by Tamie Dearen
“Attempted blackmail? You’ve got to be kidding!”
His blue eyes were icy. She shivered, wondering how she’d ever thought she might be able to manipulate this man. “My legal advisors tell me the charge might not stick, but it would likely ruin your career. Understandably, many hospitals are reluctant to hire physicians who might attempt to run a scam such as the one you attempted, Dr. Dickson.”
He stood and walked toward the door. “But make no mistake... If I hear you’ve changed your mind about serving with Physicians Across Borders, I won’t hesitate to bring formal charges against you with the board.”
He opened the heavy door and gestured toward the exit with his open hand. Kara glanced at Anne, hoping to find some support from the unsophisticated woman with the friendly face.
Anne smiled. “By the way, I just love your purse! You must tell me where you got it. Perhaps I can find a factory second somewhere.”
Chapter Fourteen
Grace was feeling blue. She’d hardly seen Brad since they’d had their little define-the-relationship talk at the hospital, and they hadn’t spent any time alone together. It wasn’t anyone’s fault—life had simply interfered. Ben had had his shoulder surgery the day after Brad had been released from the hospital, and her school had held an open house.
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and her lips slipped into a smile. He’d been very prolific with his texts during the past few days, ending each one with I live you! By mutual, unspoken consent, neither one of them had spoken the other “L” word, instead using her accidental euphemism. She was still uncomfortable talking about love and marriage, but she admitted her feelings for Brad were stronger than any she’d experienced before. Fortunately, he wasn’t pressuring her to commit any time soon. At least he hadn’t so far.
It was Friday afternoon, and her first-graders were getting restless, knowing the weekend was fast approaching. She would have to delay reading Brad’s text for a few more minutes until the bell rang to signal the end of the school day.
“Does anyone have special plans this weekend?” she asked. At least fifteen hands shot into the air. “Yes, Donovan?”
The round-faced boy with adorable dimples said, “We’re going to my Gramp’s house in the country. He has a fishing pond, and I always catch a bunch of fish.”
Hands were waving at her, begging for their turns. “Thank you Donovan. Yes, Rita? What are your plans?”
“Uhmm... I forgot...” Tears began to swim in her eyes.
“I bet you can remember, Rita. Were you doing something with your parents? Or going somewhere? Or...”
“I remember. It’s my Momma’s birthday, and we’re going to Coney Island!”
“That sounds fun, Rita. Yes, Horatio?”
His eyes were big as he pointed over her shoulder. “There’s a man looking in the window!”
Every eye in the room riveted on Brad’s smiling face at the window. Grace knew her face was flushed as she moved to open the door.
“What are you doing here?” she murmured.
“I brought you flowers.” He grinned, whipping a bouquet from behind his back.
The room erupted in giggles and shouts. “Oooo!” “Ms. Marshall has a boyfriend!”
“I had to bring another set of flowers to pacify that crazy girl at the front. But she didn’t get any candy.” His other hand appeared holding out a huge bag of miniature Hershey bars. “There should be enough to share.”
Cries erupted. “I want some! Me, me, me!”
Despite her protests, the children were soon surrounding them, pushing and shoving to receive a piece of candy.
“Wait, wait!” she shouted. “I will give you a piece of candy if you will promise me to take it home and ask your parents for permission before you eat it.”
“There should be enough for everyone to have two.”
Chaos ensued, but soon every child had two miniature candy bars, and they were obediently stashing them in their backpacks and preparing to go home, chatting with excitement.
Grace muttered, “I can’t believe you stooped to coming to the school and bribing the children.”
His smile was unrepentant. “Whatever. I was desperate to see you.” He stood so close to her she had to crane her neck to look up at him. “You don’t know how tempted I am to sweep you into my arms and kiss you senseless.”
She felt her face flaming and hurried to change the subject. “How’s Ben doing after his surgery? Is he hurting a lot?”
