by Timms, Lexy
He had no idea. Charity forced a smile. “Bit of a work emergency unfortunately,” she lied.
“Shame. Mia really wanted to meet you. Elijah wouldn’t stop talking about you the other night when he was over.”
Charity stared out the window and tried to blink back the tears. Wow, she couldn’t have screwed this up any more. Total disaster. Complete shipwreck. “He’s a great guy,” she whispered. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the cool glass. She pretended to sleep until just before they got to the port where the ferry docked.
Albert helped get her things out of the car and gave her a big, tight hug. “Take care, dear.” He got back behind the wheel and waved.
When his car disappeared from sight, Charity let the pent-up tears fall. She collapsed against a park bench and cried. She pulled herself together half an hour later and purchased a ticket. While on the ferry, she connected with her airline and luckily had a flight leaving in two hours that had space. She’d have to fly from Auckland to Narita Japan and then catch a thirteen-hour flight to California and then back to Atlanta.
She couldn’t wait to get back to her place. She planned to throw herself into her work and hopefully get lost in it… forever.
Chapter 16
When she returned to Atlanta, Charity did exactly as she had planned: she threw herself into her work. She organized the Valentine’s dinner details, hired a web designer to create an awesome website, reorganized her office, caught up on emails and press releases from the Christmas Extravaganza, and spoke to her father regarding his event. She needed to fly up to speak to the contractor and tried a lame excuse to get out of a weekend. She couldn’t stay away forever and when her father suggested the weekend connected with Christmas, she had no reason to say no.
At home she danced and worked out hard each time she started to think about Elijah. She owed him an apology but didn’t think the first move was hers to make. He had every right to be angry with her and if they didn’t talk before she flew up, she’d apologize in person. He deserved that.
She phoned Julie on the Wednesday before she flew up. Surprisingly, Julie picked up. “Hey girl, it’s me.”
“Charity! I just finished a five hour surgery and could use some cheer. It’s great to hear your voice.”
“Surgery go alright?” A twinge of some kind ran through her. Jealousy? Regret?
Julie sighed. “Bad tumor. Not sure if we got it all but I did everything I could to clear it all away. But let’s not talk about that. How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
“How was New Zealand?”
Charity let out an exasperated breath. “I think I’d rather talk about your long surgery.”
“Oh no. That bad?”
“Has Elijah said anything?”
“I wasn’t sure he knew I knew you went with him, so I only asked if he had a good trip.”
Which was probably the smart thing to do. “What did he say?”
“Typical guy response. Not much. Something along the lines of went home, funeral service and came back. Then he asked me for the charts of his patients I looked after while he was gone.”
“He didn’t…?”
Julie knew what she was asking. “He didn’t mention you. What happened? I kinda assumed you’d be calling to gush about his ravenous body and how he showed you all these beautiful, memorable sights and you made love and had hot sex. Instead you sound nervous.”
She felt tears fill her eyes but she refused to let them fall. What was with all the tears? She doubted she had shed this much when her mother passed. “Let’s just say it ended up kind of stressful.”
“For you? Him? Or between the two of you?”
“All of the above.”
“Oh girl, I’m so sorry. No Crocodile Dundee to the rescue?”
“More like I offered to help his mother do something special for the funeral party and the rescue part blew up in my face.” She hoped those poor little birds would be safe. Margaret was probably out kiwi hunting with a machine gun at that very moment.
Julie sighed. “Oh dear. I take it Elijah got mad.”
“I left a day early without telling him.”
“What?”
“It’s my own fault. I shouldn’t have gone over with him. We barely know each other. And then I shouldn’t have offered to help out. It wasn’t my place.”
“I’m sure you’re overreacting. Whatever happened probably isn’t as bad as you think it is.”
She didn’t have the heart to tell Julie what had gone so bad. Stupid, stupid idea. “It doesn’t matter. Whatever picture I had in my head of Elijah and me, it’s all torn up. Gone.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I’ve been back almost a week and haven’t heard from him. Check with the nurses. I’m sure he’s been out with one or two of them.”
“Charity Thompson! I have never heard you sound like the jealous type.”
“It’s the old maid talking here.” She smiled despite her disappointment.
Julie chuckled. “Have you taken up knitting?”
“I probably should. I’ll go to the local animal shelter after work and pick up ten cats too.”
“Oh dear. You are going to need some divine Julie-intervention. Are you coming up for Christmas?”
She could use some Julie-time. “I think I am. Since Christmas is on a Tuesday this year, I’ll probably fly out Saturday or Sunday. I’ll check what flights are available and go from there.”
“Sounds good. Let’s catch up, I miss you.”
“Shoot, I gotta go. Just been paged to the O-R.”
“Go. I’ll see you this weekend.”
“Charity?”
“Yeah?”
“Talk to him. Call Elijah and apologize for whatever you think is so bad. I bet your head is picturing it a lot worse that it really is.”
“Maybe.”
“Do it. I’m not getting off this phone till you agree. People are suffering because you are making them wait for me.”
