The Ninth Floor (7 page)

“Nice of you
to
dress
for dinner. I didn’t know you planned on bringing a guest.”
Mother bit off each word as if looking at me in my current state pained her.

My father
glanced away from the window, and a smile spread across his face. Blair looked
a lot like him. He was to me in three steps, sweeping me into his arms and
twirling me around slightly. “I think what your mother means is, it’s so good
to see you, Ryan,” he said with his rich baritone voice as he sat me safely
back on the ground.

I had no doubt
my mother said exactly what she meant, but I let it go. I only had to make it
through one evening. I cleared my throat. “This is Bee’s doctor, Jack Sadler.
Jack, this is my father, Cornelius Sebastian Sterling V—a”

“Neil,” Dad
interrupted and shook Jack’s hand.

“My mother,
Blythe Sterling.” She nodded slightly. “My brother, Ashley, and his wife, and
you’ve met Blair.”

Ashley smiled
but looked disinterested and didn’t even bother to introduce his wife. My
mother, on the other hand, looked anything but disinterested. Her appraising
eyes followed Jack as if she could determine his net worth based on his
posture—or whatever criteria she used to determine if someone was Sterling
worthy. Jack didn’t seem to pass her test, though, because her mouth creased
into a frown and a long suffering look blanketed her face. She turned her
attention from him and honed in on me as I took the martini offered by the same
woman who’d tried to answer the door. Jack declined a drink, saying something
about being on call, before returning to his conversation with my father. I
ignored Mom’s eyes drilling into me until she took me by the arm and pulled me
over to the side of the room.

“I hardly
think it is appropriate for you to bring a stranger here. You should be more
careful who you associate with.”

“He’s no more
a stranger to me than the rest of you are.” I yanked my arm away from her and
took a seat next to Blair. He winked at me, and I prayed that Jack would be
paged.

“So, Ryan,
what brings you back?” My mother’s pinched voice was loud enough to make
everyone in the room stop and stare.

I bristled and
tried to count to ten but didn’t quite make it. “Well, Aunt Bee—you know, the
sister you haven’t visited in the hospital who is fighting for her life—needed
me.” I met Mom’s glare head on. There was no way in hell I was backing down. I
wasn’t eighteen anymore, and she didn’t scare me. What could she do to me? I
wasn’t going to let her keep running me off.

Blair’s eyes
widened, and he scrunched down in his chair, all smiles evaporated. Ashley
sighed heavily, and Dad put his hand on my shoulder. “How is Bee?” he asked in
the same tone he used when I use to cry about having to leave after summer
vacations, which only infuriated me more.

I ignored him
and continued to glare at my mother. “So what is it? Hospital visits aren’t in
vogue this spring? Haven’t found the perfect outfit for sick rounds yet? Or is
Bee just not worth your attention?”

“You will not
speak to me in such a manner in my home. You will show me respect or leave.”

So much anger
roared to the surface that I couldn’t stop myself. “This is all the respect I
can muster, Mother. I guess if you’d like to continue to talk to me, we’ll have
to do it outside of the house.”

“Neil, did you
just hear her? I told you she couldn’t be civil.”

Before my
father could say or do anything, I stood up and Mother flinched like I might
actually attack her. I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Blair. I can’t do this.” I
walked out of the room, making a beeline for the front door. Jack apologized
and said it was nice meeting them as he followed me out.

Once in the
cool night air, I was embarrassed. I shouldn’t have lost it, especially in
front of Jack. My mother always brought out the worst in me. “I’m sorry,” I
said once we were safely in the car.

Jack gave me a
searching look and smiled. “You still owe me dinner.”

“I can’t
believe you still want to have dinner with me after that.”

“Are you
kidding?” he asked, eyes twinkling. “After that, I intend to ask you out every
day until I wear you down.”

I stared at my
hands. “I’d invite you over but—”

“Okay,” he
interrupted me.

“But I don’t
have furniture or a kitchen that works in the apartment, and I can’t stay in
the cottage tonight. It’s too close to the house.”

“We’ll figure
something out.”

It was clear
he wasn’t letting me off the hook. I was about to flat out tell him I just
wanted to go home and go to sleep when I remembered I hadn’t asked him about
the hospital. I bit my tongue and leaned my head back against the seat, letting
the hum of the road carry me away.