“He’s Ben—he always lands on his feet. He’s high on pain medication and loving being waited on hand and foot. Right now, he’s telling all his old stories and jokes to Shanna Williams. And she laughs because she hasn’t heard them all, like I have.”
“Now who’s that? The name sounds familiar.”
“Olivia’s dentist friend.”
“Oh—that’s right. Olivia told me all about that. She was ticked because Ben didn’t learn any kind of lesson.”
“He’s such a lucky dog. It’s always like that with him—he gets away with murder.”
The bell rang, and all the children ran toward the door. Grace chuckled. First-graders ran everywhere when they were excited—walking was almost impossible.
But Horatio hung back to walk beside Grace and Brad. “Ms. Marshall, is that your boyfriend?” His lower lip pooched out and he kicked the floor as he walked.
“Yes, Horatio. This is my boyfriend, Dr. Gates.”
His eyes widened, and he stared at Brad. “You’re a doctor?”
“Yes, I work in the emergency room.”
“Cool! Do you see lots of blood and stuff?”
“Lots of blood. And broken legs and arms, too.”
“Wow! What’s the grossest thing you saw today?”
Brad pursed his lips while contemplating his question. “I didn’t see a lot of blood today, but one guy threw up and it almost hit me.”
“Awesome!” He moved to walk next to Brad, grabbing his hand. “Will you tell my big brother, ‘cuz he won’t believe me.”
Grace grinned. “I see how easily I’m replaced.” She didn’t have to worry about Horatio’s misplaced affections anymore. He was in love with Brad.
*****
“What should I wear?” Grace held up two sweater choices for Hannah. “I’ve got an actual date with Brad tonight at six, and I’m kind of nervous.”
“You can borrow my blue top with the scoop neck. That color makes your eyes look blue.”
“I don’t know. Do you think it may be too low cut?”
Hannah grabbed her hand to tug her up the stairs. “Come on. Let’s try some things on.”
“Wait.” Claire bounded behind them. “I’ll help with her makeup.”
Olivia looked up from her study perch on the bed when the giggling trio tumbled into the room. “What’s going on?”
“We’re getting Grace ready for her date with Brad,” said Hannah. “Do you have an opinion on what she should wear?”
In seconds she abandoned the book for Grace’s closet. “You should wear these tight black jeans and these cute new boots with the four-inch platform heels. You haven’t even worn ‘em since you bought ‘em.”
“That’s because I bought them on sale at the beginning of summer,” said Grace. “But you don’t even know where we’re going on the date.”
Olivia said, “I’m assuming it has something to do with sports, since it’s you and Brad.”
“You’re right,” Grace admitted. “It’s the Rangers and the Islanders—it’ll be so much fun.”
“Now what sport is that?” asked Olivia.
“Olivia,” Claire scolded. “How can you grow up in New York and not know the Rangers and the Islanders are hockey teams?”
Hannah said, “That’s okay Olivia—I didn’t know either. So it’s ice hockey? Will it be cold? Hang on a minute, I’m gonna grab some tops from my closet. It’s too bad you’re such a shrimp—I’ve got some adorable jeans that would look great on you.” She disa
ppeared into the hallway.
“It doesn’t matter where they’re going,” said Olivia. “She has to look good. This is like a first date—they’re practically starting over again.”
“Thanks a lot. I was already nervous,” said Grace.
Claire patted her back. “Don’t pay any attention to them. It’s just a date with a guy you’ve spent lots of time with. It’s not like you haven’t kissed him since you got back together.”
“Uhmm... Actually, we haven’t kissed yet. We haven’t really had an opportunity. And Brad’s been nice, but he’s acting... I don’t know... I guess the best word to describe it is cautious.”
Olivia grinned. “Like I said before, it’s a first date. And we’re going to make sure you look so good he won’t be able to resist kissing you.”
Grace felt heat radiating from her face. “I don’t want to look too sexy or anything. That’s how I started this whole mess.”
