“I suppose that means you’re in the right career.”
Grace found herself smiling. “I suppose it does.” Finishing the last of the paperwork, she handed it to Ms. Johnson. “Where do I go now?”
“I’ll take you to Mark’s office. He wanted you to meet the psychologist you’ll be working with.”
“If you’ll just point me in the right direction...” Grace’s stomach did a lazy somersault. “It’s very real all of the sudden.”
“Let me reassure you that you won’t have any trouble sitting in with this particular gentleman.”
“Why is that?”
“I’m HR, Grace. I can’t comment.”
Grace’s stomach took up a full gymnastic floor routine. “Good-looking, is he?”
The other woman’s lips twitched. “You didn’t hear it from me, right?”
“Minions never hear anything, Ms. Johnson,” Grace said softly.
“Then let me just say you’re going to be the envy of every woman in the place when they find out you’re working directly with him.”
Justin. It had to be Justin.
Grace pulled the office door open and peered out into the hall. Might as well get this over with. “Which office is Mark’s?”
“Three doors down on the right. It’s marked.” Standing, Ms. Johnson held out her hand again. “It’s been nice to meet you, Grace. Don’t hesitate to call or stop by if you have any questions while you’re here.”
“Thank you. I will.”
The hallway was eerily quiet so early in the day. The click of her high heels seemed preternaturally loud as the sound of each step ricocheted off the walls. Certain she was making enough noise to constitute herself a one-woman marching band, she went up on tiptoe to keep her heels from making contact with the floor tiles. She hesitated a moment outside the third office door, letting fear wash through her before summoning a tide of confidence to carry it away. Smoothing the skirt of her business suit and tugging down the jacket to ensure it was straight, she rested her hand on the door handle. “Show ’em what you’ve got, Grace Margaret Cooper.”
With a small smile and a hell of a lot of bravado, Grace stepped through the door.
7
JUSTIN WAS ALREADY in shock when Grace stepped into the room. He’d just been advised he’d begin seeing kids, patients, today—on his own. The woman who’d been scheduled to mentor him over his first thirty days had gone on emergency medical leave due to pregnancy complications late last week. That left Justin as the only counselor on staff.
Everything he’d learned over the past eight years vacated his brain. He couldn’t even gather enough common sense to respond to Mark’s basic introduction between him and Grace. He nodded at her.
Her face, initially open and pleasant, shut down.
All he registered was that his fingers had gone numb and he couldn’t feel his feet. Not relevant to the conversation in any way, but that’s where his head was in that moment.