Elizabeth had silently fixated on the bottle when they’d first come into the room, fresh from the wedding. All the adults at the reception had drunk a champagne toast to the new couple: everyone except Elizabeth. It had felt conspicuous to her.
Elizabeth had never dared to have even a sip of wine. Which, if she thought of it as a scientist, did seem silly. It wasn’t illegal, immoral, or even proven to be harmful or allergenic to her.
And if this was a day of cycling and rebirth, certainly she could allow herself to taste some expensive fermented grapes—part of their culture, after all—with the one man she felt safe to do so beside.
If there was a problem, he would take care of her. She had no doubt about that. And it didn’t frighten her, either.
Elizabeth sat up and hefted the cold bottle, the condensation wet on her hands. She had no idea how to even open the thing. “Could you help me with this?”
Jon rolled over and looked at her for a long moment. “Are you sure?”
“I trust you,” she said simply.
He nodded. She was glad he didn’t make a big deal of it. He just sat up and took the bottle from her, unwrapped the foil and the wire and twisted the cork in his palm. It made a muted popping noise. He poured about a half inch of the sparkling clear liquid into one of the flutes, then an equal amount in the other.
Solemnly, he passed her a glass.
“Do you know standard resuscitation measures?” she asked.
He smirked. “I’m learning.” Then he clinked his glass with hers. “To beginners,” he said.
“All right, but you have to promise to stop me if I get out of hand.” She took a hesitant sip, then immediately curled up her nose. The champagne tasted so...tart. “This is supposed to be pleasant?”
“It’s an acquired taste, Lizzy.”
She put down the flute, stretched out on the bed and waited for the reaction to come.
He was trying not to laugh. “You really are so damn lovable.”
Lovable. That was very, very close to love. But Jon was already kissing her again, working magic with his mouth. She felt herself falling under his spell. He was irresistible to her.
Her heart was gone; she knew it was much too late to fight it. Could she really be in love with Jon? She had to admit that she felt the same way about him as she did about any subject dear to her heart. Consumed. Greedy. And she would happily think only of him all day long if she could.
She ran her hands beneath his dress shirt, over his smooth back. His body was strong and athletic. And it was sad, but she was beginning to feel proprietary over it. She cupped his buns in her hands, enjoying his beauty.
With a groan, he quickly stripped her of her clothing, and she didn’t protest, she was ready for him. He found a condom and entered her in one smooth motion. She felt as if she was in heaven. He had such a soulful way of making love to her. The way he loved to give her pleasure, and to receive it from her, too.
When they were together, time passed much too quickly. “Damn it,” Jon said, turning to squint at the clock. His new mother-in-law had asked them to meet her and Jon’s father for a two-on-two dinner. Jon was the only brother she didn’t know well, she’d said.
“Let’s get this dinner thing over with and then come back here,” he said. “Maybe we can convince Brandon to have a sleepover with Bobby, if my brother hasn’t managed to attach himself to one of Mary Angela’s twins.”
Jon was making jokes, but Elizabeth noticed the crease in his brow again.
“Jon, I’m sorry,” Elizabeth said, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. “As much as I’d love to spend the entire evening with you, I think it would be better if I stayed with Brandon tonight. Actually, I should probably go find him now.”
“You’re going to make me go to this dinner alone?”
“It will be good for you.” Especially since Elizabeth’s future with Jon was so uncertain. Why get anyone’s hopes up?
She reached for a white terry-cloth bathrobe the hotel had provided. “Is having a new stepmother difficult for you?” she asked Jon quietly.
“No. Let’s take a shower, I have time.”
But during the shower he remained silent. How could he be so physically honest, and then be emotionally shut down moments afterward?
She fingered the small gold medallion he always wore, now looped backward and dangling behind his neck. “You never take this off,” she remarked.
“They made me take it off for the surgery.”
“Where did you get it?”
He shrugged, closing his eyes and sticking his head directly under the spray. “My mom.” He moved away and wiped the water from his face. “It was a Christmas present that last Christmas she was alive.”
Elizabeth had studied the medallion against his neck many times. There was an angel engraved on one side. “It’s for protection,” she said, understanding at last.
“I don’t show it to people. Even in the locker room, it’s usually hidden.”
“I’m glad you told me about it. Thank you,” Elizabeth said.
Jon nodded, thoughtful, as he turned off the shower. He stepped out and handed her a towel.
“I think...it was good that I came for the wedding,” he said in a low voice. “That ceremony didn’t bother me like I thought it would. I think...I let something go in there.”
“I’m glad,” she said.
“Yeah.” He shrugged.
She waited for the joke. Waited for the retraction. For him to be solicitous to her, or fuss with something in the suite.
It didn’t come. He finished buttoning his shirt. “How about you? Are you glad you took a chance and came to Phoenix with me?”
“I...have a confession to make.” She swallowed. This was huge for her. Outside of medical professionals, who were sworn to secrecy, she never divulged her inner world to people. Usually.
But Jon wasn’t the usual man. His gaze slid to hers. His hand stilled on his shirt button.
