Best Foot Forward Read online

  “Is she right? Is she the first girl to turn him down?”

  “Probably.” Emily suppressed a laugh. “But I think he really cares about her. I feel sorry for him because she’ll probably never give him a chance.”

  “So back to Kara Dickson,” Gherring interrupted. “What is Josh doing about her? He’s the attending—he ought to have some power.”

  Emily shrugged. “I don’t think there’s much he can do since she hasn’t broken any laws or rules.”

  Steven’s eyes glinted hard as steel. “She’s already demonstrated a distinct lack of scruples. I’m certain a little digging below the surface would unearth other unethical actions. Even if she finishes the residency, she’s not the type of doctor we want working at Mercy General.”

  “I shouldn’t have said anything in front of you—I forgot you’re on the board at the hospital.” Emily paused with her fork suspended in the air. “But if she does anything else to interfere between Brad and Grace, I’m going to... to pull her hair out!” She stabbed a meatball with savage force.

  Steven lifted his brows as he chuckled, “Girls fight so dirty.”

  *****

  Monday afternoon Ben found himself in a standoff with Brad and Josh. He had put it off as long as possible, and he still hadn’t come up with a fail-proof plan to convince Brad he should leave New York and explain why Grace would be happy to go with him. He’d simply have to go with his instincts and wing it if his brother didn’t respond as predicted.

  “I’m waiting. Tell me what she said.” Brad paced in front of the couch where Ben was lounging. Josh, insisting he deserved to know as well, was sitting on the other end of the couch.

  “I can’t tell you exactly what she said, but...” Ben racked his brain. What could he say? He’d had the whole day to come up with a story, and so far he’d drawn a blank.

  “But what? Does she like me? Does she hate me? Is there another guy? Is there any hope at all?”

  “She’s... Uhmm, she’s afraid...” He felt perspiration beading on his forehead. He had to think fast. What could he say?

  Brad stopped, swirling to face Ben with a look of alarm. “Afraid of what? Or is it a who? Is she afraid of me?”

  A plot from his favorite television series popped into Ben’s head. “It’s not you. She’s not afraid of you, but it’s someone... I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say. She made me promise.” He stalled as the idea crystallized in his mind. This could work, if he could just remember what had happened on the show.

  “Who is she afraid of? Is someone threatening her or blackmailing her? Is it Kara?”

  “You have to promise—both of you—promise you won’t tell her I said anything.”

  “I’m not telling her,” said Josh, sitting up on the edge of the couch.

  “I won’t tell her,” said Brad, lurching over his brother with his hands clenched into fists. “I just need to know. What is she afraid of?”

  Ben took a deep breath. “It’s a stalker.”

  “A stalker?” Brad’s eyes were wide. “Like someone’s following her? Or someone is calling her? How is he stalking her?”

  “I don’t know all the details. But that’s why she wants to leave New York.”

  Josh said, “She wants to leave New York?”

  “I thought she didn’t want to leave New York,” said Brad.

  Ben leaned back and crossed his arms. “Tell me, brother. Did she or did she not try to talk you into leaving New York City?”

  Brad said, “She never said she wanted to leave the city. She just tried to convince me she would still be happy if she left. She asked if I would take a job in another place if I had a better prospect of advancing.” He began to pace again. “Why wouldn’t she tell me if someone was stalking her? I don’t get it.”

  “Has she reported it to the police?” asked Josh. He furrowed his brows as he fingered his cell phone.

  “What are you doing?” Ben asked, snatching the cell phone from Josh’s hand. “You can’t call her.”

  “I’m going to call her or else I’m calling the police.” Josh grabbed at the phone while Ben tried unsuccessfully to hold it out of reach.

  “No you can’t,” said Ben as Josh recovered the phone. “You promised. She can’t know I told you.”

  “I’m with Josh. We have to report it to the police or get her to report it. Her life may be in danger.” Brad was losing control, and Josh was already punching in Grace’s number. He had to think fast or they would call Grace and confront her about the stalker.

