Christmas and Forever Read Free Page A

reluctance to see her gone?
    “No I haven’t,” he lied. Aidan snapped a folder closed and lowered his leg, dismissing the biting pain.
    “That’s your problem, isn’t it? Your hand is damaged and I know that leg is shot to pieces from the accident too. As for your eyesight, there’s not a thing wrong with it.”
    Aidan shuffled in his chair, knuckles tightening. The hell if James was hinting at what he assumed. “Have you been talking to Liya?”
    James smirked. “How, when? That poor little girl is too busy trailing after you, making sure ‘Dr. Keegan’ is okay. You’re turning a blind eye on too many things. Too many people, Aidan. I know this might sound like a fucked-up thing to say, but life keeps going, man, and you’re in the thick of it. You’re here for a reason. I just don’t want you to wake up one day and realize you let too many things slip away.”
    Slip away? The familiar pang of anger and envy worked its way through him. How easy it was for James to dole out advice. He had a wife and four children tucked in safe and warm at home, waiting for him. James had also just successfully performed his last surgery for the night. His life was intact and thriving. Slip away . He wished. Everything he had cherished and wanted to protect had been ripped from him, snatched away at the summit of his life.
    “How many times did you sit beside your wife as she gave birth?” Aidan asked suddenly, wishing to drive the point home.
    Shades of scarlet raced up James’s cheek. “Aidan, come on, let’s not—”
    Underneath the desk, Aidan stretched his leg. The shooting pain doubled, then increased tenfold in the span of a few seconds. He didn’t doubt the effects were heightened by the turn of conversation. “Don’t ever mention ‘losing’ anything to me. None of you knows what that feels like. And please don’t bring up Ms. Emerson to me again. She is a child who knows even less about tragedy. The most tragic thing she’s ever dealt with is probably her hair not turning out the right shade of highlights.” He knew he was being unreasonably harsh, but someone like Liya threatened his sanity and all the promises he had made to himself and Sarah.
    “She doesn’t deserve that,” James stated, toying with the stethoscope around his neck, “and I’m sure you already know it. I’m headed home, but I hope you don’t forget what I said. “You can start over, Aidan. Cut yourself some slack. No one expects you to be a saint about this.”
    Aidan scowled. “I thought you said you were leaving?”
    James paused at the doorway. “I am. Our little heart-to-heart almost made me forget what I originally came here to ask you.”
    “I’m listening. What is this…request?”
    “A couple of us were wondering if you wouldn’t mind hosting a little holiday get-away at that cabin you keep locked up in Bear Ridge.”
    Aidan lifted his brows. “A couple. That’s quite vague, isn’t it? How many? Also, why would you of all people be interested in spending Christmas isolated up in the mountains?”
    James blinked in surprise for a second as if he was caught off guard. “Well, I—I’m not going. Never said I was. The others. Hendricks, Wilcox and a few more.” James coughed into his fist and averted his gaze.
    He wasn’t surprised. Although he was partially to blame for distancing himself from the people he once considered friends, they too had altered their behavior when he was around. They were uncomfortable, and their laughter hushed as he entered the room. It was as if they were afraid whatever ill omen afflicted him would somehow scourge its way into their peaceful and contented lives.
    “You’re a messenger now, Northrop? They’re adults. If they wish to secure the use of my property why couldn’t they come forward?”
    “That’s not fair, Aidan. You shouldn’t come down so hard on them. You’re not the easiest guy to talk to these days. In fact, it would be better if you didn’t say anything