Into the Frying Pan

by Sarah Osborne

  The interpreter spent several minutes explaining what I had said, and I watched the relieved expressions on the part of both parents. They nodded when asked about medicine and shook my hand before they left. A nurse took Bana down the hall to draw blood. Her mother went with her.

  “Thank you, thank you,” Mr. Abadi said. “In Syria we lost our baby. She couldn’t breathe and we couldn’t get help, so you see my wife was very worried.”

  I nodded and showed him to the waiting room. He held tightly to a small child with each hand.

  “Your other children are doing well, not bothered by allergies?” I asked.

  “They are strong as bears. No problem.”

  The morning picked up its own rhythm as it always did. Sometimes we had to move quickly and at other times our pace was more relaxed. We had no emergencies that day and people as always were grateful for their care. It was twelve thirty before I looked at my watch and one of the nurses called to let me know a man was waiting for me in the lobby. I finished up what I was doing and signed out to Vic and my nurse.

  Phil took my arm and walked me to his rented Mercedes.

  I must have made a face because he responded defensively. “What’s wrong with that? It’s what I drive at home.”

  I got in the car and settled back into the plush leather seats. Nothing but the best for Phil. That hadn’t changed. “Where are we going?”

  “Ryan and Harper insisted we try a bistro they love in Buckhead, cleverly called the Buckhead Bistro.” He gave me his boyish grin, and for a minute I was back in med school seeing Phil through rose-colored glasses.

  What was I doing? Phil could still draw me in after all he’d done to me? I looked at him and shook my head.

  “What is it?” he asked again with that wry smile of his. “You noticing my receding hair line? I may shave my head since that’s such an in thing to do these days. Your boyfriend looks good bald.”

  “You can leave Mason out of this,” I said, “even though he does look good bald.”

  We arrived a little after one. Ryan jumped up to greet me. He’d aged in seven years, something I hadn’t noticed on the battlefield after Carl’s death. His thick brown hair had flecks of gray in it and his face had worry lines. Harper looked the same as when I’d last seen her in med school. Slim, blond, fashionable, with an angular set to her jaw. Everything about her screamed money and good taste. She remained seated and we hugged awkwardly.

  “Mabel, it’s so good to see you,” she said.

  I flinched a little. My good friends called me Ditie, from Aphrodite—the middle name my father had insisted on. People who didn’t know me well stuck with Mabel—the name my mother gave me.

  “Hey, Ditie,” Ryan said. “You look great.” He hugged me, and I remembered why I liked him so much. He was a warm, friendly guy.

  “You haven’t changed a bit,” Harper said. I wasn’t sure she meant that as a compliment.

  We sat down at a small table toward the back of the restaurant.

  “I remembered how much you liked food,” Harper said. “Good food I mean, and this place has the best.”

  “How have you been?” Ryan asked me. He couldn’t help looking at Phil.

  “I’ve been great,” I said.

  I thought I might as well get the elephant out of the room.

  “I’m sure you’re both surprised to see Phil and me together after our breakup.” I wondered what Phil had told them if anything. “I admit I was shocked to hear he was going to New York at the end of our residencies, but I got over it. It turned out to be a good thing for both of us.”

  I glanced at Phil to see how he was handling my version of the story. He had his face buried in the menu.

  “I came back here a couple of years ago to be near my brother and my best friend. My life is really good now.”

  “Phil mentioned you have two foster children,” Harper said. “How is that?”

  “Wonderful. I’m in the process of adopting them.”

  “I’m sorry about your friend,” Ryan said, “the one who was murdered. It must have been awful.”

  “It was, but we’re all recovering. How are you two doing?”

  “Good.” Ryan nodded with a half-smile. “Work is plentiful in Buckhead.”

  “And lucrative,” Harper added. “We’re current with all the latest treatments—ahead of the game really. If you ever want a peel or Botox let me know. It’ll be on the house.”

  We ordered lunch and caught up on our current lives. Harper and Ryan had no children, which surprised me. I actually thought Ryan might go into pediatrics the way he loved children.

  “When did you two marry? I assumed it was right after graduation, but Phil said it was later than that.”

  Harper flashed Phil a cold look. “Have you been telling Mabel my life story?” She turned back to me. “It’s no secret. Frank Peterson and I were together for a while and then…things just didn’t work out. I couldn’t see myself staying in New York, and he couldn’t see himself moving South. You never met my father, but he was adamant I marry a Southerner.”

  “Lucky for me,” Ryan said. “We married three years ago. Had a big wedding in Texas at the ranch.”

  “Do you go back to Texas much?” I asked. “It’s the one state I’ve never really visited.”

  “My father died suddenly last year—a heart attack, so I don’t go home as much as I used to. My mother and brother handle the ranch fine without me.”

  “I’m sorry about your dad,” I said.

  “Me too. I miss him, but he was a hard man to please. He was always pressuring me for grandchildren.”

  Harper was older than I was and I wondered if she felt her biological clock ticking.

  She seemed to read my mind. “I won’t have kids,” she said.

  “But we might adopt some day,” Ryan said and squeezed Harper’s hand.

