Jasher coughed. “You heard about that, did you?”
“Danny Dooley announced it over the intercom the next morning right after the Pledge of Allegiance and before Mrs. Constantini read the day’s lunch menu. Everyone knew.”
Jasher swiped at his beard. “Danny Dooley, man’s best friend.”
“Better than a spider monkey.”
“I’ll give you that.” Jasher pulled Sage closer, and instinct made her tip her head sideways onto his shoulder. “I guess you had to find out sooner or later.”
Huh. Maybe she did need to know that—if there was going to be a later for her and Jasher. Was he thinking along those lines?
Oh, for all the world, Sage would love to be thinking along those lines as well. If it weren’t for the blasted curse she carried, if only it weren’t for the danger she was putting him in every day that she grew more and more attached to him.
I need to back off. Finish these dates. Not get sucked into really liking his family members. Or him. It’s too dangerous.
Plus, even though he hadn’t talked about it lately, Jasher was still planning on moving away and selling the clinic. What Tyanne had said about the community holding a fierce grudge against him wasn’t untrue. Even if Sage shouted it to the world, nothing she did could tamp down that malice toward him.
Oh, but the hospital needed him! The community needed his doctoring skills. “Any new ideas on Powell Barlow?”
Jasher took a deep breath. “I’ve got all the lab results, and I’m still not sure. I have a hunch, but there’s only one way to test for it, and it’s more blood work.”
“The lab will be open on Monday. You can try then.”
“I will.” Jasher set his jaw again, and this time it looked determined and strong. Not irritated. How was it that Sage could now read the fine distinctions of this guy’s jaw-clenching?
She was getting too close. That was all there was to it.
I’m finishing these dates and then I’m going to back off. For everyone’s sake.