The Best of Us (Sullivan's Crossing #4)(28)

When she walked in, Sid was behind the bar. She beamed with a smile. “How are you, Leigh?” she said.

“Excellent. But how about you? I hear you have some changes coming your way.”

“Lots of them. First of all, we’ve been looking for a place in Boulder. There’s plenty of time to find just the right thing—I’ll be teaching there and Dakota will be taking classes. And of course there’s Sierra,” she said of Dakota’s sister. “Getting ready to make us aunt and uncle again—I can’t wait for that.”

“You have experience as an aunt,” Leigh said. “And how’s your nephew doing? Of course I mean Finn.”

“Well, I hear that Maia has been discharged and is home. There’s talk of more tests but I don’t know of any results so far. You know, it isn’t that unusual for young people in her age range to have a seizure or two without the cause being catastrophic. And since she was taken to the hospital, there hasn’t been another. If you want my guess, she’ll be treated with an antiseizure drug and have routine EEGs under the care of a neurologist.” Then she smiled as if she just realized she was talking to a doctor. “You might want to get a second opinion on that. I’m just a know-it-all who reads a little bit of everything.”

Leigh laughed. “But what you say is true—it’s not that unusual. Do we know what they’re testing her for?”

“I sure don’t, and if Finn does, he’s not talking. Poor kid—he’s really shaken. Here he found himself the perfect girlfriend and is terrified that she’s sick. But I bet you’re not here to see me...”

“I always love seeing you,” Leigh said.

Sid laughed. “I’ll find Rob and tell him you’re here.”

“I was right about how this works in small towns. One date and the bunch of you have us as steadies.”

“It’s just wishful thinking,” Sid said, sliding through the door behind the bar.

A minute later, Rob had taken Sid’s place behind the bar. He smiled. “What a great surprise. What can I give you?”

“A Diet Coke would be good. I’m not quite off duty yet,” she said, tapping her phone. “Eleanor is holding down the fort because there are no patients, but she’ll call if she needs me. How has your week been?”

“Not bad, really. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to Finn, trying to sense how he’s doing. After all that talking on the ride to the hospital last Sunday night, he’s not as talkative now. Of course, there’s not much to talk about. He’s got a lot of missed homework to take to Maia and warned me he’ll be spending a lot of time over the weekend helping her catch up.” He looked at his watch. “He’s probably there now.”

Leigh frowned. “It was kind of a long hospital stay.”

“Denver is a little far for outpatient services.” He looked around to see who was within hearing distance, but the bar was very quiet at this time of day during the week. “He’s been in this relationship since school started and I suspect it’s serious. If you get my drift.”

Leigh tilted her head. “He’s almost eighteen, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, almost. And when I was eighteen... Never mind.”

“I was eighteen once,” she said. “And I had myself an eighteen-year-old boyfriend. Has he said anything about that?”

“No, but I have two sons and the other one has never kept his mouth shut about anything.”

“Poor Finn.” She laughed. “Well, despite your many worries I hope Maia bounces back quickly and they can have a normal adolescent romance.”

“I’d like to have a normal grown-up romance,” he said. “When can I see you?”

“Oh, I think you’re the one with the scheduling issues. I’m mostly free.”

“What about Aunt Helen?”

“She’s quite responsible and independent, although I do want to take her car shopping this weekend so she doesn’t have to borrow my car to get around. She’s so low maintenance. She’s been trundling around, seeing the sights, making friends. She’s been out to Sully’s twice this week and said she’s staked out a great spot on his porch to write. The view is inspiring, she said. And she finds Sully delightful. She could hardly shut up about him. Isn’t that cute? I think they’re going to be friends.”

Rob frowned. “Cute,” he repeated.

“Well, come on, they’re seniors. What else could they be?”

Rob leaned on the bar. “They’re old enough to take care of themselves. How about us? When can we see each other? Is Sunday night possible?”

“I think so,” she said. “Just let me find out if Helen has any expectations. And you see what’s going on at your house. It’s such a shame—what can I do for you to pay you back for that lovely restaurant you took me to? I’m not a very good cook. I can’t cook for anyone, especially not a connoisseur. Surely you’ve noticed—I’m a take-out queen.”

He grinned at her and his smile had a decidedly wicked twist. “I can take care of the food, Doc. There are plenty of things you can do.”

She raised a brow. “Sew up lacerations, get out stains, et cetera.”

“So far you’ve been excellent at everything,” he said. “I want to kiss you right now.”