Chapter 77

(**Annora**)

Our vacation came to an end way too quickly and we are now back in California. Grace didn’t want to go back to school today and made it known quite vocally all the way to school. I blew out a breath of frustration as she slammed the passenger door as she got out of the car.

Quinn mentioned the conversation he had with her about school. I am angry that she is now unhappy at her school. I am also very proud of her for standing up for herself and her fellow classmates against that bully. Granted, the girl was only repeating her parents' words, which doesn’t excuse her from being in the wrong.

Now I'm in my office after checking in with my patients. According to the notes my colleagues left in their files, everything ran smoothly while I was away, which was exactly what I expected. I am satisfied with how my time away turned out.

It makes me consider the move I want to make even more. Now is a good time as any to look into moving my medical practice out of the hospital. I already have a location in mind. Once I secure the building and get all my permits, I will have to hire nurses and another doctor.

I already plan to offer jobs to all my staff here at the hospital. There is no doubt in my mind that Shawna will accept since she has been encouraging me to do this for the last two years. She has been my rock for so long.

Thinking of my best friend makes me get up from my desk, grab my purse, and leave my office to find her. I make sure to lock the door behind me before heading to the elevator. When I tried to call her while I was on vacation, she wasn’t her bright cheery self. Instead of catching me up on hospital gossip, she rushed me off the phone, claiming she had things to do. I am worried about her.

I have known about her crush on Max for a few years now, but since he is married, she never made a move. Now that his relationship is over, well everything but signing the divorce papers, maybe Shawna made a move on Max? At my engagement party, she refused to say anything, and my brother vanished.

If she took a chance, when and where did she do it? I know it happened before the party. Knowing Shawna’s luck when it comes to matters of the heart, I hope that my brother doesn’t break hers.

“Have you seen Shawna?” I ask the charge nurse, Ella, when I reach the E.R. where I know Shawna is scheduled for today.

Ella looks up at me, nudges her head to her left, then gets back to what she was doing. I turn my head in that direction and see that Shawna is walking out of an exam room. I lean on the counter to wait for her. A huge smile blooms on her face when she sees me.

“Ella, Miss Jones is ready to be released. I am going to take my lunch break now,” she tells Ella as she grabs my arm.

“Yeah, see you when you get back,” Ella says in a bored tone.

Shawna laughs. “What is for lunch?”

"Let's go for a walk. We can grab something from somewhere close.”

I wait as she grabs her purse, then we walk towards the parking lot. She peppers me with questions about my vacation as we walk, which makes me laugh. This is the Shawna I know and love.

“We had a great time. Grace didn’t want to come home, but I think that has more to do with school than where we were.”

I give Shawna a brief rundown of everything we did, all the places we visited, and show her some of the pictures I took with my phone. We stop at a small deli a few blocks away, then sit at a table in a not busy section after we get our food.

After we order, Shawna gets quiet. It is like she knows what is on my mind. I watch her chew on her fingernails for a few moments before she looks up at me. The expression on her face and the sad look in her eyes confirms my fears.

“What happened between you and my brother Shawna?”

She looks away from me after I ask. I watch as she grabs her water, takes a sip, then sits it back on the table. When she looks at me, her face is composed, and that sorrowful look in her eyes is gone. Her emotional shield is up.

This is how Shawna has acted after every breakup she has had in the past. First there is sadness for a few days and then the wall is put up. It is her way of protecting herself until the next man comes along to sweep her off her feet.

My best friend is a hopeless romantic.

“I stopped by your house to grab my yoga mat that I left over there. Honestly, I forgot that you were letting Max stay there, so I just used my spare key since I was going to be in and out in a flash.”

I remember her calling to ask about that a few days before the engagement party. I figured he would have been at my parents’ house because all our brothers were in town and staying with them. Not sure I would have told her to go by had I known he was home.

No, I would have, because I never thought anything would happen between right now.

“What happened, Shaw?”

“I let myself in and tripped over something on the floor in the entryway. When I heard a grunt and felt a hand clamp around my ankle, I was confused at first, but then I figured it out. Max was lying on the floor and by the smell of him, he was quite drunk.”

Oh, Max. Leita is a bitch for what she has done to him. I have never wanted to punch someone more in my life than right now.

“So, rather than leave him there, I helped him up off the floor and got him to bed. That was where it should have ended. I should have put the trash can by the bed, grabbed my yoga mat, and left.”

I stop myself from jumping to conclusions because I really am hoping things are not how I think they are. Shawna saving herself for marriage has always been the straw that broke every relationship she has ever had. Initially, men find it appealing, but later become sexually frustrated and cheat on her. If she slept with Max while he was drunk, that would only end badly for them both.

“He called out to me as I was leaving the room and asked me why women are all cheating whores. This made me angry as hell. Not all women are like his cheating wife. So, I let him have the full brunt of my anger.”

Of course, she did. She has a fiery temper to match her hair. It is something that has gotten her into trouble with her supervisors many times in the past.

“How did he react to that?”

“He fucking laughed at me. I rushed to him and tried to slap him, but he caught my hand. Then he just stared up at me, Annie. He stared at me with those sad eyes of his and I had that feeling again.”

“Oh, Shaw. He isn’t ready for that.”

