Broken Ties (The Healing Series Book 5) Read online

  Broken Ties

  Kelly Seibold

  Copyright © 2021 Kelly Seibold

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN: 9798774501601

  Cover design by: Wilette Cruz / Red Leaf Design

  Edited by: VB Proofreads

  Layout By : Erich Seibold

  Printed in the United States of America

  Holly Taylor

  Thank you for supporting me from the very beginning. You are awesome, and I love your face.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Notes from Kelly

  About The Author

  Also By Kelly

  Prologue

  Jake groaned as his grandfather placed his plate practically piled to the ceiling with breakfast foods in front of him. His grandfather always made too much food. "You waited too long, Jakey. That little lady I told you about went and got herself a beau."

  Along with the copious amounts of food, his grandfather had played matchmaker his entire adulthood. Or maybe he should say tried. It hadn't helped. Here he was, thirty-four years old and with no prospects on the horizon. "I told you I don't need your help finding a girl."

  "Do you have a girl?"

  "Well. No." Jake felt the urge to squirm under his namesake's scrutiny. The elder Jake was a good man. A great man. But matchmaking wasn't his forte.

  His only child, Jake's mother, had named her only son after his two grandfathers. He wasn't sure who picked Jacob for his first name. Michael Stone Jr., his dad, always told him that they put both in a hat and drew one out. Michael said he lost. So, Jacob Michael Stone was born.

  His grandfather was still droning on about the "one that got away," and loudly too. He needed to take him to the audiologist. Although he would claim, loudly, Jake might add, he didn't need to go. At this rate, Jake was sure his neighbors knew all of Gramps' business.

  "Look, Gramps. I need to go." He put down his napkin, pushed away from the table, and stood. He rolled down the sleeves of his shirt, buttoned the cuffs, and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair. "I told the facility I would be there by noon, so I need to leave."

  "I thought you were moving some of the patients here to the new place."

  "We are, but it's not quite ready, and I have some paperwork to go over at the Seattle location before we can start transferring the patients next week. I still have some ambulance rides to schedule." He said his goodbyes and left out the front door.

  The door to the apartment next door swung open, and a little girl tumbled out of it. She looked to be around two years old. "Whoa, Piantina!" A man grabbed up the child and held her to his chest. "I said no, Chloe girl. Wait on me."

  "Lannnnnn," the girl babbled and stuck her fists in the man's cheeks.

  "Getting better, sweetheart."

  "Landon?"

  Landon jerked his head around, and recognition lit his eyes. "Jake?"

  Jake smiled. "Hey, man. Long time no see."

  "Yeah."

  Another man hurried out the door and nodded toward Jake.

  "Daddy."

  "I have to go, sweetie." He bent down and kissed the little girl's head. He turned to Jake. "I'm sorry to be rude, but I'm late, and my business partners are going to kill me. I'm Damon. Nice to meet you, but I have to go before it rains." He looked at Landon. "Tell Courtney to call Leslie if you guys can't keep her tonight. Bye." Damon was in his car and gone before anyone spoke again.

  "Leslie?"

  "Yeah, she, her husband," Landon's head tilted toward the road. He tickled under the girl's neck, and she giggled, "and their child live here."

  A look of pure confusion crossed Jake's face. "I didn't know she was married. I thought you told me she couldn't have kids. Did she adopt?"

  "Um. She's Damon and my..." His voice trailed off as a horn blew and a Ford Edge pulled into the driveway.

  "Hey, handsome." A lady with strawberry blonde hair got out of the car and pranced. That's the only word Jake could come up with to describe the almost skip the girl had to her as she bounded up to Landon and planted a kiss on his cheek and snatched the girl, who must be Chloe, from his arms. Goodness, the little girl looked like the lady, except for a scar that ran across the woman's cheek. "Oh." She turned toward Jake. "Sorry. I'm Courtney." She moved Chloe to one hip and stuck out a hand.

  Jake grasped it and gave a quick shake. "Jake."

  "The grandson?"

  "Yeah."

  Courtney nodded and smiled slightly.

  "Why are you here, Fragolina?" Landon asked her. "I thought I was picking up Chloe."

  "Emergency. Jace called. Some equipment isn't working. I forgot which one."

  Landon let out a groan.

  "Sorry. I'll take Chloe, and you go to work."

  "Yes, ma'am. You need to move your car."

  "What? Oh, yeah. Sure."

  "I'll do it." Landon leaned down and stared at the little girl. "You behave for your mama, you hear me, girly?" He chuckled, turned on his heel, ran to Courtney's new ride, and moved it before getting in his car and rolling down his window. "Great to see you again, Jake. Stephanie—" He stopped talking abruptly. "She would be happy to see you," he said softly. "Did you hear...?"

  "I heard," Jake cut him off, and his jaw clenched shut.

  "Okay. I have to go." Landon gave Courtney a peck on her lips through the open window and backed out of the driveway.

