Dearly Loved

by Bonnie Blythe

  Meredith caught David’s arm as he began to thread his way through the tables. She swallowed, feeling silly for what she was about to say but the alternative terrified her. “David,” she said in a low voice, close to his ear. “I can’t dance!”

  David stopped and looked down at her for a moment. She was reminded of the doting way Gino had looked at Rosa.

  “Don’t worry,” he said softly. He slipped his arm around her, low on her back, and led her to a table with two empty seats.

  Meredith saw tiny nameplates with their names written in calligraphy placed near the napkins. David pulled out her chair and when she was seated, he sat down next to her. The people at the table greeted David, casting speculative looks in her direction.

  “Everyone, this is Merrie Ambrose. Merrie, you’ve met Rita, my producer and this is her husband Rick Anderson.”

  She smiled at the handsome couple, feeling foolish for thinking the worst of David.

  “Over here is Tracey Bates who you’ve probably seen on TV.” Meredith recognized her as the main news anchor. She was even prettier in person. Tracey in turn introduced her husband, a slightly balding man with kind eyes.

  “And you might remember Cam Stuart,” continued David. “He’s the guy who always follows me around for some reason.” Everyone chuckled. “And this is his girlfriend, Sabrina.”

  Meredith smiled all around, straining to hear their voices, a task made difficult by the loud music. She was asked all manner of question about being an R.N, working at Cedar Hill Hospital—and about knowing David a teenager.

  When Tracey asked for some juicy details about David’s past, he laughed and got up, helping Meredith up with him. “Sorry to disappoint you, but we’re going to get something to eat.”

  He winked at her as they made their way to the food tables. “You wouldn’t say anything that might embarrass me, would you, Merrie?”

  “That depends on what you consider embarrassing.”

  David smiled and pulled her close. He brushed his lips against her cheek, driving all other thoughts out of her head. She filled a plate with hors d’ouevres, hardly knowing what she chose, wishing she could be alone with him, away from the music and interruption of people stopping to chat with him.

  She saw a huge punch bowl brimming with bright pink punch and orange slices, and picked up a glass cup. Just as she filled the ladle, David reached around her and took it and glass from her hands.

  “I wouldn’t drink that. I just saw a couple of station interns spiking the punch from bottles hidden inside their coats. Let’s go see if the bar has anything better to drink.”

  David ordered two bottled waters and they made their way back to their table. Once seated, Meredith picked at her food, politely answering all the questions directed at her. She asked a few of her own, striving to be good company, while her heart just wasn’t in it. She never was very good in formal social settings—and tonight she felt thwarted from her desire to spend time with David. While they sat and talked, she was comforted by the fact that he held her hand under the table.

  A short time later, the executive producer of KVL News jogged up onto the platform. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.” After a short introduction, he continued, “And now it’s time for the KVL Newsie Awards, not to be confused with awards of any merit.”

  A ripple of laughter went through the crowd. “Each recipient will receive a certificate to line the bottom of their birdcage with and an appropriate prize for each category.” More applause. “The first award goes to Angela Bennet, for the most creative ‘noddies’.”

  A brunette woman in a disgracefully tight dress swaggered up to the platform to accept her award. Meredith recognized her as a beat reporter for the station. After being handed a certificate and a small marionette, she began to bob her head around like a puppet on a string to the delighted roar of the audience.

  Meredith leaned over to David. “What’s a noddy?”

  “You know in an interview when the camera cuts to the person asking the questions? During the interview, we keep the camera trained on the person being asked the questions. Afterwards, usually back at the studio, the interviewer does different nods and expressions of interest that will be edited in later to give the piece a more interactive feel.”

  Meredith realized he must do noddies also from time to time. What a weird part of his job. Several more gag awards were presented. Most were funny. Some were definitely off-color.

  “And the next award is for the most eligible bachelor at the station. The ladies have kept a tally on how many times each bachelor has been asked out.” The drummer in the band did a drum roll. “And the winner, with twenty-four propositions, is…David Steller!”

