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  Thirty minutes later, she pulled into the emergency-room parking area for Lubbock’s University Medical Center. It was late, so Anna hoped this would be quick, but had her doubts. It was a large facility, but she’d been there a few times in the past and knew that the wait could be brutal.

  As soon as she entered the waiting area, she was greeted by a male nurse who wore a mask to prevent him from inhaling the millions of germs that he encountered on the job; at least that’s what she thought it was for.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, his voice muffled by the light blue mask.

  “I’d like to see a doctor. I was on a cruise ship, and had to leave early because I got sick. I didn’t see the ship’s doctor, so I thought I’d better get checked out.” So much for not mentioning she’d been on a cruise.

  “How long ago?” he asked.

  “I returned late afternoon, earlier today,” she said.

  “Follow me,” he instructed her.

  Anna followed him to a bank of windows where at least half a dozen hospital employees were seated behind a large glass window. “They’ll take your information.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Miss,” said a woman from behind the glass. She sounded like the people at the bank. “Please put on a mask and gloves,” she said, and pointed to boxes on the counter. Anna did as she was told.

  “I’ll need your identification and insurance card. You can slide them under here.” She pointed to a metal, cuplike indentation in the counter. Anna placed her license and insurance card inside, and the woman looked them over and began typing. She slid them back through the metal cup area when she finished.

  “Please step around the corner, and a nurse will see you now,” the woman told her. “Keep the mask on.”

  Anna walked around glass windows where a female nurse in hot pink scrubs waited. She had a paper in her hand. “If you’ll follow me, Mrs. Campbell.”

  She wasn’t a missus, though Anna didn’t feel like correcting the nurse.

  After they weighed her, took her temperature, and checked her blood pressure, they put an ID band around her wrist, and she was taken to a room. “The doctor will be in as soon as possible. First, we need to do some bloodwork. Are you okay with needles?” the cute nurse asked. Though she was smiling when she said this, Anna wondered what she would do if she’d told her they terrified her and that she passed out at the sight of them. “I’m fine with them,” she answered.

  “Sit tight. We’ll draw the blood first.”

  Anna waited for an hour before the phlebotomist came in to draw blood. “Sorry you had to wait so long,” said the young man who appeared not a day over twenty-one.

  “It’s fine,” she replied.

  Within minutes, he took a sample of her blood, then asked her to relax, and said the doctor would be in soon.

  Another hour passed, and Anna was starting to get a bit impatient. She was tired and hungry. All she wanted to do was, go to bed. It’d been a very long day.

  “I am so sorry, Ms.”—the male doctor looked at her chart—“Campbell. We’ve been swamped. Now, it says here you were on a cruise, became ill, and left. Tell me your symptoms.”

  Again, she explained how sick she’d been, with vomiting and weak muscles.

  “That’s normal then. Probably from the fever. Did you check your temperature?”

  “No. As I said, I immediately made arrangements to fly home. I didn’t think of it.” She knew she sounded ignorant, but at this ungodly hour, she didn’t care.

  “Okay, one more test, then you can go.”

  He explained that she needed to provide a urine sample, which required a trip to the bathroom. “How long before I get the results?” she inquired.

  “Probably a week at most; if they come in sooner, we’ll let you know. I see you have your GP listed, so we’ll let her know as well.”

  Anna went to the restroom and did as instructed, then returned with her sample. The hot pink nurse was waiting. “Okay, we’ll get you out of here now. There are just a few things for you to sign.”

  She handed her a clipboard with several papers, and Anna signed them and handed them to the nurse. “I’m free to go?” she asked, just to make sure. She was so tired, she didn’t know if she’d be able to keep her eyes open long enough to drive home.

  “You are. Here is a list of instructions the doctor would like you to follow. If you’re not feeling one hundred percent in a couple of days, he wants you to make an appointment with your GP. If your tests are positive, we’ll contact the authorities, and they’ll decide what to do then.”

