don’t know. Based on what you’ve said, I imagine you don’t know, either. What I do know is that you won’t know the answer until you try.”
Rose stepped farther into the room. She did have her laptop with her. Maybe, just maybe, she had the threads of a medical thriller in the back of her mind. But she also had the echo of her father’s voice.
You are a physician, Rosemary. You have been given a fine mind and the opportunity to excel. It is your duty to honor those gifts in service to others. You are a healer.
“I need to find another job.”
“Pardon my asking, but is that due to financial concerns?” Celeste said.
No. Rose had always been a saver and she had a nice little nest egg built up. “It’s because working is what I do.”
“I see.” Celeste tilted her head and asked, “When was your last vacation?”
“I haven’t taken a real vacation in years.”
“Then now is your chance.”
A vacation? Well, a vacation was different. What would it hurt to take a little time away from reality? Away from expectations?
“Listen to this.” Celeste twisted the latch on the windows and threw them open wide. The bubbling rush of Angel Creek drifted up to her like a song. “Isn’t it lovely? The topography amplifies the sound. I adore the sound of a bubbling creek. That’s what I listen to as I’m drifting off to sleep during these warmer months.”
She patted the cushioned window seat. “Come here, my dear. Sit for a spell and listen to the night. It’s so peaceful and, in its own way, healing.”
Rose knew if she sat down, she probably was toast. The window seat looked like the perfect place to sit, to dream, to escape. It tempted her like chocolate brownies fresh from the oven.
What if she gave it a try? What would it hurt? She had nowhere else she needed to be. Nowhere else she wanted to be, to be honest. Maybe she’d hate it. Perhaps she would be lousy at it. It might be nice to give it a shot, and nobody would ever need to know. Medicine would be there waiting for her, just like always.
Celeste fussed with the fold on the filmy white lace window curtain. “We have another resident in town who is dabbling with a book. Gabe Callahan. He’s a happy man now with a new wife and twin baby girls, but he’s had a difficult time of it in his past. He says that he finds writing therapeutic.”
“I could write a novel and name the villainess Sage,” she grumbled.
“Now, Rose,” Celeste chided. Then, in a more encouraging tone, she added, “Don’t give up on your sister. She has been wounded and needs time to heal.”
“I’ve been wounded, too,” she responded. She felt a bit embarrassed by her petulant tone, but still—she’d had the Big C.
“Yes, you have,” Celeste said. “I am not discounting that at all. It’s part of you, and as such, part of your relationship with Sage. As a physician, you know that not all injuries are physical, that some injuries take longer to heal than others, and that injured people heal at different rates.”
“True, and some injuries never heal. Despite our efforts, some injuries kill.”
“Absolutely. But if you’ll look deep inside yourself, you’ll recognize that in this case, the patient isn’t dead yet.”
The patient being her relationship with her sister, Rose understood. “Maybe not, but it’s on life support.”
“You’ve already pulled the plug on one family member. Are you honestly prepared to do it again?”
“Ouch.”
“Sage is your sister. You are her sister. Each of you needs to forgive the other. True forgiveness can be difficult to achieve, but the reward is immense. Stay with us for a little while, Rose. Indulge your muse. Give yourself and your sister the time to find forgiveness.”
Rose sat on the window seat and leaned against the comfy cushioned backrest. By their own volition, her feet lifted and she stretched out her legs. The seat fit her body so perfectly that it might as well have been built for her.
In that moment, she wanted to remain in Eternity Springs, in this garret suite, attempting to write a book and reconcile with her sister. She wanted it so badly that it frightened her. Reacting, she started to move, to flee this suite as fast as Sage had fled the hot springs park earlier. Even as she flexed her muscles, Celeste reached down to the window seat and said, “Look. It’s a built-in