  “You can’t! Don’t do it! Wait... I didn’t tell you everything!”

  Josh froze, holding the cell phone with Grace’s name on the screen. “What? What else?”

  Brad made a loud, strangled noise in the back of his throat as he pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Just tell us what she said, Ben.”

  “She hasn’t actually seen him. She doesn’t have any actual evidence. She got a strange phone call, but she thought it was a wrong number. Then she... she thought a car was following her when she running. But she didn’t get the make or the license plate. She only saw it was a black sedan. And then there was the little boy who gave her a message on the street corner.”

  Ben paused, swallowing half a bottle of water while buying time to formulate a message in his mind.

  “The kid said, ‘That guy gave me five dollars to tell you he knows where you live and he thinks you’re cute.’ But there was no one standing where the kid pointed and then he ran off. Since then, she just gets a feeling someone is staring at her or following her, but she’s never actually seen the guy. He could be anybody.”

  Josh stared at the phone in his hands.

  “So you see, Josh, there’s no point calling and getting her more upset. There’s really nothing to tell the police.”

  “I don’t understand why she wouldn’t just tell me she was afraid,” said Brad.

  “Because she didn’t want to make you leave the city if you were happy here. She knew you would sacrifice your own happiness for her safety if she told you the truth. Once she realized you were determined to stay here, she broke it off.”

  “She really is psycho,” said Josh. “That makes no sense whatsoever. She should just tell everyone what happened so we can help protect her.”

  “So what is she doing to protect herself if she’s not telling anyone about it and she’s not reporting it to the authorities?” asked Brad, rubbing his hair with his hand as he took up his pacing again.

  “I can’t tell you. I don’t think I can trust you not to say something to her.” Ben debated whether to continue with the next part of the television show because the plot got rather strange for a real life scenario.

  “You’ve already told us part of it. You might as well tell us everything. I’m not going to tell her you told me,” said Brad.

  Josh slid his phone into his pocket. “I won’t say anything to her, either. Go ahead. Give!”

  “Well... You know she changed her hair—that was part of it. She’s considering plastic surgery to change her appearance.”

  “No!” shouted Brad, and Ben flinched at the force of his anger. Hmmm, maybe he should have chosen a different TV show. Brad gestured wildly while kicking at the floor. “She is not screwing up her face! I won’t let her!”

  “This is crazy,” said Josh, covering his face with his hands. “Even for Grace, this is crazy. I can’t believe she would do something this stupid.”

  “I don’t think she’s actually going to do it,” Ben hurried to say. “I think I talked her out of it. But don’t you see? You can fix everything, and she’ll never know I told you.”

  “How?” said Brad, with a sideways look.

  “Just tell her you’re looking for a job somewhere else.”

  “And that won’t make her suspicious? That I’m suddenly looking for a job outside of New York City when I swore I would never move? Why couldn’t she have just told me why she wanted to leave the city to begin with?”

 
“Like I said, she wants you to be happy, so she didn’t want you to change your plans for her. Can’t you follow her logic?”

  “We can’t follow her logic because she’s not logical,” said Josh.

  “Women don’t think in a linear fashion,” Ben explained.

  “Who told you that?” asked Brad.

  “I read it in a book.”

  “Ha! You? Reading a book? Now I know you’re lying to me.”

  *****

  “Mom, can I talk to you about something?” asked Grace, relieved to find her Mom at home alone. After the jarring news she’d gotten at her doctor’s visit that afternoon, she really needed her mother’s comfort. And the fact her mom was a registered nurse was an added bonus. She would’ve normally talked to her sisters first, but they had all been a little stiff with her ever since she refused to talk about the reasons for her breakup with Brad. It smarted more than a little to think they were taking his side in a matter they didn’t even understand. Perhaps they preferred Brad to their own sister.