  Anna thought it sounded like she was on trial, awaiting a verdict. “Thanks,” she said, then rushed out the door before the nurse bombarded her with anything else.

  As soon as she returned to her car, her cell phone chimed. As promised, pictures of Christina and Mandy showed them having a fantastic time. Wet hair stuck to grinning faces, Christina making a peace sign for the camera, a photo of the two of them flying down a wicked-looking slide, obviously taken by the park’s camera. She laughed. If only she’d listened to her heart, she’d be in Orlando with them now. Her old adage, “It is what it is,” came to mind. “Deal with it, Anna,” she said out loud. She responded with a smiley face, placed the phone on the passenger seat, then remembered she’d promised Mandy she’d text her as soon as she left the hospital. A hasty message, no news, and she’d report if and when. Mandy instantly replied with a heart emoji.

  Overly tired, her senses were heightened, and her thoughts returned to the man on the ship, Ryan Robertson. It was still hard to process, but she’d been intimate with the guy even though she knew almost nothing about him other than that he worked as a professor at Texas Tech. Maybe when she got home, she’d shoot him an e-mail. If he was like the rest of the world, he checked his e-mail account daily if not hourly as some did. She felt like she owed him an explanation. She ran from the guy, hiding in her cabin, because she couldn’t handle the situation. Would he understand if she explained the effects of the virus? If he was a decent guy, yes. If he was just a scumbag out for a one-night stand, he wouldn’t. Sadly, she didn’t know him well enough to pin either label on him. She could only hope that since she’d taken a major leap with him, hopping into bed just hours after meeting, she must have had some instinct that he was a good guy and seen possibilities in him. Maybe he felt the same? Or not? The only way for her to find out was to do her best to stop obsessing over it. If she’d made a mistake, then she would move on.

  When she pulled into the long drive, she turned the lights off on her Nissan so they wouldn’t shine in the guesthouse windows though she saw the kitchen lights were on and knew Mona was waiting up for her. Mandy must’ve called her just as she said she would.

  She pulled inside the garage and was not the least bit surprised when she heard her name.

  “Anna, what did the doctors say? Jeb and me ain’t goin’ to sleep till we know you’re safe and sound.” Mona wore a white nightgown that covered her from head to toe.

  Anna pushed the button to close the garage door. Mona followed her inside.

  “They think I’m just fine. Though they did check me for that virus, the doctor didn’t seem to think it was anything serious. They won’t have the test results for a week or so, according to the ER doctor.” Anna went to the kitchen, Mona trailing behind her like a dog with a bone.

  “That’s it? You sure?” she asked.

  “Mona, why would I lie to you?” She wanted to take the words back because she’d been telling lies for the past three days. “I’m sorry. Don’t pay any attention to me. I’m overtired and starved.”

  “I can remedy the starvin’ part right now. Sit.” Mona pointed to the barstools they’d sat on just a few hours ago.

  Anna rolled her eyes. “You don’t need to fix me anything. I was going to have a piece of fruit and call it a night.”

  “Bull, you’re gonna have something solid if I have to spoon-feed you. Now sit,” Mona said, in her y
ou-better-do-as-I-say-or-else tone.

  Calling on her years of experience in the diner, Mona whipped up eggs, bacon, three slices of wheat toast, and a sliced tomato, a true Texas breakfast in portions large enough to feed a family of four.

  “Thanks,” Anna said, and realized she was truly famished. Digging into the plate, she ate three fried eggs, two slices of the toast, then added three slices of bacon on the third piece of toast with the tomatoes on top.

  “A piece of fruit, huh?” Mona said when she saw Anna’s empty plate.

  “So, you were right. I was hungry. Now I’m stuffed, and I’m going to bed. Good night, Mona.” Anna knew if she asked her not to clean the kitchen, to leave it until tomorrow, she would make enough noise to wake the dead, so she left her alone to do her thing.

