Nerds on Fire

by Grady, D. R.

  “He’s drinking a lot more than I got.” Trixi growled at Leo but she knew better than try to steal the mug from him, the giant.

  The man knew how to protect his own. At least this boded well for Katy.

  A happy feeling for her sister zipped through her. Chocolate would help the feeling along though. She tried for the coffee again, and missed.

  “What aren’t they taking seriously?” Leo possessed a large quantity of patience, as any pediatrician should.

  “Our jobs.” Katy stole her coffee from Leo. He must not have put up as much of an effort with Katy. “It’s hard to enjoy brains.” Or maybe Leo figured she deserved the chocolate coffee.

  Before Mark could defend his beloved field, his phone rang and he turned away to answer it. When he returned, he looked happy. “Good news. My team is going to be back by the end of the week.”

  Katy stared at him in relief before she drank more coffee. “We need to think up an excuse to see Nina.”

  A glance at the clock told them they didn’t have time now.

  At lunchtime, Mark’s shoulders hunched when he plodded in.

  “What happened?”

  “I lost a patient.” There were new lines around his mouth.

  Without thought, Trixi rushed to him. She placed a commiserating hand on his arm. The fact he took losing his patient so hard only made her like him more. Yet this was an unfortunate part of their profession.

  Some of the tension leaked out of his shoulders and she wasn’t surprised when he grabbed her into a tight hold. She held him just as close, offering him the comfort he needed.

  “Thank you,” he whispered into her hair.

  “You’re welcome,” she whispered into his chest. Her nose was smashed against it but she didn’t mind. Not when he smelled so good and felt even better.

  They fit together, even though he was so much bigger than her.

  She might not have much experience with men, but this one seemed... right somehow. Some people said you just knew, but her lack of experience on that front meant she didn’t know right from wrong. Or did she?

  Another problem was just because she thought maybe he was right didn’t mean he thought she was right. Chances were good he felt differently on the matter. He might not think of her as anything other than a roommate.

  Then there was their living situation. Maybe he just considered her a landlady and felt he needed to keep her sweet. Buttering her up didn’t seem like Mark’s style though. Her house might be big and impressive, but so was Mark. She liked big and impressive as much as the next woman, but there was a high level of maintenance involved. At least her house required a lot of maintenance. Time would tell whether Mark proved the same.

  Right now, she would just enjoy the feeling of those hard arms around her. It was nice to be this close to him. To be allowed to be this close.

  He could make a fortune selling tickets.

  Someone’s phone rang nearby and she stifled a protest as he released her. “We better eat lunch or we’ll run out of time,” he said.

  She was heartened that he seemed reluctant to release her.

  When they arrived home that night Gran took one look at Mark and asked, “What happened?”

  His mouth turned down.

  “He lost a patient.” Trixi rubbed his arm as she answered.

  Gran nodded. “It happens. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen to you very often.”

  Her resolute loyalty softened the hard lines around Mark’s lips. He sent her a grateful look. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, go work this off in the gym.” She gestured toward the fitness center.

  Both Trixi and Mark nodded before they disappeared to their respective rooms to change into workout clothes.

  In minutes, she joined him. It was actually a decent gym. Over the years, her father had accumulated some good equipment and when he moved to his new house, he only took a few of his favorite pieces with him. Much of their collection remained. Reed and Shawna also left a few odds and ends from their time living above the carriage house.

  “This is a great setup.” Mark walked around the equipment. She noticed a few new additions and figured he had added those.

  “Yes, we’ve been working on it for years. I love having a fitness room here at home.”

  He nodded and then fired up the treadmill. With a contented nod, she moved to the elliptical, her preferred machine. It didn’t take long for them to both settle into a rhythm.

  Trixi was surprised at how easy it was to perform this task with him in the room. Usually she didn’t like to work out with anyone other than family. Yet Mark fit in like any of her family would.

  Over the next forty minutes, they moved to various pieces of equipment, some the same, others different, but he didn’t interfere at all with her usual routine. It was interesting to her how he fell into her life so easily. Then she wondered when he planned to fall out of it.

  Surely this easy camaraderie wouldn’t last. She decided to enjoy it while it did.

  After a time, their equipment fell silent and they both headed toward the towels stacked in the corner. She leaned against the wall, rubbing sweat as he towered over her and did the same.

  Mark de Vosse in dress clothes was extraordinary. He was every bit as impressive in surgical scrubs. But the man rocketed beyond majestic after a workout. His muscles were well defined and with that glistening sweat, he was drool-worthy.

  She nearly hyperventilated on the spot.

  Chapter 22

  Trixi wiped beads of sweat from her brow. He wanted to watch them cross her cheek, then forge a path across her nose, highlighting those freckles he couldn’t resist.

  She was breathing heavy, since she’d been working out, and her curves were enticing to say the least. Where most women were soft, so was Trixi, but her toned muscles were somehow intoxicating as well. There was no doubt the woman was gorgeous.

  Yet part of her allure lay in that she was a wondrous being. Smart, funny, compassionate, gorgeous, but also sweet and sincere and loyal, she was the epitome of every woman he had ever wanted. All here in one small, enticing package.

