Page 87 of The Christmas Dash

“Yeah. He’s not my favorite person either.” I set the coffees on the counter. “Is Beth really out of it?”

Ivy shrugs. “She sounded pretty hoarse when she called me last night to ask if I could cover her shift today. Then she texted me a bunch of gibberish this morning. I don’t think she was totally lucid when she tried to send the message.” Ivy pauses and looks me up and down. “What was it you needed?”

I’m pretty sure she already knows, but she’s going to make me say it. My cheeks heat, and I rub the back of my neck self-consciously.

“I wanted to see Beth. She hasn’t responded to my texts today either, and we left things sort of . . . I don’t know. Calvin is in the picture, let’s just say that, and I really wish he wasn’t.”

“Don’t blame you. Guy’s the worst. What Beth sees in him, I don’t know.” Ivy grimaces.

I clear my throat, a plan forming.

“If a guy wanted to check in and see if his old friend is doing okay, what sort of things would she appreciate while sick?”

“Are we talking food items? Personal care? Gimme some more to work with so I can help ‘a guy’”—Ivy makes air quotes—“out.”

“All of the above.”

“Beth’s favorite soup is your mom’s chicken and wild rice. You already know her favorite coffee drink, though I’m guessing if she’s as miserable as she seems, caffeine isn’t what she wants. She wants sleep.”

“So tea, then. Does she still like chamomile with a splash of honey?”

Ivy looks impressed. “You remember that?”

I remember all of it.

“I remember a lot.”

Ivy gives me a knowing nod. “I think she does.”

I nod back. “Alright then, this has been very enlightening. If I were a guy who were going to check on his friend, I’d know just what to do.”

“If? Right.” Ivy laughs. “Give Beth my best when you see her.”

I grin. “I will. I’m leaving this latte for you.”

“I already like you better than Cal, no need to bribe me,” she quips.

This makes me chuckle, even as hope soars since I’ve got Beth’s best friend in my corner.

I say goodbye and head back out into the cold. I’ve got a mental list of things I want to pick up for Beth, and I don’t want to waste time. If she’s really as under the weather as Ivy says, someone should check on her sooner rather than later.

And that someone is sure as heck going to be me.

Chapter 27

Beth

I roll over and fall out of my bed. I realize the crash is coming on the way down, and I have a split second to think that it’s just cruel that a person who feels as awful as I do is now going to have a bruised hip to go along with it.

When I thunk to the ground, I let out a long moan.

Misery, thy name is Beth.

I never get sick.

It’s just my luck that I would come down with some sort of nasty virus at the busiest time of the year. I am so uncomfortable. I can barely breathe. My sinuses are burning. My head feels like it weighs seventy-five pounds. My whole body seems to alternate between sweating and freezing.

This is why I never get sick.