“Oh.” I stopped to admire her handiwork. And to marvel at how such a mini-sock could fit on a tiny human’s foot. “That’s really cute, Cathy.” I mean, what else could I say? Everyone had stepped up in a big way for Ani and the baby. I decided to close my eyes to the defiance.
“So cute,” Angie said as she grabbed a handful of caramel popcorn from a giant aluminum tin sitting on the desk. “How’s the baby doing, Doc?”
“Settling in,” I said, even though it was Friday, and I hadn’t seen the baby all week.
“That little house is so cute,” BethAnn said, thumbing through a Spafinder catalog. “Ani told us you snuck over there and did a bunch of yard work. It’s really charming.”
I nodded and smiled, letting everyone assume that I’d acquired an instant family.
“Too bad the air conditioner broke,” Angie said, eyeing me carefully, as if she saw right through me. “Ani said she couldn’t get a technician out there until tomorrow.”
It had gotten unseasonably warm, unusual before May. I didn’t have a chance to respond because just then, Dylan pulled a book out of his backpack. The title wasSprouts, Workouts, and Other Power Moves for Your Best Life.
“Do you rock climb?” he asked as I tried to move on with the rest of our tour.
“I’m a runner.” We hadn’t even left the main desk yet. And the staff seemed in no hurry to let us go.
“I rock climb,” Tom said. He was bent over the counter, working on something with a tiny tool. At second glance, he appeared to be repairing his watch.At work.
“I do a little bit of everything,” Dylan said. Of course he did. “Hang gliding, skydiving, scuba certification, hot-air balloon. Last winter, I climbed Kilimanjaro. The world is our oyster, dude. We have to spend every breath trying to draw in its full essence.” To demonstrate, he sucked in a loud, deep breath.
“I love that!” BethAnn said.
Ivy cracked open her novel. “In that case, maybe I can get in another chapter before it gets busy.”
They were all openly defying me. But I didn’t have the heart to enforce today. Besides, I had other things on my mind. I knew a great technician for that air conditioner. I wondered if I could call in a favor and get him out there this morning, since the temp was supposed to reach the mid-eighties today.
“Come and see the acute side of the ER,” I said to Dylan. He was a lingerer, I could tell. Wanting to keep chatting. I wondered if he took a long time with patients.
“Nice to meet you all,” he finally said. “Cathy, I’m going to bring my mini-loom next time.”
“Oh, exciting!” She waved him off. “I always wanted to learn to weave.”
“Nice to meet you too.” BethAnn looked up from whatever she was shopping for.
“My whole philosophy is seizing the moment,” Dylan said as I walked him around the department, showing him all the state-of-the-art features like our new ultrasound machine and the rapid CT scan next door. “That’s why I came here. I want to seize the moment with Ani.”
I froze. “Does she know that?”
“Not yet.” He checked out our urgent care clinic rooms. “But she will. In fact, I’m going to cook a gourmet dinner for her tonight and discuss things.”
Fudge.My hunch was right. Hedidwant her. “Discuss things?” I cleared my throat.
“We were so young when we married,” he said, fiddling with the otoscope cord on the wall. “We didn’t understand anything about life or ourselves. But she and I—we’re both adventurers at heart, you know? She’ll always be the one who got away, unless I do something about it. I’ve never met anyone like her. I mean, the way she fought for that baby?—”
The waywefought for that baby, I wanted to say. But who was I to correct him? I’d jumped off the fence and right back into my small, confined, suffocating safety zone, leaving Ani territory free for a takeover.
But by him? I envisioned him in yoga pants, spreading his mat in Ani’s tiny backyard, meditating with the baby while he simultaneously whipped up a five-star meal.Ugh.
I cleared my throat again. “Um, Dylan,” I found myself saying in a dead calm voice. “Actually, I’m afraid tonight isn’t going to work. I’m having dinner with Ani.”
Ani
When I got home from work that night, I’d barely had time to say hi to Adam’s mom and change into my shorts when Rosie started to cry.
“It’s still a little warm in here,” I said, flapping my hands to fan my face.
Daria was gathering her things. “It will get cooler in time. The repairman temporarily fixed the problem by adding more coolant, but he said you’re eventually going to need a new unit.”
