Read Online The Best of Friends by Susan Mallery - Free Book Online Page B

going to be a state-of-the-art facility. We have public and private funding, the best and newest equipment, and a mandate to make a difference. We’re the reason you got into nursing.”
    Jayne smiled. “You’re not, but I understand the sentiment.”
    “We’re very interested in speaking with you. Let me tell you all we can offer. I’m hoping you’ll be intrigued enough to want to come visit, at the very least.”
    Dallas. Jayne had never thought about leaving Los Angeles, let alone moving to Texas. She didn’t know very much about that part of the country, beyond that the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders were there, and that the area had big thunderstorms.
    While she loved her job, it wasn’t her world. Not completely. There was always a pull toward something else. The Wordens, she thought ruefully. Not that the family was especially good for her.
    Moving that far away would mean being completely on her own. As she considered the possibility, she felt a little uncomfortable but also excited. Yes, she would have to start over and make new friends, but she would no longer be Elizabeth’s unpaid assistant. She wouldn’t have to deal with the sense of never being good enough. And she wouldn’t watch David fall in love and marry someone else.
    She would always have Rebecca, she told herself. Which was both good and bad.
    Moving would mean starting over, and maybe, just maybe, that was the best thing she could do.
    “Tell me more about the facility,” she said.
    Rebecca wandered through the Century City Bloomingdale’s, trying to work up a little interest in a handbag or scarf. She’d already wasted an hour trying on shoes she had no intention of buying. She was pissed and sad and upset and couldn’t seem to shake her mood.
    In her head, she knew she was being stupid. Of course Jayne had other friends. Rebecca had left ten years ago. While she and Jayne stayed in touch through phone calls and e-mails, and they saw each other a couple of times a year, it wasn’t the same as being able to go to lunch or get drinks on a regular basis. She had friends in Italy.
    But that wasn’t the same, the angry, whiny voice inside complained. She was allowed to have friends, and Jayne wasn’t. Jayne was supposed to be waiting for her, living a boring little life until she arrived to make it better.
    Which made Rebecca feel like the most selfish person on the planet.
    She hated feeling bad about herself, which explained why she was now out shopping, hoping to distract herself until the mood passed.
    She left the scarves and found herself by the jewelry counter. There were necklaces and earrings. Bracelets and a couple of pins. She studied the designs, scoping out the competition. A pink-pearl-and-diamond necklace caught her eye—the pearls were perfect. She was about to ask the saleswoman to take it out of the case when she heard someone talking behind her. She couldn’t place the voice, but it was oddly familiar. As if she should know who was speaking.
    She turned and saw a tall man looking at a pair of earrings. He was fit, with graying dark hair. She moved closer, then stopped when she recognized Jonathan Mooney, a friend of her parents.
    Jonathan was younger than the Wordens by eight or ten years, but still much older than she. She’d had a crush on him when she was twelve. Not that she’d ever told anyone. She vaguely recalled that he had two daughters and that his wife was an avid gardener.
    She approached the counter. “Jonathan?”
    He looked up, then raised his eyebrows. “Rebecca? Rebecca Worden?”
    “Hi.”
    “Hello.” He smiled. “I haven’t seen you in years. Did I know you were back in Los Angeles?”
    “No, and neither does my mother. You won’t tell anyone you saw me, will you?”
    “Of course not. How are you? You look great.”
    His gaze traveled her face, lingering on her mouth. The attention surprised her. Jonathan had never noticed her before. She glanced at the display of earrings on the counter