  “Sure honey. Come sit down.” Connie patted the couch beside her while closing the book she’d been reading. “So you’re finally going to tell me what happened with Brad? I didn’t want to push you. You’re so darned independent—you’ve been that way since the day you were born.”

  “No, it’s not about Brad.” Grace felt her eyes begin to water, and she fought for control. “It’s... I have to have a procedure done.” Tears began to roll down her face. “Why am I such a baby about this? It’s not really a big deal.” She wiped her face on her sleeve.

  Connie hugged her. “Oh Gracie. It’s okay. You don’t have to be brave for me. What are you talking about? What procedure are you having done?”

  “I went to the doctor because I found a lump in my breast. It was kind of sore—that’s how I found it.” Grace sniffed.

  “Actually, it’s good it was sore. It’s more likely to be a benign cyst filled with fluid. I’m sorry, but you know I’ve had quite a few of these. Are they going to do a mammogram?”

  “That’s the thing. This was a few weeks ago, and I had the mammogram done already. I went back to the doctor today, and that’s when she told me...” She couldn’t stop the tears from falling.

  Connie held Grace’s shoulders and peered at her with wide eyes. “What did the doctor tell you? Does it look like cancer?”

  “There was another one, farther in, one she couldn’t feel. It’s probably not cancer, but they’re going to do a needle biopsy on both of them.”

  Connie patted her arms. “That’s no big deal, sweetie. They’ll get you numb, so it won’t hurt. And then they’ll probably use an ultrasound to guide the needle to the right place.”

  Grace felt a wave of nausea. “Stop, Mom. Don’t talk about it.” She flattened her hand on her stomach.

  “Are you that worried about it?”

  “It’s so embarrassing, Mom. I started crying when she told me about it. I’m so afraid of needles, and I hate blood and all of that stuff.”

  “I’m sure you’re not the first nervous patient the doctor has dealt with.”

  “I think I’m the first one she’s decided to use IV sedation on.”

  “Oh.” Connie wrinkled her nose in an attempt to hide her smile. “But sweetie, you have to get a needle in your arm to get an IV. I don’t see how that will be any better.”

  “I’m going an extra hour early, and they’re giving me a sedative in the waiting room. The doctor promised me I’d be so relaxed they would scoop me up out of the waiting room, and I wouldn’t even remember getting the IV.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t go to nursing school like Olivia and me,” Connie chuckled. “It sounds like you have it all under control. You probably won’t remember anything at all. And I’ll come hold your hand. When are you getting it done?”

  “That’s the thing. It’s tomorrow afternoon, and I know you’re working. I’ll be fine once I take the sedative, but I’ll need someone to get me home.”

  “I’m finished with my shift at two. I can probably get off earlier if I need to. Where will you be?”

  “I’ll be in the outpatient surgery at Mercy General.”

  “It’ll be fine, Grace. Don’t worry.” Connie hesitated, and her brows knitted. “But Gracie, aren’t you going to tell your sisters? They’ll be so upset if you don’t.”

  “I don’t want to tell them.”

  Connie let out a heavy sigh. “What happened? Why did you break up with Brad? And why are you on the outs with your sisters? You girls have always been so close. You’ve never stayed upset with each other for this long.”

  “Mom, you have to trust me. I broke up with him to protect him.”

  “To protect him? But—”

  “Please Mom, not now. I’ll explain later. I just can’t handle any more stress right now.”

  “But honey, I think Brad would want to know you’re having this procedure done. He’s obviously still in love with you.”

  “He’s not in love with me,” Grace protested, feeling her cheeks heat up. “We haven’t even known each other that long.”

  “Grace, I’m not as oblivious as you think I am. I know you think I’m unaware, but I’m not deaf and blind. I know when a boy is in love with my daughter.” She wrapped her arms around Grace and kissed her hair. “And I know when my daughter is in love with a boy.”

  Grace couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. And she couldn’t keep denying her feelings, either. “Why does it have to be so complicated?”

  “It’s not that complicated. You love each other, and then you work things out so you can be together.”

