Then There Was You

by Miranda Liasson

  “Hey, no rushing,” Colton said in his cop voice. “Wouldn’t want you getting in an accident.”

  “I won’t. Bye!” she said, running back to her car. But not before she took a long hard look at tattoo boy.

  Even worse, Aiden turned as she passed and unabashedly checked out her ass.

  As a cop Colton was trained to notice things, but he sure wished he hadn’t noticed that.

  Chapter 6

  Good morning,” Sara said cheerfully, walking into her father’s office bright and early Monday morning. His two longtime employees, Leonore and Glinda, were already there. She could see them through the big glass window that separated the reception area from the waiting room. Opening the door and walking into the back office, she placed a coffee cake on the Formica counter.

  Yes, a coffee cake. She’d sucked up her aversion and made one as a gesture to get started on the right foot.

  “Good morning, sweetheart,” Leonore said, getting up from her workstation, where she had been leafing through a People magazine and drinking from an Eddie Redmayne coffee mug. Leonore looked like the world’s most perfect grandma—plump and pleasant looking, with nearly white hair and boxy glasses that magnified her eyes and always made her look a little surprised. She was also a hardcore knitter and every item on her desk was enclosed in cases of all colors of the rainbow she’d made herself—a cup cosy, a cylindrical holder for pens, a rectangular one for her iPhone.

  “Oh, here, I made you something,” she said, thrusting a tiny brightly wrapped square in Sara’s direction.

  “Oh, Leonore, you shouldn’t have.” Sara was a little nervous, as the last gift from Leonore had been a winter hat with floppy dog ears on it, a little embarrassing to wear in public. She ripped open the package. It contained a multicolored knit pouch with a long string attached in a big loop. Hmm. Something to wear around your neck for loose change? Breath mints? Emergency tampon?

  “It’s a little case for your phone or whatever that you can wear around your neck,” Leonore said. “It’ll be convenient for the office.”

  “They’re so handy,” Glinda called from the exam room hallway, holding up a white version that she wore around her own neck, no doubt to match the starched white nursing uniform she wore every single day. “Especially on the days when you don’t have pockets.”

  Indeed. “Thank you,” Sara said, walking through the little half door that separated the behind-the-desk area from the rest of the office to give Leonore a hug. She placed the bright knit square around her neck. “I can’t wait to use it.” Come to think of it, she hated wearing a white coat. They made kids cry and always had to be laundered and pressed, even if they did have tons of pockets. So maybe the pouch wasn’t such a bad idea after all. Especially the emergency tampon part. Besides, she was constantly misplacing her pens. Was it scary that she was already thinking of so many uses for this thing?

  Glinda approached the reception counter. “Oh, coffee cake! What a treat from our new doctor. Did you make it from scratch? Come have a piece too.” Glinda adjusted her vintage nurse cap over her blonde hair that she’d been teasing into a bouffant since 1960 at least.

  Yes, Sara had made it from scratch, because she knew they loved coffee cake. Even though it looked really good, she couldn’t bear to have a bite herself.

  Leonore brought over the coffeepot and some ceramic mugs, each of which bore a different drug company’s slogan. “Of course she did, Glinda. Would you expect anything less from our little Sara? We’re so proud of you, sweetie. You’ve come such a long way since we caught you in the back studying your father’s anatomy books.”

  Sara felt the first blush of the day spreading across her cheekbones. She’d been thirteen, and they’d found her reading one of her dad’s heavy illustrated anatomy atlases—the one about the reproductive system. Well, a girl’s got to learn somehow, right? Those years between her mom’s death and her dad’s marriage to Rachel had been a little short on trusted womanly influence, so she’d filled in the gaps in her knowledge by doing her own research.

  Glinda patted her back. “And you’ve come a long way since your marriage mishap last year.”

  Here came blush number two. And it wasn’t even eight o’clock yet.

  “I never liked that Taggart,” Leonore said, cutting a large slice of cake. “He always struck me as hoity-toity, you know why? Whenever I ran into him around town and had my grandkids with me, he never even so much as said hi to them. What kind of father would a man like that make?”