  He still couldn’t believe his luck at finding a woman like her. Upon their first meeting, he had been impressed. The longer he knew her, the more the feeling grew.

  Mark also appreciated Leo’s verbose thoughts on the subject of Trixi Duvall. He still wasn’t completely certain Leo didn’t want Trixi for himself. Leo’s relationship with Katy seemed to be going well, but that pair were completely oblivious to what was happening right under their noses. He therefore concluded he shouldn’t trust Leo’s perceptions.

  What if he was just friends with Katy and wanted Trixi instead?

  Denial coursed through him at the mere thought.

  Even though he loved his brother, Leo couldn’t have Trixi.

  Besides, Leo was falling in love with Katy, even though the dummy didn’t know it. He couldn’t have both women, and since Mark wanted to pursue a relationship with Trixi... Did he want something deeper with Trixi?

  This seemed sudden. Right now with the move and the busyness of work, he wasn’t certain he had time to think about a relationship on top of all the upheaval.

  Then there was still sorting this out with Leo. He should probably also determine if Trixi herself was interested, or if she preferred Leo. For some reason he didn’t think so. They were good friends, but he might be reading the signs all wrong.

  It wasn’t like he had a lot of experience with this man-woman thing. Fortunately, from what he garnered at work, neither did Trixi. He appreciated she wasn’t knowledgeable about love either. It meant they could learn together, unless she wasn’t interested.

  She tossed her towel in a basket near the door and he copied her after wiping the last of his sweat.

  “That felt good.” She preceded him out the door.

  He nodded. “I needed it.”

  Trixi placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”

&nbs
p; “Yes.” After a quick reassessment, he realized he was. “Just feeling for his family.”

  The hand on his arm squeezed gently. “I’m sure we all are. But Katy said they knew there was a chance he wouldn’t make it. You made certain they were well aware of the possibility. Surgery was his only chance.”

  That knowledge didn’t make his patient’s death easier.

  “They got to say goodbye to him, Mark.” There was a restrained note in Trixi’s voice.

  “Yes.” He stared long and hard at her. A patch of dying sunlight highlighted her as the light faded.

  Her intake was noisy, as though she struggled to contain her emotions. There was something here. Something important.

  “You didn’t get to say goodbye?” His voice was soft so as to not spook her.

  Trixi’s nod was jerky and her breath rattled. Her arms curled around herself, like she was suddenly cold.

  Not able to bear her discomfort, whether he had caused it or not, Mark wrapped his arms around her. He held her tight, feeling the nearly invisible shivers racing through her.

  He repeated his question.

  Her nod was minute. “My mother.” Trixi’s raw voice pierced him.

  A shudder pulsed through him as goosebumps rose along his arms. That wasn’t what he expected to hear.

  “Your mother is gone?”

  “Yes.” The pain in her voice was very evident.

  “I’m sorry, Trixi.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long time, just stood there in his arms like a small, warm statue. Mark held her a little tighter, the longing strong within to never release this woman.

  “I was fifteen when they came.”

  “Who came?”

  “The police.”

  His heart sank. Trixi didn’t elaborate, and he didn’t press her. He could tell this was bad. How bad he didn’t know, but he didn’t want to infringe on her grief. He still had both of his parents and he wanted to keep them for the rest of his life.

  There was no way for him to understand the pain spiraling through Trixi.

  Her voice was torn from her throat when she spoke again. “They came to the door. Mom had run out to the store for some items to finish dinner. My dad had just arrived home from work.

  “We were standing in the kitchen because she had been gone for a long time. Longer than necessary to get the few items she needed.”

  He didn’t want to hear the rest of this. Instinctively he knew it. There was no way he could ask her to continue.

  Yet she did so without his prompting. “When we were starting to worry, the doorbell rang.” She gestured toward the front door behind him. “We changed the doorbell soon after because none of us could bear to hear those chimes.”

  Her swallow sounded painful. “My dad answered the door. There was a police officer there. He held his hat in his hands while he verified who we were.”

  Trixi swallowed again, and he felt her throat working. He held her a little tighter.

  “Then he told us Mom had been killed in an automobile accident. A drunk driver T-boned her.”

  A deep shuddering breath from somewhere deep in her soul preceded the sobbing. His lungs constricted so tight, he feared he’d stop breathing. Her small body shook as her tears wet his t-shirt and he had no idea how to take away her pain.

  It seemed best to allow her to weep. To get out all that debilitating pain. This couldn’t be the first time she had cried... If he lost either of his parents, he doubted the tears would stop.

  “What happened to the drunk driver?” His voice rasped.

  “He walked away from the accident with a few scratches and a broken wrist.”

  “I hope he went to jail.”

  She nodded. “He did. He served about a tenth of his sentence and then was released due to overcrowding.”

  There was no adequate response.

  “He’s since been pulled over for reckless endangerment and other traffic violations, and he continues to drink. From what we learned, he has family high up and they keep getting him off.”

