Whitney in Charge by Diane Craver

that he was gone for so long. He loved his job but hated to be away from you.”
    “Did he ever mention how I never wanted him to be there?”
    “No. But I was surprised he took the assignment because he talked about you several times. I could tell he missed you a lot.”
    Whitney blinked against the hot tears and swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. She forced herself to speak. “Thanks, Jack.”
    “I can’t believe I never realized I knew your husband when we talked. And it’s something how we live in the same town and we met each other.”
    “It is a surprise. A nice one.” Whitney took a deep breath and forced herself to smile. “So, why are you a paramedic now instead of the helicopter pilot?”
    “I only fly for enjoyment these days. For now, I like being a paramedic.”
    “And for that I’m thankful,” she said drily.
    “I better get off here and let you get some rest.” He paused for a moment. “If you need anything, I’ll be happy to run to the store for you.”
    “That’s kind of you. My sisters are fussing over me so I can’t think of anything I need. Do you always follow up with your patients like this?”
    “Just the ones with beautiful green eyes named Whitney.”
    “I’m glad. ”
    “I’ll call in a few days. Take care of yourself and rest a lot.”
    “I will. Thank you again, Jack. Good-bye.”
    Regan and Shannon walked into the room as she hung up .
    “How do you feel?” Regan asked with a concerned look on her face.
    “My whole body hurts but it’s hard to feel bad after a phone call from Jack. He’s very nice.”
    Regan grinned. “Shannon and I should have saved our money for the skydiving session and taken you hiking instead. Now you have two guys interested in you.”
    “And both fly,” Whitney said, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it.”
    Shannon laughed and sat next to her on the couch. “I think you’re meant to get over your fear of flying. Don’t keep us in suspense. Are you going to see Jack? I mean on a date.”
    She shrugged. “Maybe sometime. I don’t know. I admit I’m attracted to him, but —”
    “Rob’s not coming back,” Regan said gently, cutting her off. “He’d want you to enjoy life again.”
    Whitney gulped, trying to get a grip before she started crying. It had been hard, especially talking to Jack and hearing what Rob had told him. “I just found out Jack knew Rob because he flew a helicopter in Iraq for a year.”
    Regan plopped down on the brown recliner that had been their dad’s favorite chair. “Casey must not know because he never mentioned Jack being a pilot there.”
    “Rob talked about me to Jack.” She repeated what Rob had said about her to Jack.
    “Of course, he did,” Regan said and continued, “He loved you a lot.”
    Shannon patted her arm. “What did Molly want? I heard you say something about bad first dates.”
    “She wants me to be on The Bold News about my first date with Ben. She plans to have a show about the worst first dates. I’m not going to do it. Unless…”
    Regan leaned forward. “Unless what? That it’s okay with Ben?”
    “I’d checked with Ben first, but not sure I’d do it anyhow. With Molly wanting me back, I’ve realized how much I’ve missed working as a producer.” Whitney glanced at Shannon “You mentioned us doing a cable TV show the first day we started talking about having our own business. I know you two didn’t want to work at a resort year round, so I’m thinking we should do a talk show.”
    Regan clapped her hands. “I love it. A talk show has so many possibilities.”
    “It means a big commitment doing a type of talk show. We could do a morning half hour show around ten o’clock. We should get women to watch us after they get the kids off to school, load the dishwasher, do laundry, you know get some household things out of the way and are ready to watch something where they might learn something. They’d feel guilty watching something just for