Claire tilted her head. “What exactly did you do? You’ve never told us the truth.”
“I don’t want to say—you’ll think I was crazy. And anyway that’s all in the past.”
“Come on. Fess up. You’ll feel better, and we’ll know how to dress you.” Olivia started pulling clothes out of the closet and tossing them on the bed.
“Fess up about what?” asked Hannah, returning with an armful of tops.
“Evidently, Grace is going to tell us how she screwed everything up with Brad.”
“No, I’m not.”
Claire began to spread the tops out on the bed in an orderly fashion.
“Yes, you are,” said Olivia, in a smooth, soothing tone. “Because, we still have a very interesting video of you when you first woke up after your biopsy. And so far we haven’t posted it or shown it to Brad.”
“You wouldn’t!”
Hannah chuckled. “Olivia wouldn’t, but I would.”
“You little vixen! You’d better not!”
The sound of Hannah’s tinkling laughter told Grace she was defeated. “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to judge me. And you have to hand over the video. And I’m pretty sure this blackmail breaks just about every Marshall Law.”
*****
“Are you sure you’ll be okay while I go out tonight? Josh won’t be off duty until midnight, so you’ll have to fend for yourself.” Brad examined his brother, who was ensconced on the couch, surrounded by pillows, with a glass of water in one hand the remote control in the other.
“I think I’ll be fine, thanks. This hydrocodone is great stuff. And Shanna said she might stop by later.”
“Then I won’t worry about you.”
“Where are you going with Grace?”
“Rangers game tonight.”
“Wow. So romantic.” His sarcasm was all too apparent.
“Hey—she loves sports.”
“I know, but isn’t this your first date in months? Shouldn’t you be doing something special? Something where you wouldn’t be surrounded by thousands of other people the entire night?”
Brad felt a moment of uncertainty. Was it a bad idea to take Grace to an ice hockey game on their first date since getting back together? He hadn’t really thought it through. He didn’t want to blow it again.
“We’ll grab a coffee together after the game.”
“Do you have mints with you? You don’t want to kiss her with coffee breath.” Ben waggled his eyebrows.
“Shut up—I don’t need your advice.” Mental note... Buy some breath mints on the way to pick up Grace.
“And have you figured out how you’re going to handle things so you don’t scare her off again. You’ve done it twice already.”
“That wasn’t my fault. Grace freaked out a little because she wasn’t ready for a serious commitment.”
“And now she’s ready?”
Brad felt himself perspiring despite the chill in the air. They hadn’t really talked and cleared the air yet. He didn’t know how she felt about their relationship. She’d admitted she loved him... Well, she’d admitted she lived him. But it meant the same thing, didn’t it? They needed to have a serious talk. No wait—that was a bad idea. Maybe they should avoid talking about their relationship at all. Grace had been really happy until he’d brought up their future. Had anything really changed?
“Hey, little brother.” Ben smirked at him. “Would you mind getting me a refill of water before you go out on your date and mess things up with Grace again?”
“I’m not going to mess things up with Grace.” Brad snatched the glass from his hand and stomped into the kitchen.
“You should probably get going so you have time to stop and buy some breath mints.”
It would be so satisfying to dump the glass of water on top of his brother’s head.
*****
“Don’t look at me like that.” Grace cringed under her sisters’ open-mouthed stares.
“What are we supposed to do?” asked Olivia. “How else can we look at you?”
“You promised you wouldn’t judge me.”
“We don’t have to judge you,” said Hannah. “You already know what you did was awful.”
Claire said, “I don’t get it. Why would you tease him and trick him into trying something with you? And then you broke up with him because he didn’t try anything?”
“You totally missed the point. I needed to break up with him, and I thought it would hurt both of us less if I had a really good excuse, like if he tried to go past the lines.”
“And tell us again, why did you think you needed to break up with him?” asked Hannah.
