An Engagement for Two

by Marie Ferrarella

  Sophia beamed as she looked in her son’s direction. “I am at that,” she said.

  Mikki noted that her patient’s countenance toward her had changed since yesterday. The initial belligerence tinged with antagonism Sophia had displayed had completely disappeared, as had the suspicion in her eyes when Sophia regarded her.

  “So—” Mrs. Sabatino did her best to sit up “—when can I go home?”

  Mikki had pulled up entries the night nurse had logged. “Soon,” she answered after scanning them quickly.

  “Today?” Sophia pressed eagerly, obviously no longer feeling the need to act reserved or be on her guard.

  Mikki smiled at the older woman even though she was forced to shake her head.

  “Not that soon, I’m afraid. But soon,” she reiterated. Making a final notation on the chart, Mikki looked at her watch. Why weren’t there more hours in a day and more minutes in an hour? “And now I have fifteen minutes to get to the office before my first patient starts complaining that I’m late.”

  Jeff had remained on the sidelines, watching this woman who seemed to him to be a perfect combination of grace and effortless competence. It struck him that the doctor was the closest thing to flawless he had ever encountered. Now that the danger was over, he found himself intrigued.

  “What about breakfast?” he asked. How did she manage to run on pure energy the way she did if she didn’t eat, he wondered.

  “Oh, it’s in the car,” Mikki answered, suddenly remembering that it was still waiting for her. “I’ll eat while I’m driving over to the medical building.”

  Because of the business he was in, he met a lot of people who lived to eat. Apparently, his mother’s surgeon was one of those people who ate to live—when she remembered to eat.

  “That can’t be good for your digestion,” Jeff commented.

  He was right, but Mikki didn’t have time to get into any sort of a debate about that.

  “Better than not eating at all,” she countered with a smile. Turning toward her patient, she said, “I’ll see you tonight, Mrs. Sabatino.” Then, nodding at Jeff as she hurried out, she said, “Goodbye.”

  His mother made a clucking noise he’d become all too familiar with throughout his childhood. “If that young woman’s not careful, she’s going to wind up in her own hospital.”

  “That’s just what I was thinking, Mom,” Jeff agreed. Turning toward her, he gave his mother his full attention. “So, how are you feeling?” he asked. Then, his eyes meeting hers, he emphasized, “Really?”

  “Achy, tired and these stitches are beginning to hurt,” his mother answered. “But I feel a lot better than I did yesterday morning and the days before that,” she confessed.

  There was no way to adequately describe the relief he felt. Smiling warmly, he said, “See? Sometimes it pays to listen to your son.”

  “Don’t let it go to your head,” Sophia warned, then reminded him, “Even a broken clock has the right time twice a day.”

  He laughed. “Ah, there’s the mother I know and love. Welcome back, Mom,” he said, bending over to kiss her forehead. Now that he was no longer worried about his mother’s health, things could get back to normal again. “I’ve got to get to the restaurant today. There’s a retirement party coming in at four.”

  “Go, go, I’ll be all right,” Sophia told him, wiggling her fingers in his direction in lieu of waving him off.

  “Robert and Tina are coming by to see you today,” he reminded his mother in case she’d forgotten. Ready to leave, he asked, “Can I bring you back anything?”

  “You’re coming back?” Sophia asked, pretending to be surprised. She wasn’t fooling him. He knew that his mother clearly expected him to return to the hospital.

  But he played along, knowing his mother liked reinforcement. “Of course I’m coming back, but it’ll be around seven. Sam said he’d cover for me tonight, and he’s capable enough,” he told her before she could ask, mentioning his assistant manager. He really had to go, so he cut the exchange short. “What can I bring you?”

  Sophia answered without any hesitation. “Grandchildren.”

  It was a familiar topic. Hearing her touch upon it heartened him, because that meant that she really was on the path to making a full recovery. These last few days, when he’d spoken to her on the phone, she hadn’t said a word about future grandchildren.

  “Tina and Robert have that department covered,” Jeff told her.

  “Those are their kids. I’m taking about your kids,” Sophia emphasized.

  Jeff paused to press another kiss to her forehead. “Welcome back, Mom. Gotta go.”

  “You can’t run from this forever,” she reminded her oldest child.

  “I’m not running, Mom. I’m just taking care of business—just like you taught me to,” he added for good measure.

  He heard his mother sigh dramatically just as he reached the doorway. The woman should have been an actress, not a social worker. His mother truly had missed her calling, he thought fondly.

  “See you tonight,” he told his mother right before he left.

  His mother meant well, he thought, taking the elevator to the ground floor. Undoubtedly, there was some handbook that urged all mothers to attempt to indoctrinate their offspring with a desire to produce short versions of their own kind. And he understood that, he really did.

  He had nothing against kids, Jeff thought as he left the hospital. He actually liked kids, and he was crazy about his niece and nephew. They were at an age where they were messy, sticky and noisy, but he still regarded them all with a great deal of affection. But to produce a kid of his own would require a female participant. Someone he’d presumably date before anything of a more serious nature happened between them.

