Best Foot Forward (The Best Girls 3)

“Horatio doesn’t want to get married.”

“Brad was pressuring you to get married?”

“Well, no... but... but he... but I didn’t want a serious relationship. So I had to end it while I could, before anyone got hurt.”

“You mean, before you got hurt? Because Brad already got hurt, didn’t he?”

“It’s for the best. If I had let it go on any longer, it would have hurt him even more. He deserves someone who can love him back.”

“But you’d rather have this Horatio guy? How well do you know him?”

“Well enough.” Josh saw Grace’s chin jut out.

“Look, I’m just going to go out on a limb here and say you look almost as miserable as Brad. I wonder if it’s possible you like Brad more than you’re admitting.”

“I’m not in love with Brad!” Grace’s face was flushed, and she wadded up the napkin in her hand.

Josh sat back and folded his arms, studying her flushed face. “Okay, if you say so. However, I would like to point out I only suggested you liked him. So it seems the person whom you’re trying to convince you’re not in love with Brad... is you.”

Her eyes grew wide and her breathing was so rapid he thought she might hyperventilate. “I... I don’t...”

“I think you should call him or text him. I think you guys need to talk.”

Grace shook her head rapidly as she grabbed her glass and gulped her water.

He continued, “I think you could work it out if you would just sit down and talk. And you need to dump this Horatio guy, and figure out how you feel about Brad.”

“I... I don’t think...”

/> “Just admit it. You made a mistake, didn’t you? You regret breaking up?”

Her eyes closed as huge crocodile tears slid down her face, and she nodded her head.

“Just talk to him.”

“I don’t even understand how I feel. How can I explain it to him? And anyway, it’s too late. He won’t want to talk to me now. And he’s better off without me.”

“He deserves to make that call himself. Just try. If he refuses to talk to you, then at least you can say you tried,” Josh said around a mouthful of pizza. “Call him. Or better yet, come up to the hospital tomorrow morning and talk to him in person. We’re both on duty starting at six.”

“I don’t know... What if he won’t talk to me?”

“If it doesn’t go well, I’ll call you and we’ll figure out the next step.”

“No, don’t bother calling. If it doesn’t go well, I’ll take it as a sign I was right and we should break up.”

“Whatever. I’m sure by tomorrow night everything will be fine. Are you going to eat that pizza?” Josh asked, indicting the slice on her plate. When she turned up her nose he snatched it from her plate with enthusiasm. He’d done a great job of counseling Grace. Maybe he should have been a psychiatrist. No—it was way too stressful. He’d better stick with emergency medicine.

*****

Brad checked his cell phone again on his way to work Tuesday morning—still no word from Grace. Well, good riddance to her. She’d dumped him and he hadn’t done anything to deserve it. He wasn’t even sure Horatio existed. He suspected the whole breakup occurred because he’d confessed his love for her. Why couldn’t she be like every other girl he knew? Most girls would be thrilled to hear those three coveted words from their boyfriends, wouldn’t they? Usually, the guys were the ones with commitment issues. He wasn’t planning to go begging for her to come back to him. If she wanted him, she knew where to find him. And even as angry as he was, he’d take her back in a second. He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

“Hey Dr. Gates? Why so glum?”

Brad turned to the source of the voice. Dr. Kara Dickson, one of the fourth year residents in the emergency medicine residency, was sending him one of her hundred watt smiles. Could people tell he was upset? He’d thought he’d hidden it fairly well. The last thing he wanted was to be depressed and grumpy the way Josh had been acting over Charlie.

He plastered a smile on his face. “It’s six a.m. and I’m not much of a morning person. But I’m okay. How’re you, Dr. Dickson?”

“Great actually. It seems like all I’ve been doing lately is studying for my board exams. But I’ve got tickets for the Yankees game Friday night. You want to go?”