“I totally get that part. You’ve been avoiding serious commitments for years. You act all brave and self-assured around guys, but you’re really a big chicken.” Olivia’s words hit home.
“It’s not about being brave—it’s about being smart. I knew it was a dumb idea to let myself get too attached to a guy before I’m ready. I want to be a principal. So after this year, I’ll be taking classes at night to get my master's degree. Having a serious boyfriend would just complicate things.”
“Are you leading him on? You’re still not going to have a serious relationship, even after everything that’s happened?” Claire’s voice was as horrified as her expression.
Grace’s stomach churned and she felt her eyes stinging. “I still don’t know. I only know I love him, and I was miserable without him. And when I thought he might die, I felt like I would die with him.”
“Stop upsetting her,” Olivia told Claire. “She doesn’t have to decide about the rest of her life tonight.” She pulled Grace to her feet. “Come on, let’s get you dressed before you really start crying and get your face all red and blotchy. You know you don’t want to lose him, and that’s all you need to know.”
Hannah said, “I think you should wear my blue top. It looks cute on you, but it’s not cut too low. You don’t want to look like you’re tempting him again.”
“You’d better not let him slip through your fingers,” said Claire. “There’re not many guys who’d put up with everything he’s gone through with you.”
“Don’t listen to Claire,” said Olivia. “He’s lucky to have you, even with rusty-colored straw hair.”
Claire giggled at this, and the mood was lightened. Grace soon found herself clad in blue-jean tights tucked into ankle high boots. Hannah’s blue shirt was declared the winner of the six she modeled. Each of the other tops had some fault—too short, too low, too bright, too high-schoolish, too matronly.
Claire stood back, surveying her sister with a critical eye. “Something’s off. Don’t you have some other boot you could wear? Some with a higher heel?”
“I do, but they’re not very comfortable.”
“Comfortable, shmomfortable! That doesn’t matter. Beauty comes at a price.” Claire dug into the bottom of Grace’s closet. “Ah ha! These are perfect. And these boots will fit tighter around your ankle.”
Grace groaned, “But they hurt my feet after I wear them
for an hour.”
“Let’s see them on,” said Olivia.
With the new ankle boots zipped onto her feet, Grace strutted across the floor.
Hannah said, “I have to admit, Grace, those are really cute. And they make your legs look really long and show off your runner’s calves.”
Grace’s foot wobbled with her next step. “But I don’t live up to my name when I wear these boots. I’m afraid I’ll fall.”
“You’ll have to hang onto Brad’s arm for balance.” Olivia’s eyebrows bobbed up and down.
“But what about my feet hurting?”
“It’ll be worth it,” said Claire. “What’s a few blisters when your legs look that good?”
“If you put a Band-Aid on where it rubs your foot, it’ll prevent a blister,” said Olivia.
“You guys are like the Borg. ‘Resistance is futile.’” Her sisters stared back with blank faces. “You know... The Borg? They assimilate you, and the decisions are made by the collective?”
At their continued silent bewilderment, Grace exclaimed, waving her hands in dramatic fashion. “Where did I go wrong? How can all three of my little sisters be so clueless about Start Trek?”
“Oh, I know Star Trek,” Hannah declared. “That cute guy with the amazing blue eyes was in it...”
“Chris Pine? Yeah, he’s hot. He was in Shadow Recruit.” Claire’s expression was dreamy. “See Grace, we’re not clueless.”
“You only know the hot actors. I’m talking about classic sci-fi here. You have to know about Star Trek and the Borg. The Borg was like the greatest villain of all time.”
“Who has time for that when there are so many books to read?” said Olivia. “I swear Grace, you should have been a boy, the way you like sports and sci-fi and all that stuff.”
“I bet Brad is glad she’s not a boy.” Hannah stood back with her arms crossed to survey her work. “You look really cute, Grace.”
Grace tugged on her cropped hair as she looked in the mirror. “I can only ever be cute with this boy-cut, not beautiful like Dr. Dickson.”
