“Maybe you should take a look at the specials,” Camille countered, getting the sense that the wheels were falling off already. “Might want to try something new.”
“I’d like the Chinese chicken salad,” Tabitha said, eyes narrowed. “And an iced tea with two lemon slices. Thank you.”
Panicked, their waitress clung to the remaining menu. “Shoot. I don’t have my notepad.” She patted her apron with a free hand, doing her best to play the part but it was clear acting wasn’t her forte. “Let me grab that really quick. I’ll just leave this here with you.” The young girl all but shoved the menu at Tabitha.
“Is it so difficult to remember a salad and iced tea?” Tabitha asked her friends rhetorically once the frazzled waitress dipped out of sight.
“I think she’s new,” Camille supplied. “And would you look at that? Some of theseadditionsto the menu are, too.”
The corner of Edie’s mouth slid into a grin. “Oh, right. These specials look great.”
Tabitha hadn’t even cracked her menu open. Instead, her eyes focused on a text that lit up her phone like a beacon of distraction. If she got called back into the hospital, it would ruin the entire surprise, and poor Casey and Hannah worked so hard to pull this off.
“Since you already know what you want, can you help me decide?” Camille opened Tabitha’s menu for her. Her sister clearly had no intention of doing so on her own. “Should I try theMamaMia Marinara?”
Zeroed in on her phone and absolutely nothing else—certainly not the sheet of paper tucked into the leather menu, listing the biggest special of them all—Tabitha’s eyebrows drew tight. “I have to go.” She stood from the table, chair legs scraping loudly on the floor as she shoved out from her seat. “I’m needed back in the OR. I’ll sync up with both of you tonight.”
Before either woman could protest, Tabitha was gone. Out the door and out of sight, but certainly not out of mind.
“Are we at all surprised?” Camille asked, not even needing to hear Edie’s answer to corroborate her agreement.
“She’s still being pulled in so many directions.”
This was the tightrope her sister would always walk: to have a responsibility to her patients and community while at the same time doing her best to maintain healthy relationships with the friends and family she loved. It was a balancing act that threatened to pull her down at every turn.
Camille angled in her chair, catching Casey’s eye from across the café as he stood to make his way over. Hannah lowered the menu that had been obstructing her face and yanked the ballcap from her head, abandoning her makeshift disguise as she joined them.
“I’m really sorry, kiddos.” Camille truly was. They were so close to pulling it off.
Their faces bore a knowing disappointment.
“It’s not your fault,” Casey said as he slid an arm across Hannah’s shoulders, pulling her into his side. “My mom is hard to surprise, but we’ll figure out a way to do it. Back to the drawing board.”
CHAPTER THREE
What day was it?
Tabitha couldn’t be sure. The minutes and hours had blurred into one another as back-to-back surgeries kept her secluded in a windowless operating room where time itself often seemed to stand completely still.
But as she stepped out into the world again, it was obvious it was nearing dusk. The sky had transitioned from a warm sunset to cooler colors as daytime started its shift into night. At least she could enjoy the final dregs of the day before today turned into tomorrow.
Plus, Ben was waiting for her.
He had texted her moments ago to see if she was up for some company after her shift at the hospital. She would be lying if she said her heart hadn’t done a little cartwheel when she saw his name attached to the message.
In past years, she would have declined. Heck, even during their marriage, she would have avoided his company. Instead, Tabitha would have come home, gone straight into the shower to wash off the day, and avoided all contact as she replayed every moment of every surgery, correcting in her head the thingsshe’d gotten wrong and breaking down the elements that were successful.
Even her own son, Casey, couldn’t have gotten her attention back then.
She liked to believe she was better at that now—at leaving her workday behind to give those she loved her undivided focus. Of course, there was always room for growth, but she knew she’d matured in that area by leaps and bounds.
Plus, the thought of coming home to Ben did something to her now that it never had in the past. A jolt of anticipation rushed down her spine, loving the fact that he even had his own key to her beach house. That decision wasn’t one she’d taken lightly, nor was the choice to open up her heart—and maybe more importantly, her mind—to the idea of rekindling something with her ex-husband.
In so many ways, it felt easier to ignore the feelings mounting between them. Because if they gave their love another shot and things failed, that would be the end of it. The end of Ben in her life forever. The third time definitely wasn’t a charm in this scenario.
Sure, they would always share the love they had for their son—an unbreakable bond between them—but they might not share much more than that if their second chance failed.
And the truth of it was that Tabithadidwant to share everything with Ben. Everything she’d kept from him throughout their marriage. Her insecurities. Her fears. Her joys and successes. She’d been a vault back then, never giving access to the parts of herself that made her feel vulnerable. The parts of herself that made her human.
