Rachel's Bundle of Joy by CHRISTINE RIMMER

Author:CHRISTINE RIMMER [Rimmer, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488028694
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2004-06-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6

Four hours later, Rachel sat in the main waiting room in Portland General’s psychiatric wing. She wasn’t really waiting for anything—except maybe for the moment when she’d find the energy to get up and leave. Everything that needed doing for the day had been done. She could go home, draw a hot bath, pour in the scented bath salts…

Double doors to the main hall swung open—and there was Jenna Cooper, four months along now, her stomach gently rounded under her scrubs. Frowning, she scanned the waiting area.

Rachel dragged her tired body upright. “Jenna…”

Jenna spotted her and smiled. She hurried over and they shared a quick hug. “I heard a rumor you were here,” she whispered in Rachel’s ear. They stepped back from each other and Jenna took her by the shoulders to look in her eyes. “How are you holding up?”

“I’ve been better.”

“Your mom?”

“They’re keeping her here for a few days, until the crisis is past.”

“How bad is it?”

“Bad enough. But she’ll be okay once they get the meds back on track—are you on duty?”

Jenna nodded. “How can I help? What can I do?”

“Nothing. Honest. It’s done. But thanks for checking on me…”

“You look beat.”

“Yeah. I’m wrung out.”

“You need someone to take you home. I can—”

“No. Really. I have my car. I’ll manage. I’ll just drive really slowly.”

“You’re sure?”

Rachel nodded, firmly—and then she remembered about Monday. “Wait. There is one thing…”

“Name it.”

“Lunch. One o’clock Monday, the usual place. You, me and Lily. Jake’s watching Sam, so it’ll be just like old times.”

Jenna’s comforting hands dropped away. “Oh, I don’t know. You should see my schedule…”

Sometimes Rachel wondered if Jenna was still a little wary, if she hadn’t completely put the Michael Carson fiasco behind her. She patted her friend’s arm. “No pressure. Just, you know, if you can…”

“I’ll try…”

* * *

The phone was ringing as Rachel let herself in the door. It was Lily. “At last. I called your cell, but it was only taking messages.”

“Sorry. I turned it off while I was at the hospital.”

“Jenna called me and told me about your mom. She said things were…well, handled, anyway.”

“Yeah. She’ll be okay. Till the next time…”

“Listen. Jake’s here.” A firefighter, Jake would work round-the-clock and then get several days off in a row. “I can leave Sam with him and be right over.”

“Thanks, but no. I just want to sink into a hot bath…for about a year.” Rachel knew what her friend’s next question would be. She was right.

“So…how was last night?”

From the perspective of a day spent having her mother temporarily committed, the magic of last night seemed so long ago…

“Rachel?”

“Sorry. Last night was wonderful. I…I do really like him.”

“Ah.”

Rachel knew when her friend had something on her mind. “When you say ‘Ah’ like that, I know there’s more coming.”

“Well, I told Jake you’d met a guy named Bryce Armstrong. We both felt sure we’d heard the name before. And then Jake remembered that a Bryce Armstrong showed up at the last Logan Burn Center fundraising drive. He delivered a huge check courtesy of Armstrong Industries.

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