by Candace Shaw
“Good.” Cannon nodded with a smile. “I wanted to tell you that I spoke with the board recently and the new Ob-Gyn will be there in a month, so you’ll be leaving before you know it.”
“Oh … that was fast,” she said with slight disappointment in her voice, which she prayed her twin wouldn’t pick up on.
“Yep. They interviewed a lot of people, but finally voted on one today. She’s going to give her two week notice at the hospital where she works, and she has two weeks to get her affairs together before she moves to Ghilaua.”
“Do you think two weeks will be enough time for her to pack and take care of whatever business affairs she may have?”
Cannon gave her a strange look with a wrinkled brow. “She said it would be. Besides, I’m sure you’re ready to come back home, aren’t you?”
She smiled. Cannon’s twin senses were on high alert. He knew all of her facial expressions and mannerisms, and could tell something was amiss. She was trying to hide her discontent. She thought she had perhaps six more weeks of being there. Even though she was trying to avoid Armand like the black plague, deep down she really wanted to walk across the hall, bang on his door and when he opened it, push him back to his bedroom. For the past few nights she’d barely slept as she thought about the doctor with the piercing gray eyes only a few hundred feet away from her. At one point, she’d jumped up from the couch when she heard his door open and peeked out of the peephole. She thought he had sensed her standing there, for he turned toward her door briefly with a slight smile before going inside his apartment.
“Of course, I’m ready to come home. I miss everyone. I just wanted to make sure everything was all set with the new Ob-Gyn before I leave.”
“Okay. Just checking.”
“So how’s Yasmine?” Raven asked, hoping to get her mind off of the fact that she was leaving in a month. She knew there could never be any type of relationship between her and Armand, but he’d stirred a desire in her she couldn’t explain.
“She’s doing well. She’s starting to show a little more. I swear she has the cutest baby bump you’ve ever seen. Some morning sickness, but she’s had a few acupuncture sessions with Bria, and it seems to be working.” Their next to youngest sibling, Dr. Bria Arrington-Vincent, was an allergist who also specialized in holistic and Eastern medicine at their family practice.
Cannon’s face lit up with the mention of his wife and unborn child. Raven was truly happy for him and Yasmine. After being apart for almost twelve years, their lives intercrossed earlier that year while planning a wedding for their best friends. The love they had for each other never dwindled during their time apart, despite a bitter break up. Cannon was almost finished with medical school when a grant he and his friends had written was accepted to build a medical clinic in an impoverished village in Brazil. At the time, he and Yasmine were engaged and planning a wedding. However, Cannon realized he wasn’t ready to get married, but he never wanted to be without her. After they broke up, he tried to win her back and was willing to give up going to Brazil for a year or longer, but Yasmine didn’t want to stand in the way of his dream. Thanks to his time in Brazil, he and his colleagues founded Doctor’s Unlimited after they completed their residencies at Johns Hopkins Hospital.
“I’m glad to hear Yasmine is doing well and having an uncomplicated pregnancy …” Raven stopped as she heard a screeching noise coming from Cannon’s side, even though he seemed unbothered as he stretched out on the bed.
“Cannon, what’s that sound?”
He smirked. “Yasmine is singing lullabies in the shower.”
“Oh my. Tell her to stop. She’s scaring the baby,” Raven said, laughing.
“Not funny,” Cannon joked. “My Angelface sounds beautiful to me.”
“Definitely true love. So glad you’re happy.”
He beamed from ear to ear. “Me too.” He cocked his head to the side. “You seem quite refreshed. I guess a change of scenery and a different routine has worked well for you. I knew it would.”
“It has, and I’m glad you asked me to come.”
“Well, on behalf of Doctors Unlimited, we appreciate it,” he stated, looking at her with a puzzled look.
“Why do you keep staring at me like that?”
He shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t figure it out yet. Oh, by the way, I spoke to Maria at the orphanage. I didn’t realize you were volunteering there. She said you’ve been quite a few times.”