She bit her lip and plowed on, before she lost her nerve. “My sister wanted me to attend a counseling session with her and my mom at the rehab center yesterday. I used this trip as an excuse why I couldn’t go, and why I wouldn’t be able to pick my mom up at the airport.”
For a moment, he blinked. Then he shook his head. “It’s okay, Liz,” he said quietly. “I didn’t expect that you were in love with me, or anything like that.”
She stilled. Love. That word was so powerful. And his assumption stung, because who was to say she wasn’t in love with him? She wasn’t sure if she was or not...but that was beside the point. And what about him? Was he in love with her?
She swallowed, willing away the sudden stinging in her eyes. So weak of her. So silly. “Where I was going with this, Jon, was to tell you that I already did a lot of that counseling work, in private, while I was in medical school. There was shame and chaos growing up the way I did, and because of my medical training, I knew it was best for me to deal with it at that time rather than later.
“The point is,” she continued, “I feel like that stuff is private. Ashley can deal with it how she needs to, but I don’t need to be dragged into her drama.”
It was clear. She had her inner world, her island of competence that held her together. And he also had his island of competence, which required him to project that air of Mr. Takes Care of Everybody But Stays Aloof Himself.
“What happened to your parents?” he asked. “You never told me before.”
She stared down at her hands. “My father was never married to my mother because he was already married to somebody else. He wouldn’t divorce his wife because her family was wealthy. But then, his wife divorced him anyway.” Elizabeth looked up at Jon, and he was listening intently, which gave her courage to continue. “Ashley told me he eventually moved across country and married somebody else. She recently tracked him down. He has three kids with this woman. Ashley is corresponding with them and getting to know them.”
“And you?”
She lo
oked Jon in the eye. “I don’t see the point. But I’ll tell you this. None of those kids are doctors. None of them have worked as hard as me, or had the focus that I had. I have that over them, Jon.”
He pulled her close to him. “Lizzy, you don’t have to impress me. I don’t lo— I’m not with you because you’re a doctor. I’m with you for you.”
Had he been about to say love? Oh, God, what did she want from him? Could this ever work? His off-season was so short....
“Do you think we can figure this out?” she asked.
He pulled back and looked at her.
“Jon, our two weeks are almost up. I don’t think I want to stop seeing you just yet.”
He nodded slowly. “It’s a long way until spring training. We can keep going as we are for a while.”
“Is that when I go back to my life as it was before?”
He didn’t answer. They were silent as he finished dressing for dinner. When he was ready, he kissed her goodbye.
She didn’t see him again until early the next morning. He met her and Brandon for breakfast to take the private car to the airport, and then they’d be headed home.
Judging by the stillness from Jon’s side of the car—which might as well have been an island now, so large was the gulf between them—she didn’t see a way to bridge it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
THEY WERE IN the air again. This time, they flew coach, because first-class seating was filled. Jon slept most of the flight, and Brandon watched a movie on Bobby’s iPad while Bobby slept in a window seat somewhere near the front of the plane.
It looked like Elizabeth was going to have more alone time than she could ever desire during the six-hour flight—plenty of time to catch up on her reading. But for once, Elizabeth couldn’t concentrate, even on her previously favorite topics. Trying desperately to think this thing with Jon through, her lids at last drifted shut. The next thing she knew, she was jerked awake by the pilot announcing over the PA system that they were about to land and to turn off their electronic devices.
Elizabeth quickly sat up. She had fallen asleep against Jon. For how long, she had no idea. Embarrassed, she glanced at him and caught him smiling at her.
“I’m sorry I was leaning on your pitching arm,” she said.
He interlaced her fingers in his and brought her hand to his lap. “If I haven’t said it already, thanks for coming with me to my dad’s wedding. It helped having an ally.”
“An ally?” That’s what she was?
But he didn’t answer. She glanced at the window seat beside her. “Where’s Brandon?”
“He’s in the line for the bathroom.” Jon motioned with his chin, and Elizabeth saw her nephew happily chattering with a grandmotherly looking flight attendant in the galley area. “I told him it was his last chance before landing. I don’t think he really has to go, he’s just fascinated by the way everything works.”
“I must have been sleeping soundly.”
Jon smiled. “He climbed right over you.”
She shook her head. It was amazing to her that she was sitting in an airplane seat between two males that she had fallen for, head over heels. She realized that if they didn’t return to Boston just yet, she wouldn’t mind one bit. “I liked this trip. Seeing you with your family all together in one place like that was interesting.”
He looked askance at her. “I missed you at dinner last night.” He sounded surprised.
“Really?” she asked.
“It went well, but...it just wasn’t the same.”
She tightened her hand in his. “Thanks for saying that.”
“It’s true.”
“Was dinner hard for you?” she murmured.
“No.” He shook his head. “Mary Angela is...well, she’s bending over backward to fit in with us, how we already are.”
Unlike me, Elizabeth thought.
“What about you? Did you mind hanging out with my family?” he asked, peering closely at her. “Do you think you could stand to see them again?”
She nodded earnestly. “I was thinking about Emily. I’ll bet she plans a blowout of a wedding.”
Jon laughed. “Frank is going to have a fit,” he agreed.
