by Karen Pokras
Her daughter looked peaceful in her usual curled up position with Daisy in one arm and Biddy in the other. As she walked into the room to give her a kiss, the pungent odor stopped her in her tracks. Sophie had thrown up in her sleep.
“Oh sweetie,” she said, trying to get her to sit up. “We need to change you out of this nightie and get you clean.”
Propping Sophie up, she felt the heat radiating from her forehead once again. Shoot, her temperature was coming back. She was barely awake as Tessa went to run a cool bath to help bring down the fever. By the time she returned, Sophie had gotten sick again and was crying. Tessa cleaned her up, wrapped her in a soft blanket, and carried her to the couch. Putting her reservations aside, she found the piece of paper with the doctor’s number on it and began to call.
“Hello?” he answered.
“Hi. This is Tessa Haines. I’m sorry to call so late. It’s about Sophie … my daughter. You said I could call if she seemed worse.”
“Yes, of course. I just need the address.”
~~~
“When they’re this young, they can get dehydrated so quickly,” Dr. Hall said as he eased another dropper of fluids between Sophie’s parched lips. “It’s a vicious cycle. The fever leads to dehydration, the dehydration makes the fever worse. Of course, she has to be able to keep some fluids in her to have a fighting chance. I gave her something for her nausea, which should also help her sleep. In fact, I think you’ll both be getting a better night’s sleep.” He looked up at Tessa with a gentle smile that made her heart flutter just a tiny bit.
“I really appreciate you coming out, Dr. Hall. I know you said it’s not a problem, but it’s late, and I’m sure you’re exhausted, and it’s your day off, and … I’m sorry, I’m going to stop talking now.”
He laughed quietly as they walked out of Sophie’s room. “You don’t have to stop talking, but you do need to stop calling me Dr. Hall. It’s Brandon, and coming out here was my idea, remember? I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to be here.”
“Thanks. And that goes for me, too. The Dr. Hall part I mean. Well, for me it’s Miss Haines.” Shaking her head, she smiled and paused before speaking again. “What I’m trying to say is that you can call me Tessa.”
“You got it, Tessa.”
They stood awkwardly in Sophie’s doorway, listening as she breathed deeply in her sleep.
“She sounds better already,” she said, feeling so relieved that she made the right decision. Her daughter was definitely feeling better and was more comfortable. So was that it? Was he going to leave now?
“Well … um,” he said, looking around. “Would you mind terribly if I had something to drink?”
“Oh! I’m so sorry. How rude of me. Of course.” She turned her back toward him to lead the way into the kitchen before the crimson red fully reached her cheeks.
Thankfully, he stopped at her sink to wash his hands, allowing her a moment to regroup before he faced her again. He glanced down to the towel he’d used to dry his hands and laughed. “I guess I should have asked first. Old habits die hard.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said with a smile, as she opened her refrigerator. “I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer. I’ve got soda that I opened about a year ago, but I’m sure it’s probably flat, or I could make some coffee. I’m sorry. I usually just drink water, and I wasn’t expecting company. I do also have Sophie’s juice boxes. They have Elmo on them. They’re all the rage down at the daycare.”
Brandon chuckled and looked around. “How about some wine?” he asked, motioning to the unopened bottle Tessa had on the counter.
She’d forgotten all about the bottle of red, sitting there, collecting dust. Ava had brought it over one night a couple of weeks ago, hoping to have a girls’ night, but had to rush off in a hurry after receiving a distraught call from her babysitter before they’d had a chance to open it.
“Oh, um, sure,” Tessa said, uncertain that was the response she really intended to give as she searched for a corkscrew.
She now had her answer. This was more than just a house call to check up on a sick patient. Taking a deep breath, she tried her best to keep her hands steady as she opened the bottle and poured two glasses. Holly’s earlier words resonated in the back of her mind as she handed him his drink.
“Shall we sit?” he asked, looking around.