“Yes. I love going there. In fact, I went yesterday with Kay. There was a birthday party for one of the little girls. We did a princess theme with tiaras, glass slippers, and Cinderella dresses. The girls had a lot of fun.”
“Perfect. Well, I gotta run. Taking Yasmine to a pregnancy yoga class. I’ll touch base with you over the next few days about your return flight home.”
“Okay. Have fun. Kiss Yaz and the baby bump for me.”
“Will do.”
The next day Raven decided she needed to get away from the clinic, considering she was off for the rest of the day, including being on call. Plus, she figured if she wasn’t there, she couldn’t run into Armand. She remembered reading about a park not far from the medical facility. Raven had been meaning to check it out, as well as touring Buenos Aires before heading back to the States. Her heart sunk a little at the thought, but she shook her head, hoping to rid her mind of wanting Armand. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, but she refused to start something with him that wouldn’t go anywhere. Raven had never been one for casual relationships. She’d only had four real boyfriends, including her husband. She didn’t want a fling with Armand. He was the type of man she’d desire forever and that just wasn’t going to happen.
That morning she’d ordered a picnic basket lunch from one of the eateries she frequented, which had American food, before heading down to see a few patients on her schedule. In addition to a couple of F150’s and some other cars, the doctors also had bicycles and golf carts at their disposal to get around the town, and she lucked out by reserving the last cart. She’d decided to tell no one of her plans. She just wanted to be alone with her ereader and her thoughts. When she was done with her last patient, Raven trekked quickly back to her apartment, threw on a sundress, and made her way down to the garage area to retrieve the cart.
Once she arrived at the park, which she didn’t realize had a manmade lake, she found a spot on the lush green grass to settle with a beautiful view of the water and the trees that led into a wooded area. Moments later, she had everything spread out on the blanket. She poured a glass of white wine and munched on a cheeseburger while reading a book on her ereader. Except she couldn’t concentrate. The cheeseburger, which wasn’t as good as Armand’s, kept reminding her of the tryst in his apartment and their other stolen moments. It didn’t make it any better that she was reading a love scene between the hero and heroine of the novel, and kept imagining her and Armand. The couple in the book weren’t nearly as passionate as they had been. However, she couldn’t read it a second more as she found herself getting hot and bothered. She decided to skip over the scene, only to land on another one of the couple making love on the desk in the heroine’s office, which reminded Raven of the night that could’ve happened.
“Humph.” She tossed the ereader on the blanket and grabbed her wine, taking a sip followed by a gulp. She slid the shades from the top of her head down to her eyes, laid back, and stared up at the sky, saying a little wish that she could get through the next month without giving into her desires again.
Chapter Six
Armand stared down at the lovely woman on the blanket as she slept peacefully. He’d gone for a dip in the lake after riding a bicycle down to the park. He’d tried to reserve a golf cart, but was told Dr. Arrington had reserved the last one, so he settled for the bike. He was quite surprised when he arrived to see her there perched on a blanket, having a one person picnic. She was breathtaking in a long white sundress spread out around her. The thin material complimented her
warm, brown-sugar skin, and the thought of getting lost in all of her sent his heartbeat on a rampage.
He was going to go over and say hello to Raven, but decided against it. Apparently she wanted to relax alone since she had a glass of wine and was reading. Plus, she’d been purposely avoiding him for the last few days. Instead, he headed over to his favorite spot, threw off his backpack, tennis shoes, shirt, and dived into the water. Once he was done with his swim, his plans were to leave unnoticed … until he realized she was curled up, sleeping soundly. Even though the park was safe, he preferred she’d be awake since she was by herself. He’d hate for her to wake up when the sun was going down, and she’d have to drive in the dark in a golf cart barely going twenty miles per hour.
Armand knelt and tapped her shoulder gently. She let out a soft moan similar to the ones she made when her head had rested on his shoulder on their way back from the orphanage.
