Private Partners

by Gina Wilkins

  Liam glanced around at her with a smile. “Maybe you should study in the office,” he suggested. “If you close the door, the noise won’t be so disturbing.”

  He was making it clear that he didn’t expect her to help him with the favor he’d taken on. She appreciated his consideration. Glancing at the office doorway, she thought about taking him up on his suggestion, but then she shook her head. “I’ll make dinner while you entertain Parker. What do you think he would like to eat?”

  “Hmm. What do you like to eat, Park-o?”

  Giggling in response to the nickname, the child answered cheerfully, “’Ghetti.”

  “Spaghetti?”

  He nodded eagerly. “’Ghetti.”

  Thinking of the mess to come, Anne swallowed hard and turned toward the kitchen. “Okay. Three orders of ‘ghetti, coming right up.”

  Liam laughed.

  Somehow Anne ended up spending almost an hour on the floor with Liam and Parker after their messy, ultracasual meal. They played with the farm animals and with some plastic kitchen utensils and pots and pans from Anne’s kitchen. Parker pretended to cook for them, and they made a show of eating the imaginary food, to his delight. Anne was surprised by how much she and Liam laughed during the game; she wouldn’t have thought playing with a toddler would have been so entertaining.

  When Parker began to yawn, Liam glanced at his watch. “I’ll take him down,” he said, gathering their “toys.” “Rose told me where to find everything.”

  “You’re sure you don’t need help?”

  “I’ve got it covered, thanks. I’m sure you’re ready to get back to your books.”

  She wondered what his friends and associates back in New York would think if they heard that a young single mom had asked him to watch her toddler, having no idea who Liam really was. And that Liam had shown no more fear of being responsible for a two-year-old than he did of the wild animals he encountered on his program.

  He made her feel like such a coward sometimes, she mused after he’d taken Parker down to bed. It seemed sometimes as if she was overwhelmed by everything, whereas Liam feared nothing. Just one more item to go on the list of differences between them, she thought, her smile fading.

  She was buried in her studies again when Liam returned a little over an hour after carrying Parker off to bed. She glanced up and smiled faintly when he entered. Tossing the book he’d taken to read while Parker slept onto a table, he sank onto the couch with a gusty exhale.

  “Did you have a hard time getting him to sleep?”

  “Not really. He was worn out. I know the feeling. Toddlers are exhausting. I don’t know how Rose does it by herself.”

  “She has her aunt to help her, but you’re right, for the most part she’s on her own. I know she must have been grateful for your help this evening.”

  Liam grimaced. “She offered to pay me, can you believe that?”

  “I’m sure she didn’t know how else to express her appreciation.”

  “Sorry to have cut into your study time this evening. I didn’t know how to tell her no. I guess I could have watched him down in her apartment, but I didn’t really want to mess around in her kitchen for dinner.”

  “It’s fine, really. He was on his best behavior. I enjoyed spending time with him.”

  “Yeah, it was kind of fun, wasn’t it? Not that I’d want to do it very often,” he added with a crooked grin.

  He pushed himself to his feet and moved toward her. “I’ll go answer e-mail for a while and let you get back to work. But first…”

  He leaned over to place a long, hard kiss on her mouth. “Thanks for cooking the ’ghetti,” he murmured when he finally released her.

  Turning abruptly, he headed for the office. “Don’t study too late,” he said over his shoulder. “You need your rest.”

  Blinking, she shook her head a little to clear her fuzzy mind and made herself look at her computer. The fact that it took her a moment to remember how to read was entirely Liam’s fault.

  Chapter Nine

  Liam was growing concerned about Anne the next evening. She’d told him she should be home around ten, but it was more than an hour past that time when he looked at his watch. It wasn’t like her to be out this late when she had ICM the next morning, and she had told him that she did.

  He tried to focus on his revisions, but they were still proceeding with painful sluggishness. He still couldn’t figure out why he was having so much trouble finishing this project, though he found himself wondering if he was subconsciously stretching out the work as long as possible. After all, once he’d finished the book, he really should go back to New York and to all the projects he’d left hanging there.

  While there was some grain of truth in that excuse, he knew it wasn’t the only reason for his difficulties. He just couldn’t quite identify the other problems.

  Giving up on any attempt at working, he began to pace, trying to convince himself that it was foolish to worry about Anne. Her hours were always erratic, and it wasn’t unusual for her study group to lose track of time as they plodded through all their material.

  He spent a few minutes wondering how other spouses and significant others of second-year medical students dealt with being pushed to the background so often. When they weren’t actually in class or buried in their books, med students seemed to be frequently tense and distracted and moody, from what little Liam had observed. It was no wonder so many relationships broke up during these years.

  He didn’t want to think that his own marriage might not survive the pressure of their demanding careers.

  She spent so much time with her study group. Haley and those three men, two of whom were single. They were probably getting to know each other very well. They had so much in common. He pictured her studying and laughing and teasing with her friends, bonding through pressure with them in a way outsiders would probably have a difficult time understanding. He remembered how fondly she had smiled when she’d talked about having to hide chocolate cake from her buddy, Ron. Were she and Ron sharing a late, sweet snack at that moment?

