CHAPTER 21
The air in New Mexico was dry and clean,
a sharp contrast to the humid,
cluttered atmosphere of Dallas that Jack had known for decades.
He stood outside the modest stucco clinic,
adjusting the collar of his simple blue scrubs,
feeling a strange sense of peace.
He was no longer a wealthy executive executive,
no longer the man commanding boardrooms with a single wave of his hand.
Here,
he was just Jack,
the administrative assistant who organized patient files and swept the floors after closing.
It was honest work,
humble work,
and it was exactly the penance he needed to heal his fractured soul.
The bell above the clinic door chimed,
and he looked up,
expecting a local patient arriving for an afternoon checkup.
Instead,
a young woman stepped inside,
shaking the desert dust from her light jacket,
a bright smile lighting up her face.
Lily.
"Look at you,"
she laughed,
walking over to the counter,
leaning against the smooth wood.
"The great Jack Walker,
master of the file cabinets."
Jack felt a lump form in his throat,
a wave of pure joy washing over him as he stepped out from behind the desk to hug her.
He held her tightly,
fearing that if he let go,
this beautiful reality would dissolve into another dream.
"What are you doing here,
Lily?"
he asked,
wiping a stray tear from his cheek,
not wanting her to see him cry.
"I have a few days off from the hospital,"
she explained,
looking around the clean,
simple clinic with approval.
"And I wanted to see how my dad was doing in his new home."
The word "dad"
still felt new,
like a precious gemstone they were both learning to handle with care.
"I'm doing well,
Lily,"
he said sincerely,
leading her to a small break room where a pot of coffee was brewing.
"For the first time in my life,
I sleep through the night without waking up in fear."
They sat together,
talking for hours about her classes,
her experiences in the emergency room,
and the people she was helping.
Jack listened intently,
captivated by her passion,
realizing she had inherited the best parts of her mother and Megan's father.
She was a healer,
while he had spent so many years being a destroyer.
But as they talked,
Jack noticed a slight hesitation in her voice,
a shadow passing over her bright eyes.
"Is something wrong,
Lily?"
he asked gently,
setting his coffee mug down on the table.
"Megan called me yesterday,"
Lily admitted,
looking down at her hands,
interlocking her fingers nervously.
"She's coming to New Mexico next week for a medical conference in Santa Fe,
and she asked if we could all meet for dinner."
Jack froze,
his heart skipping a beat at the mention of the woman he had wronged so deeply.
May you like
He didn't know if he was ready to face her,
to sit across a table from her without the shield of corporate crisis or life-and-death danger.
