“Thanks. That means a lot to me. More than you know.”
They went over the books together. Matilda shared with her all of the changes she’d made to the way the clinic operated and ran her through their procedures. She’d already gone over these things once before, but now she did it in detail. She wanted this clinic to succeed, even if it would be without her at the helm. She loved the staff and the customers. It was a good little community they’d become part of and then built together over the time she’d owned the place. She would miss it more than she’d let herself realise before when she was too run-down and overloaded with work to think clearly.
By the time she was done for the day, her entire body hurt. She felt like she had a fever, and even though she’d snacked on a little bit of this and that throughout the day, she still felt sick to her stomach sporadically. She must’ve caught some kind of flu. Or could food poisoning feel like that? Surely she’d have had a more violent reaction if it was food poisoning. She’d experienced it once before after eating sushi from a grocery store on the Gold Coast. She’d never do that again. It’d traumatised her for life. She couldn’t even look at grocery store sushi anymore without feeling a wave of nausea wash over her.
At the house, Ozzie greeted her with ten minutes of violent tail wagging and ferocious licking. She couldn’t help laughing at his antics. He treated her like a long-lost love every single day when she got home, as though he’d thought he’d never see her again. It was nice to be so well-loved. He’d given up on chewing his way through her shoes and had turned into a well-behaved and sweet-natured dog just so long as Ryan took him for a long run every morning to wear him out. As an Australian Shepherd, he had a penchant for herding the neighbour’s chickens. But otherwise, he followed the rules pretty well, and she loved his company.
Ryan wasn’t home yet, so she checked her phone messages. There were a few texts from various friends and family. Stella had texted to ask her about Christmas plans. But she’d answer the messages later. Right now, she needed to lie down. She drank an entire glass of lemonade, hoping it would help her stomach recover, then lay in bed with Ozzie curled up on the floor beside her. She’d lie still and close her eyes for a few minutes. Maybe it would help her feel better.
The next thing she knew, she was opening groggy eyes in complete darkness. Ryan stood in the doorway. He flicked on the light switch and stared at her in surprise.
“Oh, sorry, honey. I didn’t know you were in here.” He switched off the light and sat on the edge of the bed, stroking her hair. “You had a nap?”
“I lay down for a little rest. What time is it?” She could barely get the words out. There was a wet patch on the sheets beneath where her mouth had been. She’d really been dead to the world.
“It’s eight o’clock.”
She sat up. “I slept for four hours?”
He laughed. “That’s okay. You’ve been tired lately. Maybe this is what you needed.”
She swung her feet to the side of the bed and rubbed her hands over her face. “I never take naps. I can’t believe I slept so long. I was feeling sick… and I do feel a little better now. Maybe you’re right—I needed to sleep.”
“Do you want some dinner?”
“Yeah, I’m starving. But I haven’t made anything.”
“That’s okay. I’ll go pick something up. I won’t be long.”
He returned about twenty minutes later with a huge stack of Chinese takeaway containers. In the meantime, Matilda had showered, dressed in her PJs, and was seated on the couch with the TV on. She still couldn’t quite wake up. Her mind was a blur. She was confused about how she’d managed to sleep soundly for so long in the afternoon. But at least the flu seemed to have abated somewhat.
They watched a wildlife documentary together, with the food laid out on the coffee table. Matilda filled her plate with beef and black bean, chicken and cashew, shrimp chow mein, fried rice and spring rolls. She loved Chinese food, but especially tonight. It really hit the spot. She enjoyed every bite.
“How did it go today at the clinic?” Ryan asked around a mouthful of rice.
“It was great. Tracey is the new manager, and she was so nice. Very kind and encouraging. She said I’d done a great job in setting up the place to run smoothly, but that I overloaded myself with responsibilities and that’s why I felt overwhelmed.”
“That makes sense,” he said. “And I told you that you’d done well there. The place was in need of a lot of TLC when you started.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I feel really good about it now. I did it well, and now it’s time to move on and do something new.”
“You’ll be great at whatever you tackle. You’re a hard worker, and you’re really cute, too.”
She rolled her eyes. “My cuteness has nothing to do with my work skills.”
“It doesn’t hurt,” he replied with a wink.
She leaned over to kiss him, then frowned. “Oh, sorry. I shouldn’t kiss you. I’ve been sick all day. I thought I was coming down with something, but maybe I’m not. I don’t know now.”
He shrugged. “I’ve got a strong immune system. I’m sure it’s fine.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Christmas break was over, and Jessica was back in Covington. She’d spent the holidays at home in Oklahoma with her family, and she’d loved every minute of it. They’d picked out a Christmas tree, made eggnog and hot apple cider, and they’d even sung Christmas carols in her neighbourhood on Christmas Eve. It’d been a particularly cold Christmas, but with no snow. Still, Jessica had forgotten all about her problems back in Georgia for a brief time and had revelled in the time she had with her family.
She hadn’t heard from Tyler that whole time, which was a little surprising. But perhaps she shouldn’t be concerned about it since she had actually broken up with him. It hadn’t felt much like a breakup, though. He’d taken it well, and his response was completely different from how Hilton behaved when she first tried to let him down gently.
In fact, now that she thought about it, it was kind of a green flag that Tyler hadn’t called her, tried to FaceTime her, message her, or initiate any other form of communication. He hadn’t even liked her Instagram posts with photos of her family trip or sent her a Snap. It was healthy. She’d put up a boundary, and he was respecting it. She had to admit that she liked that about him, and it made her miss him even more than she did already.