  “Seriously,” Glinda agreed, putting her much smaller piece on a paper plate. “Doctor told us you won’t eat cake anymore. Does that include coffee cake too?”

  Sara waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s not a problem, really. I mean, it’s not the cake’s fault, right?” She’d never admit it, but it was a problem, and it was all cake. Coffee cake, ice cream cake, any cake in the world.

  “I was the one who took your beautiful wedding cake to the homeless shelter,” Leonore said solemnly.

  Sara’s stomach churned. It was getting really difficult to keep this smile plastered on her face. Just then the office door opened, and Mr. Humphries, the bank manager, walked in. “Ladies, good morning,” he said, waving through the glass partition and taking a seat in the waiting room. At seven forty-five, he was early for the first appointment of the day, which typically began at eight thirty.

  No one jumped to get him signed in and ready. “Yep,” Leonore continued. “Doctor called me and said, ‘Leonore, would you mind getting this thing the heck out of my house because it’s making my daughter cry’ and I said ‘No problem, boss, I’ll be right over.’ It was a Saturday, and I was still dressed in my pj’s.” Ah yes. The cake had been delivered to her parents’ house by accident, after the wedding was called off. Bless her dad, thinking of the shelter. At least someone had gotten some pleasure out of it.

  “I’m so excited to be working here, ladies,” Sara said, smiling her cheeriest smile and hoping to leave the topic of her beautiful failed wedding in the dust. “I know my dad will teach me so much, but I’m also hoping to help the office make some adjustments to move us more into state-of-the-art patient care.” At least she prayed she could do that, but she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

  “Well, we’re all about state-of-the-art patient care,” Glinda said. “Your father’s the best doc in town, but let’s face it, this place needs a face-lift.” She straightened the frame on the iconic Norman Rockwell print of the doctor giving the little boy a shot in the butt. It made Sara think instantly of Colton. She wondered if he’d been cute with a buzz cut like the boy in the painting. Actually, he was cute with a buzz cut now, in a whole different way.

  Ugh, why had she just thought that?

  “What kinds of adjustments, dear?” Leonore asked, the slightest furrow forming between her brows.

  “My dad’s going to get penalized by Medicare if he doesn’t turn his charts electronic, so I said I’d get us started on that. Plus we talked about getting new computers for the reception desk and electronic tablets to bring into the exam rooms. And painting the office. Getting a new EKG machine. That kind of stuff.”

  “I like everything but the electronic records,” Leonore said. “That sounds a little scary.”

  “Don’t be afraid, Leonore,” Glinda said. “It means a better computer. You’ll be able to play Words with Friends even faster.”

  “Well, we’ll all be learning together,” Sara said. “I also had some ideas about streamlining the day so we can get out of here earlier.”

  Leonore patted her on the back. “You do that, honey. All my grandkids play sports, and I never get out of here on time.”

  “I’m sure Sara will have kids one day too,” Glinda said. “I mean, when you meet someone, that is.” She blushed, knowing the topic was a sensitive one. “And when you do, you’ll want to get home too.”

  “Glinda, I want to get home before seven now, even though I don’t have a boyfriend or kids.”<
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  “Look, we love your dad,” Leonore said. “He’s a kind man and a wonderful doctor. But the man can talk. He knows everyone and he’ll help anyone with any problem. But sometimes you just need to get to business and get home, you know what I mean?”

  Sara knew her dad loved to talk to people. It was what made him beloved in the community and also what made him chronically behind schedule. It would improve everyone’s life to make a few changes.

  Just then her dad walked in, gave her a quick squeeze, and went for a piece of coffee cake. “Welcome to your first day,” he said. “Did you see what’s on your office door?”

  “What? No, I-I haven’t been back there yet.” A few weeks ago, Sara had helped clean out a little room down the hall that had been used for supplies but was now her office. When she walked back, she saw a wooden engraved plaque attached to her door that read “Sara Langdon, MD.”

  “Oh, Dad,” she said, getting teary.

  Leonore slipped her iPhone out of its vibrant multicolored case as Sara rejoined them. “OK, you two, smile now. First-day picture!”