  Courtney turned and buckled Chloe in the back seat of her SUV. "Nice to meet you, Jake, but I need to get my daughter home before it storms."

  Jake's brow furrowed. "So you and Leslie's husband?" He winced. "I'm sorry, none of my business. That was extremely rude of me, and I have to get going as well. I have to be in Seattle by lunchtime."

  The door to the apartment opened, and Gramps came outside. "JAKEY!"

  Jake rolled his eyes and looked heavenward at the darkening sky.

  "You forgot your briefcase! And I packed you a lunch."

  "Thanks, but I was going to pick up something on the way," he grumbled.

  "Nonsense! Waste of money when there is a perfectly good PB & J right here." He patted the bag. "I even cut off the crusts for you."

  Courtney couldn't quite hold back the giggle that escaped. She looked to the ground as her shoulders moved with suppressed laughter.

  "Yep. Thanks. I'll let you know if I have to stay there tonight." He grabbed his briefcase and the paper bag with his lunch out of his grandfather's hands. "Nice to meet you. Courtne
y, was it?"

  "Yep. That's me."

  "She's the one that got away," his grandfather practically yelled.

  The earth could swallow him up at any moment.

  "Bye," he mumbled and climbed into his car. He heard Courtney's laughter as he drove away.

  Chapter 1

  "Can we move it up?" Jake repeated the question back to the man on the phone. Surely, he hadn't heard him correctly. "It's a little early for a snowstorm, don't you think?" He loosened his tie, then pulled it away from his neck as he leaned back in his office chair. "Okay, the mountain passes. I get it. Yeah. Email me the information. Thanks." He hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.

  This was a nightmare. Instead of almost two weeks to figure out how to move the patients in the west wing to the new facility back home, they had three days.

  A rap on the door frame to his office had him looking up. "Hey, boss."

  "What's up, Elizabeth?" Yes. Jake knew that wasn't a professional greeting, but at the moment, he didn't care. His head nurse, friend, and all-around gofer shook her head at him and came into the room without asking.

  "Dr. Waterford is back in her room after her physical therapy. She's resting, although I wouldn't say comfortably. They are talking about more surgery next week. Now, I overheard you on the phone. What's going on?"

  Jake had gone to college with Elizabeth and had worked with her for eight years. He was glad she had accepted the offer to transfer to continue to work with him. But he knew she wasn't going to be happy about having to move sooner because her new house wasn't ready yet. She had planned on staying at an extended stay until it was finished. This setback would add days to that. "We have to move people by Friday."

  "My house isn't even ready." There was a slight panic in her voice.

  "Can you ask the construction company to speed up?"

  "I don't think so. They are already going above and beyond. They found a leak during the storm yesterday and aren't charging me to fix that part of the roof."

  Jake let out a sigh and changed the subject for the time being. "Stephanie has to have more surgery? When? Before Friday?"

  "Dr. Jones at Mercy consulted with us and was going to assist here if she goes through with it because he will be her doctor after the transfer, but that was when I thought we had until next Friday, not this Friday."

  His computer dinged with an incoming email. Probably the one he just requested. He clicked on the envelope icon when a FedEx driver walked in with a package. Elizabeth signed for it and placed it on the corner of Jake's desk while he read over the email.

  "More Tootsie Rolls?"

  Jake glanced at the box. "Yep."

  "I assume you want me to go to Costco and pick up the Cokes."

  "Would you?"

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm not supposed to supply our patients with junk food."

  She was playing around with him, but his voice was clipped when he responded with, "Make an exception."

  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.

  Jake looked at her when she didn't respond. "Anything else?"

  "Nope. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm off the clock." She turned on her heel and walked out the door.

  *******

  "Go fish."

  Stephanie threw down her cards. "Can't we play poker or something?" she asked her dad. They had run the gauntlet on card games. Uno, Gin Rummy, Spades, Rook. To name a few. "We can set a limit on bets."

  Her dad raised his brows at her. "Chocolate instead of money?"

  She looked at a new bag of candy that had shown up this morning. Like they were dropped from the sky, or the Easter bunny brought them. Elizabeth was the only one who ever gave them to her. She was afraid to ask who they were from.

  It had to be him, but why? And why hadn't he visited her? He obviously knew where she was. It confused her that he hadn't come to see her. She thought they were friends. And yes, most of the time, she'd rather be alone. But the fact that Jacob hadn't darkened her door hurt. She had always liked him more than he liked her anyway. This just proved what she had known since she was fourteen years old.

  "Hon?" Her dad was speaking to her, but her mind had wandered.

  "Sorry, what?"

  "You look tired."

  She wanted to burst into tears. She also wanted to scream and hit something. Some psychologist she was. She couldn't even help herself feel better. "That's because I am."

  "Honey. Why don't..."