  “But he needs to leave New York City so he can have an opportunity to advance. He’s working himself into the ground at Mercy General.”

  Connie shrugged. “He’s young, Grace. He chose this life—this branch of medicine. And if he wants to work somewhere else, you can always move, can’t you?”

  “He won’t even discuss it. He’s sacrificing himself so I can stay in New York when I’m perfectly willing to move.”

  “Gracie, you’re doing this in the wrong order.”

  “Huh? What do you mean?”

  “It’s way too early to work out all the details. You need to spend time together and get to know each other. And once you’re committed to each other... Well, I’m not saying everything is easy, but all these problems will work themselves out. You’ll decide together, as a couple, the best place for you to live. But you don’t have the right to make that decision for him any more than he has the right to make it for you. You have to decide together.”

  Her mother made it sounds so simple—too simple. It couldn’t be that easy. “What if he still refuses to move? I wouldn’t be able to bear watching him wear himself out, knowing it was my fault. It’s already breaking my heart.”

  Connie groaned out loud. “I love you, sweetie. But you do have a few faults. And one of them is you think you should make all the decisions. You’ve been bossing your siblings around since you learned to talk. I’ve got news for you—in marriage there’s not going to be a boss. You’ll find out it’s actually fun to share that responsibility. And on occasion, Brad might actually be right about something.”

  “But...”

  She held up a finger. “Just think about it. I think you ought to tell Brad about your biopsy. But if you’re not ready, I won’t press you on it. It’s your decision. But when this is all over, you’ve got to talk to him. Both of you are miserable, and there’s no reason for it. Okay?”

  Grace inhaled a shuddery breath. Why hadn’t she talked to her mom weeks ago? Her mother had a way of making her feel like everything would work out for the best.

  “Okay.” She hugged her tight and grinned. “Thanks Mom. You’re pretty smart for an old lady.”

  “I’m going to remember that remark next month when your birthday comes along.”

  *****

  Emily knew something was wrong from listening to Spencer’s side of
the conversation. He’d taken the call while walking her up to her apartment, but now he stood outside her door, listening and asking scary questions like, “How long will it take you to recover?” and “Does Brad know?” It was something about Grace, and his alarmed expression made her heart race. What could it be? Had she been in an accident?

  When he hung up the phone he turned to her, rubbing his temples. “That was Grace. She’s having a biopsy tomorrow afternoon. I can’t believe she waited this long to tell me.”

  “A biopsy? For cancer?”

  “Yes. It’s called a needle biopsy. She said it’s most likely a couple of cysts, but there’s a chance it’s cancer. I mean, that’s why they do a biopsy, right?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon? Is she scared?”

  “She’s terrified. She didn’t talk about it, but I know her. She’s afraid of blood and needles and surgery. It’s like a phobia with her. She tries to cover it up since she’s grown, but it’s still there.”

  “Ohmygosh! Maybe I can go sit with her. What time is she having it done? And where?”

  “She said it’s tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got an accounting test, so I can’t go.” He closed his eyes tight, pushing his hand through his hair. It hurt to watch the worry on his face. He was so close to his little sister.”

  “I’m sure I can get off work. Where is she doing it?”

  “She said she’s going at one o’clock to the outpatient surgery at Mercy General, and she thinks the procedure will be at two. Oh, and Mom is supposed to go over as soon as she gets off work.”

  “But no one will be there when she’s waiting to go in? That’ll be the worst time. I’m going for sure—she doesn’t need to be alone.”

  Spencer’s face relaxed a little as he wrapped her in his arms. “Thanks so much. I’ll feel better knowing you’re with her.”

  Emily felt a warm glow as she reveled in the security of his embrace. “She’s going to be my sister in a few months. What did she say about Brad? Has she told him?”

  “No, but she said she’s going to talk to him tomorrow night after she wakes up.”

  “After she wakes up? Is she going under general anesthesia for this?”