Her eyes shimmer with tears for a moment, but she fights back the urge to cry. “That I know. I knew it then too, but it didn’t stop me. He asked me why I am still single after all these years. My answer was to tell him that men just suck. What he did next shocked the crap out of me.”

Oh, Max, what did you do? From the flush on Shawna’s cheeks, I have a feeling it was along the lines of my earlier thinking. Please don't tell me they had sex.

“He kissed me. It took me by surprise, so I didn’t stop him. Annie, we both know I have wanted to kiss him for years now. So, in my shocked state, I didn’t notice immediately that I had fallen onto the bed with him until he broke the kiss. One kiss turned into the sexiest make-out session I have had in years.”

She takes another sip of her water, then looks at me with shame in her eyes. “His wife may be a cheating whore, but he is still married. I have never kissed a married man in my life. Okay, I have never kissed a man that I knew was married. When he broke away from me, I could tell he felt that shame, too, so I rushed out of the room. I grabbed my mat and left as quickly as I could.”

“Is that why he avoided you at the party?”

“Probably. Honestly, Annie, I don’t think I can face him again.”

“Come on, let’s get you back to Ella before she pages you. Give Max some time. If he feels something, anything at all, about what happened, he will come to you when he is ready to talk to you about it.”

Shawna huffs out a sigh, grabs her purse, then stands up as I do. As we walk back to the hospital, I distract her by showing her more pictures of my vacation. She was in a better mood by the time we reached the hospital. This is because I promised to talk to Quinn about using the villa for a girls' trip with her and Rylan.

That will be a crazy trip for sure if we do it.

“Hey what if we do it the weekend before your wedding? Make it like a bachelorette party getaway?”

The excitement in her voice has me nodding my head, even if I am not sure I like the idea. I have no doubt at all that by tonight she will have already called Rylan to discuss it with her. Heck, it might not be a terrible idea, really.

“Ok, get in there before Ella has a fit.” I tell her at the doors to the E.R.

Shawna rushes off babbling to herself about what a great weekend that will be. I shake my head, then head into the hospital behind her. When I get back up to my office, I am surprised to see the door partly open. I know I locked it before I left to find Shawna.

Anger fills me as I push the door open. The outer office is the same as I left it, but when my eyes land on the inner office door, panic clogs my throat. It is wide open, and even from where I am standing, I can see the disaster zone inside. Someone broke into my office and destroyed it.

I call security, then the police, then Quinn. He is the first to arrive, with the security guard right behind him. I am digging through the mess to grab all my patent files when he barges into the room.

“Who the fuck did this?” He turns to the security guard. “Have someone look at the footage for this floor, so we have something for the police when they get here.”

I hear the guard relay that message over his radio, then Quinn’s hands are on my shoulders. I feel a calmness seep into me as I look up at him. His sea-green eyes are stormy as he looks at me.

“Annie, are you hurt? Were you in here when this happened?”

“How did you get here so fast? Were you already here?”

“I had a board meeting. Were you in here when this happened?”

“No, I was out with Shawna for lunch.”

Relief crosses his face before he glances around at the carnage in my office. His jaw hardens, but his eyes are soft when he looks at me. “Whoever did this will pay for it, I promise you.”

I have no doubts about that.

Thirty minutes later, the police arrived and to my surprise, it was the same detectives that handled my hit and run. They both gave me a nod as they were followed by the crime scene technicians.

“Was anything taken?” Anson asks as he looks around my office.

“No. I searched through the debris to find my patients' files. They were a mess but intact and all accounted for.”

Morris roamed the room for a few moments, then stepped back to his partner. “Do you have everything you need from in here? We will have the crime scene guys seal the door when they are done.”

All I can do is nod my head as Quinn grabs my purse and file bag. He seems to know what they will ask before Anson motions to the door. I am torn between being angry that this happened and frustrated that my office is such a mess.

I feel violated in a way. This was my personal space here in the hospital. Now it is ruined.

“I assume you have security video of the corridor outside?” Anson asks.

“Yes, I already called the head of security to let him know you would need to see that footage.”

“Very efficient. Let’s head there now,” Morris says.

By the time we reach the ground floor, I decide that I just want to go home. I stop before we get to the hallway that leads to the security office. Quinn turns to look at me as Morris and Anson continue to follow the security guard.

“Annie?”

“Quinn, I just want to go home. I will meet you there when you are done. Please stay here with them. Find out who did this to my office.”

He closes the distance between us, then wraps his arms around me. I breathe in his comforting scent as he holds me close. I love the smell of him. That combination of his cologne, which always smells like some exotic spice, and his natural scent just soothes me.

“Will you be able to drive, or do you want to have Shawna come with you?”

“No, I will be fine. She is on shift. Besides, the time alone until Grace gets home will give me a chance to call Lori. There is something I have been wanting to do for a few years now. This incident is just the tipping point I need.”

I pull away from him so I can look up at his face. There is a worried frown on that handsome face. I lean up to kiss him.

“I will tell you all about my plans when you get home later. Now go find out who destroyed my office. I have no idea who could have done something like this other than our favorite crazy lady.”

Quinn’s eyes glitter with anger at the mention of Dionne. He gives me one last kiss, then turns on his heels to go watch the security tapes. I head home and hope that Dionne is not as crazy as I think she is.

Bat shit crazy ex-fiancé is pissing me off.