Dearly Loved Read online

  “Thank you for your help. You didn’t have to do that, you know.”

  “Of course I did.”

  Meredith found herself wondering if he’d try to kiss her again. I hope so. At least I think I do. Why shouldn’t I?

  The tweetering of his cell phone made her jump. Frowning, Clay answered. After a few moments of conversation, he snapped it shut and returned it to his jacket pocket.

  “That was my dad. Tiffany apparently had a nightmare and is crying inconsolably. I have to go.”

  “Of course.”

  Meredith followed him to the door and opened it. Clay walked out onto the porch. He turned. “This isn’t the way I planned for the evening to end.”

  She smiled. “That’s okay. Thank you for everything.”

  He squeezed her hand. “Good night, Meredith. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Meredith nibbled her bottom lip as she watched him go. She glanced back at her naughty pooch, who lay on his back in the middle of the living room floor, waving his paws in the air trying to look cute. “Don't make me call Cesar Milan on you!”

  ***

  The demands of his business prevented Clay from planning time with Meredith until the following week. Meredith accepted this philosophically. While she wanted to spend more time with him, she also didn’t want to rush anything either.

  Her week went quickly and for that she was grateful. On the last day of her shift, Rosa walked into the break room, her arms crossed, the usual sparkle absent from her eyes.

  “How’s it going, Mer?”

  Meredith paused with a carafe of coffee in her hand. After a moment, she resumed pouring coffee into her mug. “Fine. Want any?”

  Rosa shook her head. “You wouldn’t happen to be upset with me for any reason, would you?”

  Meredith’s eyebrows shot up. “Why on earth would you think that?”

  Rosa gave a light shrug. “I dunno. When I saw you at church last time, you seemed to be in a big hurry to leave.”

  “I was tired.”

  “Just tired, huh? You’re sure it didn’t have anything to do with who I was with?”

  “Of course not,” Meredith replied, amazed at the steadiness of her voice.

  “That’s good. She leaned against the cushions and let out a noisy sigh. “Boy, David is one hottie, let me tell ya. Too bad he doesn’t seem to notice anybody else but you.”

  Her gaze flew to Rosa’s. “That’s nuts!”

  “Pooh. It’s true. All he did was ask me about you. When he saw you, he made a beeline in your direction.”

  “It’s probably because we knew each other a long time ago. He’s new in town and I’m a familiar face.”

  “Uh-huh,” Rosa said, obviously unconvinced. “When are you going to put that boy out of his misery and go out with him?”

  Meredith choked on her coffee. “Since you’re so impressed with him, why don’t you go out with him?”

  Rosa grinned. “Why are you so defensive? What are you hiding?”

  “Don’t make me throw something at that smug expression of yours, Rosa.”

  “I gave him your phone number. And your address. And told him the parks you usually frequent with your dog.”

  “What!”

  Another shrug. “He asked and I told him. He’s obviously crazy about you.”

  Meredith compressed her lips into a hard line. “If anything, the only reason he might be pursuing me is because I’m probably the first female that didn’t swoon into his arms. His type always goes after the unattainable. It’s like a game.”

  “You sound kinda bitter. You two have some kind of past thing going on?”

  “Have you been watching those soap operas again?” Meredith asked with saccharine sweetness.

  Rosa leaned back. “Don’t have to. Just watchin’ you two keeps me entertained enough.”

  “Very funny.”

  Rosa stood and stretched. “You have to promise to tell me when he kisses you. I swear the man has the most gorgeous mouth I’ve ever seen. Looks like velvet and I’ll bet it tastes like honey.” She kissed the tips of her fingers like a gourmet. “Mmmmm. Let me know what it’s like.”

  Meredith laughed out loud at this absurdity. “I think you’re the one who needs to go out on a date, Rosa.”

  She giggled. “You’re probably right.”

