Part of her wanted to believe him. “How can you be so sure?”
Clint gave her a smile full of promise. “Because of the storm.” He cut his eyes to see the rain was still falling. “Every important event in my life is accompanied by a storm.” Clint didn’t really know where all the romantic talk was coming from, but he couldn’t deny how he felt.
Jensen didn’t argue with him, she didn’t even answer. Holding his gaze for one long moment, she let her eyes do the talking. She didn’t know if he understood the message her soul sent to his – but there was no way she would attempt to put the wistful regret she felt into words. “Take care of yourself, Clint. Good…”
“No.” She didn’t get a chance to finish the word before Clint dipped his head to capture the word before it left her lips. After the sweet, gentle kiss, he leaned his forehead against hers for one brief moment. “This isn’t goodbye, Jensen. This is just farewell…until we meet again.” With that heartfelt declaration, he was out of the car and rushing through the rain – leaving her alone to watch him go.
Chapter Two
More flashes from the past
Jensen…Five years later Spring, 2017
“Hurry. Hurry.” Jensen chided herself as she rushed to get ready for the day. Her morning was full of meetings and the first one would begin in less than an hour. Standing in front of the mirror, she finished brushing her teeth, then yanked open the drawer of the vanity to find her deodorant. Lifting her right arm, she applied the roll-on, then switched hands to do the same thing under her left arm. When she did, the downward motion caused her to yelp in surprise. Her arm nudging her breast hit a tender spot. “What in the world?” She laid down the deodorant and lifted her arm again to better feel of her breast. Considering what happened to her mother, self-examination was something she’d always adhered to – until lately. Had her life become so hectic she’d foregone something so important?
As Jensen pressed her fingers into the sensitive flesh, she felt her heart start to pound in her chest. Sure enough, she felt a lump beneath her fingers. Holding her breath, she checked her other breast. No lump there.
Rushing to the bed, she laid flat and repeated the breast exam. “Dammit.” She could still feel the lump. It seemed to be the size of a raisin or a pencil eraser. Not big – but big enough.
For a moment she lay there, raising her hands to cover her face. A scream of frustration and fear erupted from her throat. “Why me? Why now?” Things were going so well. Her residency was almost over, and she was being courted by several prominent neurologists with offers to become a partner in their practice. The research she’d worked on for four years at John Hopkins was finally being recognized. She’d even been approached by a company interested in developing the molecule she’d discovered that could conceivably change the way brain injuries were treated. In other words, her future was on the verge of taking off to unimaginable heights – until this.
Jumping from the bed, she hugged herself. She was naked. Vulnerable. Cold. Shaking. Jensen felt like she’d been pushed out of an airplane and was in freefall. “Calm down,” she told herself, walking to the dresser to find her underwear. “You don’t even know if anything’s wrong.” This could be a benign cyst. “It’s probably nothing.”
As she dressed, thoughts of the way her mother suffered and died swamped Jensen. She was so torn up, she almost left wearing two different shoes. In the car, she ran a stop sign and barely missed being hit by a garbage truck. At the hospital, her concentration was shot. She found herself spacing out in the middle of a conference call.
After she’d ended the consultation, Jensen walked to the window. The sky was dark. A storm was moving in. Why didn’t that surprise her? For a moment, she thought of Clint and a fresh pain shot through her breast. This pain wasn’t physical, though – it was emotional. She recalled his face, his kiss, the way he seemed so sure they should pursue the incredible attraction between them. What had he said about storms? Every big event in my life is accompanied by a storm. Well, this was one big event she could do without. “Christ…”