“It will make things very awkward for us.You were requested by name.”I heard the pressure in her voice.They didn’t want me to mess this contract up for them.
“I’ll take a look when I get home and let you know if there’s a problem.”There was something off.Pretty sure Gail knew what it was, but she wouldn’t say over the phone.I’d have to check out what information I could get from the digital package she was sending me, to figure out if I needed to turn it down.
I sighed.It would be nice to find something easy one of these days.But today was not that day.
I heard the ping of the incoming message but waited till I’d been dropped off to check it out.I sat on the steps to read it.As soon as I saw the client’s address, anger boiled.
Oh no.Not happening.I didn’t bother to go inside, but instead stalked down the sidewalk toward my supposed new assignment.Someone had some explaining to do.
By the time I got to the Johnson house I was almost steaming I was so angry.Fatigue was shoved aside by adrenaline.What the hell did Justin think he was playing at?This was my damn job, my life.Too many people depended on me for him to mess around with it.
I pounded the front door hard enough to make it shudder in the doorframe and was shaking out my bruised knuckles when it opened.
Justin stood there, hair and beard a wild mess, in a wrinkled T-shirt and shorts.I did not feel a tug seeing him like that.Damn it, not happening!
“I didn’t expect you until tomorrow,” he said, brow creased.
“I wouldn’t count on tomorrow.That depends entirely on your answers to my questions right now.”
He blinked at me.“You’re angry.”
“Good guess.So, do you want to do this out here or am I coming in?”
He backed away, holding the door open with his left hand.I stomped past him then whirled around to face him.I wasn’t going farther into the house than I had to.
“What the actual hell are you doing, Justin?”
He crossed his arms, the cast covered in writing showing bright against his dark T-shirt.“You mean about the job, right?”
My fists clenched.“You can’t screw around with my work.There’s supposed to be a line between personal and work life and that’s not possible here.I have a good reputation as a private nurse that I’ve worked hard to keep.I might not have a perfect life, but I’m juggling a lot of balls.And so far, they’re all in the air.”I pointed a finger at him.“You, you’re here for a month or so and take off again and it doesn’t matter.But this is vital to me.What are you doing?Because you sure as hell don’t need home care for a hand that’s been in a cast for a couple of weeks already, and you don’t need me in particular.”
Justin ran his left hand through his hair, fingers catching on knots in the overgrown mess he was sporting, making him flinch.“I need coffee to explain.Can you give me a couple of minutes to get my brain going so I can do it properly?”
I wanted to say no.Maybe shake him until his brain rattled to get him to spit it out.But something about that gesture, the snarls in his hair, reminded me of Arne and softened me against my will.
It might be better if I calmed down a bit.Before I did something stupid.Stupider than coming here to yell at Justin.“Okay.But you owe me a full explanation.”
He shuffled barefoot down the hallway to the kitchen.He was awkward using his left hand, but I wasn’t helping.I was afraid that would open the doors to agreeing to this position and I wasn’t risking it.
“Your teammate is gone?”
“Yeah.He just stopped in to help me out for a few days.”
I didn’t speak again till he’d finished making the coffee and poured it into a mug.He sat with it at the table, and rather than keep looming over him, I sat across from him.Memories of doing this years ago along with being tired made it all surreal.
“Thanks.You don’t want any?”
“I need to sleep, so no.”
“Sorry—I didn’t realize you’ve been working.We could do this later.”
“No, we damn well can’t.I’m not going to sleep until I know what you’re up to.”
He wrapped a hand around the mug and tensed his jaw.Familiar indicators of discomfort.“I’m not okay.”
“What’s the problem?Are you in a doctor’s care?”
“No, it’s not a physical thing.”He tapped his chest.“I mean, in here.”He shook his head.“Not my heart, but inside.Kind of obvious, after I punched my teammate at practice.I have to deal with things that happened in the past, that I didn’t.”