“I’m going to take that as your agreement that you’ll wait for me.” He placed a quick kiss behind her ear.
He reached around her and opened the door to his office, giving Bree a small push to get her moving ahead of him.
Bree walked into the reception area and glanced at Carol sitting behind her desk. She winked at Bree.
“Ms. Carol, make sure Bree is comfortable until I’m done with my meeting.”
Jase turned his attention to the older gentleman in the waiting room.
“Richard, come on back. It’s good to see you again.” Jase held open his door and let the gentleman in ahead of him. Before going into his office, he pointed at Bree in warning. He entered his office and closed the door behind him.
Bree looked at Carol. “Is he always this bossy?”
“Oh honey, you have no idea. That boy’s been wearing bossy pants since he was knee-high to a gnat’s knee.”
Bree couldn’t help but smile at Carol’s analogy. “You’ve known him that long?”
“Oh yes. He and my son were best friends since they were in diapers.” Carol’s look turned wistful.
Bree saw the folded flag on the shelf over Carol’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you, honey. It was a few years ago, but I still miss him every day.” She gave a small smile, then schooled her features. “Now, if you’re going to skedaddle, you need to skedaddle.”
Bree raised her eyebrows. “You’re not going to try to keep me here?”
“Brianna honey, the chase isn’t going to be any fun for either of you if you don’t actually run.”
Bree grinned slowly; she really liked Carol. “Thank you, Carol.”
“I’ll see you later,” Carol replied with another wink.
Jase walked out of his office to an empty reception area. Impatiently, he walked Richard to the door before turning to Carol.
“Please tell me she’s in the bathroom,” he demanded.
“Jason Larken, don’t you use that tone of voice with me,” Carol scolded him for the second time that day.
Jase hung his head like he used to when she chastised him as a child. “Yes, Ms. Carol.”
“Now,” Carol went on. “I couldn’t very well hog-tie her to keep her here, now could I?”
Jase threw up his hands. “What does everyone have against hog-tying her? Don’t suppose she mentioned why she was here?”
“Well, I suppose she wanted to talk to someone about setting up a referral system for some of her patients. She’s a physical therapist.”
“Don’t suppose she happened to leave her contact information, did she?”
“I suppose I might have her business card right here on my desk,” Carol told him with an evil smile.
Jase smiled and took the card from her outstretched hand.Brianna Marks, DPT. And it had her cell phone number on it. His smile stretched into a grin.
“Love you, Ms. Carol.”
“Love you too, Jason. Go get her.”
Jase pulled out his cell phone and called his brother. “Hey man, can you do me a favor?”
Bree parked on the side of the small ranch-style house her grandparents had built early in their marriage. They had raised their children here; then later, her. After her grandfather passed away, her grandmother moved to a retirement community and deeded the house to Bree, along with the acre and a half of property they still owned.