Scattered all over the kitchen table and chairs were papers—remnants from Tessa’s workday that she hadn’t had a chance to clean up. Amongst the papers was an empty bowl. The one she’d taken out for the dinner she never had a chance to prepare. She went straight from work to checking on Sophie to calling Dr. Hall … aka Dr. Swoon-worthy… aka Brandon. She probably shouldn’t be drinking on an empty stomach, but didn’t really have any appetizer type food to offer and felt awkward eating a bowl of cereal in front of the doctor with her glass of red wine.
“I was working from home today,” she felt compelled to explain, looking at her mess. “Why don’t we sit in the living room?”
The living room was more like a nook off of the kitchen where a loveseat, coffee table, and small television barely fit. She was forced to sit close to the doctor whether she wanted to or not.
“I know I keep thanking you,” Tessa began, glad to have the wine glass to hold to keep her hands from fidgeting, “but I really am so grateful you make house calls. I’ve never seen Sophie so sick.”
“It’s my pleasure. I’m glad I was able to help her feel a little better,” Brandon replied, looking straight at her.
She took a small sip of her wine, her mind filled with trepidation as she tried to convince herself to just relax.
“You have beautiful eyes,” he added.
“Oh,” she said, choking on her drink. “Sorry. You just caught me off guard there.” She put her glass on the table and brought her hand up to her mouth, hoping no wine had dribbled out during her little coughing fit. Relax, Tessa. They’re not all Scott. Bringing the corners of her lips up into a hint of a smile, she shyly said, “Let me try that again. Thank you.”
Brandon put his glass on the table as well and reached over to touch Tessa’s face. She’d always loved the feeling of a man’s hand lightly caressing her cheek. It had been so long. Tracing the line of her chin and lips, he slowly drew her in closer until their lips finally met. She closed her eyes, letting herself enjoy the moment. Hands that started as soft strokes on her face, slowly made their way down to her neck, her back, to the tops of her thighs. One by one, she felt the blocks start to dissolve, and she pulled away slowly and smiled.
He gazed into her eyes as their foreheads touched. “Do you want to show me to your bedroom?” he whispered as he nibbled on her ear.
The words, acting as a trigger, instantly worked to rebuild the blocks, sealing them tightly. Her entire body stiffened as she pushed herself straight up to standing, ready to bolt into the kitchen for a sharp object if necessary.
“I–I think you should leave,” she told him.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, standing up as well. “I honestly don’t know what came over me.”
“You came over to check on my daughter … I wasn’t expecting … this is wrong.”
“I know,” he said, looking down. “Again, I’m sorry. I truly did come over to check on your daughter. You’re just … so beautiful, and I was getting caught up in the moment. Really, I’m not usually like this. Please, you have to believe me.”
“We don’t even know each other,” she said.
“You’re right. Please tell me you’ll give me a second chance. I’d really like an opportunity to start over. Would you like to go out to dinner with me, on a proper date? After Sophie is better, of course. We could just talk.”
Studying his eyes, she tried to figure out if he was sincere or feeding her some line. One thing she knew for sure was that this evening was now over. She walked to the front door to let him know it was time to leave. He followed her, looking like a child who’d just been scolded.
Turning around before walking into the hallway, he added one final plea, “Just one dinner. I promise to make it up to you.”
Oh, what the hell, she thought, somewhat amused by his reaction. Hadn’t Ava misjudged Max at first also? She smiled and replied, “I suppose that would be okay. And thanks for coming to check on Sophie.”
Chapter 9
“Go ahead,” Holly began before taking another bite of her pizza, “say it.”
“Say what? What am I missing?” Ava asked, looking around Tessa’s small kitchen table at her younger sisters. Reaching for the salad bowl, she helped herself to a generous portion and passed it around.
Tessa loved nights like this—hanging out with Ava and Holly for a casual girls’ only dinner. This time, Ava’s husband was home with her kids. There would be no emergency phone call from any babysitters requiring her to end the evening early. Sophie was in the living room watching cartoons, snuggled on the couch with Daisy and Biddy. Her giggles filtered through to the kitchen, a sure sign she was on the mend. Four days had passed since the doctor’s visit. She seemed almost completely recovered and had been fever free for just over twenty-four hours. Tessa was set to return to her office on Monday.