I opened my
eyes when I heard the car door shut. We were outside of a restaurant I didn’t
recognize. I stretched slightly, ashamed I’d fallen asleep. A couple minutes
later, Jack bounded back towards the car with endless energy and a brown paper
sack.

“So how do we
get to your house? Or would you rather come to mine?” he asked after he
deposited the food in the back seat.

I considered
which would be better. His house was probably furnished, but I would be on home
turf in mine. Plus, he wouldn’t get too comfortable so it would be easier to
end the date when the time came. “I live on Main Street above Blueberry. Do you
know where that is?”

“I think so.”
He pulled out of the parking lot and headed east. “So are you going to tell me
what exactly happened between you and your mother?”

“There’s
nothing to tell.” I looked out the window. “We just never saw eye to eye on
anything. She wanted to control me, and I wouldn’t let her. When I refused to
do what she wanted, despite being sent to the best boarding schools, she gave
up and it’s been dodgy ever since.”

“Which is why
you don’t go home?”

“Yes.”

“But you kept
in touch with your brothers and father?”

“No.” I looked
over at Jack, needing to see his expression while we talked about this, but it
was hard to see him clearly in the streams of headlights. “I’ll tell you my
excuses when we get to the store.”

Goodson Hollow
wasn’t very big so we were at Blueberry in a matter of minutes. Jack parked on
the street, and I led him in the side entrance. I unlocked my door, unsure what
sort of mess I would find on the other side with Vivian and Blair having
painted today, but to my surprise, it was spotless. All the paint and drop
cloths were gone from the living room. Boxes completely blocked off the
kitchen, but the floor in the rest of the room looked freshly cleaned and
polished. The wall color, a rich sandy color, was beautiful. Vivian had done a
wonderful job. I made a mental note to thank her and to apologize to Blair.

Jack wandered
around the empty room, taking in the few details—my new mattress smack dab in
the middle of the floor and a couple of lawn chairs on the balcony. “You’ve
been living
here
?”

“No, but I
will be. Starting tonight. You should’ve seen it yesterday.” I quirked an eyebrow
and beckoned him over to one of the bedroom doors. I opened it wide, displaying
the musty space, crammed with old dusty boxes. “All this was out there—and the
now lovely walls were gross and stained.”

He laughed. “How
do you find the time? It’s no wonder you’re tired. I know for a fact you’re at
the hospital twelve hours a day, you’re running the store, and somehow you’re
managing to clean out this place? Do you sleep?”

“Not much. But
I can’t take credit for the store or the clean up. I’d have had a nervous
breakdown by now if I hadn’t run into my boarding school roommate, Vivian. I
don’t know if she saw I needed help, or if it was just good timing, but she
said she was bored and would like to work in Aunt Bee’s store, so I hired her
on the spot. She’s taken over the day-to-day at the shop, and she’s helping me
with this as well.”

“How long did
you go to boarding school?”

I retrieved a
blanket from one of the boxes that didn’t look too bad and spread it on the
floor. “Since I was seven.” I sat down on the blanket cross-legged and looked
up at him. “So what are we having for dinner?”

Jack’s
charming smile returned in full wattage as he sat down across from me, paper
bag in hand. He pulled out one container after another, spreading them
haphazardly around the blanket, and then sat two off to the side. “I wasn’t
sure what you like—”

“So you
ordered everything?”

He laughed. “No,
I ordered Thai Lettuce Wraps because I figured you could pick and choose what
you put on yours, plus dessert.”

“Sounds good
and messy.” I hopped up to see if I could rustle up some plates. I came back
with two chipped hazelnut-colored dinner plates. “So how long have you been
here?”

“Born and
raised.”

“No.” My hand
stalled mid-reach for the coconut curry noodles. I certainly hadn’t expected
that. “So do you know my brothers?”

“I sort of
remember Ashley. Why did they stay here for school and you didn’t?”

“My mother
couldn’t stand me.” I laughed bitterly. “I’ve thought a lot about this. Perhaps
she believed if I stayed, I’d fall in love with someone local and shame the
whole family.” I shrugged. “I guess she thought my brothers would be easier to
control.”

“Your father
seems nice.”

