Free Blind Ice (Razors Ice Book 5) by Rachelle Vaughn

her heated face.
    Just as Kate started to close her eyes and relive the events of the night before, Janis stuck her head into Kate’s office. “Jenny Shepard is here to see you. She said it’ll only take a minute.”
    “Sure. Send her in.”
    Janis nodded. “If you don’t need anything else, I’m taking off.”
    “I’m good. Have a nice evening.”
    Janis left and Jenny bounded through the door, trendy sunglasses perched on her head, holding her long hair behind her ears. “Ooh, pretty roses. They look expensive. My mom said I should make an appointment and that you’d probably be too busy to see me, but I had to come in and thank you. These contacts have literally changed my life, Dr. K.”
    All this came out in one breath and Kate waved her in to sit down. “Are they working out all right? No discomfort or irritation?”
    “Yeah. They’re great. It’s still totally weird touching my eyeball and I was scared to do it on my own at first, but it’s totally worth it. Boys are actually noticing me at school.”
    “That’s great to hear, Jenny.”
    “You wanna know the first thing I did when I left your office with ‘em on? I put sunglasses on! I’ve never been able to wear them before. Even though it was cloudy and I didn’t really need them, I just had to see what it was like to finally get to wear them.”
    Kate smiled. “I’m so glad they’re working out for you. Call me if you ever need anything.”
    “I will,” Jenny said and turned to leave. “Thanks again, Dr. K.,” she called over her shoulder.
    Kate watched as Jenny practically skipped out of the office. The teen was obviously on cloud nine and Kate was glad to think she’d helped put her there.
    Those were the kind of visits that made her job worthwhile.
    When Julia began to lose her sight, Kate had been so scared. And not just for her sister. Kate had been secretly fearful that suddenly she’d be stricken with the same condition and lose her sight, too. It was a selfish fear, an ignorant one. One that she was ashamed of and one she didn’t share with anyone. The last thing Julia needed to hear was how afraid her sister was of suffering the same fate.
    So, Kate had tucked away the fear and focused on the things that really mattered—Julia’s wellbeing and educating herself. Choosing optometry had been an easy choice, the only one, really. Ever since Julia’s diagnosis, Kate had only one interest, one obsession, and that was the study of the human eye. She knew that when she finally became an optometrist after years and years of school, she wasn’t going to suddenly find a cure her sister. But the field intrigued her nonetheless and it was the only career path she could see herself taking. During her adolescence it felt good to have a goal—something to strive for, something to keep her on track, focused.
    The alarm on her phone went off, reminding her that it was time to meet Julia for yoga.
    Kate sniffed the roses one last time and grabbed her purse. Julia would have no problem giving her hell if she was even a minute late.
     
    * * *
    Kate had been practicing yoga ever since her divorce—according to Carl, the practice was “inappropriate voodoo”—and had eventually talked Julia into joining her. From the first class, Julia became hooked. The two sisters had spent so much time preoccupied with everything around them that it was nice to focus on connecting with their own bodies once in a while. Julia had taken some private one-on-one classes with an instructor and had moved on to group classes once she was comfortable with the poses.
    Julia positioned her yoga mat on the floor next to Kate’s and listened to the din of conversation around her. As usual, one of the women was fishing for compliments and was delighted when the instructor noticed her new yoga pants. Two women in the corner talked in hushed tones about—
    Well, Julia thought, blushing, she didn’t care to eavesdrop on that kind of conversation.
    It was amazing