  She pulled her hand away. “If I don’t have my own children, why would I want someone else’s?”

  This sounded like an old argument.

  “No offense, Ditie,” she said. “You were built to have kids—I mean, psychologically. I’m not surprised you took in strays and found a way to love them. It’s great for you.”

  I felt my color rising. “They were never strays, Harper. Their mother Ellie was a childhood friend. She loved her kids, and I love them.”

  “I meant no offense, Mabel. We’re just very different people, that’s all.”

  This conversation was making me angry, so I turned my attention to Phil.

  He provided details about his new life. His research grants were booming. He made time for reenactments all over the country. He’d separated six months ago and hoped to be divorced by Christmas. He spoke about the divorce the way you might talk about getting rid of an old car.

  “Are you sad about it, Phil?” I asked.

  He was silent for a moment. “We were never a good match, Ditie. She always wanted to change me. I’m not sure I ever really loved her. She was getting desperate to have children and that’s when I knew it was over.”

  “What’s wrong with wanting children?” Ryan asked.

  “Nothing. Not for other people, but my life is too busy. I don’t have time for that right now.”

  We let the subject drop.

  “So Phil got you involved with reenactments?” I asked.

  “I grew up a tomboy,” Harper said. “You might not know that, Ditie, from looking at me, but I could hunt and ride with the best of them. Daddy always made sure I could take care of myself in a man’s world. So when Phil wrote about the joys of reenactments for the med school journal, I asked to join him. I’ve been doing it for a couple of years now.”

  Phil nodded. “You should see her on the field, Ditie. She’s something else.”

  “It seemed time to get Ryan involved since so many reenact
ments are here in our backyard,” Harper said.

  “I could take them or leave them,” Ryan said, “And after Saturday, I’ll be happy to leave them.”

  Harper nudged him. “You’ll grow to love them as much as I do.”

  “Are you going to participate in the next one, even after what happened?” I asked.

  “Probably,” Harper said. “What happened was dreadful, but it was just a terrible accident.”

  “I had no idea Carl was living in Atlanta,” I said. “He always hated the South.”

  “We saw a lot of him and his wife,” Ryan said. “Kathy grew up in South Carolina, down the street from Andy Morrison.”

  “How did they meet?” I asked.

  “Carl came down with Sally looking for work,” Harper said. “I think it was Sally’s idea to come South.”

  “She and Carl stayed friends,” I asked, “after she dropped out of school?”

  “Yes,” Harper said.

  “Were they ever a couple?” I asked.

  Harper shook her head. “I think maybe Carl would have liked that, but I don’t think Sally was interested in Carl romantically. They worked together—Carl as a doc and Sally in the business end of things. I think they came South to see if Andy Morrison might have a job for both of them.”

  “Is Andy here in Atlanta also?” I asked.

  “No,” Ryan said. “He stayed in his home town in South Carolina.”

  Harper jumped in to finish her story. “Andy introduced Carl to Kathy, and as they say the rest is history.” Harper gave me a funny look. “It was a shotgun wedding. Kathy got pregnant but later lost the baby.”

  “Do they have other children?”

  “Nope. Lots of trying and miscarriages I think, but no kids,” Harper said.

  “Maybe that’s for the best right now,” Ryan said.

  “Maybe so,” I said, but I wasn’t sure that’s how I’d feel.

  “Kathy’s a teacher,” Ryan said. “You’ll like her. She’s coming to the party.”

  I put my sandwich down. “I can’t imagine she’d want to do that. She must be devastated.”

  “That’s what we thought, but she insisted.” Harper turned to Ryan. “She said anything would be better than sitting at home right now, didn’t she, hon?”

  Ryan nodded.

  “When did Carl start working with your father?” I asked Phil.

  Ryan looked at Phil. “You didn’t give Ditie all the details?”

  Phil continued to eat his shrimp po’ boy and shook his head.

  “I’d say a few months ago, wouldn’t you, Phil?” Ryan seemed eager to tell the story.

  Phil nodded.

  “It was a shock to everyone,” Ryan added. “We all heard Carl’s tirades about Southerners, but something changed. Carl showed up here, and the next thing we all knew he had a job with Phil’s dad. I guess you know all the details, Phil.”

  “First I knew of it was when I came here four months ago. Dad hadn’t bothered to tell me before it happened. He said he owed Carl a favor.”

  “Owed him a favor?” I asked. “Whatever for? How did they even know each other?”

  Phil ignored the first part of my question. “They met when we were second year students,” Phil said, “My father seemed to like Carl a lot more than I did.”

  “Is Sally working for your father too?” I asked.

  “No. My father discovered Sally didn’t have a business degree and wasn’t a CPA. She made that up, and no one bothered to check it out at the other places she worked.”

  “Why would she lie about that?” I asked.

  “Good grief, Mabel. Even you can’t be that naive,” Harper said. “She lied for the reasons we all lie— to survive. What was the girl supposed to do? She dropped out of med school. Her father was a doctor and maybe he got fed up with her when she dropped out. Maybe he cut her off. Fathers don’t like it when their daughters go against their wishes.”

