Just Over The Mountain by Robyn Carr Read Free Book Online Page B

few times for one of the nurses at a neighborhood office. I was kind of surprised by how much I liked it.”
    “It would appear you’re much more experienced than that.” June took the charts. “I’m sorry you had to stay so late. It isn’t usually this wild.”
    “At least it’s only schoolchildren and not an epidemic. Um, June? You have a few extra minutes? I have something on my mind.”
    June braced herself. Susan was going to tell her she couldn’t come in anymore, she just knew it. “Sure, have a seat,” June said, laying down her pen and giving the nurse her complete attention.
    Susan sat on the edge of her chair, a bit nervously, it seemed. “I know you’ve run ads in local papers and contacted the nurses’ registry for a full-time nurse-practitioner, and I know I’m only an old operating-room RN with no special postgraduate training, but is there anyway you could be persuaded to keep me on? Maybe even part-time?”
    June’s mouth fell open in shock. “Susan?” she said, afraid to believe what she’d just heard.
    “I’m sure if there are other duties you’d require a nurse-practitioner’s skill for, like prenatal exams and that sort of thing, I could learn…”
    “Susan, I only advertised for a nurse-practitioner so I’d be sure to get at least RN applicants. When you run ads like this in small-town papers, every nurse’s aide in a sixty-mile radius wants an interview. You’d be amazed at how many people who have worked two weeks in a nursing home think they’re registered nurses. I would die to have you!”
    “Seriously?” Susan edged farther back into her chair, confidence melting her features into her usual smile.
    “But John told me you’d never consider it.”
    “That’s what he thinks…because he doesn’t listen. But I’ve never had so much fun in my life.”
    “What about Sydney? Can you find day care or a baby-sitter?”
    “My best friend, Julianna Dickson, has a first-grader also. As long as I can get Sydney to school in the morning, Julianna will take her home in the afternoon. She’s been doing that all this week, having the time of her life.”
    June frowned. It didn’t sound as if Sydney was complaining. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s a deal. But I’m worried about John. He obviously doesn’t realize you’d like to do this full-time. How are we going to handle that?”
    Susan put up a finger, signaling “just a minute.” She left the office, but was back in a flash. June accepted the piece of paper she was being handed. “Show him my résumé, June. Tell him I applied for the job. The rest is between the two of you.”
    “But Susan, I don’t want to get into the middle of some marital—”
    “Would you hire any nurse without getting John’s opinion?”
    “Of course not.”
    “Then that’s how you should do it. I’ve been telling John for a long time now that I’d like to work again, but when you move to a place like Grace Valley, where surgeries aren’t abundant and there’s a long list of qualified surgical techs and nurses waiting for an opening at Valley Hospital, the discussion is pretty short. And then there’s Charlotte. I thought she’d probably work to the last day of her life, but I honestly didn’t think it would threaten so soon or I would have talked to you before now. I would have let you know you didn’t have to worry about having a nurse available in the event of an emergency.” She lifted a blond eyebrow. “There was no point in offering to substitute for Charlotte. She wasn’t about to let anyone else into her sacred space.”
    “Well, I’ll be.” June shook her head, trying to grasp her good luck. “Should we talk about salary?”
    “Why bother? I know you’ll pay me what you can.”
    June stretched a hand across her desk. “You have a deal. If I can convince your husband.”
    “I’m sure he’ll be convinced,” she said, smiling.“John would like to have sex again in his life.” She stood to leave but