Charity heard rustling as Julie more than likely grabbed one of her patient’s X-rays or something vital. An image of her friend waiting by her door with a foot tapping impatiently filled her brain. “Fine! Go! I’ll call him.”
Chapter 17
Charity checked her phone for what seemed like the millionth time that morning. She despised the fact that she had to check to see if Elijah had sent a text. After speaking to Julie two days ago she didn’t call him as promised, but late in the evening she sent him a message. It took her forever to write and finally she settled on the simple: Hope you got back alright. Sorry again about… everything.
He didn’t reply. It annoyed her. Not because he had not responded but it was as if she needed him. She didn’t. She was completely fine on her own if he didn’t decide to answer. She tossed her phone in her purse and jerked the mouse to turn on the computer screen on.
Who was she kidding? The thought of not seeing him again put an emptiness inside of her she didn’t want to live with. She tried to blame it on the fact they had made love in her apartment and nothing had happened in New Zealand. It should have. At least then she could stop fantasizing about him like that. She snorted. Really? Blame her brain because of the lack of sex? That was the excuse, not the real issue here.
“Charity?” Malcolm popped his head around the corner. “I knocked on the main door but wasn’t sure if you heard me. Am I interrupting?” The doctor wore dress pants and a white button up shirt under his coat. He always dressed neat for his patients, not casual like Dr. Elijah Bennett. He tended to be in jeans and a T-shirt.
“No. You’re not interrupting at all. Just about to go over a few numbers and see where we are for the Valentine’s auction.” She grimaced. “I don’t mean it like that; it sounds like a cattle auction. I just saved the program under ‘auction’ so it’d be near the top of my document’s list.”
He winked. “No worries. Your secret is safe. I was just about to head across the stre
et to grab some lunch. Do you want anything?”
She checked the corner of her computer screen and saw it was already half past twelve. How her stomach hadn’t rumbled its usual loud warning surprised her. Maybe too much focus on Elijah made her stomach depressed. She reached for her purse. “Food sounds good. Do you mind if I tag along?”
He smiled, his whole face lighting up. “Sure.” He took her coat off the coat rack by where he stood and held it out for her.
“Thanks,” she said as he helped her put it on. “What kind of restaurants are across the street?” She locked her office door and Malcolm pressed the elevator button.
“You haven’t been over yet?”
The elevator opened. “No. I didn’t even realize the plaza served food. I thought there were just a few shops and then office buildings above.”
“You’ll love it. There’s only a couple of shops in the front and then there are a bunch of little places like a food court but it only serves fresh stuff. A non-franchise burger joint which makes the best homemade hamburgers, a Thai place that’s only open for lunch and some green place.” He made a face that reminded Charity of a little kid told to eat his Brussels sprouts.
She laughed. “Like salads?”
He nodded. “And these awful looking shakes. It’s a big natural, holistic kind of place. Lots of the cancer patients on chemo go there. They have a cart that actually comes across to the oncology floor four times a day with premade shakes. It’s all healthy.”
“I take it you’re more of a meat and potato kind of guy?”
“If steak or hamburger is the meat and French fries are the potato, I’m in.”
“Shame on you, Dr. Parker.”
“It’s Malcolm.” He nudged her gently as they stepped outside. The cool wind whipped at her skirt and tried to open her coat. “Remember? It’s in the contract.”
She liked his good sense of humor. She could use the distraction. “Maybe someone needs to remind you to eat your greens. You can’t make your patients eat them and not be an example.” She tightened her coat around her and pretended to be horrified, trying to create a shocked face.
He chuckled and shrugged. “Maybe.”
The street light turned red and the little man showed up on the street light screen to let them know they could walk. They headed across the road. They didn’t continue the conversation until they were inside the building.
“So what kind of food do you like to eat if burgers and steak are not on your menu?” Malcolm walked with his hands comfortably in his coat pockets. He had to be almost a foot taller than her. At least he seemed that tall.
“I like burgers and the odd steak. I’m more of a chicken or fish kind of girl.”
“Then you’ve never had someone make you a proper steak. I need to barbeque you a nice Sirloin. Just steak.”
Barbie? Like they do in New Zealand. She forced the thought out of her head and gave Malcolm a sideways glance.
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Fine. And a bottle of red wine. Steak and wine, that’s it.”
She laughed and elbowed him. “How ‘bout you make the steak and I’ll bring the green? I bet I can get you liking a salad if it’s made properly.”
“Sounds like a plan. When?”
She caught sight of the food court and began checking out the vendors so it took a moment for his question to sink in. “Pardon?”
“When’s this food lesson going to happen?”
What should she say? Tell him she’d just been to New Zealand and ruined the last guy she’d slept with father’s funeral? Now he wasn’t returning her message? Screw Elijah. If he didn’t want to talk, she didn’t have to wait. This wasn’t a date, it was a cooking lesson. “I’m heading up to New York on Saturday. I haven’t heard back from a contractor when he can meet so I’m not sure when I’ll be back after Christmas.”
