The tall young man had a confidence about him that came with someone who had found the love of his life. Malcolm preferred to forget about that particular time in his own.
“I wantsomething that will remind Milly of her grandmother. This will be her first Christmas without her.”
“What a beautiful idea.” Holly, now with a Santa hat covering the top of her head, her thick brown hair falling to her shoulders, looked pleased. “What were some of the things Milly and her grandmother did together?”
The young man grinned. “They made the best sugar cookies and my favorite, trifle.”
Holly gave him a sly smile. “That sounds more like what you liked the most than what Milly may have liked.”
Luca laughed. “You’re right.” The young man stared at the tree, but he obviously was thinking.
Malcolm smelled Joy’s peppermint scent before she came up behind him. “I really like Cameron’s wife. She’s smart and intuitive. She’s not interrupting Luca while he tries to think, though I’msure she has a number of suggestions she can make.”
“That could mean we’ll move faster through her future scenarios.”
“Don’t you wish you could look into the future of your own life, to see how things played out after you were gone?”
“No.” He already knew what happened after he was shot and stabbed and hung up like a trophy. The underground alleyways of Glasgow returned to the miscreants ofa new generation.
Joy studied him, and he quickly turned away. She didn’t need to see his life. It was better if he showed her where Holly might be headed instead. It was less traumatic.
“Oh, I know.” Luca drew their attention again. “Granny and Milly spent the month before Burns Night making new lace handkerchiefs for family and friends to wear. Granny just loved pulling out that old loom andworking with Milly. That was their special time alone. No one but Milly knows how to do that.”
“That’s perfect.” Holly smiled. “Now to find something that will reflect that memory. I have a few ideas. Come over here.”
Joy’s gaze followed the two as they walked away toward a corner of the shop where shelves of laser cut wood ornaments were displayed. “I believe the file said Milly is Luca’s soulmate,or rather one of them. I bet Holly had something to do with them meeting this year.”
He’d agree if it actually mattered.
“I never did marry. Did you, Malcolm?”
Joy’s question caught him off guard. “Why didn’t you marry?”
She sighed. “I never found the right man. I thought I would be married at an early age and have a bevy of children, but being a hospice nurse limited my time to meet people.I mean people outside the family and friends of my patients.” She cocked her head to the right.
Hospice? The word was no longer in use during his life. It took him a moment to pull up the meaning. “Were you always a hospice nurse or did you do other types of nursing?” He couldn’t reconcile the poised, optimistic Joy with someone who worked around death all her life.
“Mostly. I had to work indifferent departments during my clinicals, but as soon as I graduated, I went right into hospice care.”
“Why?” He couldn’t help asking. He thought he’d be giving her a reality check when all along she’d worked with the dying? Something didn’t fit.
“Why not? I was a nurse and nurses help people. I couldn’t think of a better place than to help a patient die with dignity and grace. I also was ableto help the families of my patients. It was a very rewarding career.”
“Did you ever lose someone in your family? Someone close to you?”
She shook her head. “Not as an adult. I did lose my grandmother when I was young. I guess I had it easy. I was the first in my family to leave.”
Now it made sense. The death and suffering she’d witnessed wasn’t personal. Not that he expected it was easy, butit wasn’t like having someone she loved killed in front of her eyes.
In that way, she was ignorant, and hopefully always would be. But it did explain why she was so positive. Helping patients die peacefully was one thing. Watching helplessly as someone he loved died in his arms was a completely different experience.
“Did you want to watch Holly some more, or should we return to Cameron andlet him know we’re ready? That is if you still agree on our course of action.”
He nodded. He completely agreed, but he doubted she’d continue to once she realized what he planned for Holly to learn from the visits he chose. Holly already knew what keen loss was. They wouldn’t be here now if she didn’t. He had no doubt that she’d handle his visits to the future better than Joy would.
OpeningJoy’s eyes would put them at odds and help him ignore his appreciation of her physically. The last thing he’d ever do is become involved with a woman again, especially one as happy as Joy.
~~*~~
