Yours Truly (Part of Your World, #2)(20)

I’m glad you were able to forgive me, and of course I forgive you as well. I understand what it’s like to go through a tough time and the strain that it takes on your mental health and patience. I think you were generous in your interactions with me, all things considered, and I look forward to continuing to work with you. I hope you’re not too hard on yourself over it and that you thaw and eat your cupcake.

I must return to my isolation now. I need twenty to twenty-two hours of alone time a day to function.

Sincerely,

Jacob

P.S. I’m only partly kidding.



I laughed. Then I read it again. I liked someone who could poke fun at himself.

An hour later, I left a yellow folded Post-it taped to his charting computer.

You have a dog? Can I pet it if I promise not to make direct eye contact with you or make small talk with you about the weather?

–Bri



An hour later there was a folded notepaper taped to my charting computer.

Dearest Briana,

Yes, you may pet my dog. But I should probably mention that Lieutenant Dan likes talking about the weather, so while you might not want to bring it up to me, maybe mention to him what a cold spring we’re having?

Do you have any pets? I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Jacob



We got super busy after that and I didn’t have time to respond before I got off. I stopped at Target on the way home to get some nice paper and a better pen than the cheap Bic I’d been using, but I didn’t really like the selection, so I Googled and found a stationery place called Paper Waits Cards and drove there instead.

For his letters Jacob used really nice heavy paper and this linen-type envelope. It was very fancy and it kind of made me want to be fancy.

It was a nice diversion going into a store I’d never had a reason to go into. It felt like a mission or a scavenger hunt or something. It felt like I had a project that I was actually into.

I went with pink-lined paper that had vintage flowers in the corners. The package came with three prints: roses, lilacs, and daisies. That way I could write him three different letters and they’d all be on different paper.

Once I got what I needed I hurried home. Benny’s dialysis machine was getting delivered today.

It took me two hours to set it up and then a long training session with a dialysis nurse to make sure I knew how to use it. Then I had to hook Benny to it and get dinner going. I watched a movie with him while I monitored his vitals, so it was late by the time I sat down to write.

The writing was really relaxing. Cathartic.

I liked having something to do.





Chapter 10

Jacob



After I left the note on Briana’s computer there was nothing else for the day. The next morning, however, I found an envelope taped to my locker again. I slipped into an on-call room to read it.

She’d gotten new paper and envelopes. She said she didn’t write letters, which meant she probably got them just for this. The thought of her making that effort made me smile to myself.

Jacob,

Lieutenant Dan? Lol

I don’t have any pets, but my brother and his cat have moved in with me, so I sort of have a cat I guess? His name is Cooter. He’s really cute. My brother found him behind a dumpster by a gas station, which I’m told is where the best cats come from. Benny was a college student at the time and he lived in a house with his best friends, Brad and Justin, and they thought the name was hilarious. Now seven years later I have to make psps psps noises in my kitchen and call, “here, Cooter Cooter!” when I need to feed him.

Anyway, I’ve barely seen him in the week that he’s been here. He’s sort of freaked out being in the new place and he hides. I only know he’s alive because he does this 3:00 a.m. zoomy thing where he tears through my house and somehow gets involved with the blinds?



I cracked up.

She was funny. I could see why Zander and Gibson—well, everyone—liked her. I went back to reading.

Okay, so this is going to be super random, but stick with me. I follow this travel blogger, Vanessa Price, and she’s always got these wild stories. Once, before she was married and her husband went everywhere with her, she got locked in a tower in Ireland by this earl who thought it would be funny. She was sooo pissed. I guess towers are really drafty? Lots of bugs, not as romantic as they sound. He gave her this Shetland pony as an apology gift and she was like “thanks for the tiny horse, dick, I want my five hours back.”



I barked out a laugh.

I was just thinking, what if I sucked at apologies and instead of giving you drunk extrovert protection, I’d just given you a small horse. Don’t you feel lucky?



She drew a wide-eyed smiley face and a stick horse and signed it with the letter B.

I read this one twice before I left to start my shift. On my lunch break I grabbed a spinach wrap and some paper and wrote her back.





Chapter 11

Briana



Right before I left for the day, I found an envelope in my locker.

I broke into a grin the second I saw it. It was a little long, and I got a flutter of anticipation when I saw all the pages.

This was fun. I was actually having fun, for the first time in I couldn’t remember how long. I took the letter home and crossed my legs under me on the bed and unfolded the papers.