The room filled with laughter—an unexpectedly good note to begin the afternoon. Everyone, Donald included, began to warm to their newest family member. Lunch stretched into dinner, and by the time they parted ways, it felt like a day well spent.
Before leaving, Bryce offered to pick Beth up for church the next morning. After only a moment’s hesitation, she said yes.
CHAPTER9
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beth hit the snooze button again and rolled over, hoping for just a few more minutes of sleep. It was Friday morning—one week since the day she woke up married. Thank goodness it was the last day of her four-day work week. She needed the weekend to relax and catch up on sleep.
The past week hadn’t been bad, just busy. On top of that, she felt a little off—like the early stages of the flu or something.
She wiggled deeper into her cocoon of pillows and blankets and drifted back to sleep, imagining what it would be like to snuggle with Bryce instead of a pile of pillows.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Beth groaned and poked her head out from under the covers to check the clock.
“OH NO!”
She tried to bolt out of bed, but the cozy nest she’d been enjoying was now a trap. The tangle of blankets around her legs sent her tumbling to the floor in a graceless heap. Wresting herself free, she muttered, “Why do alarm clocks even have snooze buttons? I’m plugging this thing in across the room from now on.”
She stumbled into the bathroom. “Okay, Elizabeth, think. What can you do in five minutes?”
She brushed her teeth, threw her hair into a ponytail, and grabbed her makeup bag. “I can do my face in the Jeep. I just won’t tell Bryce.”
Earlier in the week, he hadn’t exactly been thrilled to discover she’d been applying makeup while driving.
After throwing on her scrubs, Beth paused and shot a longing look at her coffee pot before running out the door. She barely remembered to lock it. The elevator was still broken, so she bolted down three flights of stairs.
“MY ID!”
Back up the stairs she went, quickly unlocking her front door. She grabbed the ID off the wall hook and ran down again. Jogging to her parking spot, she reached through her windowless door, unlocked the Jeep and slid into the driver’s seat.
“What the?!?!” She exclaimed.
Her Jeep was soaked—apparently it had rained during the night.
“Seriously? It never rains in Colorado. Why last night?”
Frustrated and feeling more than a little nauseated, Beth reluctantly started the engine, accepting the fact that she didn’t have time to change into dry scrubs. With a grumble, she backed up, popped the Jeep into first, and shot out of the parking lot—barely slowing for the three speed bumps.
Speeding down the road, she applied a little makeup in the rearview mirror. “I look like death warmed over. Good thing I’m not trying to impress anyone.”
In the hospital parking lot, she parked quickly and grabbed for her purse—which, of course, wasn’t there.
“Great. Driving without a license. Add it to the list.”
Beth snatched her ID off the passenger seat as she slid out of the damp driver’s seat. She always kept her hospital badge clipped to the orange stethoscope Grandma Jean had given her when she graduated college. This morning, that beloved stethoscope seemed to have it in for her—it had managed to wrap itself around the gearshift like it was trying to keep her in the Jeep.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
While untangling it, she dropped her keys. She stooped to grab them just as the Jeep door swung shut—right into her face.
“OW!”
Dazed, she stumbled backward and landed on her rear.
“Rough night?”