  Her father wrapped his arm around Sara and pressed his cheek against hers, grinning widely. She couldn’t help but grin too. “That’s my girl,” he said proudly as he let go. “Glad to have you here, sweetheart.”

  “Aw, that’s so sweet,” Leonore said, looking at the picture. “I’m going to frame this and hang it next to the picture behind your desk of Sara running around the Christmas tree in her diaper. Won’t that be so cute?”

  Sara pretended not to hear that. She was still smiling at what her dad had said. For a moment her heart reached out to grab everything in its path—his approval, the fact that he’d just basically said that he wanted her here with him, as his partner. That maybe it was all right not to be in an academic fellowship far away from family, doing research and presenting papers at Harvard. That she might belong right here at home after all.

  Leonore showed her the photo. “We should put this on the practice website, Dad,” Sara said.

  “Do we have a website?” Glinda asked.

  “Well, we probably should have one,” her dad said. “But by the time we get it up there, Sara will probably be gone.”

  Sara tried not to let her expression fall. Gone? Despite the plaque and his kind words, her dad clearly still expected her to move on to bigger and better things.

  “I can see Mr. Humphries,” she offered. Best to get busy. Show her dad she was gung ho about starting and that she believed in efficiency.

  Glinda checked her watch. “It’s only eight-oh-five, sweetie,” she said. “We don’t start with the patients until eight thirty.”

  But he’d been here for twenty minutes, and Sara could use a distraction. “Well, maybe we could see him early today so he could get back to work.” And keep traffic in the office flowing, which seemed to be a novel idea.

  “Oh, all right,” Glinda said. “Sure. I can put him in a room.”

  Leonore took her dad aside a moment to confer about something before she returned to her desk. Sara had just moved to pick up the patient’s chart when her dad appeared at her side, clearing his throat and putting a hand on her arm. “Um, I’ll see George,” he said. “Longtime patient, you know?” He lowered his voice. “It will be a lot easier for me to just take this one.”

  Sara frowned. “Did he—did he insist on seeing you?”

  “Well, you know how it is, sweetheart…people have their certain problems and they feel most comfortable with who’s been listening to them for years. You understand that, don’t you?”

  “Right. Of course.” She forced a smile.

  “Don’t worry,” her dad said, giving her another squeeze. “You’ll be plenty busy all day. It’s not even eight thirty yet.”

  Sara fought against the awful sinking feeling in her abdomen. Her dad had a personal relationship with all his patients. He truly cared about them, and they adored him in return. It looked like neither her dad nor the patients were going to be able to give that up easily.

  Resolutely she walked back to her office to stare at her blank white walls and her too-tidy desk. She stuck a pack of gum and a pen into her new knit kangaroo pouch. It was early yet…the first hour. But she had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

  * * *

  “So what are you doing here so late anyway?” Sara asked her best friend, Kaitlyn, that evening at the Bean, the coffee shop Kaitlyn had inherited from her grandfather. “Don’t you have something to do with that hunky high school football coach you’re dating?”

  Kaitlyn was scrubbing coffee carafes in the big industrial sink while Sara sat at the steel kitchen counter sorting sugar and Splenda packets. “You may as well know,” Kaitlyn said, “I broke up with him.”

  Sara looked up. “You broke up with Steve? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You’ve had a lot on your mind, what with moving back and starting work…and flirting with Colton.” Kaitlyn attempted a smile.

  Sara chose to ignore the Colton remark. On second thought, she would address it immediately. “You mean fighting, not flirting. And have I been that unavailable that you couldn’t even tell me that? If I have been, I’m a shitty friend and I’m sorry.”

  Kaitlyn pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail and kept scrubbing a carafe. Steam drifted up, curling Kaitlyn’s already wavy blonde hair. She turned off the water and pulled off her rubber gloves. “Truthfully, Sara, I haven’t felt like talking about it. I’d really rather talk about your life. It’s more exciting. Speaking of which, how’d your first day working with your dad go?”

  Sara smiled. “Hardly exciting. And speaking of not wanting to talk about it…” She laughed. “Seriously, it was all right. I’m optimistic. And more importantly, I’m really glad I took this time to come home and be with my nonna. And closer to you. I’ve really regretted being so far away. Come sit down and talk with me.”

