As his friend’s eyes squeezed shut, a band tightened around Finn’s chest. He couldn’t worry about himself when Jarrett’s life was at risk.
“Of course, I’ll do it. Just go, and don’t worry about anything.”
Jarrett stood and took a few steps toward the door, his limp somehow more apparent, as if he’d lost confidence. He stopped, spearing Finn with the intensity of his gaze. “Listen, I really appreciate this. I know it means you’ll have to spend time with Laurie, but I could be back in a few days.”
“I bet you will be. If not, Cole can take over when the fiscal report is done.”
Finn walked toward Jarrett, who backed away with his hand up. “You’d better keep your distance. If this is some kind of respiratory infection, it could kill you.”
The tremble in Jarrett’s voice testified to his genuine fear. Ignoring his protest, Finn moved to embrace his friend, hoping this scare would be a false alarm like the one from three years prior. With an encouraging clap on the back, he said, “Some things are worth the risk.”
Laurie tried not to panic when Jarrett gave her the news. He was so sweet about it, she couldn’t even be angry. He’d said something vague about a “medical issue” and needing to “run a few tests.” But even with his swarthy Latino complexion, he looked pale, and Laurie could tell it was a serious matter.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m sure I can figure things out,” she told him. But inside she was screaming, Please don’t leave me! I’m going to screw everything up!
“Dara was fantastic, and she left meticulous notes on everything she did.” Jarrett clicked on a folder labeled LA Fundraiser on Laurie’s computer screen. “If you read through this file about last year’s event, you can practically train yourself. See? Here’s all the vendor contacts. You can find the reservations she made, but of course they’ll have to be confirmed. And someone always cancels at the last minute, but Dara has a backup vendor list, too. Everything’s summarized on this Excel spreadsheet.”
“Next, you’ll tell me she walked on water.” Laurie wondered about her job stability if they’d fired this perfect employee.
“No, but she did heal a few lepers,” he answered with what she was beginning to recognize as a dry sense of humor.
“What happened to her?”
“She left to have a baby.” His hand moved to rest on his chest, and his lips pressed together in a tight white line.
Her instinct was to ask if he was okay, to see if she could do anything to help. But he’d been so cryptic about his medical problem she could tell he valued his privacy.
He coughed, using his elbow as a barrier. “Dara has juvenile diabetes—was actually a student at one of the Limitless camps when she was a teenager. She had a difficult pregnancy and got put on bed rest two weeks ago. That’s why we had to hire someone at the last minute and don’t have anyone to train you.”
Jarrett took a long drink from his water bottle
“What happens when she comes back?” Laurie probed.
“Don’t worry. You won’t lose your job. Dara wants a position where she isn’t flying around the country all the time.”
“Flying all the time?” Laurie’s heart began to pound in her chest. They’re not getting me into one of those air-death machines.
“We have events all over the country.” His eyebrows lifted. “Didn’t you see it in the job description?”
She gulped air. How had she missed that? “I… uhm… I intend to implement some cost-saving measures. I may be traveling by train and rental car.”
“Saving money is good—more goes to the kids.” Jarrett shrugged. “LA may be too far away for ground travel, but I’ll let you figure that out with Finn.”
“Finn?” Her mouth went Sahara-dry.
“He’ll be handling my part of the LA fundraiser, at least until Cole and Branson finish the shareholder’s report for Phantom.” His dark eyes pinned her in place, eyebrows furrowing. “Is that going to be a problem? You’re not getting sick, are you? I know you were worried you’d been exposed to something.”
“No. I’m fine.” She croaked the words Jarrett needed to hear. Whatever he was dealing with was more important than her hang-ups with Finn.
“Good,” Jarrett said, as he snatched his vibrating phone from his pocket. He frowned at the screen. “Excuse me, I need to take this.” With long strides, he exited the room, his cell phone to his ear. “This is Jarrett Alverez… yes… I’m flying back tonight… CT scan… right…”
Laurie watched his retreating figure as acid swirled in her stomach. After seeing Finn during her workout that morning, any interaction would be doubly awkward. “I can handle it. I just need to go home tonight and psych myself up.”
Her computer dinged as a message flashed onto her screen.
Finn Anderson: As we will need to interact during Jarrett’s absence, we should meet to work out a few details. Are you available during lunch?
She rubbed her temples in a fruitless effort to stop her head from pounding. “This day needs a reboot button.”