“Tessa met someone,” Holly blurted, unable to contain her excitement. “A doctor. A hot doctor. Now I’m just waiting for her to say, You were right, Holly. I needed to loosen up and let someone in.” She looked at her sister with a furrowed brow. “You haven’t told Ava yet about your new friend?”
Getting up to grab a napkin, Tessa leaned against the sink, facing her sisters. In all honesty, at times Ava could be difficult to talk to about these sorts of things, especially with their age difference of six years. Sometimes Tessa felt like she was talking to her mom rather than her sister, and in return, Ava often gave lectures rather than advice. It hadn’t always been that way. She guessed it started when Sophie was born. Maybe Tessa felt a bit insecure around her older sister, who was the perfect wife and mother, raising her children in the ideal nuclear family, the way it was supposed to be done. A lot of things changed about Tessa when Sophie was born, or maybe they changed before that, when Scott left her. Don’t let someone from your past steal your spirit. She couldn’t get Holly’s words from the other day out of her head. That’s exactly what happened, wasn’t it?
“So?” Ava asked, staring at her sister with a curious smile. “Are you going to fill me in or what?”
“There’s not much to tell. Sophie got sick. I brought her to the emergency room. The doctor who treated her was kind of good looking. Then he kissed me and—”
“Wait a minute!” Ava held up her hand to stop Tessa from talking. “You kissed in the hospital?”
“No,” she laughed. “That would be weird … and highly inappropriate.” She filled her oldest sister in on the home visit that turned into a … what exactly did it turn into? It definitely wasn’t a date, and she still wasn’t sure she trusted his intentions. Was his plan all along just to come over to see how far he could get? Shaking her head slightly to get her doubts out of her head, she continued her story. “We kissed for a little bit, which was nice, but then he went from Dr. Swoon-worthy to Dr. Want-to-get-in-my-pants in record time. I felt like I was back in high school necking with some boy on the couch. I kept waiting for Dad to barge in the room. Which, in this situation, actually would have been okay.”
“Except, he’s not just some high school boy,” Holly reminded her. “He’s a well-established and highly respected emergency room doctor who heads up the pediatrics department at Crestmont Memorial.”
Tessa stared at her. “And how would you know that, Hol? What did you do, look him up on the Internet or something?”
“What? My fifth graders are all busy with district testing this week. I have to fill my time doing something at school. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out anything about his personal life, but I did find out he graduated Magna Cum Laude from UPenn Medical School. That’s one of the Ivy Leagues, you know, and tops in pediatrics, too. He’s without a doubt daddy material.”
“Are you serious?” Tessa asked, rolling her eyes. “Just because he takes care of sick kids, doesn’t mean he wants some of his own. And it certainly doesn’t mean he wants to be a dad to a kid that’s not even his. Maybe he likes going home to a childless house. Who wants to take their work home anyway?”
“Um, I do, remember? I love kids,” Holly stated, her voice suddenly changing from her usual perky self to somber. “I’d kill to go home to a house full of children every night.”
Tessa looked over at her. Was that a tear forming in her eye? Were her and Ben having trouble getting pregnant? She’d just assumed they’d put off their plans for a while. It never occurred to her there were any problems.
“Hol? Are you okay?” she asked.
With her hands, she brushed Tessa off dismissively, letting her know there would be no discussion as Ava put her arm around her shoulder to comfort her. Yes, there was definitely something going on there she knew nothing about.
“So,” her oldest sister stated, “what happened after the good doctor turned into a raging hormonal teenage boy?”
Holly snorted. Ava always seemed to know exactly what to say to bring everyone out of their funk. Maybe Tessa really could talk to her about matters of the heart.
“I put the brakes on. I mean, we don’t even know anything about each other. Hell, Holly apparently knows more about him than I do at this point.”
Holly nodded and shrugged her shoulders.
“And? Is anything going on with you and this mystery doctor now?” Ava asked, raising her eyebrows.
