Page 5 of Lovesick

“We can’t let that happen,” Louise said. “You still agree with me, George?”

“I agree and raise you a million. We don’t need the money. We have the inheritance from our mother’s side of the family. Besides, the money isn’t the whole story. I believe we’re doing business the right way and that we can continue to make money.”

Max said, “I’ll do whatever I can to help.” He sounded like he meant it.

If Louise didn’t already have a little crush on him, his all-in attitude would have cemented it.

George said, “Good, because we’ll need you as the poster boy for everything that’s right with Regal’s as a family company. The vote is in three weeks. We’ll need to come up with a way to convince people in that time that we can make money as an old-fashioned family-owned business with a company doctor.”

Louise still felt sick, but the urgency of the situation overrode the flu, settled her gut—except for an occasional sharp pain.

George said, “You go home and rest. We’ll have a meeting tomorrow to fix it.”

“I’ll be fine,” Louise said. “We need to come up with a stick of dynamite.”

George looked at Max. He nodded. “Doc. How’s she doing?”

“Stop worrying, George. We’ll get this done.”

“She has something. I took a blood sample. I’ll get it checked out tonight,” Max said, doing his best to keep his voice neutral. But since his perfect new job was suddenly under scrutiny, he didn’t feel neutral.

George paused, looked uncharacteristically serious and, as he went to the door, said, “Take care of her, Doc. I’m counting on you both.” He shut the door behind him.