The Family You Make (Sunrise Cove #1)(9)

“You’ve got a cat?”

“It’s more like an alley cat I feed when he lets me.”

“What’s his name?”

“Alley Cat.”

He gave a small laugh. “Do you let him inside?”

“No, he’s an alley cat.” Jane might have had a real home for only a brief window at her grandparents’, but she knew what a home should be, all warm and cozy and welcoming, with people in it who loved one another. She couldn’t offer that to Cat, not when she’d be gone in five or six weeks.

“Do you let him in at night?” he asked.

“That would just confuse him when I’m gone, and then his alley would seem cold and hard, and that’s hardly fair.”

He squeezed her gently, his eyes serious now. “See? Sweet.”

“If you knew me better, you’d know how funny that is.” But her smile faded quickly when she realized he’d tipped his head back against the wood bench behind him. He was pale, too pale, and his mouth was a hard grim line.

Definitely still in pain and possibly fighting to stay conscious. Given what he’d done for her tonight, she knew she’d do just about anything for him in return, so she opened her mouth to give him a truth, to confess what she’d really do with her last moment on earth. But in that very moment, the gondola came to life with a little jerk and . . . started moving again.

“Oh my God!” She looked around with shock and relief, having really thought her number might be up. “We’re going to make it!”

When Levi didn’t answer, she tightened her grip on him. “Levi.”

But he was out cold.





Chapter 4


Sunrise in Tahoe was magical. Jane knew of no other way to describe it. One minute the sky was like black velvet dotted with diamonds, and the next, a kaleidoscope of colors. No matter the season, when the sun peeked over the Sierra Nevada and showed off her beauty in all its glory, the view was so stunning it could almost make her forget she’d already had a shitty day.

Almost.

Because she was currently inside the ER, unable to see anything other than the curtain surrounding her cot.

Five minutes after Levi had passed out on her, their gondola had returned to base, where they’d immediately been taken to the hospital.

The ER had been overloaded. She’d sat with Levi in the cubicle until his wounds had been cleaned and stitched up and he’d been wheeled off to Imaging, which had been hours ago. She’d since been checked over, and at the moment sat in a cubicle on her own, worrying about Levi.

Dr. Mateo Moreno slipped in past the curtain. He was one of her very favorite ER doctors, and not just because he treated nurses with respect and kindness instead of the usual assholery they got from most doctors, but also because he lived next door to Charlotte’s house, where Jane rented a room, and he was a friend.

Or at least as much of a friend as Jane allowed herself.

“If you needed a nap after your shift at North Diamond, you could’ve just said so,” he wisecracked as he pulled up a stool. “You okay?”

She snorted in amusement. “Isn’t that your job to know?”

His own amusement faded as he met her gaze. “I’m betting your experience was terrifying.”

One hundred percent, but it was a personal rule not to do vulnerable. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“How did I know you’d say that?” He began to peck on the computer at her bedside. “You call the boss yet?”

This was a joke reference to Charlotte. Thirty-nine-year-old Dr. Charlotte Dixon was five feet of pure heart and soul encased in hard steel with a southern accent. Nothing and no one got by her, and God help you if you ended up in a skirmish with her, whether that be at work or at the local bar’s pool table or at her weekly poker night, because the woman was fiercely competitive. And yet she loved with everything she had. If you were lucky enough to be in her close circle, she couldn’t help herself, she’d be this gentle but demanding presence in your life as she coaxed/bossed the best out of you, whether you wanted to be your best or not. “I’m waiting until I’m cleared,” Jane said. “So I can show her in person that I’m fine. Otherwise she’ll freak.”

He laughed softly in agreement. “She just got off her shift. I don’t know if she’s still in the building, but if you don’t leave her a message before you go, you know she’ll find out and freak anyway.”

“Not if you hurry up and get me out of here. With a little luck, she’s still in the staff room gabbing with everyone like she does, and I can go pick up her favorite breakfast and coffee for a distraction and beat her home.”

“Just when we all think you don’t care at all . . .” he teased.

“Ha-ha, you’re a laugh a minute. You missed your calling—being a comedian would’ve saved you all that college debt.”

“I like this paycheck better.”

She knew it was about far more than his paycheck. The guy cared about people almost as much as Charlotte did. “You about done yet?”

“Almost.” He went back to his pecking, making her sigh in frustration. “Almost” in doctor-speak could be anything from five minutes to never.

“So . . .” she said with as much nonchalance as she could muster, “how’s the guy they brought in with me?”