[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Shaking her head, she grabbed more tissues from the nearly empty box beside her.Next to it sat an empty pint container of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and a spoon.She’d emptied one a day since coming home.As far as Jack knew, the ice cream was the only thing she was eating, in spite of their mother’s efforts to tempt her appetite with healthy and delicious meals.“It’ll never be all right,” said Luz Maria.“But at least you’ve had another offer.I suppose you’ll be taking it and moving to the Valley.”Jack stifled a sigh.“I don’t know.It’s a hell of an opportunity, but I’m not sure about it.”Isaac Mailer, the director of the Trust for Compassionate Service, had called Jack personally to say the organization had been looking for someone to run a new clinic.It was to be built in one of the poorest pockets of the country, an overwhelmingly Hispanic section of the Lower Rio Grande Valley almost devoid of medical facilities.Though rich in wildlife and tropical beauty, the southern tip of Texas had recently gained notoriety for its obscenely high numbers of birth defects and cases of cervical cancer and malnutrition.“We’re looking to make a difference by educating the community,” Mailer had told him, “and to do that we need a bilingual doctor who cares about the people—not the politics.”“What’s not to be sure of?” Luz Maria asked.“They’re even going to pay off your student loans if you stay at least three years.And think of all the good you could do there, totally unfettered by the strings attached to government funding.This job sounds like it’s tailor-made for you.”“As if somebody knew exactly what it would take to get me out of town—or earn my gratitude.” Jack hadn’t yet mentioned that there was a social worker’s position for Luz Maria there, too.He didn’t want to get her hopes up until he met this evening with Sabrina McMillan, who had clearly orchestrated the offer, and determined exactly what Sabrina expected in return.But that wasn’t the only reason he was ambivalent about moving.Somehow his sister seemed to tune in on his thoughts.“It’s that firefighter, isn’t it? Tell me you aren’t waiting for a woman who won’t return your calls.Tell me you haven’t gone and picked up Rubia Fever.” This was LuzMaria’s expression for the “disease” of Hispanic men who chased Anglo blondes.“God, Jack.I would expect more sense from you.”Anger heated his words.“Forgive me if I don’t think you’re the best person to offer me advice on romance.”He felt like the planet’s lowest life form when her good hand reached for another handful of tissues.Though he’d saved his sanity by learning to ignore his mother’s crocodile tears, he’d never been able to inure himself to any woman’s real pain.And even if he someday built an impenetrable fortress around the territory of his heart, he had long ago turned over its keys to Luz Maria.Sitting down beside her, he hugged her to him and stroked her wavy hair, the way he had when she was a child.Your sister’s a grown woman, he heard Reagan’s voice remind him.It had been a sore point between them, the way he tried to both protect and make the best decisions for Luz Maria.Maybe it was past time that he stopped.Drawing away from his sister, he moved back to the computer chair where he’d been sitting.“I’m sorry I snapped at you.I’ll tell you what, let’s make a deal.I won’t bring up Sergio if you don’t mention Reagan.”Nodding, Luz Maria wiped her eyes.Tears had clumped her lashes, and the edges of her nostrils were chapped and reddened.“Truce,” she promised.“All right.But I need to talk to you about that job in the Valley.I didn’t mention this before, but you’ve got a stake in this decision, too.”She crumpled the tissue and tossed it in her trash can.“How’s that?”Handing Isaac Mailer’s card to her, he recounted the details of their conversation—along with his misgivings about the mayor’s campaign manager.“That seems really strange,” she said.“I’ve been praying for some good to come of my mistakes, but this—it sounds almost too good.And pretty conveniently timed, too, since the election’s in—what—is it two days?”“Three.Today’s Saturday.”For the first time since her injury, the fire returned to Luz Maria’s dark eyes.Distracted from her guilt, she quizzed him about details of both Isaac Mailer’s offer and his conversations with Sabrina McMillan.Afterward, she frowned.“I want this, Jack, for both of us.But not without understanding what the price is.Call the woman.Go meet with her if that’s what it takes.While you’re doing that, I’ll check out this foundation on the Internet.”As Jack rose, she took a seat at the computer, the air around her fairly crackling with impatience.He smiled at the sight, relieved that she was moving toward recovery—and equally pleased that “The Piranha” would tear into this research with the same stubborn intensity she’d used to tackle problems in the past.Kissing her crown as a good-bye, he said, “Some good has come of your mistakes already.For one thing, I’m realizing how much I’ve underestimated you.”Luz Maria smiled at him.“All I can say,” she told him, “is it’s about damned time.”Laughing, he left his sister—and prepared to beard the mayor’s lioness in her den.As she sat alone in the darkness of the watch office, Reagan could hear men’s laughter from the station’s kitchen [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]