“He is, in a
spineless sort of way. Do you mind if we don’t talk about my family?” I tried
to take a dainty bite of the wrap, but it was impossible, so I put it back on
my plate, figuring I’d embarrassed myself enough for one evening. “Tell me
about the hospital.”

“What about
it?”

“I want to
know about the ninth floor.”

Jack rolled
his eyes and shook his head. “That’s all nonsense.”

“Seriously, I’m
intrigued. I haven’t heard anyone talk about it at the hospital.”

“That’s
because it’s against the rules. You’re told on your first day you get one
warning and on the second offense you’re fired. We can’t have nurses or doctors
spreading panic. Hospitals are places for science, not ghosts.” He took a giant
bite of his wrap and looked at me curiously while he chewed. “Aren’t you
hungry?” he asked after he swallowed.

“Starving.”

He looked
pointedly at my untouched wrap as sweet chili sauce dribbled down his chin.

I laughed and
leaned over so I could wipe his chin with my napkin. “Too messy. I’ve been
humiliated enough tonight.”

Jack smiled
and eased toward me, making my breath catch. My cheeks warmed in anticipation. “I
didn’t think about that,” he whispered, the tip of his nose brushing mine.

My lips parted
slightly and the next instant his soft, full mouth was against mine, gently
testing the water. My heart pattered as I struggled to think. Jack wove his
hand into my hair and deepened the kiss. I wanted so much to let go, but my
brain finally caught up with my actions. I pulled back, missing the contact
immediately. “I’m sorry, Jack. I can’t.”

He leaned back
and took off his glasses. “Too fast?”

I nodded. “I
just got out of a relationship. It didn’t end well. I’m not ready to jump into
another one.”

“I’m not going
to lie, Ryan. I like you a lot, but we can take it slow if that’s what you
need.”

I looked into
his warm, caring eyes and wanted to kiss him again, but fear smothered the urge
like a wet blanket.
Damn you, Briggs.
“Really slow.”

“Whatever you
want.” He took my hand, his thumb rubbing against my skin.

“The nurses
seem to believe in the haunting.”

His thumb
traced a loose figure eight, the eternity symbol, on the inside of my wrist,
over and over again. “I thought you hadn’t heard anyone else talk about it.”

“I haven’t—or
not like this at least. I asked that nurse Leigh about it, and she seemed to be
a believer.”

“Why do you
say that?”

“She said she’d
move Bee if she were me.”

Jack laughed
and shook his head. “Superstitious nonsense. I thought Leigh was smarter than
all of that. She’s lucky no one else heard her. They take ninth floor talk very
seriously.” He leaned in a little. “Now when you say slow, how slow are we
talking?”

“Turtles will
be flying by us.”

His lips
tilted, making his eyes crinkle. “I can handle that,” he said, lifting my hand
and brushing his lips against my knuckles. He was so inviting; it would be easy
to forget about Briggs with him. I closed the distance between us a little,
nervous and excited.

His phone
rang, killing the moment.

Jack stood up
and went out on the balcony to answer it.

I grabbed my
plate and ate my chicken satay with my fingers. A thousand thoughts ran through
my head. Not the least of which was I shouldn’t get involved with Jack. There
was too much going on. He was a distraction—a cute, sweet, patient
distraction—that I didn’t need.

“I’m sorry,”
Jack said, returning to the room. He knelt down in front of me and kissed me softly.
“I have to go to the hospital.”

The tension
vanished from me and my shoulders relaxed. Time to think about all of this was
a good thing. “It’s okay. Sort of comes with the territory.”

He glanced
back a couple times on his way to the door, smiling. “See you tomorrow.”

I waved,
feeling bad. I was already planning how I could avoid that very thing.

I ate my lettuce wrap and both of
our desserts. After I cleaned up, I lounged on the mattress with the old,
somewhat musty blanket, but I couldn’t sleep. The moon was too bright, and my
thoughts were too many. I tossed and turned until my cover was a twisted clump.
I climbed out of bed and paced. I needed to do something, anything. I headed
down to the store to make sure there wasn’t something I could do, but Vivian
was doing wonderfully and there was nothing left for me to worry about. I went
back up to the apartment and looked around the living room, picturing where all
the furniture would be. No matter how I envisioned it though, the mattress on
the floor had to go, and I needed somewhere to sleep.