  However, in the last couple of years, the restaurant had consumed all of his time. This thing with his mother had been an aberration. He normally didn’t have this kind of time to spare. Since this had turned out to be a life-or-death scenario, he’d had to find the time. There was no other choice. He’d taken charge because neither his brother or his sister could get their mother to do anything she didn’t want to, and the situation had been dire.

  Life or death or dire were not words that came up in reference to dating someone, so the whole concept of dating anyone fell by the wayside. And if he wasn’t dating someone, there was no way he could make his mother’s heartfelt wish come true and present her with a grandchild.

  Not unless he won one in a lottery.

  Still, Jeff caught himself thinking as he drove to Dinner for Two, if he were inclined to date someone, he’d like whoever fate eventually sent to cross his path to look like that sexy blonde surgeon who had saved his mother’s life.

  Jeff had no doubt that Dr. Mikki McKenna was already taken. An intelligent, highly professional woman who looked as if the term knockout had been coined with her in mind had to be in a relationship. Granted, he hadn’t noticed a ring on her left hand, but that didn’t mean anything. She probably didn’t wear a ring because rings could get caught on any number of things, and as a doctor, she couldn’t risk something like that happening.

  Pulling into his parking space, he blocked out all further thoughts of the doctor, his mother and the grandchildren he hadn’t given her.

  It was time to focus on work.

  * * *

  Happily, there were no crises for him to handle.

  The retirement party went off without a hitch, as did the regular service. Mercifully, everything went smoothly.

  So smoothly that he caught himself thinking about his mother’s doctor on several occasions during the course of the day.

  He found himself wondering if she was going to be there tonight. He intended to swing by the hospital to see his mother just as he had promised. That led him back to thinking about Mikki. He tried to remember just when she had turned up at the hospit
al last night to check on his mother.

  What are you, twelve? Trying to get a glimpse of the hot girl at school? Jeff admonished himself. His thoughts should be centered on his mother and his restaurant, not on what time Dr. McKenna would be making her rounds at the hospital.

  Still, if he had any questions about his mother’s condition, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to run into the doctor, now would it?

  You’re rationalizing and you know it. What’s come over you? he silently demanded, annoyed with the way he was behaving.

  As the day wore into evening, he decided that he wasn’t doing any good here. That being the case, he might as well leave.

  “Hey, Sam,” he called out to his assistant manager, “I’m heading out.”

  Across the kitchen, Jeff’s assistant manager nodded. “About time,” he quipped. “Say hello to your mom for me. Tell her we’re all rooting for her and wish her a speedy recovery. How long is she going to have to be in the hospital, anyway?”

  That was still up in the air. He hoped to have an answer when he saw the doctor tonight. “My guess is at least another day.”

  Sam nodded, taking the information in. “Maybe Ginny and I will go see her tomorrow. We’ll bring Wendy,” he added, referring to his two-year-old daughter.

  Great, Jeff thought. That would only encourage his mother to ramp up her crusade for more grandchildren. Still, he appreciated the man’s thoughtfulness. So out loud he said, “That’ll be great. Kids always cheer my mother up.”

  “Then we’ll definitely bring her,” Sam promised, calling after his boss.

  * * *

  When he arrived at his mother’s room, Jeff found her talking to the nurse on duty. Her doctor, however, was nowhere to be seen. He wondered if he’d missed her.

  “Hi, Mom. Brought you your favorite,” he said, placing the bag from his restaurant on her serving table. Rather than say anything, or look pleased by the offering, his mother just lay there. Because she hadn’t made any response, Jeff just kept talking. “Chicken parmesan.”

  His mother appeared even more dismayed. “I can’t have anything solid until tomorrow night,” she finally lamented.

  “Okay.” He was nothing if not flexible. “I’ll bring you a fresh serving tomorrow night.”

  “You don’t have to get rid of it,” Sophia told him, suddenly brightening right before his eyes. “Maybe Dr. McKenna would like to take it home with her for dinner.”

  That was when he realized that the doctor had walked in right behind him. Turning around, he flashed a smile at the blue-eyed, diminutive doctor. “Hi.”

  Mikki nodded in acknowledgment. Noting that she had obviously walked in on something, Mikki framed her question carefully, just in case the thing her patient was saying that she could take home was her son. “Take what home with me?”

  Jeff was quick to come to her rescue. “My mother’s talking about the chicken parmesan that I brought her tonight.”

  Oh, dinner. Relief washed over her, quickly followed by her thinking that she couldn’t get over how thoughtful Jeff Sabatino was when it came to his mother.

  It reminded her just how empty her own upbringing had been. It had never occurred to either one of her parents—when they were still together—to do anything even remotely thoughtful for her or for their spouse. And once their divorce was final, the idea of maintaining any sort of family unity, much less behaving thoughtfully, never seemed to occur to either one of her parents.

  Mikki reiterated what Sophia had already told her son. “I’m afraid your mother can’t have anything solid to eat yet.”

  Sophia didn’t hesitate speaking up. “I can’t, but you can.”

  Mikki looked at her blankly. “Excuse me?”

  “Why don’t you take my serving of chicken parmesan home with you?” Sophia suggested. “It’s a shame to let good food go to waste, don’t you agree, Doctor?”

