“Beautiful day,” Drew remarks, following my gaze. “Can I get you a drink?”
“No, thanks.”
Drew gestures me toward the kitchen table, and we sit.
“What’s on your mind, Luke?”
I’ve thought so much about what to tell him and how to frame it, but in the end, I just give him the unfiltered version. I tell him about Ethan and then about Melissa, and Drew listens without interruption until his phone rings.
“Sorry, it’s probably my grocery delivery,” he says. “I’ll just buzz them up.”
But as Drew listens to whoever’s on the other end of the line, his expression changes. “Yeah, he’s here now,” he says, glancing at me. “I’m unit 815, come on up.” He taps his phone to unlock the door to his building, then turns to me. “Did you know Melissa was coming?”
“What? No.” I push my chair back from the table and stand. “I’m not even sure how she knew where to find you.”
“She’s resourceful, I guess,” Drew says with a shrug. “And Austin told her I live at the Esplanade, that day we were running.”
“Right.” I scowl at the memory of the way Austin flirted with her. “Did she say why she’s here?”
Another shrug. “Just that she needed to talk to me.”
“Talk to you?” I repeat. “About . . . our relationship? I didn’t ask her to do that.”
The corner of Drew’s mouth hitches. “I didn’t think you did.”
There’s a knock at the door, and Drew and I both walk over to answer it.
Melissa’s wearing a belted navy coat that flatters her curves and highlights her blue eyes. She looks very beautiful and very anxious, and on impulse, I pull her in for a hug.
“Hey, Luke.” She shoots a glance at Drew as I release her. “Hi, Dr. Malone.”
“Drew and I were just finishing up,” I tell her. “Can I take you out to dinner?”
“I need to talk to Dr. Malone first,” she says resolutely.
“Call me Drew,” he says easily, reaching out to take her coat. “Can I get you a drink? I have water, Perrier, or herbal tea.”
She looks a little surprised by the options, since Drew doesn’t look like a herbal tea drinker, but she asks for a Perrier.
We sit around the kitchen table, and Melissa takes the chair opposite mine. “I don’t know if Luke talked to you about me,” she says carefully.
“It’s okay, Melissa, I told him about us,” I reassure her.
“But he needs to hear my side of it.” She takes a sip of Perrier and turns back to Drew. “Luke probably told you we’re in a relationship, and it started a few weeks after he operated on my daughter.”
Drew nods, but his expression gives no clue to his thoughts.
“And I understand the hospital administrators might think it’s inappropriate for him to date a patient’s mother,” Melissa continues. “That Luke could face discipline, even have his license suspended. And I can’t let that happen.”
She pauses and takes another sip of her drink. “I understand why there are rules,” she says. “Doctors have a lot of power, and it would be easy for them to take advantage of people. But that’s not what happened here.”
“No?” Drew asks, surveying her carefully.
“Not at all,” Melissa tells him earnestly. “You see, I fell in love with Luke when we were in high school. I, uh, needed a sweatshirt, and he gave me his. He was handsome and funny and smart, but not full of himself. Half the girls in the school were in love with him, but he chose me. And he acted like he was the lucky one.”
“I was,” I say gruffly. “But Melissa, you don’t have to explain?—”
“Let her talk,” Drew interrupts.
