Love On Call

“Excuse me.” A young, vivacious redhead who looked like she belonged in a Fortune 500 front office in her stylish royal blue suit and low heels homed in on Mari. “Are you Mari Mateo?”

“Yes,” Mari said.

The redhead smiled, her celery-green eyes sparkling. “I’m Carrie Longmire. I’m pretty sure I’m your cousin.”

Chapter Twelve

Mari stared at the redhead who regarded her with eager anticipation. Carrie. Carrie. Wasn’t that the name of Glenn’s friend—possible girlfriend—the only person other than Flann Glenn had actually mentioned? Cousin?

“Cousin? I don’t see how that’s possible,” Mari finally said. Nothing about this ivory-skinned, green-eyed Irish girl could be farther from her own Mexican American heritage. True, her mother was not Hispanic, but she couldn’t see any resemblance at all between her dark-haired, brown-eyed mother and Carrie. No, this crazy idea couldn’t be true. “I know all my cousins, and they’re all on the Mateo side of the tree.”

“I know, sounds wild, huh?” Carrie smiled again and grasped her arm. “Come on, I’ll buy you lunch. Have you had lunch?”

Mari shook her head, trying to keep pace with the rapid-fire conversation and Carrie’s supercharged energy level.

“Great. I’ll tell you all about it then.” Carrie gave Mari’s arm a little tug.

Mari glanced at the board again. Still only a few patients, all currently being seen, and the ER was probably the quietest it would be for the rest of the day. She had her phone, she’d only be a minute away. And she did need some food. Besides, Carrie’s wide-open friendliness and exuberance were hard to resist. “I don’t have much time—”

“Believe me, neither do I. Have you met my boss yet?”

“Uh, no.”

“Presley has two speeds—fast and hyperdrive.” Carrie grinned. “If I’m gone more than half an hour, it will take me a day to catch up.”

“Well, half an hour is about all I’ll have.” Curious and intrigued, Mari glanced at Nancy who, watching them with obvious interest, shrugged as if to say go for it. “Okay, sure. Lunch.”

Carrie was already striding away and Mari hurried to stay with her. By the time they’d raced down a hall, up a staircase, and into the cafeteria, she was winded. Definitely time to start running again. Getting back into a regular exercise regimen would be another step toward reclaiming her life.

The cafeteria was nearly empty and the hot food lines closed, but the salad bar was still open and a cold case held packaged sandwiches that didn’t look half bad.

“They make those at the café in town every day,” Carrie said, seeing Mari look them over. “They’re good. I get one sometimes to take home for supper.”

“If they’re anything like the croissants, I’m sold.”

Carrie laughed. “Chocolate or raspberry?”

“Um, both?”

“See! I knew we were related.”

Smiling but skeptical, Mari grabbed a sandwich and put together a quick salad. Carrie had picked a table next to the one Mari had shared with Glenn. That first conversation felt like a week ago.

Mari tried the sandwich. Carrie was right. Delicious. “I don’t see how we could possibly be related. I’m not even from around here.”

“Neither am I.”

“But how could I never have heard of you before now?”

“Well that’s the thing,” Carrie said nonchalantly. “Our extended family is a little dysfunctional.”

Mari laughed, not feeling the slightest bit of humor. “I don’t know about yours, but I think mine probably is.”

“Yeah, I actually think most are—except possibly the Riverses. I’ve never seen a family quite like theirs. But you can decide that for yourself when you meet them all.”

“Maybe you should start at the beginning,” Mari said, suspecting that with Carrie everything was a story. She liked Carrie’s energy, it was practically infectious, but totally opposite her natural tendency to be cautious and guarded. And she wasn’t one for believing in coincidences.

“Before I say anything,” Carrie said, her tone softening and her vivacious expression settling into one of gentle seriousness, “I want to start out by saying that I don’t want to create any problems between you and your family. So if anything I say is likely to do that, just tell me and I’ll just stop.”

Mari pushed aside the familiar twinge of pain, tired of paying the price for refusing to live a lie. “I don’t actually see how you could cause any more problems than I already have. My family has sort of shut me out these past few months.”

Carrie stopped eating and gave her a long look. “That sounds like it sucks.”

“More or less precisely.” Mari waved a hand. “Go ahead, tell me what you think is going on with us.”

“When Glenn mentioned your name…” Carrie paused, fork waving in the air like a conductor’s baton. “Oh, background…last night at the fairgrounds, I asked Glenn how the first day with the new job had gone and your name came up. Mateo caught my attention.”