Road to Recovery (7 page)

He waved his hand carelessly. “First
off, no one is going to think you slept your way to the top, if
that is what you are concerned with.”

She didn’t correct him.

“
You were hired for this
position prior to us even meeting. I should add we have no prior
connections at all. Besides, we’re both professionals. We know how
to keep our work and our private lives separate. Number three? Or
were there only two issues?” he asked in a teasing tone.

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t make a joke
out of it. I’m serious.”

He hastened to assure her. “I’m not
joking. I’m trying to lighten the mood, two different things. I
take this very seriously. I’ve always been very careful about my
private life. I don’t and haven’t lived the life of a monk, but
I’ve always kept my personal life just that, personal.”

He softened his approach. “But I see
something here. I feel something here. I think you do too. What’s
wrong with giving it a try? What’s the worst that can happen? If it
doesn’t work out, we’ve lost nothing. We go back to only being
colleagues. But what if it does work out? Don’t want you want to
see where it could go?”

“
You make it all sound so
simple. But it’s not.” More honesty, her last ditch effort to
convince him, or maybe she needed to convince herself. “I’m not
sure I’m ready. I just got out of a relationship.”

“
And that would be number
three. How long ago?”

“
Almost a year.”

He let out a sigh. His lips
quirked up a bit. “That’s your definition of
just
got out of a relationship? For a
second there I thought you were going to say a month.”

“
I guess it sounds silly
when you say it like that or say it out loud. But it’s complicated.
It may have ended then. But, well, let’s end this with...it’s
complicated.”

He reached across table and lightly
placed his hand on top of hers. “Do you feel that? Do you feel the
heat, the tingles in your stomach right now? I see the goose bumps
on your arms.”

His blue eyes stared deeply into her
whiskey-colored ones, watched the pink hue creep up her neck to her
face. “I know what you are feeling because I feel it too. Let’s
give it a try.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Work is work.
Anything else is fair game. You set the pace. What do you think?
Sound reasonable enough?”

After she nodded, he stood, grabbed the
remains of his lunch from the conference table and addressed her
quickly. “Can’t get any fairer than that. You know how to reach me.
Don’t make we wait too long.” He closed the door behind
him.

Brooke took a deep breath, dropped her
head into her hands. She was in trouble. She could hear her heart
as it beat in her chest, felt the pulse throbbing in her throat.
Not to mention a pulse down below. No matter how much she tried to
fight it, she was seriously attracted to him.

She was terrified the past was going to
repeat itself. She tried to convince herself Lucas wasn’t Robbie.
In her heart she knew that. Lucas had never given any indication
that he wasn’t the standup guy everyone said he was. And she had
asked plenty, discretely of course.

But in her mind, she saw herself broken
in body and soul. Trying to put the pieces back together. Did she
have it in her to try again? Was it even worth it?

***

Brooke considered canceling her gym day
with Cori. She needed time to think, and more importantly, she
didn’t want to risk running into Lucas again.

But she came to the conclusion that it
was cowardice, and that was one thing she wasn’t. If he showed up
at the gym she would deal with it. Like she did with everything
else in life.

Besides, she enjoyed looking at him as
he worked out. Hot and sweaty, muscles flexing as he lifted
weights. The casual grace he had on the treadmill, all lean and
muscular, and all male.

She was hoping to be able to put on a
good front for Cori, because lately Cori had been able to see and
understand more than Brooke felt comfortable with.

“
So how did your appointment
go with Dr. Chen today?” At Brooke’s startled look, Cori explained,
“What, did you think I would forget? I have no life. I have to live
through you now, and frankly that is just as depressing.” Ignoring
Brooke’s snort, Cori repeated, “So, how did it go?”

“
Good, I like her. Physical
therapy starts next week, and we will go from there.”

“
So what happened exactly?
You never did say other than you had surgery. You always seem to
downplay it, but I’m not stupid. I can see you’re in pain more
often than not by the end of the day.”

