he could outrun his panic. Keep it even slightly in check. Give himself the space to think.
He had to cool it with Nora. What they had was supposed to be casual. Friendly.
But if it was making him forget his own child, his own dead child, how casual was it? If he was capable of being distracted from what was important to him by zombies and orgasms, it followed that he needed to arrange his life so it contained fewer zombies and orgasms.
So that was what he was going to do. He wasn’t going to break up with her or anything. They weren’t together to begin with, so that wasn’t called for. He just needed to…cool things a bit.
After Nora emerged from her office—where she’d retreated after seeing Eve—Amber cornered her. “We’re getting a little backed up. I have what I’m sure is strep in Room Two, and—”
“I need to step out for a minute.”
“Uh…okay?”
Amber was surprised. Nora wasn’t prone to bailing in the middle of a busy day.
“Just quickly.” She was already on her way down the short hallway to her office for her coat and keys. “I’ll be back in ten minutes.”
Nora hadn’t counted on the fact that she and Eve would be going to the same place. Eve was putting on her coat in the waiting room when Nora rushed out—and ground to a halt. “Hi. I was…ah…I forgot something in my room at the inn.”
“I’ll walk with you.” Eve was chipper, which must have meant Nora was doing a sufficient job disguising her internal terror.
“Everything okay?” Eve asked as they waited for a lone car to pass before crossing Main Street.
“Yeah, yeah.” But actually…“No. Everything is not okay. Can you come up to my room with me for a second?” She had just decided, back in the exam room, that she was going to confide in Eve and Maya. She’d been thinking some evening this week. She’d buy a pizza and take it to Maya’s place.
But what the hell—why not now?
“Of course.” Eve’s brow knit as they climbed the stairs to the top of the inn, and when she closed the door behind her in Nora’s room, she said, “What’s up?”
It was kind of funny the way the tables had turned. Ten minutes ago, in a room as small as—though considerably less pink than—this one, she’d asked Eve that exact question. She sighed. “I suddenly realized I forgot to take my birth control pill three days in a row, and they’re in my suitcase somewhere.” She started rummaging through said suitcase, which had gone from Toronto to Jake’s to here and which she hadn’t gotten around to unpacking yet.
“Okay, well, you’re the doctor, but don’t you just double up for the next two days?”
“Yes.” She extracted the pill packet and popped two out. They both looked around the room. There was a can of Diet Coke on the dressing table Nora knew was half-finished. She picked it up and took the pills.
“Okay, so that’s fine, then?”
“Yes.” It was fine. It was. That’s what she would have told a patient in her circumstances. The chances that she was pregnant were extremely slim. It was just that…“I have had so much sex in the past few days.” She buried her head in her hands and sat on the bed.
“You were getting it on in Toronto!” Eve sounded altogether too delighted. “Who’s the lucky guy? Oh my gosh! Was this funeral sex?”
Nora sighed. “No. I came back on Friday.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I came back to town. I wasn’t staying here.”
“Ohhhh,” Eve breathed.
“Yeah.” Here she went. She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’ve been sleeping with Jake Ramsey for three months.”
Eve started laughing.
Nora opened her eyes. “Thanks for your support.”
“Sorry! Sorry! I just…Jake. Wow.”
“If you tell anyone, I’ll…” She didn’t know what to threaten. She had no leverage here.
“Tell everyone I’m getting an IUD?” Eve supplied helpfully.
“No. No. I would never do that.”
“Wow. You are hard-core.”
Nora stood. “I have to get back to work.”
“Hang on. You can’t just drop that bomb and leave!”
“I have patients waiting.”
“Okay, okay, but hang on for a second.” The smile slid off Eve’s face and she grabbed Nora’s upper arms. “Are you okay?”
“We’re not together. It’s just a sex thing.”
“Okay.” She did not sound convinced.
“It is. I mean, it’s a friend thing, too. But we’re not together. It’s a friends-with-benefits thing.”
“I don’t think those work in this town.”
“What?”
“Sorry. Nothing. Your secret is safe with me.”
That was one small piece of good news. “I have to get back to