Lavished with Lavender - Valerie Comer Page 0,60

way other near-choking victims had in Tony’s limited experience. That guy in the restaurant a few weeks ago had walked out, laughing and talking and leaving a generous tip.

Nonna definitely wasn’t up for that.

Kenji shuffled beside Tony. “Is she all right?”

“I think so.” Or, at least, he’d thought so before their arrival at Deaconess. He’d followed Kenna’s car with Kenji behind him like they were in some kind of parade. Having Nonna checked out seemed like a wise idea then, but only a precaution. Now? He wasn’t so sure.

A doctor in scrubs consulted with Kenna and the other nurse then made a note on her tablet. An orderly whisked Nonna away.

If it weren’t for Kenji, Tony would have been in the thick of the discussions and decisions. It chafed him not to be, but Kenna was far more able to handle things in this environment than he was, and someone needed to stay with Kenji Ito. Though why he felt responsible for the old man, who knew?

The other nurse laughed at something Kenna said.

So things with Nonna couldn’t be as dire as Tony had begun to dread. Right?

She lightly punched Kenna’s shoulder, turning so her voice carried. “That’s one way to make sure you’re needed longer! I get to keep your apartment through Christmas, right?”

What on earth? Tony frowned. His pulse sped to a thundering roar, and he took a step closer.

Kenna glanced his way. Her eyes widened and her hand clapped over her mouth.

Oh, she realized he’d overheard her friend, had she? The nerve of her — the nerve of them both.

Tony shot poison darts from his eyes. He’d get to the bottom of this. For sure. But not when he was likely to make a fool of himself in public. He pivoted, marched out the sliding glass doors, and hung a tight right.

What on earth had the other nurse meant? Why did Kenna look so guilty? Had she been playing Tony all along?

22

“He hasn’t talked to me since Monday.” Kenna curled her feet under her on her own sofa and faced Carol. “On Tuesday, Grace Santoro — one of my client’s daughters-in-law — kindly told me I could have Thanksgiving weekend off since Tony’s parents would be staying at the house for a few days, and his mom is a long-term care aide. I’m sure Tony put his aunt up to it.”

Carol looked down, her hands covering her face for a long moment. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for joking about that.”

Kenna set her face and stared out the window at the late November sky. Gray, like her heart. Like everything in her life. “You didn’t know.”

Man, she wanted to hold this against Carol forever. How dare the other woman let something so flippant slip from her lips? And Tony had only overheard the incriminating part, obviously assuming Carol had meant Kenna would do anything to keep her cushy job in Mrs. Santoro’s house. But Carol knew about Tony, just enough that the tease was about giving Kenna longer to regroup that romance.

Fat chance of that happening now. Tony was as quick to anger and lash out as Kenna was. And he was angry now, no doubt about it.

Two could play that game. If he didn’t trust her, she didn’t want him anyway.

Isn’t it a good thing that’s not how God treated me?

Kenna closed her eyes as tears threatened to surge. She’d spent a few days holding her frustration and anger like a shield. The situation proved she couldn’t trust anyone. She’d let her guard down over the past weeks with Tony, but this was a solid warning that she was better off alone.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

That bit was from the Bible and had been in one of the books Winnie shared. Kenna wasn’t alone anymore, but she felt lonelier than ever. Than ever? Even when Dad killed himself? Even during her marriage to Maurice?

No. Not that alone.

“Carol, I — do you know anything about God?”

“About... God?”

Kenna swiped an errant tear away and looked at her friend. The friend she barely knew for all they’d worked together for nearly three years, because Kenna kept to herself. It was time to change that. She might never remarry, as she’d pledged herself, but it was too late to say she’d never fall in love again. Tony had her heart, whether he wanted it or not.

Either way, though, her experience with Jesus had been real, and she’d definitely shoved it aside in the past