Brooke didn’t know why she was still
trying to keep it a secret. Well, deep down she was embarrassed.
Embarrassed she put herself in the situation that resulted in the
accident. But mostly she didn’t want anyone’s pity. Or pity for her
injuries—or the circumstances that caused the accident.

“
I was in a car accident.
Lots of little injuries, cuts, bruises, concussion, stitches and so
on. But I had two major injuries. My right femur was shattered.
First surgery, they put in a pin, the second was to repair damages
to my muscle and tendons around thigh and knee. Unfortunately, my
leg wasn’t the only thing broken. I also had to have three
vertebrae fused back together in my back,” she said, keeping a
nonchalant tone, trying to downplay the severity of her
injuries.

“
Wow, I don’t know what to
say. I had no idea. I mean you brush it off so casually, but those
injuries are anything but. How long has it been?”

Brooke shrugged, turning her attention
to the other occupants in the gym. “I’m not good at being the
center of attention, let alone being pitied. It’s been almost a
year, about eleven months, actually. After spending six months
either in bed, a wheelchair or on crutches, I couldn’t wait to get
on my own two feet again. It’s been a long road. I still have a bit
to go, but I’m getting there.” Before Cori could interrupt, she
ended with, “So anyway, thanks for the recommendation to Dr.
Chen.”

Knowing that Cori would have a lot of
questions, Brooke shut down the conversation. Like she always did
when someone wanted to talk about her accident. There was only so
much Brooke was willing share. Thankfully, Cori seemed to realize
that and didn’t press the issue.

Instead, Cori noticed that two
treadmills had finally opened up next to each other. “Want to run
today, those two just opened up?” She waved her arm rapidly to the
far end of the gym.

“
No, I’m not up to running
yet. At least not more than a few minutes, and I can’t stand it
when people walk on a treadmill. It’s a pet peeve of mine. You can
get on it if you want though. I’ll hop on one of the
bikes.”

Silently Brooke hoped Cori agreed so
their conversation would be minimized. And it would also minimize
any speculation regarding Lucas, because ultimately Lucas’s name
always seemed to come up.

“
Nah, I don’t want to
embarrass myself in front of you, because, unfortunately, I would
be walking on the treadmill,” Cori added ruefully. “Besides I’m
really not in the mood to work out today. I almost canceled on you,
but I wanted to know how your appointment turned out.”

“
Oh, you could have
canceled. Please don’t feel like we have to meet. There will be
days I can’t meet either.”

“
It wasn’t that I couldn’t,
it was just I had one of those days. I don’t get them often, but
today was one of them. You know the kind where you can hear a
bottle of wine and a chocolate cake calling your name.”

Brooke never understood the need to
indulge in chocolate or alcohol when she was down. Though she did
notice Cori’s normal sparkle seemed to be missing today. Instead of
laughing and joking, her words running together all at once, she
was calmly carrying on a conversation. “We can leave early if you
want,” Brooke suggested.

“
Going home alone doesn’t
seem too appealing either right now,” Cori replied, her shoulders
drooping.

Brooke felt like she was looking at a
lost puppy, and the words were out of her mouth before she knew
what she was saying. “Why don’t you come over for dinner then? I
don’t have any wine or chocolate, but I planned on trying a new
recipe tonight. It makes quite a bit, so there will be
plenty.”

Instantaneously Cori’s green eyes grew
wide and lit up. “Really? That would be awesome. Give me your
address and I’ll meet you there. I want to run home to shower and
change quick.”

They finished up quickly, cutting their
workout short after all, with Cori promising to be at Brooke’s in
thirty minutes or less.

***

Brooke barely had enough time to take a
quick shower and change into a comfortable pair of tan capris,
paired with a soft blue fitted cotton shirt, before she heard the
doorbell.

