To Begin Anew (Blue Jay Romance) by Eliza Gerard Read Free Book Online Page B

the empty hole she’d left behind. It would be what he would have wanted for her.
     
    Pulling his schedule up on his computer, he noticed that his first appointment took place in less than half an hour and that he would have to grab any records he could find, since the patient he was to see to was new to his roster.
     
    “Emily Stone,” he said out loud. Eric sat back in his chair, thumbed a pen between his fore and middle fingers and then, as he let his thoughts roam, he put the pen in his mouth. Nasty habit, he knew, but it helped curb the itch to grab a cigarette. Yet another bad habit.
     
    Thinking about smoking, then about quitting, always brought a smile to his face. He’d given up smoking cigarettes when he married Tina, a habit she’d not been entirely fond of. When a person got married, they ceased being an individual - his life had joined with Tina’s to create a life they spent together.
     
    Eight years had been too short. They had just begun to really know each other, to really and truly understand the love they had for one another, and then - Eric kept his thoughts from going into that painful territory again. It was a strange thing the brain did - thoughts were harmless until emotions were attached to them.
     
    He printed all that he would need to know about Miss Stone, then removed himself from his desk. The moment he stepped foot out of the door, he caught sight of a familiar shape and then a nurse was shouting at him.
     
    “I tried to stop her sir!”
     
    Eric frowned as he folded his arms to his chest. It wasn’t common for him to lose his temper, but at the sight of Julia waltzing down the hall, her hair bouncing as her shoes squeaked on the sterile tile, he had to admit that he was close.
     
    As Julia sidled up to him, she glanced around her at all the blinking, astonished eyes and before he could stop her, she put her arms around him. “I missed you.”
     
    The first thought he had wasn’t a good one, so Eric tried to have a better one the second time around. He removed himself from Julia’s hold and then, gently but firmly taking her by the arm, he ushered her into his office.
     
    He let go of her just as he managed to close the door and cut off the curious stares. He said, facing Julia, “Would you mind telling me what you’re doing here?”
     
    Julia smiled, but it lingered on her lips for only a second before she frowned. “I couldn’t let you fire me, I just couldn’t.” Her eyes watered on cue and then she said, her hands lifting to emphasize her words, “Don’t you understand how I feel about you?”
     
    Eric had to blink. “Feel about me?” His lips went from forming a frown into a very thin line of irritation. “I don’t think you understand the situation. I hired you to take care of my children, nothing else. I apologize if anything I said or did led you to believe there was anything else.”
     
    Julia’s hair slid from behind an ear and came forward to fall over her shoulder. She looked at him, her eyes almost brimming with tears, then looked away as if the sight of him was too much to bear. She said, her voice soft, “I … I didn’t think you felt the same way, but … but I had to come here to tell you how I felt. I…,” and at this point, she looked at him. “I think I love you.”
     
    Eric thought he had to be hallucinating. Maybe someone had put something into the air vents in the hospital and with each breath he was slowly succumbing to the poison. This couldn’t be happening. As he felt Julia touch him, he knew it was.
     
    He backed out of her reach. He tried to keep his voice even, tried to keep the irritation out of it. “I’m flattered, really. But it would be cruel if I said I felt anything for you. I think you did a wonderful job with…”
     
    “You found someone better, right? Couldn’t keep your eyes on just one woman, you had to go around and…”
     
    Eric felt the first tendrils of true anger hit him as he interrupted her.