  Everybody cheered. Their tablemates made teasing comments as David rose. He threw Meredith a rueful smile when he went up to accept his award. His prize was a frilly, pink garter which he shoved into his jacket pocket. From where she sat, Meredith could see that his face was bright red. She knew her face must be close to the same color.

  He smiled and spoke to his fellow employees through the microphone. “There’s a definite trend in my answers as you may have noticed.” He looked over at Meredith. “For good reason.”

  A few of the women in the audience expressed their vociferous disappointment while David thanked them and returned to the table. He had a chagrined look on his face when he sat down. Meredith could see the sheen of sweat on his brow. She felt a stab of pity for him. Poor beleaguered guy with women after him. The thought made her frown. It felt too much like the old days. David took her hand, gently wrapping his fingers around her own.

  “I didn’t know anything about that, Merrie. The award, the whole keeping score thing, I swear I had no idea about it. And when I was asked out, I always said no.”

  “Aww, shucks, David. How sweet,” crooned Rita.

  He gripped her hand, not looking Rita’s way. His beseeching expression tugged at her heart.

  She realized he spoke the truth. “I know it was just a joke, David.” His grip on her hand relaxed. He turned and made a funny comment to his producer, while Meredith kept a social smile plastered to her face.

  They spent the next two hours visiting with various KVL employees. Soon, the effects of the fortified punch and busy bar began to take effect. Dancers became more daring in their attempts to Swing dance like professionals. Several people limped away from the floor, while a few had to be dragged off. One woman ripped open the back of her tight pants while attempting to do the splits.

  Another of the KVL employees jumped onto the platform and grabbed the microphone from the singer. He began to sing off-key, seeming to think he was Frank Sinatra. Meredith watched in amazement when a woman drunkenly climbed on top of her table and proceeded to move in the style of a go-go dancer.

  Sending her an embarrassed smile, David grabbed Meredith’s hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

  His words were music to her ears. They made hurried good-byes to their tablemates, and wended their way through the crowd. Once they exited the hotel, she took a breath of the cool, night air, glad to be out in the open.

  David drove back to her house, keeping up a stream of droll observations from the party until Meredith clutched her sides from laughing. There was no question of not inviting him into her house when they arrived. She wasn’t ready to let him go.

  Inside her living room, she tried to get Bitsy to calm down. David refused her offer of refreshments. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him switch on one of the lamps and go to her CD collection. In a few minutes, smooth jazz filled the room.

  David grinned and held his hand out to her. Forgetting about Bitsy, Meredith moved into his arms—feeling both confident and nervous.

  “Now this is more like it,” he murmured, holding her close. “We should’ve stayed here and had our own little party.”

  Meredith laughed softly and looked up at him. All night, she’d been dreaming of his kiss, and so far it hadn’t materialized. Why wait for him
to initiate? Before she could think twice, she stretched up on tiptoe and brushed a feathery kiss across his lips. David’s response was immediate. His arms became like steel bands around her and she was lost in a haze of dizzying sweetness where the only sane thing in a mad world was the pressure of his lips moving against her own.

  David ran his hands up her back to tangle them in her hair. He raised his lips. “All night I’ve wanted to kiss the little blue vein at your temple.” He suited action to words. “And the pulse at your throat.” He pressed a lingering kiss at the base of her throat before continuing upward to capture her lips with his once again.

  The phone in the kitchen rang. Meredith groaned against David’s mouth. “I’m ignoring it,” she whispered. As the phone continued to ring shrilly, he sighed and rested his chin on her head. He looked over her shoulder at his watch.

  “You’re not concerned who might be calling you at nearly midnight?”

  Meredith snuggled up against him. “No,” she mumbled. “And I have a bad feeling it has something to do with work.”