“When is their wedding, anyway?”
“I don’t know. Spring, probably.” He looked at her. “Why? Are you interested in going?”
She chose her words carefully. “Do you think we’ll make it through to that?”
“Spring training lasts for six weeks in Florida, Lizzy. Then I’m back home in Boston.”
And yet, he hadn’t answered her question. She took a breath. “So...are you saying we should give it a try?”
He turned his head on the seat back to gaze into her eyes. “You know I saw something in you that day I first met you,” he said in a low voice, his mouth close to her.
She licked her lips, her hand tightening in his. “I felt it, too. I guess I just needed more convincing than you did.”
He smiled. “I did a good job with that, didn’t I? I got you out and showed you the fun things in life and you...you’ve kept me focused on what’s important.”
“What is important?”
He leaned forward, and then they were kissing. Soft, pillow kisses that touched her heart. She made a little moan and reached out to caress his cheek.
“I love you, Jon,” she blurted.
He paused. Slowly his lips disengaged with hers, and he looked into her eyes.
She felt unease in her chest. Had she misread him? She was so terrible at this. But without a doubt, she knew what she felt.
Her hand was trembling, so she dropped it to her lap. He picked it up and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
“Did I...do wrong?” she whispered.
“No. I just...I was just thinking about some things that I need to get straightened out this weekend.”
“Will you tell me those things?”
He swallowed, gazing down the aisle at Brandon.
“My nephew goes home this evening,” she murmured. “After we land in Boston.”
He nodded. Looking into her eyes, he asked, “Will you be okay without him?”
“Me? Of course I will, I can’t wait to get my life back.”
“What will you do differently when he’s gone?”
“Spend more nights with you, I hope.”
He seemed to be thinking about that. His lips turned up, smiling. “I think I’m seeing that, too.”
“What else are you seeing?”
“That...half a week on the road in the spring and summer isn’t too bad. At least I’m home for the other half, right?”
Her heart felt like it was soaring. She couldn’t stop grinning at him, even though part of her told her not to get her hopes up, that he was far from sounding settled.
“Okay.” Jon nodded, a decision made. “I’ll tell you what. When we land, let’s call Mrs. Ham and ask if she can watch Brandon while you and I take a walk somewhere and, ah, figure all this out together.”
That sounded good to her.
When Brandon returned from the bathroom, she wrapped her arms around Jon and hugged him tight.
* * *
AFTER THE PLANE landed, Jon walked down the tarmac, into a gate at Logan Airport when Brandon suddenly squealed beside him, “Look! That’s me! I’m on TV, everybody!”
Jon and Lizzy stopped and stared at the overhead television screen that Brandon was pointing at. Sure enough, it was Brandon’s face, bold and confident. The sound on the television was turned off, but whatever he was saying to the camera, it was heartfelt.
Then the shot flashed to the Captains’ Sunshine Club logo.
“I’ll be damned,” Jon breathed. It was the commercial they’d made. He turned to Brandon. “Congratulations, buddy. You did great.”
“How come you weren’t in it?” Brandon asked.
“I’m sure it’s just an oversight,” Lizzy said.
Jon thought back. Considered the significance of his absence. Shit. This didn’t
bode well for him.
“Maybe there’s another spot with Jon it,” Lizzy said anxiously.
He doubted it very much. He saw the answer staring at him, plain as day. “Brandon was genuine about what the Sunshine Club meant to him. I wasn’t truthful with Susan.”
“She doesn’t know you,” Lizzy said softly.
Jon shifted his carry-on bag higher on his shoulder. She was being too kind to him. “No, I just couldn’t do it.”
“Do what?”
She knew that he had trouble opening up. He had just proven that to her, too, on the plane. He didn’t like to show his true feelings, not even when what he wanted more than anything hung in the balance. “I couldn’t put the truth out on the air.”
“Why?” Brandon asked.
Maybe he was just plain old damn scared.
Jon sat in one of the flat, vinyl seats in the airport lounge, and raked his hand through his hair. He needed to call Brooke. His not being in the Sunshine Club commercial would have ramifications.
Lizzy sat down beside him. “So what do we do now?”
“It’s a waiting game. It always is. The Captains hold the cards.”
She looked hurt. Too late, he realized that she was talking about her and him. Their future. The other thing that he was scared to think about.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Brandon said.
“You just went on the plane,” Lizzy reminded him.
“No,” Brandon said, “I played on the plane. I really have to go now.”
“Come on, I’ll take you,” Jon said, standing.
When he got inside the men’s restroom with Brandon, Jon discreetly turned on his phone. At least calling Brooke was one thing he could take care of. He needed to know what, if anything, Vivian had said to Brooke about the commercial, or rather, about Jon’s absence in it.
But when Jon turned on his phone, he got a shock. His phone was lit up with text messages. He clicked on Brooke’s message first:
CALL ME RIGHT NOW!!!!
Jon glanced around. The restroom was empty except for him and Brandon. Jon stood behind the kid, blocking him from view of the door, and making sure that nobody bothered the boy while he stood at the urinal. Really, this wasn’t the place or time to be returning a lady’s telephone call.
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