actually a blessed distraction. The horrible events of two years ago notwithstanding, what was on her mind right now was merely irritating. It had kept her awake on three different nights in the last two weeks. It was because she’d seen Hale Cameron again.

Why did he have to be there? she’d been asking herself ever since.

With Jenna.

Who was pregnant.

The image of the friendly woman with her rounded belly evoked a primal reaction in Diane that she, even now, couldn’t understand. Pensive, she played with her hair and massaged her scalp with her fingertips.

“Well, if you’re finished with patients it’s time to get the spirit. Ho ho ho and all that. There’s food in the staff lounge. Unless you have a date and you’re eating later. Or is that long face because he canceled?”

Diane silently shook her head. The mention of any kind of celebrating for the holidays only made her think of Trevor. Her ex-husband. The gnawing memory made her feel more annoyed than sad.

She leaned her whole torso over the counter as she searched along the desk. “Got anymore candy?”

The nurse playfully swatted her hand. “Leave that alone. It’s bad for you.”

Diane chuckled quietly but obeyed.

“You didn’t answer my question. A dinner date?”

The basket was now beyond her reach and Diane stood up and leaned a hip against the counter. “That’s over,” she said smoothly, watching the traffic around the nursing station, the passing of staff, patients and visitors trolling the hallways. Many were wearing cheap, felt Santa hats with fuzzy white trim.

The nurse squinted at her in disbelief. “Over? I thought you just met him a few months ago. What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Diane studied her nails. Her fingers were long and well shaped. Her nails short by necessity, manicured but free of polish. Free of rings, wedding, engagement or friendship.

“It wasn’t a good fit. We weren’t on the same page about a lot of things.”

“He was cute. You threw him outta bed?” The nurse was again incredulous.