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Fin couldn’t stop laughing. Nikkie Jean had been singing the kissing song to her since they’d stepped out of the side entrance to the ER. She also hadn’t let go of Fin’s hand and kept swinging her arm.
If it hadn’t been raining, and Nikkie Jean hadn’t been a little green still, no doubt the other woman would have been skipping. It was no wonder the kids they treated loved Nikkie Jean. “You are crazy.”
“You’d better believe it. Sorry about the letters, Fin. I know how scared you must be.”
Nikkie Jean had her own issues from her past that made her have some anxieties she did her best to hide. But Fin knew. W4HAV was Nikkie Jean’s safe place, too.
The apple-green sign was right there across the parking lot. Beckoning. Fin shivered. Something didn’t feel quite right.
Probably because she’d had Virat with her almost every second she’d been off the clock for the last week. She’d grown to depend on him. That thought scared her, too.
“I’m doing ok. I trust Vince’s son to find the man responsible.”
“It doesn’t have to be a man, you know. Women stalk other women.”
“True. I just...I suppose it could be a woman.”
Nikkie Jean gave an exaggerated shiver. “But at least you have Virat watching over you. And the way he looked at you...yummy.”
“Yes. He is.” Nikkie Jean and Virat played off each other. He acted as the straight man for a lot of Nikkie Jean’s jokes.
And he had told her how alone he worried Nikkie Jean actually was. Told her how thrilled he’d been when she’d started running around with Izzie and Annie. That Nikkie Jean had needed people. Virat cared a great deal for Nikkie Jean. Genuinely cared for her.
It had been sweet. Virat had taken it on himself to play the big brother role as much as Nikkie Jean would let him.
Just another way he floored her with how kind and compassionate he actually was.
“Extremely yummy. The yummiest man I have ever met,” Fin said, slowly, as they got closer to where she had parked that morning. Nikkie Jean was a few spaces up. She’d grab her bag of spare clothes—the heels she wore were killers, and after choir practice, they were going to be decorating the large rec room in the center of the charity. It had started off as a small, one-floor charity only a month ago, but the space was needed.
Then they’d book it across the parking lot and out of the rain.
They were already soaked.
Nikkie Jean headed back toward her, laughing as rain plastered her clothes to her skin.
Fin smirked. Nikkie Jean would be the kind to laugh in a hurricane at something. “Hurry up!”
“I’m coming. Brrrr. I think the temperature just dropped ten degrees.” Nikkie Jean hurried to Fin’s side. Fin grabbed her bag and checked the locks on her car one more time.
Virat followed her in every morning, but they’d always taken two cars. He checked hers every time. “It would probably make more sense for me to just ride with him, wouldn’t it?”
“Yep. Because it will get out. This is Finley Creek General, remember. Best soap opera in the city.” Nikkie Jean waited until a truck had pulled in and crossed in front of them before stepping out between the cars. Fin was a few steps behind. “Unless you want to keep things hidden for a while? I know keeping eyes off your every move is an attractive reason to keep it secret. I...wouldn’t want everyone around here knowing who I am—was—involved with. Not in the beginning. Not that I’m involved with anyone, or plan on being involved with anyone in the foreseeable future.”
There was a tone in her friend’s voice that made Fin think something was going on with Nikkie Jean. But Nikkie Jean, for all her laughing and joking, played things close. She wouldn’t be spilling her guts until she was ready.
Her foot went down in a puddle. Part of the asphalt had washed away, and Fin almost lurched to the ground. She steadied herself and laughed as she glanced at Nikkie Jean.
There was horror on Nikkie Jean’s face.
Fin turned to look behind her. And screamed.