  Someone entered, and her dad abandoned the rest of his sentence. Elizabeth, her name was, came into the room. Stephanie saw her almost every day. When did she have a day off? "Hey, Dr. Waterford. Here are some papers for you to look over for Friday."

  "Call me, Stephanie," she told her for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Please."

  "Sorry, Stephanie. I'm not used to doing that. But since you asked, I'll try."

  "Thanks."

  Stephanie's dad, Marlon, stood. "I'm going down to the cafeteria. Do you want anything?"

  "I'm fine, thanks."

  "Okay, I'll be back." Marlon nodded to Elizabeth and strolled out the door.

  "Please tell me the new place has a better cafeteria than this one."

  Elizabeth sighed. "My boss is working on that. For now, we are sharing the duties with Mercy."

  Stephanie looked away, biting her lip. The new facility was next door to the hospital with a connecting skywalk. Her co-workers were all there.

  "What is it?"

  "Nothing," she lied, then turned back to Elizabeth. "What are these papers about?"

  "Just some things about the transfer. Look, read over, and return to me or any of the other nurses."

  Stephanie nodded.

  "Also, since the date of transfer has moved up, Dr. Jones suggested postponing the surgery until you get settled in. He wants to look over the logistics again and talk to you before proceeding."

  "Okay." That was one conversation she wasn't looking forward to having. She and Dr. Brian Jones were colleagues. And this was a difficult situation. She rubbed at her leg and tried to shift positions.

  "Your leg hurting?"

  "You think?" she snapped at Elizabeth and then regretted it. "Sorry. Yes, I'm in pain. It hurts worse the day after therapy."

  "Let me help you."

  Jake closed his eyes and leaned back against the wall outside Stephanie's door, where he stood eavesdropping. He rubbed his forehead. He hated hearing her voice sound so strained. "Mr. Stone!" He stood abruptly and met a young volunteer. Do they still call them candy stripers? His grandfather still did. He grabbed the young lady by the elbow and turned her around from the door before dropping his hand. "Walk with me...Please," he added softly, and they walked back down the hall out of Stephanie's earshot.

  Meanwhile, Stephanie had frozen in her movements and stared at the open door. Elizabeth's eyes flew to the Tootsie Rolls and back to Stephanie's face.

  Marlon took that moment to enter with a bag from the cafeteria. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

  "Did you see someone out in the hallway?"

  "No. Are we looking for someone?"

  Stephanie glared at Elizabeth. "Dad, do you mind stepping out and shutting the door for me while I talk to my nurse about something personal?"

  "Sure. Are you sure you're okay?"

  "Yeah. You know what? Would you mind getting me something after all? You know what I like."

  Marlon narrowed his eyes but left the room, closing the door behind him.

  "Jake Stone?"

  "Look, Doctor, I mean Stephanie. I told him to come and see you, but technically while we're here, he's my boss."

  "I've been laid up in a hospital bed for four fucking months, and one of my best friends decided a month ago to start sending me candy that he knows I love, but he won't even say hello to me. What the hell?"

  "I'm sorry."

  "He's your boss?"

  "Yes. He's in charge o
f everything except the medical procedures, but sometimes he sits in on those meetings too. He likes to know what's going on with all the patients. He's stressed over the move. He's pulling double duty as the chief administrator until he can hire a new one and a new chief of staff, and he's been here a lot but is usually holed up in his office."

  "But he's here." Her voice wavered, and she hoped Elizabeth didn't notice. "He's seen my records?"

  "I'm assuming so, yes."

  "What gives him the right?"

  "He's the acting chief of staff."

  "He's a doctor?" She couldn't quite stop her words from sounding panicked. They were such great friends. She didn't even know he was a freaking doctor.

  "I think you should talk to him."

  "Really? How convenient that he won't show his face." Stephanie clamped her mouth shut as the intercom cut on and asked for Elizabeth's assistance in another patient's room.

  "I have to go," Elizabeth said softly. "I'm sorry," she mumbled and walked briskly out the door.

  Stephanie's eyes closed shut, and tears tried to leak out the corners. She was irrational. Jake had no obligation to her whatsoever. Why was she so hurt over this?

  She was swiping at tears when her dad re-entered the room. "Is everything okay?" The alarm in her father's voice had her head snapping up.

  "I'm fine, Dad."

  "Did the nurse say something about your condition?"

  "No. It really was something personal." Why? It shouldn't be. Jake had never made any promises to her. He’d never even hinted he liked her as she liked him. That hadn’t stopped her fourteen-year-old self from falling in love with him at first sight. And when he left two years after high school, he took a piece of her heart with him and didn't even know it.

  Chapter 2

  It was nine AM, and Jake had already shed his suit jacket and tie. He’d rolled up the cuffs of his dress shirt and was three seconds away from taking that off as well and walking around in slacks and a T-shirt.

  Boxes were strewn all over his new office. The only thing he had unpacked was his computer, and of course, the Wi-Fi wouldn't connect because why would it?