  Mark couldn’t even utter the anger and consternation winging through him. His throat was too tight. His heart too constricted.

  “I’m sorry, Trixi,” was all he finally managed. It was inane and not nearly enough.

  Her nod was jerky, a little uncoordinated. “I am too. It took a long time before I realized she wasn’t coming back.”

  “How did you get through the funeral?”

  “We were in shock. It took a long time before it wore off. All three of us, plus Gran, Grampy, Aunt Miriam, and Uncle Johnny, we all banded together even tighter, but we also sort of just shut down.”

  The breath she drew in was ragged, but she kept on. “Then, less than a year later Grampy died. He had a heart attack and then another, but at least we were able to say goodbye to him.”

  Two deaths in one year. It was unimaginable. Mark’s family was huge, so death wasn’t unfamiliar. They had lost plenty of people over the years. But none of them had been as close a family member as Trixi had experienced.

  He thought of Rylan Duvall. The man lost his wife and then his father all in the space of a year. Mark couldn’t imagine such grief, that amount of pain. Yet Rylan had two kids he needed to remain strong for, not to mention his mother and sister.

  How did people endure so much sorrow?

  Maybe they continued because they didn’t have any other choice. Yet this conversation with Trixi helped him cope with the loss of his patient today. The man’s family had understood the risks and they each took the opportunity to tell him how much they loved him. He went into surgery well aware of their love and respect.

  Though he never awoke, he knew.

  Trixi was right; there was something to be said for knowing.

  Mark couldn’t begin to imagine the pain she had endured as a child. Maybe she had been nearing adulthood but fifteen was a very young age to lose a parent. Forty was still a terrible age.

  “I’m so sorry, Trixi.”

  “I am too.” She clung to him, as though he was the only solid thing in her world at the moment.

  It was something he could do.

  They stood in the hall for a long time, neither of them speaking, but holding each other. Gran broke them up when she sent Trixi upstairs to shower.

  After Trixi disappeared, Gran turned to him. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  Gran studied him in silence for a few disconcerting moments. “For finally breaking down her barriers.”

  “What barriers?”

  “She erected them after we buried her mother. I think she emotionally buried her mother and stopped thinking about her. Like Trixi put her on ice and refused to believe she’s dead.” Gran stared up the empty staircase. “Maybe this will start the healing process. You have to grieve.”

  His stomach clenched. “She hasn’t grieved all these years?”

  “I don’t think she could,” Gran stated softly. “She was afraid she’d shatter. Finally she’s come to a place where she has to grieve or she can’t move forward.”

  That made sense. Maybe Trixi wasn’t able to grieve before. He was thankful he had been there to hold her when she was finally ready. The idea of another man holding her didn’t sit well with him at all.

  If she needed a man to hold her, it should be him.

  When she returned twenty minutes later, Trixi’s eyes were still red rimmed and she was too pale, but she remained composed. He wanted to yank her back into his arms and soothe away the hurt.

  It was a new experience for him. Mark had never felt this way before. Not for anyone, not even his precious family. Was this what falling in love meant?

  He hadn’t ever been in love before. In lust, yes, in his younger years, but never love. The only knowledge he had of love was the example of his massive family. Plenty of them were in love.

  Starting with his grandparents, through to his parents, then all of his aunts and uncles who daily showed them what love meant. Now
many of his cousins had also found love and were happy with their spouses.

  It made sense this was his turn.

  But this new wrinkle concerned him. If Trixi was only now healing over the death of her mother, maybe she wasn’t ready for love.

  That awful thought plummeted his spirits worse than losing his patient today.

  Arriving home was still a little surreal to him, but it also filled Rylan with pride when he pulled into his driveway and gazed at the estate he now called home. The place was different from how it had been in his youth, yet it was still home, or it would be after he put his stamp on it. He was reluctant to do so until he brought home his bride.

  This turned his thoughts to Nina. A surge of anticipation jolted him as he drove down the driveway and parked in front of his doorway. He wondered how well she cooked. Even if the fare was awful, it still meant they would be together.

  It wasn’t until he climbed out of his vehicle that he noticed a familiar, empty car parked off to the side. What was she doing here?

  He hurried up the stairs and into the house. His housekeeper met him at the front door. “That woman is here,” she whispered, wringing the cleaning cloth in her hands, her lips tight.

  “Thank you, Bernadette. I’ll go see what she wants.”

  She nodded, and ceased wringing her favorite chamois duster. “Thank you, Rylan.”

  “I won’t be in this evening. Nina is cooking for us. I did tell you, didn’t I?”

  Her lined face creased into a radiant smile. “So you did. I’m sure Nina’s cooking is much better than ours.”

  “Very doubtful, Bernie. But I am looking forward to the company,” he admitted.

  Then he turned toward the small sitting room where Bernadette indicated she had stashed Chrissy. The sooner he got rid of her the faster he could see Nina.

  He opened the door to the room and strolled in. Chrissy turned from where she had been peering out the window to the forecourt. Her face was etched in lines of pensive beauty, schooled for maximum effect, he was certain, but she left him cold.