“Raven, its Armand,” he said, shaking her lightly.
She jerked all the way up and yanked off her sunglasses, showing wide almond eyes staring at him in a daze. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes trailed down his naked chest, settling briefly on his lion tattoo—which raised an eyebrow—before resting on his face. “Wet and naked?”
He chuckled at her perusal. “I’m not naked. I’m wearing swim trunks. I came to take a dip in the lake when I saw you resting. Just wanted to make sure you didn’t oversleep.”
“Thank you. I didn’t mean to take a nap.”
He pulled his towel from around his neck and spread it out on the ground next to her blanket. She raised an eyebrow at his gesture. “You weren’t asleep for a long time. Perhaps thirty minutes. When I first arrived, you were reading and finishing up your cheeseburger.”
“Oh.”
“Was it as good as mine?” he asked, stretching his legs out in front of him and tossing his backpack onto the grass.
“What?” she asked in disbelief.
“The cheeseburger.”
She smiled embarrassingly and turned her head away for a moment before answering. “Um … no. I prefer home cooked … like yours, but it was good.” She leaned over to the picnic basket and pulled out a wrapped one, holding it up for him to see. “You want it?”
“Sure. Got anymore wine?”
“Yep.” She reached into the basket and pulled out another plastic wine glass, along with a paper plate and a container of pasta salad. She made him a plate, adding mixed fruit, and poured him some wine along with another glass for herself. She plopped a strawberry into hers.
“Gracias,” he said as she handed him the plate. “Glad I ran into you.”
“De nada.”
“So I hear you’re leaving earlier than expected. I bet you can’t wait to get back home to your family and friends. Your life in Memphis,” he said, taking a bite of his burger.
She sighed with a wistful, faraway look in her eyes as she rummaged through the picnic basket. “I suppose. I’ve enjoyed my time over here, but I do miss my family, and even my patients.”
“I understand completely. I miss being around my family as well.” He looked at all of the things she pulled out of the basket. A folded picnic tablecloth, a couple of candles, matches, some more food, napkins, and two bottled waters. “Goodness. All of that was in there?”
“I had no idea.” She laughed her cute giggle that he found adorable. “I brought the blanket off my bed because I didn’t realize an actual tablecloth would be in here.”
“You know that’s property of Doctors Unlimited,” he said jokingly, tugging on the blanket as she gave him a smug smile.
“Bill me,” she replied, taking a bite of a chorizo taco.
“So tell me about the Arrington family of doctors. That has to be awesome, by the way. A whole family of doctors.”
“Well, I’m not sure if we had a choice in the matter. My parents always pushed me and my siblings in that direction. We knew things at a young age that you’d learn in medical school. They were forever quizzing us on medical terms and medical procedures. On family game night, instead of playing Monopoly or Clue, we were having quizzes on operations, medications, the proper way to sanitize our hands, and dissecting small rodents.”
“Wow, and now all of you work at the family practice your parents started.”
“Almost. The baby, Shelbi, is doing her residency. She has about three more years, even though at one point she didn’t want to be a doctor. During her undergraduate years at Spelman, she took classes at a culinary college part-time and didn’t tell anyone in the family. My father was livid when she finally told all of us. This is after she graduated from medical school.”
“Medical school isn’t cheap.”
“Tell me about it.” Raven reached into the glass for the strawberry. “My dad was not a happy camper.”
While Armand heard what she said, his attention was on her tongue. Licking the wine off of the strawberry, she took a bite of it and sighed pleasantly in the process. Her inviting lips wrapped around the fruit sent his imagination running with thoughts of how he would love for her luscious tongue to lick and tease him wherever and however she pleased.
He coughed to remove the frog in his throat, and cleared his brain of feeding her wine-soaked strawberries. “But apparently she changed her mind.”