  ***

  Later that night at work, Meredith didn’t think what Rosa said was funny anymore. The thought of David’s lips against hers plagued her until she felt as surly as Erin could be. Her memories of kisses with David came to the fore with a sweet vengeance. Velvet and honey were very apt descriptions. Drat Rosa for putting such thoughts into my head!

  Even though she could admit some pleasure at the idea David might be pursuing her, she tried to keep the notion cerebral. Either it’s like I said to Rosa and he wants what’s unattainable or my earlier theory is true—he is lonely and knows he can count on me until someone else takes his fancy. Ugh.

  Right before her break, she went to the nurses’ station and saw Clay chatting with Erin. She flushed, embarrassed that she’d been thinking about David again. “Clay! What a surprise!”

  He turned and his eyes lit up when he saw her. “Hello, Meredith.”

  Quirking a smile, she glanced at her watch. “Are you aware that it’s nearly one o’clock in the morning?”

  Clay ran a hand through his hair. “Yes. I had a lot of work to catch up on at the office. When I realized what time it was, I thought I’d come by and say hi.”

  Meredith noticed Erin watching their conversation with unveiled interest. Well, my mother taught me to be polite. “Um, Erin, I’d like you to meet Clay Roberts.” “Clay, Erin Morgan.”

  Clay smiled in her direction. “Actually, we’ve been chatting for the past several minutes.”

  Meredith saw Erin’s cheeks grow pink. It dawned on her that without her perpetual grimace, Erin was quite pretty. Shaking a sudden feeling of dismay, she turned to Clay.

  “I was just about to take my lunch. Would you like to join me?”

  “That’s what I was hoping for.”

  They made their way together down to the cafeteria, located in the basement of the hospital.

  “Is Tiffany staying with your parents tonight?”

  Clay nodded. “I knew I had to work late, so my mother came over to the house.”

  “Has she had any more nightmares?”

  “Thankfully, no. She’s been doing a lot better.”

  “That’s good.”

  The cafeteria was sparsely populated when they arrived. Meredith led the way to the line for the food. “With my employee discount, I’m buying.”

  Clay laughed. “I’ll take you up on that.”

  After they’d filled their trays and settled at a table, Clay tapped his fingers on the tabletop.

  “Is she like a head nurse or something?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Erin.”

  Meredith nodded. “She’s the Med-Surg Charge Nurse.”

  Clay took a bite of his sandwich. After swallowing, he cocked his head. “She seems like a really kind woman.”

  Meredith gave him a thoughtful look and wondered if they were talking about the same person. She made a noncommittal noise and started in on her salad.

  Thankfully, Clay said no more about Erin. For a moment, Meredith wondered if the nurse posed some kind of competition, but after nearly an hour of Clay’s gentle solicitousness, she once again felt confident of his affections.

  Meredith looked at her watch. “I hate to say this, but I need to get back to work.”

  Clay tried to stifle a yawn and was unsuccessful. “I don’t know how you do it, Meredith. What do you have, like five hours to go?”

  “Six.”

  He groaned as they got up from the table. They walked to the front entrance of the hospital. Clay squeezed her hand.

  “I can’t say that I could make a regular habit of meeting you like this, but it’s been fun.”

  M
eredith laughed softly. “Hey, at least one of us has to be awake enough to function. With my hours, it probably won’t be me. But I’m glad you came by. That was very sweet.”

  The public setting of the hospital lobby precluded any kind of intimate good-bye. Clay smiled warmly, promised to call soon and went through the automatic doors. She watched him for a moment, thinking about his surprise visit.

  Meredith made her way back to the Med-Surg unit. To her amazement, for the remainder of her shift, Erin actually treated her with a modicum of civility.

  ***

  David returned the cane to the hospital supply rental store the day he began his job at KVL Channel Nine News. From there, he spent several days of orientation and attending staff meetings, learning routines particular to the station and meeting his fellow employees while working on getting his office area set up.