  He pushed a hand through his hair in irritation as a surge of savage jealousy crashed through him. That was uncalled for—and totally unlike him. As much time as he spent away from Anne, they had to trust each other or they might as well give up now. He was just letting his worry about her get out of hand.

  But he still didn’t like the thought of her being so chummy with those other guys.

  His cell phone beeped to signal an incoming text message. Snatching it from its holder on his belt, he read the terse note. Hide. Dad w me.

  “Great.” Shoving the phone back into its case, he glanced around the living room to make sure there was no evidence of his presence, then moved into the bedroom and closed the door, wondering what Anne’s father was doing with her at this hour. How long would he have to cower behind the door this time, holding his breath and hoping he wouldn’t be discovered?

  Though Anne had assured him that she rarely had visitors, this apartment had been a very busy place during the past few days.

  He found it grimly interesting that he was not particularly relieved to find out that Anne was with her father, rather than her single male study buddies. Liam was well aware who was most likely to come between himself and Anne—and it wasn’t her chocolate-loving pal.

  He’d been in the bedroom less than ten minutes when he heard the door open in the other room.

  “Just set that bag down on the floor, Dad,” he heard Anne say. “Thanks for bringing it up for me.”

  “You shouldn’t carry so much stuff around in your car,” her father replied, his voice clearly audible through the thin bedroom door. “It’s not a rolling closet.”

  Anne laughed ruefully. “I know. I kept meaning to clean it out, but I just never seemed to find the time.”

  “How are you going to get to class tomorrow? Do you need me to come get you?”

  “No, that’s not necessary. I’ll catch a ride with Ron or J
ames. My apartment is on the way for both of them.”

  Liam felt his eyebrows lower into a scowl.

  “You can’t get by without a car,” her father scolded. “Nor do you need to be distracted from your studies by trying to deal with this. I suspect that the repairs on your engine will be expensive—more than the car’s worth, most likely—not to mention time-consuming. Let me buy you a new car. I’ll pick one out tomorrow and have it delivered to you tomorrow afternoon.”

  “No, Dad, you aren’t buying me a new car.” Anne’s voice was firm. “If I need a new car, and I won’t know that for certain until I hear what the mechanic says, I’ll take care of it myself. I still have my savings, and I have enough in student loans to cover a modest car payment. I told you when I started medical school that I wouldn’t let you support me financially, and I meant it. I’m an adult. I intend to act like one.”

  “Fine.” Her father sounded annoyed. “Consider it a loan, then. When you’ve finished your surgical residency and you’re making a good salary, you can pay me back. With interest, if that makes you feel better.”

  “As if you’d let me. Please, let me handle this. I really appreciate your help tonight, but I can take it from here. I’ll call if I need anything else, I promise.”

  He argued a few more minutes, but Anne was resolute. She escorted him out with reminders that it was late and that her mother would be worried if her dad didn’t get home soon.

  Liam waited until he heard the door close, then another couple of minutes just to be sure Easton was gone.

  “Liam?” Anne opened the bedroom door, both looking and sounding weary. “I’m sorry about that. I barely had time to get a text message to you without alerting Dad what I was doing.”

  “No problem. I heard most of what you said. What happened to your car?”

  “It died,” she answered simply, spreading her hands. “Just sputtered and quit at a traffic light. I couldn’t get it restarted. Dad thinks it’s serious. He had it towed to his mechanic, who will look at it tomorrow and give me an estimate.”

  “You called your dad?” Liam tried to keep his tone neutral.

  “Yeah. Like I said, I was stranded at an intersection. I’m just glad there weren’t many other cars there at that hour. The ones that passed by were able to go around me. A couple of people stopped as if to help, but I waved them on. Fortunately, Dad arrived quickly, so I didn’t have to sit there long.”

  “It never occurred to you to call me?”

  A small frown creased her brow. “I’m sorry. Were you worried because I was so late?”

  “I didn’t mean you should have called me to tell me you’d been delayed,” he answered impatiently. “I was asking why you didn’t call me to come get you. To help you with the car problem.”

  He could tell by the rather blank look on her face that the idea had never even occurred to her. “I guess I just thought automatically about my dad because he had his mechanic look at the car a couple of months ago when I had some problems with it. He arranged tonight for a tow truck to take the car back to the same mechanic to find out how extensive the damage is this time.”

  “I see.”

  Anne looked at him with confusion in her eyes. “Liam, are you actually annoyed that I called my father instead of you?”

  “Your daddy instead of your husband, you mean?”

  Maybe that came out a little snippy. Anne planted her hands on her hips and tipped her head, her eyes narrowing. “And just what was that supposed to mean?”

  He shrugged. “I’m just saying. It seems a little odd that you’d call him, especially knowing you’d be lectured the whole time you were with him. And even though by having him bring you home, you were taking a risk that he might notice something that would make him suspicious about us.”