“Yes, only after being a food critic for almost a year. Her husband is the chef that owns the blues restaurant I was telling you about on Beale Street, so she’s still around food. In fact, Shelbi has created some of the signature dishes and has a blog called “Cooking up Love” on the Memphis Tribune website.”
“Good. She’s able to do both. What about the rest of your siblings?”
“Of course you know Cannon is a pediatrician. My other sister, Bria, is an allergist, but she also practices holistic approaches such as acupuncture and the use of herbs.”
“I saw her on Sports Fanatic a while ago. She’s married to one of my favorite retired basketball players.”
Raven nodded. “Rasheed Vincent is one of the best point guards to ever grace a basketball court, and a really nice guy. They have a four-month old baby boy, and Cannon’s wife is about three months pregnant.”
Armand nodded knowingly. “I had the pleasure of meeting Yasmine briefly when Cannon came this summer. That’s great they’re expecting.”
“As her sister-in-law and her Ob-Gyn, I hate not being there during this process, but her pregnancy is going well. And then there’s Sean, the middle child. He’s the only non-white coat at the practice. He’s a psychiatrist.”
“So he wasn’t paying attention during your family medical Jeopardy,” he stated, taking the last bite of his cheeseburger.
“Just the medication part. He hated dissecting the animals.”
“He has a wife and kids?”
“Ha! No. Dr. Player is not married and no kids that we know of. Sean was a nerdy geek until some cute girl in high school gave him the time of day. By senior year, he’d grown out of his nerd phase and has been a player ever since. I don’t know if he’ll ever settle down and get married. He’s too picky. He likes a certain type.”
“What’s that?”
“The model type. Tall, trim, glamorous, and no brain. Not to say models don’t have brains. It’s just his don’t. I don’t think Sean wants anyone smarter than him, but whenever one of us says it, he shrugs it off and says it’s not true.”
“I’m sure he’ll meet his match some day.”
“We can only hope,” she said sarcastically as she looked around the park at the handful of people. “It’s so pleasant and peaceful. I thought surely there would be more people here.”
“Usually on the weekends, but then it’s not so pleasant and peaceful. That’s why I try to come during the week for a quick swim or maybe a hike. I love working out in nature instead of cooped up in the medical facility’s gym.”
“There’s a hiking trail?”
“Yep, and a bike trail.”
“I’ll have to check that
out before I go back to the States.”
Raven closed the picnic basket and stretched her arms out, over her head, and down to her sides. He assumed she was ready to head back. However, Armand wasn’t ready to go yet. He enjoyed the alone time with her. In fact, he could lay out in the sun with her and do absolutely nothing and be content.
“How about now?” he suggested. “The trail starts by the lake.”
“With you?”
Armand chuckled. “I promise not to bite. Now, the animals you might come across will.”
“What kinds of animals?” she asked as her voice squeaked.
“You’ll be fine. Just squirrels. Maybe some raccoons and opossums, but they tend to run the other way unless you have food.”
“I … don’t know about this.”
“Tell you what. The bike trail is also drivable. We’ll take the golf cart so we can speed away if a gang of raccoons starts chasing us.”
“Um … is that a joke, or are you serious?”
“Trust me, Raven. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
*****
Raven sat in the passenger side of the golf cart as Armand drove along the bumpy pavement. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to this. Being alone with Armand was not a part of her plans for today, nor was taking the risk of being chased by raccoons. She was supposed to be relaxing, reading, and freeing her mind of wanting the handsome doctor. However, she fell asleep with thoughts of him only to be awoken from her slumber by his charismatic face. At first, she thought she was dreaming and was actually ready to ambush Armand, until she realized she was awake. She had to control herself when she saw he wasn’t wearing a shirt, and her eyes feasted on a gorgeous, ripped chest and abs that she wanted to run her hand or tongue along. Normally she didn’t like tattoos, but the lion on the left side of his chest was so sexy she almost wanted to reach out and pet it. She was disappointed yet relieved when he put his shirt on before they packed the golf cart for their riding hike.