Always A Bride by Darlene Henderson Read Free Book Online Page B

are having a good talk and everything is okay.”
    “ Okay with her or okay with us? Who is it okay with, Harvey? What are you talking about?”
    “ Alex, honey, now is not the time. Just trust me.”
    “ I can definitely get one of these guys to drive me home. I can count on them.” Alex flipped the phone closed without saying good-bye.
    “ What’s up?” Josh asked.
    “ You don’t look happy,” Ben said.
    “ Do we need to go have a talk with Harvey?” Ben was already on his way to the door.
    “ Get back here. He just asked if I could get a ride home with one of you,” Alex explained.
    “ Did Molly whine her way out this too?” Josh asked, leaning back in his chair.
    “ I don’t know. She was crying. Harvey was acting weird about the whole thing. It was like he was mad at me for bringing him here. Then he kissed me and that’s when Molly walked out and found us.”
    “ I bet she was ticked off,” Ben said, walking to the bar to pick up the next round.
    “ Harvey got between us. I think if she could have gotten her hands on me, it could have been very ugly.”
    Ben s et Alex’s beer down. “Girl fights are many things, but not ugly. I’d have paid to watch.”
    Alex punched Ben in the arm.
    “I don’t know who she’s here with,” Josh said. “Nobody has checked in since I started my shift and the register doesn’t show anybody we know.”
    “ She’s not registered?” Ben asked.
    “ Anybody list her license plate with their signature?” Alex asked.
    “ No and no,” Josh replied..
    Alex said . “I need to get home. Can one of you drive me?”
    “ Sure,” Ben said, moving to the window and scanning the parking lot. “Looks like they are gone. Let’s go.”
    Alex hugged Josh and thanked him. “I can always count on you Josh. You know you’re my favorite.” She kissed him quickly on the cheek.
    “ Hey, what about me? I thought I was your favorite.” Ben put his hands on hips.
    Alex giggled . “You are, but don’t tell Josh,” she whispered.
    ***
    At home, Alex tossed and turned in bed. The day had been an emotional roller coaster. Harvey had raised her hopes and dashed them again. Now she just didn't know where she stood with him. Sobs wracked her body as she cried into her pillow until, exhausted, she finally fell asleep.
    When she woke up late the next morning , she had missed several of his calls.
    She listened to his message s, his voice calm and cool on the line. “Good morning, sunshine. I’ll see you tonight at the club. I can’t pick you up myself, but I’ll send a car for you.”
    Alex talked to the empty room. “Send a car for me? Can’t pick me up? What is he up to? Maybe I should have just stayed away.”
    Alex decided to go to the nursing home to visit her grandmother. Visiting was part of the reason she was in town and she'd let her drama with Harvey distract her from that purpose. Her grandmother's health was failing and she didn't know how many more visits she'd be able to have. She couldn't let another opportunity pass.
    As she drove the roads she ’d known so well as a teenager, she was surprised at how much her little hometown had grown.
    Once i n her grandmother’s room, she pulled a chair next to the bed. She held her grandmother's hand and they were talking and laughing when Harvey entered the room.
    Her grandmother’s face lit up . “Your boyfriend here is the best doctor on staff, Alex.”
    “ Grandma, who told you Harvey was my boyfriend?” Alex raised an eyebrow at him.
    “ Nobody had to tell me. He talks about you every time he comes in here. It's the way he looks at your picture and the way he says your name. Lawdy child, it’s the way he’s looking at you now. It’s just the way your grandpa looked at me for more than sixty years.” Her grandmother smiled. “Don’t leave him waiting any longer, Alex.”
    “ But Grandma Dr. Harvey is engaged to someone else. He didn't wait on me.” Alex patted her grandmother's hand. She was still