“No, I want you to take me around. I want to see it through your eyes.”
“Okay. But…Sean, why?”
“I’m always interested in businesses, but in this case, I might be able to help. The governor of this fine state happens to have been my college roommate and I’m not above hard-core lobbying for the right cause.”
As Sean smiled, she found herself returning the expression. And tried not to let her heart soar. “Anything you could do would be appreciated, but I don’t think it’s the governor, actually. The legislature has been blocking his bid to get more funding to us. That’s where the bottleneck is.”
“Well, I’m glad to know your fine governor is already onboard. It will make things so much easier on him when I start hammering him about your statehouse.” Sean stepped out of the car. “Shall we?”
Lizzie took him inside and led the way to Denisha’s office so they could make sure the tour was okay. When Denisha gave her approval, Lizzie showed Sean around the exam rooms and talked to him about some of the patients they treated.
On the way to the lab facilities, she stopped in the doorway of the radiology room. “We really need better equipment. We have to send some patients out to other facilities to get certain films done and that is a hassle for them—more expensive, too. The advantage to us being in the community is that folks don’t have to travel when they’re sick. We’re right here. And because we’re user-friendly, important health screens for breast cancer and diabetes and high blood pressure are more likely to be conducted because patients adhere to their yearly checkups more often. If this center closes, or has to outsource too much, I really worry about the people we serve.”
Sean frowned. “How tight is your budget?”
“Reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare are not what they once were and our expenses are always higher so it’s a thousand small cuts. If this continues, we’re not going to be able to meet the standard of patient care because we’ll be too understaffed and technologically compromised. And we aren’t the only clinic in this situation. There are a number of facilities just like this, serving at-risk populations as we do. I mean…they.”
Sean shook his head as the two of them came back to the front desk. “Does this place have an endowment? I mean, what kind of philanthropic support do you get?”
“Some. Not enough. And no, we don’t have an endowment.”
Denisha came out of her office. “Did you enjoy your tour?”
Sean offered his hand and they shook. “You’re doing really wonderful work here.”
“Thanks.” Denisha glanced over. “And Lizzie is one of our best. We’re really going to miss her.”
Lizzie looked away, not wanting to get emotional in front of Sean. “But I’m going to volunteer. So I’ll be back.”
“Good.”
A few more things were said, but Lizzie wasn’t really following. She was too busy looking at the crayon drawings that some of the kids had done while in the waiting room. The white papers with rainbow marks were taped up on the hallway’s wall, a quilt of exuberance and life drawn by the community’s future leaders.
“Lizzie? You ready?” Sean said.
“Yes.” Though she wasn’t.
She hugged Denisha tightly, but didn’t lose it, and was proud of herself for getting to the car without a lot of drama.
Sean opened the passenger-side door for her. “You got any plans tonight?”
“I’m moonlighting.”
“Okay, I’ll be your taxi.”
“Really, Sean, you’ve already done too much. Besides, I have the home trip covered. I’m catching a ride back with a friend of mine who’s pulling a double shift tonight.”
“Then at least let me take you there, okay?”
As he shut the door and walked around the hood of the car, she watched him move. All that lithe male grace was something to see and she couldn’t believe she’d been with him. Naked. In her bed.
She was so in trouble with this man.
“Why are you doing this?” she blurted as he got behind the wheel. “I mean…going to all this effort?”
He turned the key in the ignition and glanced at her as the engine flared to life. His deep-set hazel eyes were so serious that she was taken aback.
“You said it best. People make time for what they want. And I want you.” Sean hit the gas and pulled away from the curb, resuming a more normal expression. “So when do you go to work? You want dinner?”
“Are you seeing anyone else?” she blurted. “I mean, down in the city?”
He shook his head. “It’s just you. Only you, Lizzie.”
Oh crap. That was so the right answer.
She rubbed her temples, thinking that this felt a lot like a relationship. It really did. Part of her wanted to fight falling into it. Part of her couldn’t stop herself.
“I—ah, I usually eat something at the hospital around midnight. But there isn’t time. I’m due in at eight.”
“Okay, so are you free tomorrow night? My brother’s in town for a preseason game. You want to come with me? We usually go out for a bite after he plays.”
She loved football. “I don’t know.”
As Sean looked back over at her, his eyes were serious again. “Yeah, you do. But you don’t trust me. Look, I’m hoping that we can spend some time together so that maybe…yeah, maybe you’ll get to trusting me again.”
“Sean, I’m not interested in getting my heart broken.”
“Then we have something in common. I’m not interested in breaking your heart. I made a mistake. I’m sorry. And I want to keep seeing you.”
She was about to ask him why when she realized that sounded pathetic. She was a good person. A smart person. She might not have millions in the bank or a flashy lifestyle, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t worthy of him.
“So what do you say, Lizzie? Little football in the afternoon. Little bite afterward. You know, real regular date stuff.”
She took a deep breath. “Okay. It sounds…great.”
He reached across the seat and took her hand. Then melted her by bringing it to his lips and whispering, “Thank you for the second chance.”
***
When they got back to the duplex, Sean opened her door for her then hung back against one of the jambs as she went inside.
Man, he was tired.
He’d killed himself to get back to Boston tonight in time to pick her up and that was on top of a long day. After he’d raced down to Manhattan this morning, he’d had the meeting with the Condi-Foods board chair, a video conference conducted with investors in Tokyo and a drawn-out argument with one of his partners. Then he’d hightailed it back here.
The whole time he’d been en route, whether in limos or on the plane, he’d been working on his laptop, processing the hundreds of details and decisions that went along with a complex acquisition like Condi-Foods. When he’d waited for Lizzie at the health center, he’d made an effort to appear casual so she didn’t feel pressured or stalked, but it had cost him a lot to haul ass up and down the coast.
Why had he made the effort? He’d had to come back to her. He’d made the time.
“I won’t be long,” Lizzie said as she went over to her computer and checked her e-mail.
“Don’t rush on my account.” When she made a frustrated sound, he asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Oh, nothing.” She blew out her breath. “Well, actually, I applied for four jobs last night. Two have already been filled, one was mis-listed and another I’ve been told I’m overqualified for. Usually there are a lot of nursing jobs available, but the class that graduated over this summer has taken some of the opportunities I could have used. But, whatever. At least I have the night work at the emergency department. And I put in some other applications on my lunch break today. Maybe one of them will come through….” She let the sentence drift, then headed off down the hall. “I’ll be right back.”