  Upstairs, she saw that her laptop was still on and decided to poke around online before she went to bed. She went to the Texas Tech website and clicked on the FACULTY tab. She scrolled through a long list of names, with their photos, and when she came to the R’s, she went through them very slowly. She recognized him instantly. She clicked on his name and read through his bio.

  Ryan Robertson, Professor of Mathematical Studies.

  His bio was quite impressive. He’d attended Texas Tech, then earned a doctorate at Harvard. Listed was his office number and e-mail.

  She debated sending an e-mail. Maybe he wouldn’t remember her. No, that was stupid. Men might be jerks at times, as well as some women, but when a guy had sex, especially on a singles cruise, it was highly probable he would remember it. She looked at the time on the top right of the computer screen.

  It read 4:18 A.M. Either she would appear desperate, an early riser, or just plain nuts. Would he look at the time stamp on the e-mail? Did he even check his work e-mail over the summer? Did he use a different e-mail address for personal friends? Anna knew she could go on and on with these stupid, childish questions all night if she allowed herself to continue. She was beat, so she closed the laptop, but not before writing down both his e-mail address and work number. She had a few days ahead of her, plenty of time to decide. And then she would make the call. Or not.

  Chapter 8

  Anna slept until noon on Monday. She almost fainted when she looked at her bedside clock, then remembered she hadn’t gone to bed until the wee hours of the morning. She stretched, enjoying the fact that, technically, she was still on vacation. Knowing she had a dozen items that required her attention, she would spend the day taking care of them, then maybe she’d spend a few hours in the gardens with Jeb. Gardening was such a stress reliever, she almost wished Jeb would leave the work to her, but it wasn’t possible, given her chosen profession, and how hectic her schedule would be. As soon as Mandy returned, they would plan their fall programs and start filming.

  The bluebonnets were blooming, and now the black-eyed susans’ bold yellow leaves dotted the garden, as though rays of sunshine had dropped from the sky. In the evenings, the pink evening primroses gifted her their soft yet aromatic scent. The crimson cedar sage, an edible plant she often added to recipes, gave a warm and sweet flavor to stews and desserts. While this was one of her many passions, she knew that she had to leave most of the work to Jeb. But whenever she could, Anna tried to help out as she truly enjoyed digging with her fingers in the dirt.

  Anna showered and dressed in a pair of cutoff jean shorts and an old red, faded Texas Tech T-shirt from her college days. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and headed downstairs. In the kitchen, she made herself a cup of coffee, her favorite, Kaya Kopi from Indonesia, the same brand that Mandy had arranged for her to have on the ship. When the brewing had finished, Anna took her cup outside, going through the French doors from her formal dining room that led to the covered patio. The Texas sun blazed this time of day. Hot, and dry. She’d spent her entire life in Texas and was used to the high temps. Reclining on a chaise lounge, she relaxed, enjoying the solitude of being at home. Giant pots of greenery were scattered strategically, and baskets of Southern wood ferns hung in bright yellow pots in every corner of the patio, which was really an extension of the house, just screened in. Anna loved this area, and if she weren’t so concerned with privacy issues, she would film here. So, when the opportunity presented itself, she spent as much time as she could in this very spot, enjoying the gardens and all the fruits of her labor.

  “I knew I’d find you here,” Mona called, as she stepped out of the small cottage behind the main house. “I let you sleep in, told Jeb if he even acted like he was going to run one of his damned contraptions, I’d divorce him.”

  “Damned contraptions” was Mona’s way of saying either Weedwacker or lawn mower.

  “That’s a bit drastic, don’t you think?” she asked. “Sit,” she said, and pointed to the lounge chair beside her.

  Mona sat down. She was wearing her Levi’s and floral blouse, and Anna checked for the pack of cigarettes. Yep. Still there. She smiled.

  “What’s so funny?” Mona asked.

  “Nothing. Just a thought I had,” Anna said.

  “You ain’t very good at tellin’ lies, Miss Anna. You know that, right?”

