Desert Gift Read Online Free PDF Page A

three of them shared a history going back many years. It included holidays and her marriage to a really nice guy.
    He gritted his teeth as he answered the phone. “Hello, Aunt Gretch.”
    “I’m in no mood for your cutesy pet names this morning, Jackson Galloway. What on earth do you think you are doing?”
    He tucked the phone between his chin and shoulder and screwed the lid onto his mug. “Is Jill all right?”
    “Now what do you think? Huh? Of course she’s not all right!”
    “Gretchen, I’m sorry. I know my timing is lousy, but it happened and I can’t make it un happen.”
    “I could tar and feather you.”
    “Is she eating and sleeping?”
    “Sort of.”
    “She’s a strong woman. Always has been. She’ll compartmentalize this difficulty and get through it. We’ll address things when she gets home.”
    “Difficulty? Difficulty? Jack, you turned her world upside down and inside out.”
    “I turned my own upside down and—”
    “Just tell me one thing: what is going on? Are you having a midlife crisis?”
    Jack smiled sadly and shook his head. “No. Everything about my life is fine, except . . .” Except he was having allergic reactions to his wife. “Except I can’t be with Jill right now.”
    “Oh, that makes absolutely perfect sense.” Gretchen’s voice dripped sarcasm. “Is there someone else?”
    “No, Gretchen, there is no one else and there is nothing else to say.”
    “Oh, I have a thing or two to say, Galloway. Do you realize you’re invalidating everything she’s been teaching for the past twelve years? You might as well go on national television and rip pages out of her book and denounce it as so much hogwash.” Tears filled her voice and she stopped talking.
    Jack felt himself go still. Somewhere in the core of his being, things were shutting down.
    He listened to Gretchen sniffle for a moment. Then he said quietly, “Please make sure she eats and don’t let her wear high heels all day long. Good-bye.”
    Silence followed.
    Followed by more silence.
    She’d hung up on him. That made two for two. With any luck the world would end and then he wouldn’t have to talk to any other women about what he’d done.
    Fat chance.
    * * *
    Jack entered the hospital’s east wing, strode through a first-floor corridor to the set of glass double doors marked The Huffman Medical Group, and entered his home away from home.
    Most days, the waiting room greeted him with a veritable welcome-home hug. This was partly due to the passion he felt for his work, partly due to the decor. An interior designer had stripped any semblance of medical from the area’s ambience. There were lush plants, plush carpet, a large aquarium full of colorful fish, and padded chairs grouped in conversational arrangements. Classical music played softly. Two televisions were on, their volumes permanently at low, no soaps or cartoons allowed. Even the check-in counter could have blended into a private living room. It was long, oak-topped, and no glass separated the business area behind it.
    No hug embraced him now. Today wasn’t most days .
    He breezed along the counter, unable to avoid eye contact with Sophie Somerville, the office manager. Ten years ago, when he and fellow podiatrist Gordon Baxter joined the group of orthopedic surgeons, they had brought her with them. A top-notch organizer, she was soon running the place. His partners could easily get along without him, but their lives would fall apart without Sophie.
    Nothing got by the thirty-five-year-old. He figured she must have a set of antennae twisted with her dark hair into the bun that always sat at the top of her head. Tireless in her efforts to keep the office running like a finely tuned machine, she was a force to be reckoned with on all fronts. She could have been an Aunt Gretch in the making, if not for her quiet demeanor.
    She stood now, eyebrows nearing her hairline. “Dr. G!”
    Jack held up a hand and went through the door that led to