  Harper’s usual cool tone escalated.

  “So, she did the only thing she could do—she lied and found a way to make money. She worked on Wall Street for a few years and then sold herself as a financial guru. She and Carl worked with Frank Peterson for a bit and then headed South for greener pastures.”

  “You kept up with her then, after med school?” I said. “I knew you were close in school.”

  “We weren’t that close in school, but yeah, I stayed up with her,” Harper said. “Why the third degree?”

  Phil laughed. “Don’t you remember, Harper? In med school, Ditie was the one who’d have to understand every last detail before she moved on. She hasn’t changed.”

  “Speaking of details,” I said turning to Phil. “Why was Carl at the reenactment?”

  “Dad insisted I teach Carl some hands-on history. He said he couldn’t have someone in his concierge business who didn’t have a working knowledge of the Civil War.”

  I stared at Phil. “Did your dad know how much the two of you disliked each other?”

  “I don’t think so. Carl laid it on pretty thick about how close we’d become.”

  “I thought you were considering taking over your dad’s practice.”

  “That was before I knew about Carl. I swear Dad thought he was a second son. I wasn’t going to get involved with that.”

  “I guess now the door is open again for you to join the practice.” I spoke before I thought about what those words might mean.

  “What? Are you suggesting I might be happy Carl is dead, so I can take over my father’s business?”

  “No, of course not.”

  Harper patted Phil’s hand. “Mabel didn’t mean anything bad, I’m sure. She sometimes comes across a little harshly.”

  There are two things I really hate. People speaking for me and people who refer to me in the third person when I’m sitting in front of them.

  I didn’t respond, but Ryan did. “It’s been a crazy week for all of us. The police swarming around. We all feel like suspects.”

  “I can’t believe any of you want to go to another reenactment.” I said.

  “I’m here. I have my gear. I’m going,” Phil said.

  “I plan to sit on the hillside with Harper,” Ryan smiled.

  “No you don’t,” she responded. “I want to see my man in action. Besides I may bring my horse and be part of the cavalry.”

  A waitress arrived at that moment. “Can I interest you in dessert?”

  I looked over at Phil. “I think I need to go.”

  He glanced at his pocket watch. “It’s not even two thirty. Your boss said you didn’t have to come back at all.”

  “Well, I do. I have paperwork.”

  “But you love dessert, Mabel,” Harper said. “You’ve always loved dessert.”

  “We understand,” Ryan said. I reached for my wallet, but he put a hand on my arm. “This is on us. It was great to see you, Ditie.”

  “I’ll see you Wednesday?” I asked.

  “We wouldn’t miss it,” Harper said. She stood up and gave me a peck on the cheek. She gave Phil a longer kiss on the lips. Ryan didn’t look happy about that.

  Chapter Six

  Phil didn’t speak to me for the first five minutes of the drive back to the clinic. It reminded me of the old days. If I did something that annoyed him, he’d give me the silent treatment. Usually, I’d beg him to tell me what I’d done wrong, but not this time.

  Eventually he spoke up. “How could you have said that to me?”

  I gave him a blank look.

  “About how the door was open now for a reconciliation with my father.”

  “I never said anything about a reconciliation. Are you two estranged?”

  “You know what I’m talking about, Ditie. You suggested I might have killed Carl to get him out of the way.”

 
; “I can see how you heard what I said as an accusation. I didn’t mean it as one. Of course I was surprised Carl ended up working for your father. He hated the South, and you two stopped speaking in med school. You never told me why. Will you tell me now?”

  “I don’t think you want to hear this.”

  “Try me.”

  “It was over a girl.”

  “While you were dating me you were involved with someone else?”

  “It’s before we talked about being exclusive. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “You never do, Phil.” I sighed. “Okay, let me hear it.”

  “Carl and I got interested in the same girl at the end of first year.”

  “Someone from med school?”

  “No names, just the story,” Phil said.

  “All right. Tell me the story.”

  “She didn’t tell us she was dating both of us. It probably would have been okay with me. I didn’t really want to get serious about anyone at that point. But Carl did. He found out about us and started spreading vicious rumors about me. Rumors that could have gotten me kicked out of school, like I was putting a scam together to help people cheat.”

  Phil didn’t need to cheat. He was plenty smart in his own right. On the other hand, he cheated on me with his oncology nurse. Maybe that was the same thing.

  “You’re quiet, Ditie. Don’t tell me you think I actually did cheat on exams. I was elected to AOA as a third year—you know how hard that is to do.”

  “I know, Phil. You never let me forget it.”

  “So if I’m in the medical honor society I didn’t need to cheat.”

  “I heard about the cheating scandal, but I never knew any of the details, except that something was going on. The school managed to keep it hushed up.”

  “Well, you won’t learn any details from me except to say Carl tried to convince the school and my father that I was the mastermind.”

  “Did he succeed?”

  “My father is a proud man—concerned about the honor of the Brockton name. ‘Never sullied in two hundred years,’ that’s his favorite quote. You can imagine what a scandal like this would have done to him.”

  Phil turned into the drive to the clinic and parked near the front entrance.