  “Yes, of course,” Mikki agreed. “But I don’t think—”

  “Then the matter’s settled,” Sophia declared, bringing her hands together in what passed for a commanding clap—at least until she got stronger. “Jeffrey, give the doctor the dinner that you brought for me.”

  Mikki tried to talk the woman out of giving away her dinner to her one last time. “Oh, no, Mrs. Sabatino, I couldn’t just—”

  “Of course you could,” Sophia insisted. “This isn’t a bribe. We’re still going to pay your bill,” she told the young doctor.

  His mother was a master when it came to talking faster than anyone else could think. “Mom, stop railroading Dr. McKenna and let her talk,” Jeff said. He turned toward Mikki and apologized. “She has a habit of talking right over a person, so you have to speak up for yourself or you’re a goner.”

  “Jeffrey,” Sophia protested. “You make me sound like a cartoon character.”

  “Not a cartoon,” he amended. “But definitely a character,” he said with affection. “But she does have the right idea,” he continued, turning toward Mikki. “Why don’t you take this home with you?” He held the bag out toward her.

  “Don’t you want it?” she asked him.

  He grinned. “I have more than my fill, trust me. This way, maybe if you like it, you’ll change your mind about having dinner at my restaurant.”

  “It’s not that I don’t want to have dinner at your restaurant—”

  Jeff wasn’t his mother’s son for nothing. He’d picked up some things along the way, including seizing opportunities when they presented themselves. “Great, then how about Thursday night at eight o’clock?”

  Mikki didn’t see how she could gracefully turn him down again.

  So she didn’t.

  Chapter Nine

  Mikki’s landline was ringing when she opened her front door and walked in.

  The old saying about there being no rest for the weary flashed through her head. After locking the door behind her, she quickly crossed the living room to the phone. She was afraid the call might be from her mother, wanting to discuss the possibility of her attending yet another party, cruise or some other function that she had absolutely no interest in going to. However, since she knew that it could also be someone from the hospital or one of her patients, she couldn’t very well ignore it.

  The caller ID made her smile even as she released a long, exaggerated sigh. Pulling the phone over to her, she sank down on the sofa and picked up the receiver. And relaxed.

  “Hi, stranger. Haven’t heard from you for a while. What’s up?” And then Mikki sat up, alert, as she answered her own question. “Wait, don’t tell me. You’re pregnant.”

  “No,” Nikki Sommers-Wingate replied with a laugh. “I’m not. Although I have to admit that Luke and I have been thinking about it. Three is such an uneven number,” she laughed.

  “Unless you have twins again,” Mikki pointed out. “And then you’re up to five.”

  “Well, it’s nice to know that at least your math skills are still good,” Nikki responded, “which is more than I can say for your phone etiquette.”

  Mikki had no idea what her best friend was talking about. But it was really nice to hear the sound of her voice no matter what she was saying. Too much time had passed since they last spoke at length. “Okay, what are you talking about?”

  “As in using the phone,” Nikki prodded.

  “Sorry. Still lost,” Mikki told her.

  “As in you haven’t called me since forever,” Nikki spelled out for her. Ever since she’d asked her mother to step in and find someone for her best friend, Nikki had had to sit on her hands to keep from calling Mikki to find out if there was anything new in her life. But curiosity had finally gotten to her, which was why she was calling her friend now—and doing her best to make it sound as if this was nothing more than just a friendly call. “How are things going?”

  “Fine,” Mikki answered, refraining
from saying anything about her newest patient—and her good-looking, attractive son. “And the phone works two ways, you know. You could call, too.”

  “I am calling,” Nikki pointed out. “And I repeat, how are things?”

  Mikki shifted slightly in her seat, wondering if her best friend had suddenly become a mind reader.

  “Okay. Mother’s been calling, trying to get me to come to one of her parties. She’s in between husbands and I think she wants a morale boost from me, of all people.”

  “Your mother’s always done very well without any boosting,” Nikki mused.

  Mikki laughed softly. “Amen to that.” She put her feet up on the coffee table.

  “Anything else new?” Nikki asked nonchalantly.

  Dropping her feet to the floor again, Mikki sat up. Did her friend know about her possible dinner out? “Like what?”

  Nikki had wanted her friend to volunteer the story on her own, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen, so she prodded gently. “Oh, come on, Mik. Word has it that someone sent you half the long-stemmed pink roses in Bedford.”

  “Not half,” Mikki protested, then reluctantly corrected, “Just two dozen.”

  “Close enough,” Nikki granted, then got down to the important part. “So who sent them?”

  Mikki shrugged, even though her friend couldn’t see her. “Just this guy.”

  “Okay, so far, so good, but I need more,” Nikki prodded. This was like pulling teeth. “What guy?”

  “This restaurateur,” Mikki finally said. She didn’t want to make a big thing of it. She knew her friend wanted to see her find someone and if she said anything about Jeff, Nikki would have her married off before the end of dinner. “I agreed to see his mother before office hours. Turns out she had a tumor plus some other complications. I operated. He sent flowers, end of story,” she said with finality.