“Look at her, Shively. She’s gorgeous. Why the heck would the doc want to party with a bunch of half-dead zombies like us?” Mr. Abercrombie growled.
“You know as well as I do I like going to Shady Lawn parties once in awhile, Mr. Abercrombie.” Her brow crinkled in suspicion when she noticed Abercrombie’s wry, assessing glance as he peered up at her from beneath bushy gray eyebrows. For some reason it reminded Esa of what Carla said last week about her reserving her room at Shady Lawn nursing home before she turned thirty.
One of the many things Carla had said in order to goad her into going to One Life.
Had it really been a whole week since she’d first seen Finn walk out of that construction trailer, six days since she’d stormed out of his condo and left him alone with that man-eater Julia Graves? She hadn’t heard a whisper from him since. Now that the weekend was here, it seemed more and more unlikely that she’d ever hear from him again.
She was a fool for expecting anything different, of course. Hadn’t they set clear parameters for their fling? He’d said he wanted his fill of her and surely she’d given it to him during that night of wild, uninhibited, write-to-Cosmo-it-was-so-phenomenal sex.
She’d been meticulous about driving Rachel’s car in the far right lanes when they neared 63rd Street all week long, determinedly ignoring Carla’s muttering under her breath that she was a coward in addition to being lame. Look where listening to her best friend had gotten her last week, after all?
Naked, shameless and lust-drunk beneath Finn Madigan’s beautiful body, that’s where.
She flinched away from Mrs. Fuentes’ cane when the elevator door opened on the fifth floor and two more people squeezed on.
“When are you gonna order me one of those fancy electric wheelies, Doc?” Abercrombie demanded as the doors shut once again.
“When your physical therapist recommends it and I see even a trace of evidence that it’s warranted.”
They’d ritualistically engaged in this conversation since Abercrombie had come to Shady Lawn for continued physical therapy following his acute hospitalization for a stroke. Despite his surliness, Esa liked Abercrombie’s wry sense of humor and sharp wit. He’d quickly become one of Esa’s favorite patients. She realized that he grumped constantly to her about the wheelchair because he knew that her consistent reply gave him hope.
“In other words, never,” Abercrombie grumbled. “Both you and my physical therapist always say I’m too strong for an electric chair.”
“You are,” Esa replied cheerfully. “Anyone who has the energy for being as ornery as you are doesn’t need electricity to power him. If we put you in some pimped-out chair you’ll get so lazy and out of shape that blinking will make you out of breath.”
“Doc Ormond tells it like it is,” Mr. Ostrowski said before he glared at the man and woman who tried to get on the packed elevator when the doors opened on the fourth floor. “Are ya blind as well as brain dead? Wait for the next one!”
Esa sighed. “Thanks, Mr. Ostrowski. Coming from you that’s a real compliment.”
When they exited the elevator Esa strayed in the direction of the Shady Lawn dining room as she chatted with Mrs. Fuentes. The large room was decorated with black and orange streamers and plastic jack-o-lanterns.
“Hey, Doc.”
“Yes, Mr. Abercrombie?” she asked when she saw him waiting alone in the corridor. She walked toward him.
“I watched you park that red car of yours in that postage stamp-sized parking space this morning from my window on the seventh floor this morning. Nine out of ten people wouldn’t have at
tempted the maneuver. Nine out of ten of the ones who tried would have never come close to making it. You drive like you got balls.”
“Thanks,” Esa said, surprised how pleased the compliment made her feel.
“Must be that fancy new sports car that’s put that restless look on your face.”
Esa frowned. The man possessed the observatory talents of a spy. “It’s my sister’s, Mr. Abercrombie. I don’t like sports cars.”
“Could have fooled me.”
His comment reminded her bit too potently of Finn saying something similar while the dawn sunlight turned his sexy, tousled hair into pure gold.
“What’s your point, Mr. Abercrombie?”
“I’m going into that dining room right now and eat my low-fat, high-fiber plate o’crapola and unglue my dentures chewing on sugar-free candy because I got nowhere else to go, see? You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, a healthy young body and a car fast enough to take you to hell and back in ten minutes flat. So my point is, haven’t you got any place better to be?”
Esa’s mouth fell open.
“No?” Abercrombie answered for her. “Well, take my advice, Doc. Find a place.”
Esa shifted on her feet indecisively. “Well, I suppose you’re right. I still have to pick up Carla at the office and Friday night traffic is going to be a nightmare.”