How did you, you know, trust that Mr. Defasio was an OK guy? That he wouldn’t hurt you?”
Ivy leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. “Baby, just because your father was a fucktrumpet of the highest order—and don’t get me wrong, he was a fucktrumpet—doesn’t mean that all men, or even most men are. If you spend all your time worrying about who might hurt you, you’ll never really get to know anyone. That’d be very lonely. You have to give people a chance.”
That sounded logical enough, but… “See, there’s this guy,” she began.
Ivy smiled. “There always is.”
“He seems like a good guy. But he’s really powerful. And I’m not sure that he hasn’t done some shady stuff to get where he is. How do I know that he’s one of the good guys and not just a bad guy pretending to be good, like Paul?”
Ivy waved a hand dismissively. “Good guys, bad buys, superheroes, villains…they’re not all that different. Underneath it all, we’re all human. Good and bad all just depends on your point of view. Do you like this man?”
God help her, she did. “Very much.”
“Then talk to him. The only way to find out if he’s right for you is to get to know him, and to do that, you have to give him a chance. Quit worrying about all the different ways he might hurt you. Everything in life has the potential to bring you pain, baby. But people learn from pain, grow from it, thrive on it. Every hurt that you survive makes you a stronger, better person.”
Greer smirked at her. “You sound like Yoda.”
Ivy raised a brow at her. “Try not. Do or do not. There is no fucking try,” she quipped.
“Pretty sure Yoda didn’t drop any f-bombs.”
She shrugged. “Sentence enhancers. Nothing wrong with adding a little color to your language. Helps you clarify your points.”
Greer was quiet for a moment before admitting, “I’m scared.”
“Of course, you are! Trusting someone with your heart is terrifying. But what’s more terrifying is what you might be missing out on if you don’t give him a chance. What if he’s the one?”
Greer couldn’t help but smile at that. Her mom had always been obsessed with fairy tales and the idea that everyone has a perfect mate out there. “You’re a hopeless romantic, you know that?”
Ivy grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingers. “Hopeful. Not hopeless. Hopeful. And you should be, too.”
Greer blinked back tears. “Thank you, mom.”
Ivy gave her a wink. “And while you’re getting to know him, make sure he’s well hung and knows how to use his tongue. You’ll thank me later.”
“Jesus, mom.”
By the time she made it back to the front desk, Nat was off the phone, drumming her nails impatiently on a stack of file folders. When she saw Greer, she practically leapt out of her chair. Greer was pretty sure the only time she’d ever seen Nat move that fast was when someone announced there was cake in the nurses’ lounge.
Nat grabbed Greer’s arm and dragged her into an empty patient room.
“What the hell, Nat?”
“Your mother has been accepted into the clinical trial.”
Greer’s mouth went dry. She’d been trying to get her mother into a clinical trial forever. “Which one?”
“The one,” Nat answered. “Not one of our docs. Dr. Framingham’s trial. It’s going into a new phase and he chose your mom, honey.”
This was huge. Framingham was a big shot in the field, and the results of his work had been nothing short of miraculous.
And as far as she knew, Framingham, unlike the schmucks at Rolling Hills, wasn’t accepting bribes. He was actually using scientific, defined criteria to get his participants. Novel concept, that.
“How?” Greer asked. “I don’t think I even applied to his trial because it seemed so impossible. How did he find out about my mom’s case?”
“We’re under new management as of last week,” Nat said. “The new owner used his connections to make sure Rolling Hills residents were considered for Framingham’s trial—the current one that’s had such promising results, and any future work he does.”
“The entire place?”
Nat nodded. “It’s really happening. This man and his team came in and completely cleaned house. Got rid of Director Thomas and all his minions.”
Greer couldn’t feel too bad about that. Thomas was an asshat of the highest order. He tried to kick Ivy out every time Greer was so much as a day late on making her payment.
“And that’s not all,” Nat went on. “They’re also going to completely remodel the