  “OK, fine. I’m done here anyway.” Her smile was genuine this time as she gestured for Sara to follow her as she took a seat at one of the cute tables in the coffee shop proper. “What can I get you to drink? Or I have leftover muffins if you’re hungry.”

  “My dad and Rachel are having Nonna for dinner tonight, so I’m free. Want to order a pizza?” Sara asked. “Like the old days?”

  “Anchovies and onions? I don’t think so.”

  “Oh, come on. I’ll even splurge for the Cherry Coke.”

  “Blech, you’re making me sick. I can do a veggie pizza with a two-liter of Diet. And a salad. If you make the call.”

  “Deal.” Sara ordered the pizza from Lou’s, their favorite local pizza restaurant and bar. “Twenty minutes until pickup,” she announced.

  Kaitlyn got them each a glass of water and sat down. “I’m tired.”

  “You must be. You start at like four a.m., don’t you? And you’re still here. That’s worse than my dad’s hours.”

  “The business is going great. What I mean is, I’m tired of pretending I’m in love. Steve’s a great guy, but I don’t love him. That’s why I broke it off. I tried my best, but it just didn’t happen.”

  “Oh, Kaitlyn. I’m sorry.” Sara squeezed her hand. She worried about Kaitlyn, who kept dating guys but none of them stuck. When they were younger Sara had blamed that on Kaitlyn’s having a hopeless crush on Rafe. Now she wasn’t so sure.

  “There’s no reason to be sorry. Now Steve has the chance to meet and fall in love with someone he really loves. And I do too.”

  Well, that sounded positive, but Kaitlyn didn’t look like she felt very positive. “You’ve dated a lot of guys,” Sara said. “At least you’ve got the experience of knowing what you want.”

  “Well, mostly what I don’t want.” She played with a Splenda packet in the center of the table. “My mother would say I’m too picky. Is it too picky to want a gentleman, someone who’s polite and considerate, has a good job, is kind to animals, and can cook?”

  Oh well, Rafe definitely couldn�
�t cook…much. So maybe Kaitlyn was safe. Plus she did look sad about Steve. So hopefully Rafe was out of the picture. On second thought, Rafe had brought a really good salad to dinner last weekend.

  There was a sudden knock at the big plate glass window. Sara turned to see her brother’s face plastered against it. Kaitlyn laughed, suddenly animated at seeing Rafe.

  Rafe popped his head in the door. “Hey, Sara, Kate-sters.” Sara didn’t miss that Rafe’s glance lingered on her best friend. Or that he called her that goofy name. “Anything new in coffee world? Hey, I need another bag of that Red Bull coffee you sold me a couple of weeks ago.”

  “You mean the Himalayan high altitude mix?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “Yeah, that’s it. The guys at the station love that stuff for when we’re up all night.”

  “Rafe, did you really come by to buy coffee now?” Sara asked. “We’re having girl talk. Besides, the Bean is closed and Kaitlyn is off the clock.”

  “Want to know the truth?” Rafe asked. “I figured if I offered to pick up your pizza, maybe you’d let me stay and eat a slice.”

  “Or ten,” Kaitlyn added. “How did you know we just ordered?”

  “Because I just called for one too, and Lou told me. I’ll be back in a few.”

  “Here, let me get some money,” Kaitlyn said, already halfway out of her chair.

  “Don’t bother,” Rafe said with a killer smile. “You get it next time, Katie Scarlett.” Then he was gone, disappearing back onto Main Street, the bell above the door tinkling in his wake and Kaitlyn’s face as crimson as the nickname Rafe had just called her.

  Katie Scarlett? As in O’Hara? What was going on with the cute little endearments? “Since when did you get so chummy with my brother?” Sara asked.

  Kaitlyn shrugged. “We’ve always been friends.” She paused a long time. “That’s the problem.”

  “No, Kaitlyn! Not Rafe. He’s the worst kind of commitmentphobe. He will break your heart. Guaranteed. Do you hear me? Guaranteed.”