  The station was one of the smaller affiliates of a national broadcasting company, housed in a brick building on the edge of town. About one hundred and forty people worked a myriad of jobs to produce six and a half hours of news every day.

  It was a chaotic world David had become accustomed to, where station interns ran to distribute scripts printed off of the computer and copy editors perused scripts and shouted questions across the room, while an intercom blared details from incoming satellite news feeds. Producers booked satellite live shots with the assignment desk while writers, inundated with a constant flow of updated news from the wire services, struggled to keep up with it all.

  David reported for work early in the morning on most days, spending most of his time at his desk, writing his own copy and taping his written leads by speaking into a voice-activated camera. It felt good to be back in the swing of things and he enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment compared to moping around while he’d convalesced.

  By the end of the week, David readied for his first official broadcast. After leaving the hands of the hair and make-up department with his face pancaked and his hair frozen into place with hairspray, he slid into his chair at the Sports Desk during a commercial break. He blew out a breath, feeling the usual stage-fright clench his stomach.

  The cameraman zoomed in. The director stepped forward. “On air in five, four...” She used her fingers for the remainder of the count down. The station music swelled, the red light on the camera glowed red, the teleprompter scrolled his written script, and David smiled.

  “Lots of action on the road for the A’s today. They swung their way to a victory against the Toronto Blue Jays.” He continued on with the details, covering the major highlights of the day in sports.

  At the end, David held his smile until the red light went off. “Great job, David,” the director said. “Next up, Joe and Tracy.”

  Expelling a pent-up breath, David made his way back to his desk and sat down. He bent his head and sent up small prayer of thanks. Already, stacks of work awaited him—commentary on the latest coach hired for the San Francisco Giants, sports news updated since he’d been on the air moments ago, and announcements of community events.

  He had an intern who took care of some of the most menial tasks, but there were still reams of work to begin. David picked up a pen and idly chewed on one end. He wondered how Meredith was. He missed her. He thought about her constantly. Had she watched tonight? If she did, had she thrown a brick at the TV?

  Not for the first time, David wondered why she refused to see him. Her attitude even seemed to prohibit friendship. David could swear she wasn’t indifferent to him. Meredith had always been somewhat skittish and incalculable. After a moment, he pulled the pen out of his mouth and stared in dismay at the ruined end. Disgusted, he threw it into the wastebasket.

  ***

  Meredith pushed the off button on the remote, watching as the TV screen went black. Bitsy lay content on her lap. For the last week and a half, she’d watched the evening news faithfully, looking for David’s first appearance as KVL sports anchor. Now that she’d seen it, she wished she hadn’t gone to the effort.

  David was no more the struggling invalid. He was once again healthy, vibrant, and larger than life. She was glad she turned him down outside the health club. Maybe they would’ve gone out a few times, had some fun, but she knew the fragility of her heart when it came to him. She couldn’t risk being burned for a second time.

  Besides, this new and improved version of David would attract a lot more competition. She’d get left behind—again. It was better this way. She wanted someone who loved her for herself, not because she was at hand in a time of need.

  Bitsy let out a yelp of pain. Meredith realized she’d yanked on the dog’s ear. She brought him up to her face.

  “Sorry, Bitsy. It’s all David’s fault.”

  Ten

  The next morning, the phone rang. Meredith, eyes still closed, reached and put the phone to her ear.

  “Uh huh?”

  “I’m calling for a Meredith Ambrose. Is she available, please?”

  Deciding to throw her phone away if it was a telemarketer, Meredith shoved her hair out of her face and struggled into a sitting position.

  “This is she.”

  “Yes, this is Sheila Patterson from Cedar Hill Community Hospital. I’m calling about the Peds position you applied for several weeks ago. We’d like to offer you the position.”

  Meredith came fully awake. “Oh! Um, yes. I accept.”

  “Great, we’d like you to start in three weeks, if possible.”

  “No problem!”

  “We look forward to working with you, Ms. Ambrose. Call me if you have any questions.”

