Read Online Mine at Last by Celeste O. Norfleet - Free Book Online Page A

before she realized she was going to say them. “I messed up big-time,” Shauna said.
    “What do you mean? What happened?” Pearl said.
    “Truthfully, I have no idea. Talk about unethical. I can’t believe I just completely destroyed all of my credibility. One minute I’m picking papers off the floor and the next I had my tongue in his mouth.”
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up. Who are we talking about? You had your tongue in whose mouth? Start from the beginning and talk slowly. What happened exactly?”
    Shauna told Pearl about her encounter with Dr. Coles, but she was more interested in the hospital.
    “Dr. Dominik Coles thinks the Cura Group is gonna buy the hospital and then sell it off to eventually close down?” Pearl asked.
    Shauna looked her friend in the eye. “I don’t know. I hope not, but I can’t guarantee they won’t.”
    “So, he may have legitimate concerns.”
    “Yes. They sold the last three medical facilities they bought, and within months they began to fail miserably. They resold and eventually the facilities closed.”
    “Three hospitals closed down?” Pearl said, astonished.
    “No,” Shauna said, “one small hospital and two medical clinics. They all had major problems. I rejected them all, but the new CEO bought them anyway. At first I couldn’t see the sense in it. Then I saw the bottom line. They made more money gutting and then reselling.”
    Pearl shook her head. “That’s absolutely unthinkable.”
    Shauna nodded. “I agree, but there was nothing I could do. There’s a new executive director. His name is Simon Patterson. The bottom line is all he sees. The Cura Medical Group you knew years ago is gone. It’s all about making money for the shareholders now. The medical element is out of the picture. Their methods are reprehensible.”
    “Are you going to stay with them?”
    “No. My contract is up and this is my last assignment.”
    “What about the other company, Relso Health Care?”
    “They’re completely different. They actually care about the companies they buy. They’d be a much better fit to purchase the medical center.”
    “Can’t you hook them up together?”
    “No, on this I’m still under contract with Cura. If they release me, I’m free to offer my services elsewhere.”
    “Okay, getting back to what you were saying before, what happened with Dr. Coles?” Pearl asked.
    Shauna nodded. “Years ago we went to high school together. I had a crush on him—every girl in school did. He was the guy most likely to succeed at everything and I was the girl whose father just embezzled money and ran away with another woman, leaving his sick wife and daughter with divorce papers on the dining room table.”
    “Shauna, what your father did was heinous. He was greedy and selfish and he lied to everybody, but that was his failing, not yours,” Pearl said adamantly.
    “Yes, I know,” Shauna said softly. “I left this place fifteen years ago and never looked back. Now, coming back here brings back so many memories. Most of them aren’t so good. My mom died in Key West Medical. I took her there thinking they’d help her. She never walked out.”
    “Shauna, your mother was sick and no one knew it. Ovarian cancer has no real symptoms and is nearly impossible to diagnose. By the time we all found out, it was just too late.”
    “I should have paid more attention to her after Dad left us.”
    “What happened was nobody’s fault, certainly not yours. No one knew, not even her until it was too late. It was misdiagnosed. Now, what happened today? What makes you think you blew the account?”
    “I guess I just didn’t expect to see Dominik. It’s crazy. It feels like being seventeen all over again. It’s like the universe is messing with me again.”
    “Okay, now you’re sounding a little paranoid. Tell me what happened after you kissed him. What did he say?”
    “Nothing really. He was okay about it. He was understanding and even charming. He said what