Georgie on His Mind by Jennifer Shirk

wasn't sure. Until now,
she'd never even spoken about that fear aloud.
    He must have sensed her anxiety because he closed the
gap between them and his expression softened. "No," he
said gently. "I've never felt-I don't feel suffocated. What's
the matter, Georgie? Why are you asking about this?"
    "Oh, I ... I don't know." She gave a little shrug, trying to
shake off his concern, and went back to typing the few prescriptions Dee had set down next to her. She felt foolish for
voicing her question to someone like Walt and tried for a dif ferent mood. "I'm sorry, Walt. I guess I'm just surprised that
you aren't with someone. You seem like the kind of man
who should have a nice girlfriend."

    Staggering backward, Walt clutched his chest. "Whoa, be
still my heart, was that a kind word I heard from you? Maybe
there's a chance we can be friends after all."
    "Well, I am sorry you don't have a girlfriend. If you did,
you could have stayed with her and you wouldn't be living
with Brad and me" She glanced over at him and laughed
when she saw his face fall.
    "I should have seen that one coming," he murmured,
shaking his head.
    "You must be slipping in your old age, so I'll cut you
some slack. Dementia can't be that far off for you, so it's a
good thing I've already taken it upon myself to do some
thinking as far as the business is concerned"
    He didn't bother stifling a groan as he snatched the prescription label from the printer. "Look, Georgie, no offense,
but I was district supervisor for six years in Philadelphia. I
think I can come up with some of my own ideas to help the
pharmacy. Thanks anyway, but I've got it covered"
    "Okay," she challenged. "If you're such a smarty corporate business man, why don't you run an idea by Dee and
me, and we can give you our opinion on it?"
    Walt rubbed his chin and let a few moments pass while he
seemed to think about it, but when no impromptu ideas
came forth, he clamped his lips and stared her down with
a heated glint.
    She smiled smugly and continued to wait for an answer.
    Dee came over with a few more prescriptions and set
them on the counter by Georgie. "Mrs. Johnson is coming
back to pick those up tomorrow, so no rush. Oh, and she wants someone to show her a good glucose monitor to buy when
she comes back too"

    "Thanks," Georgie said, picking up a prescription and
fanning herself with it. "Actually, Mrs. Johnson's request
plays a part in the idea I came up with. Would you care to
hear it now, Walt? Or are you still trying to come up with
your own plan?"
    "Okay, fine," he grumbled. "Let's hear it."
    "Great. Here's what I was thinking. We could set up a
mini diabetes expo in the center of the store. You know, set
up a table with free brochures and sample products. We could
have an extra pharmacist available all day just to talk to customers about their disease and how they're managing it.
Maybe we could even suggest customers bring in a chart of
their daily blood sugar levels for a free analysis. Oh, and we
could give away a free blood sugar monitor as a door prize.
What do you think about something like that?" She held her
breath and waited.
    Walt's brows pulled together as he rubbed the back of his
neck. "A diabetes expo, huh?"
    "Uh-huh. And at the risk of tooting my own horn, I think
it would be a wonderful service to provide to the community.
This little store could fill a niche that those big corporate
drugstores can't provide: genuine concern for the health of
our customers"
    "Hey, Georgie, that's pretty good," Dee commented.
    Georgie smiled then looked anxiously at Walt, who
seemed to be still considering the idea. He was staring at the
floor. She thought she heard him utter a few grunts, but then
he suddenly looked up and his lips slid into a breathtaking
smile. "All right, Georgie. I might have to agree with Dee
here. It is a pretty good idea."
    "Oh my gosh. You really think so?"

    He chuckled. "Yeah, actually I don't think I could have