  If only, she thought. Normally Anna was a stickler for the whole truth and nothing but. She’d instilled this trait in her daughter, and fortunately, she was an honest young girl.

  “If you say so” was all she was going to agree with. “Where’s Jeb? I thought I might help him out today, putter around in the gardens a bit.” She deftly changed the subject because she had no clue where Mona was headed with the “lying” conversation.

  “Jeb’s waitin’ for me to give him the go-ahead to start up the contraptions. I’ve just decided it’ll have to keep till tomorrow. You need some peace and quiet today.”

  Mona was definitely the boss, Anna thought. A second mother of sorts. She’d met her and Jeb at the diner all those years ago when she was broke and doing her best to earn her degree. She’d bring her books to the diner, order a cup of twenty-five-cent coffee, and cram for hours. And more often than not, a meal was included with that twenty-five-cent cup of coffee. She would never forget their kindness and how they’d made sure she’d had a full stomach when money was short, which back then was most of the time. When she’d moved to Corpus Christi, they’d visited her a time or two. Then, she and Wade were so busy being a married couple that they lost contact, except for the occasional Christmas card or a phone call. When she’d returned to Lubbock, much wealthier than when she’d left, Mona and Jeb were the first people from her former life she contacted. They knew Wade had died in a motorcycle accident and sent flowers, but she’d been so lost in her grief while trying to maintain some sense of normalcy for Christina, she’d never acknowledged the card with as much as a simple thank-you note.

  “What’s Jeb have to say about that?” Anna asked, taking a sip of her lukewarm coffee.

  “He ain’t got no choice in the matter, Missy. He does as I say,” Mona said, a grin as wide as the state of Texas displaying her pearly-white teeth. Her own, she would tell anyone who commented on them. Then she’d go into the history of her family genetics, telling anyone who’d listen how no one in her family had ever had a single cavity. How she knew this was beyond the scope of Anna’s knowledge, but she still had a smile most people would pay big bucks for.

  “Mona, can I ask you a hypothetical question?” Anna asked.

  “What’s that?” Mona probed.

  “You mean the question, or what is a hypothetical question?”

  “Missy, if you was a young’un, I’d swipe your little ass with a branch from that weepin’ willow tree. I may not have your college degree, but I ain’t stupid.”

  “I never said you were. What I meant to say is can I ask you a hypothetical question.”

  “Oh, well, sure. Go on, ask me,” Mona stated.

  Anna knew Mona had a vested interest in the psychic world, as she swore that her grandmother “had the gift” and always told stories that Anna found quite believable. Knowing this, she
chose to ask her before hitting Google up for a recommendation.

  “Do you believe feelings can be . . . helped through hypnotism?”

  Mona patted her pocket of smokes, almost as though she were a true smoker and was preparing to light up. “I do. Why do you ask? You got some childhood nightmares you wanna deal with?”

  Anna shook her head. “No, and if I did, I don’t think I’d want to relive them. I’m talking about coping,” Anna explained.

  “I see,” Mona said. “Clara Bennet. She’s the one you’ll want to see if you’re lookin’ for . . . She’s downtown, next to that fancy soap shop that just opened. You wanna see her, I’ll give her a holler. She’s got a German shepherd, Rover. He protects her, so she’ll have to know that you’re gonna be there at a certain time. Else he’ll make sure you never return.”

  “That’s lovely,” Anna snarked. “I wouldn’t want to be attacked, but yes, call her. Set up an appointment. I’m free until Mandy and Christina come home.”

  “You’re serious, ain’tcha?”

  “I am,” Anna said. “Just for fun, in a way.”

  “If you say so, I’ll call her now.” Mona stood and stretched, bending backward, her silver braid almost touching the floor.

  “Okay, I’m going to have another cup of coffee. I’ll be right here.”

  “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll see if she’s got any openings.”

  Anna went inside and made another cup of coffee. Still full from the giant meal Mona had prepared in the wee hours, she would drink lunch and enjoy the much-needed caffeine this exclusive brew provided.