Together With You by Victoria Bylin

Author:Victoria Bylin [Bylin, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042040, FIC027020, FIC027000
ISBN: 9781441265166
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2015-02-20T05:00:00+00:00

17

On Monday morning Ryan came downstairs as usual, but Carly wasn’t in the kitchen. He glanced down the hall to her room, saw the closed door, and let out the breath he’d been holding. He didn’t know what to say about yesterday’s fiasco with Penny, except that he wanted to protect his daughter from hurt, and he didn’t understand Carly and her faith at all.

Relieved to avoid the conversation, he left the house quietly, cruised through a drive-thru, and arrived at the office an hour before the first patient. With breakfast in hand, he retreated to his desk to read e-mail and scan the news. He was halfway through the bagel, which wasn’t as good as the ones Carly made, when his phone buzzed with a text. This early in the day it had to be her.

Frowning, he glanced at his phone. Instead of the photo he’d snapped when Carly wasn’t looking, he saw a message from Denise. Am in LA!! Big news!!! When can we talk w/o Penny?

He couldn’t imagine what the news might be. A promotion seemed likely, or maybe she was getting married and would finally get out of his hair.

Lifting his coffee to his lips, he ordered himself to stay detached. Knowing Denise, w/o Penny meant about Penny. And about Penny meant questions, criticism, and advice he didn’t want. He had a full load of patients today, but he respected the limits of her flight schedule, so he texted back. Anytime after 5 pm. Where?

She texted back a street address in El Segundo, a neighborhood on the south side of Los Angeles International Airport. The locals called it the Mayberry of Los Angeles because of its quiet streets and small-town atmosphere.

The residential address surprised him, but a lot of airline personnel lived there. Denise was probably staying with a friend, or maybe the airline rented a house for layovers. He texted back that he’d be there but paused before texting Carly about Denise’s visit. She deserved a phone call, but he didn’t want to disturb her. Setting the phone aside, he decided to call her later in the morning between patients.

Unfortunately, an epidemic of conjunctivitis filled the waiting room with irritable children and cranky adults. Overloaded, he skipped lunch, asked Fran to call Carly, and barely managed to leave the office on time.

He was in a sour mood when he turned down Denise’s street. With one eye on the GPS, he drove by houses typical of an old neighborhood being dragged into the future. The oldest homes were small and flat-roofed, relics from the 1940s. Others were drastically remodeled, and a few were new from the ground up.

The address Denise had given him belonged to an old bungalow on a street about a half mile from the beach. Taking in manicured lawns and mature trees, he parked under a sycamore, climbed out of the Honda, and strode up the front walk.

Denise opened the door wide and smiled, something she didn’t do around him very often. Even more disconcerting was her clothing, a faded jersey and old jeans.

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