  The answering machine came on and after the greeting, a female voice. “This is Pat Lane from Cedar Hill Hospital calling for Meredith Ambrose. Our records indicate you’ve worked in the ER before and tonight we need your help. There’s been a major freeway accident and all the area hospitals are on alert to begin accepting casualties. Two of our ER staff are on maternity leave and three others are out sick. If you get this message, please call me back as soon as possible and let us know if you can come in.”

  Meredith gave David a tired smile. “See?” She stepped out of his arms and went to the kitchen. Calling the woman back, she told her she’d be in immediately.

  David came into the kitchen and leaned against the doorjamb. Meredith took consolation that he looked as disappointed as she felt. “I need to change.” She edged past him and went into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

  Stripping off all her finery, she changed into a soft velour sweat suit, knowing she’d be putting on scrubs when she got to the hospital. When she returned to the living room, she found David sitting on the edge of the couch with his hands linked between his knees.

  He stood at her entrance, and walked with her out the door onto the front porch. After locking the door, Meredith placed a hand on his chest. “Thank you for tonight. I had a nice time.”

  “A nice time, huh?” David covered her hand with his own. He leaned down and kissed her lingeringly one last time before stepping aside to allow her to go to her car.

  David walked over to his Jeep and watched while Meredith drove away, more disappointed than she knew. Somehow, in the delight of having her in his arms, he’d neglected to tell her how much he loved her.

  ***

  In the hospital locker room, Meredith yanked on a pair of scrubs and pulled her hair in a ponytail. From there, she walked into chaos. Two ambulances, their flashing lights casting surreal shadows in the night, were parked in the ER bay. A Life Flight helicopter lifted off from the evacuated parking lot, taking a victim to another hospital, its blades a deafening roar.

  Meredith learned a five-car pile-up on Highway Eighty had reportedly killed one man and injured at least twelve people, including children. Cedar Hill Hospital was the closest to the site of the accident, but their size meant they could handle only so many patients. Of those, the most critical were stabilized and sent on to the larger facility. The most serious had been transported by helicopter and the others sent to a hospital in Cedar Hill by ambulance.

  ER nurses had highly specialized training differing somewhat from the Med-Surg nurses, so Meredith acted in the role of helping hand. She took patients to imaging, made phone calls, and jumped in wherever help was most needed, especially with Pediatric concerns. The night passed in a kaleidoscope of strident voices, frenetic movement, and a constant stream of interruption as the tyranny of the urgent reigned. When the most critically injured patients had been stabilized, they moved on to the less-critical cases. By the time the last patient had been seen, the sun was beginning to lighten the sky.

  Meredith trailed to the locker room, peeled off her scrubs, and stuffed them into a hamper. Her hands shook from exhaustion as she slipped into her sweat suit. Although the hectic pace made the night pass by quickly, her sleep-deprived body felt every one of the six hours she’d worked without a break.

  She directed a pent-up breath at the ceiling, her shoulders sagging. She opened her locker and retrieved her coat and purse, looking forward to a long stretch of sleep. After that, David. Meredith smiled to herself, realizing she’d hadn’t had the chance to think of him once through the night. Must be some kind of record since he barged back into my life.

  She shrugged into her coat when the door of the locker room opened. Ellen, from Med-Surg, came in, looking every bit as fatigued as Meredith felt. She’d seen her from time to time through the night, assuming she’d been called in as well. Now that things had died down, she remembered what Rosa told her about Ellen’s broken engagement.

  Her welcoming smile became strained. “Hi, Ellen. Were you called in, too?”

  Ellen opened her locker. “Yep. I can’t wait to get home.” She looked over her shoulder and gave a humorless grin. “I’m going to be indulging in your favorite pastime, Meredith. Sleep.” She turned back around. “Since Kevin’s out of the picture, there’s not much else to do.”

  Meredith didn’t know what to say. The pain in Ellen’s voice was hard to miss. “I...heard about that. I’m sorry.”