  “I knew you would stay out of sight when I sent you the message. I wasn’t too worried about Dad seeing anything.”

  She seemed to be worrying less and less about her family discovering their secret. Was she getting overconfident—or was there a part of her that almost hoped they would be found out? “I still think you should be more careful. I’d have come for you, and I’d have helped you get the car towed. Your family wouldn’t have had to even know about it until you got around to telling them.”

  “I know you would have been happy to help. It’s just that Dad has always helped me when I had car problems, so I guess it was simply out of habit that I called him tonight.”

  “It’s that sort of habit that keeps you under your family’s thumbs,” Liam muttered. Even he didn’t quite understand why it stung him so much that Anne hadn’t even thought to turn to him when she’d had a problem. Maybe he had more male ego than he’d realized, especially when it came to his wife.

  And if he didn’t shut up, he was going to end up sleeping on the couch tonight like the stereotypical husband in the doghouse, he thought with a wince as Anne’s face flushed with anger. Judging by the glint in her eyes, he’d be lucky if he didn’t end up sleeping on the sidewalk.

  “I am not under my family’s thumbs,” she said, very slowly and deliberately. “I live on my savings and my student loans. I pay my own bills and make my own way. Perhaps I ask my family for advice or minor assistance occasionally, but that doesn’t mean I am dependent on them. I could have arranged my own tow tonight, if necessary, and found my own way home, but I knew Dad wouldn’t mind helping out.”

  “Damn it, Anne, you should be letting me help you. Let me pay for the repairs or buy you a new car. We’re married. My money is your money.”

  “I don’t see it that way,” she replied defensively. “Especially since no one even knows about our marriage. I don’t need my family to take care of me—and I don’t need you to do so, either. Considering how rarely you’re even in the same country, I’d say it’s a good thing I can take care of myself.”

  That little barb hit its target. Liam shoved a hand through the hair he’d chopped so he could spend time with her. “You knew when we married that my job would involve this much travel. You said you didn’t mind, that you would be too busy with medical school to spend much time with me, anyway.”

  “And that’s still true,” she said, though her tone was rather flat. “So don’t blame me for not being in the habit of calling you for assistance with the kind of minor issues that occur in my regular routines here.”

  “I’m not blaming you,” he muttered, conflicted emotions tangling inside him. “I just don’t understand why you complain about your family’s interference in your life and then you choose to turn to them when you have a problem. Every time you’re around them, you come home looking even more pressured, but you still go back to them whenever they summon you.”

  “They’re my family. I love them. And they love me.” She shook her head in apparent exasperation as she snapped her response. “Just because you weren’t close to your parents doesn’t mean I should become estranged from mine.”

  Maybe something showed in his face that he didn’t intend to let her see.

  “I’m sorry,” she said after a brief, taut pause. She took a step toward him and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. That was a terrible thing to say to you, especially now.”

  He didn’t like seeing the tears gathering in her eyes, and knowing he was responsible for them. “It’s okay,” he said gruffly. “You’re right. I wasn’t particularly close to my parents.”

  “Not through any fault of your own. You were only a child when your father left and your mother died. It was unforgivable of me to use that against you. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m the one who should ask for forgiveness.” His stomach tied in hard knots, he reached out to brush a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “You’re exhausted. It’s been a very long day and you’re trying to get ready for the test Friday. I promised you I wouldn’t add to your stress while I’m here, and what did I do? I snarled at you because your car broke down and you took care of it without my help. I’m sorry.”


  She sniffled and shook her head. “I still shouldn’t have spoken to you that way.”

  He forced a smile. “We could stand here apologizing to each other all night. Let’s agree to put it behind us, shall we? Why don’t you go freshen up and I’ll make you some chamomile tea to help you relax before bed.”

  She nodded and drew a shaky breath, looking as relieved as he was that the quarrel was over—at least for now.

  Fortunately, the car repairs were not extensive as Anne’s father had feared. Relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with buying a new one until summer, at least, Anne drove a loaner car arranged by the mechanic until she got her own back Wednesday afternoon. Though he offered, she refused to allow her dad to pay for the repairs. She was still stinging over Liam’s words Monday evening, even though they had been almost formally polite to each other ever since.

  It seemed to be the week for conflict. As Friday’s test drew closer, the tension in the study group mounted. They argued about the best ways to study for the tests, they disagreed on some of the slide interpretations, they even quarreled once about where they should meet to study. Saying he was tired of sitting in various kitchens, Ron suggested a coffee shop or the library, while the others asserted there were fewer distractions in someone’s home than in a public place.

  Attempting to analyze was what going on with the group, Anne decided that burnout was taking its toll on them all. They hadn’t had a break since Christmas. The weeks had passed in a blur of classes, lectures, clinical lessons, study sessions and exams. The instructors were beginning to harp more and more on the looming Step 1 exam, which merely added to the dread already gripping the class. The students were all dazed and sleep deprived. It was no surprise they were so tense and snappy. Nor any wonder that so many relationships had suffered—marriages, romances, friendships, even study groups.