Shock - Marie Johnston Page 0,11

her photo and put her on the cover of Time.

That look only raises the stakes higher. This is the Lia that the world got before she climbed into the cab of the ambulance with me. I don’t know this Lia, the one that can smile and turn aside invasive questions about her and her parents and say the right things to cement her fiancé’s political climb. The Lia I know, Wescott, is real. She no longer has the fiancé and she’s the one who bitches about arrogant ER residents who think they’re gods to be worshiped by everyone else in the hospital.

“Hi, Mrs. Monroe.”

I pull out the chair between mine and Mom’s.

“Please, call me Maggie.”

Lia takes a seat, sweeping her hands under her to straighten her dress. My blood heats as I make the mistake of looking down. Her waist dips and flares over the generous curves of her hips. Lia has a knockout body, and now I can’t pretend not to know.

“Mom, Lia and I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Mom’s steady gaze settles on me. “Oh?”

“We’re dating.” I sit and grip my water, the cool condensation wetting my hand, covering the nervous sweat breaking out over my body.

The only other girl I brought home as an adult was Cass, and that was the most uncomfortable two hours of my life. It was like Cass conducted both an interview and a financial audit at the same time.

Since my stepfather was alive at the time, Mom was oblivious about the true state of her affairs, talking investments and 401Ks, both of which were my stepfather’s fabrications. He’d spent all the money.

I’d been too enamored with Cass to be embarrassed until she made a comment afterward. Good thing you’re going to be a doctor. I can’t imagine my parents being able to carry on a conversation with yours.

So many red flags I ignored. Never again.

“Oh?” Mom’s expression doesn’t change. “Dating? Don’t you still work together?”

“Yes, we’re still partners,” I say. Here I am, getting Mom’s hopes up. Just what I didn’t want to do. But if I pretend to date Lia and we pretend to end things amicably, maybe Mom will worry less.

Anxiety churns in my gut, but I hang on to the excuse.

“Natural transition.” Lia’s smile is serene, and she’s poised, like she’s doing an interview, which this kind of resembles. The server leans over her shoulder to place a glass of ice water in front of her. “Thank you so much.”

She takes a long sip like she’s on the beach, watching the sunset, not lying to my mother in a classy restaurant. I chug mine like it’s cheap beer. Her only tell is the rigid line of her shoulders, but if I wasn’t so used to reading her body language from our work together, I wouldn’t be able to tell.

Mom looks at me. Really looks at me, like she can detect the lie between us. Then her demeanor relaxes and she smiles. “This lunch is turning out better than I thought. Are you coming to the wedding?”

Chapter 4

Ford

I straighten my tie and walk up to Lia’s front door. This last week, we’ve ignored the whole dating ruse and concentrated on work during our shifts, trading only details of times and arrangements for today. The rest of the time, I tried not to think about seeing Lia outside of work, or how pleasant lunch with Mom had been.

The blinds flutter in the picture window of the condo next door.

“Evening, Mrs. Rosenthal,” I call, in case the nosey neighbor is listening in, too.

She peers back out between the gap in her drapes, her owlish eyes leering at me. I still can’t tell if she’s guarding Lia or just distrustful of me. Probably the former. Mrs. Rosenthal was a friend of Lia’s grandma. Lia’s told me the stories of growing up, learning to play bridge with Mrs. Rosenthal while sitting on her grandma’s lap, and listening to them swap stories about being nurses.

Mrs. Rosenthal jerks back and the curtains ripple shut. I repress a smile and knock on the plain brown door. Unlike Mrs. Rosenthal’s place, there’s no garish wreath smothering the plank of wood, no gnome’s ass sticking out of the flower bed. There’s little more than weeds in Lia’s side of the flower bed. Her place is as unadorned as she is.

Good thing her mother hasn’t been here yet. She’s all about appearances, and I doubt this condo would pass what Lia calls her press test. Will it look