  Meredith grabbed a pen and jotted down her name and the number, along with her starting date, on the back of a magazine. After she hung up the phone, her face broke into a wide grin. Bitsy trotted into the bedroom and put his paws on the edge of the bed.

  She scooped him up and held him tight. The phone rang again. This time Meredith picked it up in a better frame of mind.

  “Hello?”

  “Mer? This is Rosa. Whatcha up to today? Want to get together?”

  “Well, I just got a call from Staffing. I got the Peds job!”

  “That’s fantastic! We might actually see each other more.”

  Meredith smiled. “At least I’ll be coherent when we do.”

  “This calls for a celebration. Why don’t we meet for breakfast? Say, at Doyle’s in an hour? Better yet, I’ll swing by and pick you up. And I’m buying.”

  “Sounds good. See you then.”

  Meredith showered and dressed with a new sense of purpose. Adjusting the straps of her celadon green dress patterned with tiny white daisies, she took a peek outside. The sun shone, but in the last few days the weather had turned cooler as autumn began in earnest. She pulled a lightweight white cotton cardigan out of her closet and slipped it over her shoulders. Giving her hair a final brushing, she put Bitsy in the back yard and went out the front door when Rosa rang the bell.

  Downtown, she and Rosa entered Doyle’s and threaded their way around the oak tables and benches laid with gingham tablecloths. They chose a spot near the window and perused the menus. After placing their orders, Rosa clapped her hands together.

  “So, are you excited about the new job?”

  Meredith smiled. “Yes. I think the part I’ll like most is being able to lead a more sane life.”

  “Now maybe you can get out more. Find yourself a man like Ellen has.”

  “Has she been after you about that, too?”

  Rosa laughed. “Yes. In fact her fiancé has a friend she thinks I might be interested in. We’re all going out this Saturday night.”

  “You mean on a blind date?”

  “Sure, why not?”

  Sputtering, Meredith leaned forward. “What if he’s a jerk? How can you take a chance like that?”

  Rosa took a sip of her water and smiled. “Ellen’s guy seems nice. She’s assuring me Gino is a Christian and nice-looking to boot.”

  “Gino? Is he Italian or something?” />
  “Yes, and from what I hear, all flashing dark eyes and swarthy skin.”

  Meredith shook her head. “I don’t think I’d have the guts to go on a blind date. Way too much pressure.” She lifted her glass to take a drink.

  Rosa eyed her speculatively. “Well, some of us have to make an effort to find a man. Not everyone has two guys after her.”

  Meredith choked on her water. “You’re not referring to me, are you?”

  “Well, I already know David Steller is sweet on you and now I hear that a real charmer visited you in the middle of the night at the hospital.”

  Meredith blushed. “I met a man named Clay Roberts recently. We’ve only gone out a few times and it’s been very casual.”

  “I can’t believe you never told me about him.”

  “There’s not a lot to tell.”

  Rosa groaned. “I’m starved for romance, girl. Even if I have to experience it vicariously. I want all the details.”

  Meredith told her about Clay and Tiffany, purposely keeping her voice light, while their breakfast was served. Her explanations seemed to satisfy Rosa for the moment.

  The brunette made quick work of her gooey sticky bun. While she licked her fingers, she brought up the subject of David. “You never did tell what your history is with him.”

  Meredith paused eating her omelet and shrugged. “Think of a girl’s sad teenage obsession of the most popular boy in school. That’s about it.”

  Rosa dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “Did you two ever date?”

  Do long walks hand in hand and lazy afternoons kissing under a maple tree count as dating? “Not really. Anyway, once school started, he found the bouncy cheerleader types more to his liking.”

  “Ouch.” She blew out a breath. “I had a horrible crush on a guy in school, too. But that’s all in the past. Right now, I’m looking forward to adding some Italian spice to my life.”

  “Don’t you worry that you just might be setting yourself up for a fall? What if this guy breaks your heart?”