Cori handed the bakery box to Brooke
the minute she opened the door and carried a brown paper bag as she
walked inside. Looking down at Brooke’s bare feet, she slipped off
her own sandals and held the bag up playfully. “Wine”—then pointed
to the box—“Chocolate cake. Since you are providing the dinner, I’m
providing the entertainment portion of our date,” Cori said with a
giggle. “And cute nail polish.” She nodded down at Brooke’s red-hot
pedicure. “Got a little wild side, I see.”

Cori was halfway into the living room
when she started to swivel her head around the room. “This place
suits you,” she said, remarking on the clean classic lines of the
furniture, neutral wall colors and simple flat screen TV mounted on
the wall. “It should look dull, but your throw pillows and artwork
brighten the place up. Just like you—cool at first glance, but then
cheerful.” She ended with another giggle.

Brooke rolled her eyes as Cori followed
her through the living room and into the kitchen, where she placed
the bakery box on the center island.

Cori’s head frantically looked around
the kitchen, apparently noticing how meticulously organized
everything was, all the ingredients for the night’s dinner lined up
on the counter by the stove. “Do you spend every moment cleaning?”
Cori ran her fingers across a countertop in the far corner. “Oops,
left some fingerprints,” she said with a smile. “Sorry about
that.”

“
No, I don’t spend every
moment cleaning,” Brooke said with a frown. “It’s only me. How much
of a mess can one person really make?” But seeing Cori’s grin,
Brooke added, “Don’t answer that. Suffice it to say, I like things
tidy. Which I’m sure you could figure out by now. So I pick up when
I’m done doing something, nothing more than that. I have a routine
to keep things simple.”

Thankfully, Cori decided not to respond
but rather started looking around the room with the wine bottle in
her hand, opening cabinets at random. Brooke pointed to one cabinet
with the knife she had picked up in preparation for
dinner.

After pouring two glasses of the red
wine, Cori got comfortable on one of the barstools opposite Brooke
at the island. “Guess red was a good choice tonight. Having some
type of pasta and veggies?” She watched as Brooke sliced red
peppers and mushrooms in neat identical wedges. “I was thinking red
with the chocolate cake, but I’m glad it works with dinner
too.”

“
So tell me about your bad
day. Why you felt the need to go home, drink wine and eat
chocolate,” Brooke said, while she slid the vegetables in a pan,
heard the sizzle.

“
So it all started with the
second patient of the day,” Cori said, and then proceeded to
explain how it seemed every patient that came in was grouchy or
nastier than the last. Soon they were both laughing over what
Brooke thought had to be exaggerations on Cori’s part. It seemed to
Brooke no one could have a day as bad as what Cori described and
yet end up laughing about it.

Twenty minutes later, Cori was twirling
another forkful around the plate full of pasta and lightly seasoned
vegetables. “Mmm, this is awesome. Do you ever do anything that
doesn’t turn out perfect?”

“
It’s a dish of pasta, how
can you ruin it?” Brooke mused.

“
You are joking, right? If I
tried to make this, I would have used twice as many pots and pans
as you did.” Cori glanced at the stove, counted out two. “Then it
would have taken me twice as long to make, and in the end it would
have ended up burnt.”

Brooke shook her head and asked, “How
do you burn pasta?”

“
Trust me, it can and has
been done. You will have to take my word for it.”

Cori plopped her elbows on the counter,
her chin in her hands. “So is there anything you can’t do, or don’t
do more efficiently than anyone else?” she asked with a
grin.

“
I’m not perfect, you know.
Just ask my mother. I’m sure she has a long list for you.” Brooke
slapped her hand in front of her mouth. “Oops, sorry, must be the
wine, ignore me.”

“
No way. And hey, don’t
apologize. This is getting good. And here, let’s top off these
glasses.” Reaching over, Cori poured the remaining wine into each
of their glasses, then set the empty bottle down with a clang. “So
Mommy issues, then? Guess she isn’t the one who taught you to cook?
I might have pegged you as needing to live up to Daddy, but not
Mommy.”