2. Prescription For Love

“Where’s everyone else?” Abby tried to sound casual. She didn’t know how she’d feel seeing Flann again, but the sooner she did and they got back onto neutral ground, the better. She’d be working with Flann more closely than with anyone else at the hospital, and she wanted their relationship to be cordial. Hopefully, they could just treat the kiss as what it was—a spontaneous physical encounter born out of lowered inhibitions brought on by fatigue and the aftermath of the crisis. Flann undoubtedly was regretting it just as much as she was right now.

“Margie and Blake are asleep somewhere—I think in the sitting room. Harper’s parents left right after breakfast. Glenn and Harper are around somewhere, and I think Presley might still be asleep.”

“And Flann?” Abby tensed, waiting for Carrie to say Flann was still asleep somewhere too, possibly in her bed.

“Oh, I thought you probably knew,” Carrie said. “Flann left hours ago. I was just getting ready to go to bed and she borrowed my car. I think Glenn is looking to ride with you.”

“Right.” Abby handed her the coffee and sat down again. “She didn’t get any sleep, then.” “Glenn?” Carrie colored faintly. “I’m not sure.”

“I meant Flann.”

Carrie regarded her over the top of her coffee cup. “She said she was going home. If I know Flann, she’s probably back at the hospital by now.”

“Of course,” Abby said cheerfully. Could she be any more obvious?

“In case you were wondering,” Carrie said lightly, “we’re not an item.”

“That’s really none of my business,” Abby said, caught between embarrassment and relief, and uncomfortable with both reactions.

“Okay, but just being clear. She’s sex on a stick, for sure.”

Of course she was, and anyone with two eyes and a beating heart could see that. Abby pursed her lips and sat back down, assuming a nonchalant expression. “Attractive, yes. No denying.”

“And smart and funny and

did I mention sexy?”

Abby had the strangest urge to growl. “I think you did.”

“And she looks at you like she wants to drag you off to her cave and have her way with you.” Carrie grinned.

Abby choked down the coffee she’d just sipped. “I’m sorry?”

Carrie laughed. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. She was practically staring holes in you all morning at breakfast.”

“I doubt that. She was all the way at the other end of the table and barely looked—” Abby realized she’d just admitted she’d been watching Flann too. “Well, hell.”

“Uh-huh. It’s the old avoidance reaction. She’s interested and running scared.”

“I can’t believe anything scares Flann when it comes to women,” Abby said dryly. She certainly hadn’t acted scared that morning. If anything, Abby had been the one to run. The idea made Abby pause. Really? Run? That wasn’t her. She didn’t run—not when she’d discovered she was pregnant, not when Blake was born and she’d had to leave him with her mother so she could finish school, not when the demands of residency and parenthood had nearly killed her. Why on earth would she run from a simple kiss?

“I think there might be,” Carrie said.

Abby blinked. “Sorry?”

“Flann. Scared. I’ve known her awhile now and seen her around a lot of women. She does casual really well, but something else would probably scare her.”

“I don’t know her well enough to say,” Abby said, “but there’s nothing going on between us that could possibly be frightening.” At least not to Flann.

“Ah. Okay, then we’re all squared away.”

“Right, the field is clear.”

“Good,” Carrie said. “On to more important matters, then—once everything settles down at the hospital, I’ll text you about the wedding meeting.”

“Absolutely. I’ll be here.” Abby got up and carried her dishes to the sink. “I’m going to collect my offspring and head back to work.”

“I’ll probably see you there later.”

The only thing she wanted was to collect Blake and put Flannery O’Connor Rivers out of her mind She found Blake and Margie in the sitting room, asleep as only teenagers could sleep, so deeply the world could come to an end around them and they wouldn’t notice. They were stretched out on the same sofa where she’d treated Flann the night before, foot to foot, their heads at opposite ends. She stood for a moment in the doorway, taking them in. They were beautiful. Blake had two kittens curled up in the crook of his arm. Margie’s golden hair framed her oval face like a halo. Abby wished for a second they could always stay as peaceful and content as they were right at that moment, but then life wasn’t always peaceful and happy, and some of the greatest pleasures grew out of turmoil and challenge. She couldn’t stop Blake from growing up and wouldn’t want to.

She knelt by his side and shook his shoulder gently. “Hey, time to go home.”

His lashes were long and dark, the kind people always said were too beautiful for a boy, but she didn’t think so. Boys had their own kind of beauty, and he was growing into his, day by day. His eyes opened and focused on hers. His smile was swift.

“Hi, Mom.”

“I have to go back to the hospital, and I want to take you home first.”