“I’m not sure,” Tessa said. “He apologized and begged me to let him take me to dinner. On a real date—sort of a do-over, I guess—so we can talk and get to know each other before he turns into an octopus again. I agreed, and now I haven’t talked to him since. He was here four nights ago, and said he had another marathon shift coming up. I’m guessing he’ll call once he catches up on some sleep, or maybe I scared him away.”
“I doubt it,” Ava said. “He knows you want to take things slow. Sounds like he’s just respecting your wishes.”
“I suppose. Still, a call or a text to check in would be okay. Men can be so literal sometimes.”
“And dumb,” Holly added.
“You see? This is why I stopped dating. I don’t want to be that girl who sits around analyzing a guy’s every move. Is he going to call? When is he going to call? If he calls too soon, he just wants sex. If he waits too long, he doesn’t like me. If he only texts, he’s taking the easy way out. If he doesn’t text, he doesn’t care. Without a guy in my life it’s just me and Sophie, and we’re all good.”
“Who says you have to be that girl? She isn’t the confident, independent Tessa Haines we know. The girl we know would sit here and say, ‘That doctor was kind of hot but got out of hand, so I put him in his place and made him beg for a second chance’.”
“That’s what I did.”
“Exactly,” Holly reminded her. “Because you’re not that needy, emotional girl you described.”
“That’s true, but on the other hand …”
“What?”
“It was nice to be wrapped up in someone’s arms. Someone other than my sisters’, I mean.”
“Someone swoon-worthy?” Holly teased.
Tessa’s lips curled into a smile and she nodded. “Someone swoon-worthy.”
Chapter 10
“So, you decided to come back to work finally, huh? Well, I hope you enjoyed your little vacation.”
Mr. Abbott wasted no time calling Tessa into his office first thing Monday morning. He sat behind his desk, drinking black coffee that smelled like the burnt sludge from the bottom of the pot that had sat for hours on end. It probably had been sitting there all week actually, since she was the only one who ever cleaned out that darned thing. A woman’s job was no doubt what he thought. He took another sip and had a smug look on his face, his beady eyes ne
ver blinking as he stared her down.
Was he trying to be funny? No. Her boss didn’t do funny. He was all business, all the time. Focusing on the gold plated pen and pencil set that sat perched at the edge of his desk, she tried to think of an appropriate response so as not to lose her temper. Last week was neither restful nor relaxing. She worked sixteen hour days, took care of a sick child, catered to a needy, arrogant boss, and barely ate or slept. She was pretty sure there was no vacation involved.
“You told me it was okay to work at home while my daughter had the flu, sir. I was working the entire time and actually put in more hours than I normally do when I’m here. I checked in with you several times a day and sent you detailed time sheets and reports. You seemed okay with it all at the time. It was your idea, don’t you remember?”
He stared at her, sitting completely still; not speaking, or moving … not even blinking. He was alive, wasn’t he? Yes, he did appear to be breathing. Was he waiting for her to say something else?
“Well,” she stumbled, “the doctor said her virus could last up to two weeks, and my daughter was much better in less than a week, so I guess we got lucky.”
The doctor. His shift was long over by now, and he still hadn’t called. However, there was no time to dwell on him. At the moment, she needed to brace herself for what appeared to be an unexpected attack from her schizophrenic boss.
Mr. Abbott put his coffee cup down and tapped his fingers together, but still said nothing. At least he was moving now. Looking around his office, Tessa nervously waited for his response. There were no family photos, no plants, works of art, or other items normally found in the offices of professionals. The only items displayed on his dark paneled walls were enormous frames exhibiting his multiple diplomas and certificates flaunting all of his accolades. Sitting in the middle of the office was his oversized leather-topped mahogany desk with matching hammered nail-head daunting leather chairs for his clients, one of which she sat in. He had an executive-style chair for himself that looked more like a king’s throne. There was a bar set up in the corner with several decanters filled with what she assumed were various liquors. All in all, the office seemed like a perfect set up for an intimidating narcissist, like himself.