Desert Gift Read Online Free PDF Page B

in the office, he had not yet rehearsed his reply.
    They’d worked together since he and Baxter hired her full-time when she graduated from college. She had seemed all grown-up at twenty-two, a little quirky in some ways. She had excellent people skills but seldom revealed deeply personal information.
    Which was fine with Jill. She maintained that such personal openness would have been unprofessional. After all his years with Sophie, Jill kept her at arm’s length. Although she was nice enough to her, he suspected she felt threatened by the younger woman mature beyond her years. Why else did she balk at including her on those rare occasions when they entertained his partners and their spouses in their home? Why else did she refuse to invite her and her mother over for holiday dinners?
    He chalked it up to the obvious—that he spent more hours a day in close proximity to Sophie than to his wife. Besides that, Sophie was a gem at keeping his life in order, something Jill believed was his own responsibility. She could have her agent and a personal assistant at the radio station keeping her on track, but when it came to his—
    “Dr. G?”
    “Uh,” he said again. “Uh, why am I here? Just a change of plans. Jill went on ahead. She had all that business stuff to do before the family stuff. Doesn’t need me out there, getting in the way.”
    “Mm-hmm.”
    “And what are you doing here on a Saturday?”
    “Filling in.”
    “Sophie, I wish you wouldn’t let that happen. This is your day off.”
    “It’s honestly not a problem for me. And I took yesterday off.” She stood and tugged her pink turtleneck over black slacks. At least she’d gone casual and not worn her typical business suit. “I’ll see if I can squeeze in an appointment for you.”
    “Preferably before I bleed to death.”
    She smiled, a brief lift of lips most often pressed together. “It’s not that bad.”
    “Tell you what. Get me in next with Baxter and I’ll stick around.”
    “You’re on vacation.”
    He shrugged. “Obviously not yet.”
    “Okay. Whatever you say, Dr. G.” She shut the door on her way out.
    “Whatever you say, Dr. G . ” That response was probably what he liked most about Sophie.
    * * *
    “You weren’t even supposed to get it wet yet, idiot.” Gordon Baxter loomed over Jack, who lay prostrate on the table. He waggled scissors and tweezers close to Jack’s face. “I gotta take out what’s left of the eight and put them all back in.”
    “Understood.”
    “Sure you don’t want to go back to the ER? You know I’m not the best at this. There could be twice as many stitches before I’m done. And we’re talking huge scar for sure. Wrigley Field size. No hair is gonna grow back.”
    “Just do it, Bax.”
    “We’ll wait longer, make sure it’s numb.” He sat on a stool, the light behind him outlining his salt-and-pepper short-cropped curls. For a big guy with a gruff baritone voice, he exhibited the best of bedside manners. “So what happened? And I’m not talking about an overzealous shampooing.”
    Jack looked at his friend. They first met over twenty years ago in podiatry school. Their paths kept crossing until they eventually opened a practice together. They discussed everything. Baxter did not think God existed; he spoke disrespectfully of his ex-wife; he was not involved in the lives of his twin girls, now seniors at the U of I. But he had always accepted Jack unconditionally and was, hands down, the best doctor Jack had ever met.
    He took a deep breath. “I told Jill I want a divorce. Two minutes later, I put her in a cab that took her to the airport. We’ve talked once since.”
    Baxter twisted his mouth to one side and then the other. “The numbing agent’s gone to your brain. You seem to be talking nonsense.”
    “Guess that means you can get at it, Doc.”
    “Right.” Baxter stood. “You up for dinner?”
    Jack heard the underlying question: “You ready to discuss it?” Not really, but