“Oh yeah, Christmas. Of course you’ll be spending it with your father.” He snapped his fingers. “What about next Friday? Between Christmas and New Year’s.” He flipped through his phone. “I’m on call till three. We could do it at my place. I have this awesome Weber.” He rubbed his hands together in excitement.
Whoops. Maybe this was turning into a date. Why did she feel the need to change the direction? She didn’t plan on staying in New York for New Year’s so she couldn’t use that as an excuse. Between her control-freak father and non-speaking Elijah, she didn’t think she’d last too long. “Sure. We can go over work stuff then too. I’ll take my laptop and we can finalize the Auction. We can also go over what you want to present to the board with the monies raised from the Christmas Extravaganza. Like a yearend wrap up for January’s meeting.” She tapped a finger against her lip. “We could also write up a press release. I mean, I can write the press release and you can check it over.”
“Do you ever stop working?” Malcolm smiled but shook his head. “You know, you’d have made a fantastic doctor with your drive.”
Little did he know. Little did he know. “You’re one to talk about work. I don’t think I’ve been at the hospital when you haven’t been. You never stop.”
“I don’t. I have…” He sighed. “You’re probably right.”
She didn’t want him bummed; that wasn’t her intention. Time to change the subject. “So what place do you recommend I try? How about you order us lunch and I’ll get us something to drink?”
“If I go easy on you, you promise not to make me drink some nasty spinach shake?”
“Deal.” She grinned and tapped the table by where they were standing. “Meet you back here.” She headed over to the Holistic Drink Shack and ordered two fruit smoothie drinks that had a citrus blend. She wouldn’t bother to let Malcolm know there were carrots and a few other vegetables in the drink. The citrus masked their flavour. She carried them back to the table to find him sitting there with a tray of hamburgers and onion rings.
He munched on a ring. “I took the liberty of ordering a vegetable. Thought you might appreciate that.” He chewed and tried to hide a sneaky smile.
“Here’s your drink, and I like onion rings.” She grabbed the biggest one on the plate, ate it, and then attempted to pick up the massive burger. “I’m not going to be able to eat all of this.”
“Just try. I always cut mine in half to avoid messing my shirt or dripping on my pants.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin. “You’ll eat more than you think.”
She bit into the burger. Fresh bun, savoury meat and tomato teased her taste buds. “This is really good.” She took another bite.
“Told you so.” He tried the drink. After pulling the straw away, he gave the cup a surprised look. “This isn’t that bad either.”
She polished off three quarters of the burger before finally pushing her plate away. “I’m done. That was delicious.”
Malcolm leaned back on his chair, sipping on his smoothie. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
Uh-oh. “Sure.”
“How come you’re not married?” He set his cup down and played with the plastic lid. “I don’t mean that in a negative way. You’re a smart, beautiful woman. I just don’t see why someone hasn’t scooped you up yet. Unless, of course, you aren’t interested in the whole marriage thing.” He rolled his eyes upward. “I’m going to just stop here. Can we just skip the question and pretend I never asked.”
Relieved, she grinned. She had thought he would ask about Elijah. “It’s a legit question. I don’t mind being asked. I do believe in marriage. My job has me travelling around the country a lot. It’s hard to get into a serious relationship and I’m not much of one for the distance kind.” She’d also never been asked but didn’t feel the need to share that with Malcolm. “What about you? How long have you been divorced?”
“A little over a year.”
“What happened?” It was her turn to apologize. “Sorry. That’s none of my business.”
He shrugged. “My mechanic took to looking under my wife – my ex-wife’s – hood instead of her
car.”
Charity’s mouth dropped. “Oh, burn.”
“Apparently my walking in on them didn’t stop either.”
“Seriously?”
“No.”
She blinked. “What? She didn’t cheat on you?”
“No. Or not that I know of.” He chuckled.
“You’re pulling my leg?! She balled up a napkin and threw it at him.
He easily caught it. “The look of shock on your face was priceless.” He raised and dropped his shoulders while grinning at her like a mischievous boy, then he turned sober. “It sounds better than the real story, and at least there’d be someone to blame. We were married seven years and she got bored. I’m not blaming her. I was fed up as well. She didn’t like me working all the time and when I got hired as chief, she asked for a divorce. She said she didn’t want to hold me back and if we stayed together she’d make me choose between work and our marriage. She didn’t think it was fair and didn’t want me to resent her. She was right and so we ended it as friends instead of hating each other. That was the road we were on.” He checked his phone and continued. “I don’t have the constant guilt on my shoulders, which I carried for the last three years of our marriage. I hated calling to say I wouldn’t be home for dinner or cancelling a weekend trip because an emergency came up. And I don’t miss the fighting. Neither of us do.”
“So you keep in touch?”
“We’re better friends than we were spouses. We email or chat pretty much every day. A lot of people find it hard to believe.”
“I believe you.” He seemed that kind of guy. She was willing to bet on it that things would change when either of them got serious about someone else. Jealousy changes things. She asked the question she already knew the answer to. “She’s not remarried?”