  With her back to her, Ellen shrugged. “That will teach me to believe the lies of a charming rogue. They’re the ones you have to watch out for. All that smooth talk, flirtation, and making you think you’re the center of their universe. But once someone prettier, thinner, and younger comes along, they suddenly don’t want to be tied-down.” She put on her coat and slammed her locker door shut, facing Meredith. “Give me a nice, plain, shy guy any day.” Without a backward glance, Ellen waved and left the room.

  Meredith stared at the door for a minute, all her old insecurities rushing to the fore. She shook her head and shut the locker door. Ellen’s ex-boyfriend and David are not the same person. As she left the hospital building and made her way to her car, she thought about her time with David last night. About his sweetness, tenderness and…love?

  She got in her car and started the engine, biting on her bottom lip. David had never said he loved her, but surely love was evident in the way he treated her. Of course, regardless of his feelings, it didn’t guarantee a future with him. Maybe David loved her today—but would his affection fade the way Ellen’s boyfriend had?

  Once Meredith arrived home, she suddenly couldn’t bear the idea of a future without David. Living for the moment no longer held any appeal. She wanted David forever—or not at all. Plowing her hands through her hair, she closed her eyes in confusion. She needed time to think. And I can’t do that while David beguiles me with his kisses.

  She had the whole weekend ahead of her—a weekend of wondering if he would call. Perhaps by now her usefulness had ended for him. Being in his arms the night before had seemed something to treasure. Now, the memory took on a wanton cast, giving her a vague feeling of guilt.

  Torturing herself with such thoughts, she went into her house and began shoving clothes into a suitcase with trembling fingers. Bitsy watched the proceedings with a comic expression of curiosity. Meredith stuck out her tongue at him. Whenever she questioned her impulsive actions, whenever the word coward entered into her thoughts, she brutally ignored it. I’m just going on a short trip to blow the cobwebs from my mind. No harm in that.

  Once her Saturn was packed with her suitcases, Bitsy, his food and kennel, she quickly locked up the house. She drove out of Cedar Hill heading in the direction of the Pacific Ocean. Low blood sugar finally forced her to stop at a fast food drive-thru for a breakfast of orange juice and a muffin.

  Meredith drove down Highway Eighty and on through Vallejo and San Francisco. From there,
she got on Highway 101 and continued on until she reached the town of Pacifica. Every mile increased her fear that she was being fooled by David in the same way Ellen had. The dismal rain streaming down her windshield echoed the tears on her cheeks.

  In Pacifica, she got a room at a hotel on the beach that allowed pets. After hastily unpacking her clothing and getting Bitsy settled, she collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

  Twenty

  Meredith forced open her eyes and tried to focus on her surroundings, but nothing looked familiar. She was still in her clothes, her head felt like it was filled with straw, and she had a sore throat. Finally, she remembered her flight from Cedar Hill. Moaning, Meredith rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head.

  Hunger drove her out of bed—at least as far as the phone. She ordered a sandwich to be delivered via room service. Then she took a hot, hot shower, which left her feeling measurably better. Wrapped in a thick, cotton robe with a towel on her head, she ate her sandwich. As her basic physical needs were met one by one, she began to look on her recent actions with a sort of mortified wonder. How melodramatic!

  Her doubts about David remained—but they were no longer quite as intense. From being the slavering satyr bent on her seduction, he reverted to being the engaging, effusive David she remembered from the party. Of course, he could still dump me and break my heart at will.

  She dressed and stood by the sliding glass window looking out onto the beach. She’d hoped to walk along the surf with Bitsy, but the weather didn’t want to cooperate. Raindrops slid down the glass and wind slammed against the side of the building, making it shudder. Meredith spent the remainder of the evening watching boring reruns on TV, cuddled up to her dog.

  The next morning, the rain had dissipated into a few ragged clouds fringing the gray sky. She dressed in jeans and a heavy sweater and took Bitsy for a walk on the beach. Like her thoughts, the surf foamed and churned in the wind. Who am I really upset with? David—or myself?