“What was your favorite time tonight?”
She didn’t think she could choose any one thing over another. Dinner had been nice. The movie was romantic and fun. Their more serious talking was needed. The kissing was amazing.
After the more serious tone their date had taken during the last thirty minutes, however, she felt like bringing some lightheartedness back into the evening. “My favorite?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm...making you share half of your ice cream with me when you refused to get me my own!”
He laughed. “I’ll know better next time.”
She wanted to be kissed again, and he got the silent message, kissing her about the same as before but lingering a bit longer this time. And then he pulled her close to his side and held her. She laid her head against his shoulder and welcomed the security of his embrace. She needed the passion, but she needed this too.
While sitting there with him like that, she had an eternity moment. A single moment in time she could remain in forever and be perfectly happy. She had them sometimes with Tommy. When he wrapped his arms around her neck and held on tight. When she was reading one of her favorite stories to him. When they were laughing themselves silly. When he got tired and fell asleep in her arms. But this was the first time she had ever experienced it with someone else.
When Brandon said it was probably time to head inside, she wasn’t sure how long they had been sitting there. She agreed because she realized her nose was cold and she was sniffling a bit, but the warmth in her heart had masked the dropping temperature.
They went upstairs and stepped down the hall to her door. He kissed her again but kept it brief. “I’ll look forward to Sunday,” he said.
“Me too,” she said, meaning that with all of her heart.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Josie fell asleep that night feeling wonderful. Letting Brandon kiss her felt amazingly right and beyond explanation. She didn’t tell Natalie about that intimate detail, but she did share some of what they talked about.
“What did I tell you?” Natalie said. “He’s a keeper, Josie. If you let him get away, you better have a really good reason.”
Josie couldn’t agree more. Remembering his soft lips on hers and his strong arms embracing her with such tenderness, she drifted off into peaceful dreams. When she woke the next morning, however, a feeling of panic seized her. What have I done? I broke all my rules. How did I ever let him kiss me like that? This is happening way too fast!
After getting Tommy off to school, she left a note for Natalie saying she had some errands to run and busied herself away from the apartment for the rest of the morning, not wanting to be around if Brandon called or stopped by. She was glad she hadn’t gotten a cell phone yet like she had been considering. She walked and shopped and walked some more, convincing herself last night had been a mistake. She had to figure out how to get herself off this fast moving train.
Her feet were ready for a break by noon, and she stopped for a sandwich at a sit-down deli. She lingered as long as possible but knew she needed to go home for a short nap before Tommy got home from school.
She made it inside without meeting Brandon in the hall. The apartment was empty. Natalie’s editor had returned her call last night and said it would be at least another week before he would have another assignment for her. Her note indicated she had decided to spend the day visiting some of the local attractions and taking some shots to add to her stock photo submissions as she had talked about last night.
Josie turned off the phone and closed her bedroom door so she wouldn’t be disturbed. But her thoughts kept her awake. She replayed the evening she had spent with Brandon. Their conversations, the movie they had seen together, holding his hand, being in his arms, the kisses... When had their evening gone from being a casual time together, to something serious and passionate?
Had Brandon wanted to hear all she had said to him, or had she babbled? Maybe he was as appalled with the direction their date had taken as she was. Hadn’t he faked his affection for Kristin? Maybe her broken-heart-sob-story had made him feel sorry for her, and she had mistaken sympathy for love.
But the kissing...
After waking from her short nap, she met Tommy at the bus stop but didn’t return to the apartment. She took him for a walk along the waterfront and then to dinner at the pizza-by-the-slice restaurant close by. If she planned it right, she figured they could get back with just enough time for her to get ready for work before she had to leave. She couldn’t see Brandon again yet. If she could wait until Sunday before they were together again, maybe they could take things slower. She had to work tonight, and he wasn’t coming to Tommy’s soccer game tomorrow. If she managed to avoid meeting him on their way back to the apartment, she would be home-free.
“Why are we taking the stairs, Mommy?” Tommy asked about halfway up the second flight. “Is the elevator broken?”
“No. I felt like going this way. Are you getting too tired?”
“I’m sure glad we have the elevator to use most times.”
She laughed both at his comment and at herself. What am I doing? I am being ridiculous. What is happening to me?
Emerging from the stairwell on the fourth floor, she knew she would have to take her chances Brandon wouldn’t choose the next minute to enter the hallway. She strolled to her door, rather than hurrying Tommy along, but felt relieved when they stepped into the apartment.
“Where have you been?” she heard Natalie ask before she could get the door closed.
“We went for a lo--ong walk to that bridge way-way-way down there,” Tommy answered. “And then we had pizza.”
“Sorry, Natalie,” Josie said, removing her coat and walking toward the kitchen where Natalie stood with her hands on her hips. “I should have left a note--”
“We were getting worried,” she heard another voice say from the far side of the living room. Whirling around, Josie saw Brandon standing there with his hands buried in the pockets of his dress slacks. He looked very concerned.
“Brandon!” Josie gasped. “I didn’t know you were here.”
“I dropped by, and Natalie said she hadn’t seen you all day.”
“We were about ready to call the National Guard,” Natalie joked, but Brandon didn’t smile.
“I was worried,” he said, coming toward her. Before she could move, his arms encircled her waist, and all the feelings she had tried to forget all day came flooding back.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling too overwhelmed to say anything more.
“I’m glad you’re all right,” he said, giving her a light kiss before stepping away.
Josie looked to see if Tommy had noticed, but he was digging through his backpack, pulling out all his turtle books to show Brandon.
Josie excused herself to go dress for work, feeling dazed at Brandon’s reaction. All her effort had been in vain. She could not deny his feelings for her, or hers for him. They weren’t going to change just because they didn’t see each other.
“I need to hurry,” she said when she returned and reached for her coat and purse once again.
“Mommy, look at this one,” Tommy said, holding up a picture from one of his turtle books. Glancing at the clock, Josie saw the time had gotten away from her.
“Yes, honey,” she said without looking. “You’ll have to show me more later,” she said, barely noticing him flipping through the book to show her another. “I’m going to miss the bus if I don’t get out of here.”
Brandon laughed. “I think you have time,” he said.
“No, I don’t,” she said, growing irritated. “The bus comes in five minutes, and sometimes it’s early.”
Brandon reached for her hand. “I’ll take you,” he said, then added in his most prince-charming voice. “No more riding that old mule, Princess. I’ll take you in my carriage from now on.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
“You weren’t honestly planning on taking the bus tonigh
t, were you?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?”
Brandon smiled. “Because I am going to drive you. I don’t want you alone out there after dark. Don’t try to argue with me on this. I’ll win.”
“Brandon,” she protested, “I’ll--”
“No,” he said, squeezing her fingers. “Now sit down and look at these cute turtles.”
She started to open her mouth.
“Sit,” he said, pulling her down beside him.
Her eyes moved to the coffee table, and Tommy pointed to a red-speckled turtle on the glossy paper. She didn’t know whether to feel angry or overwhelmed. Did he care that much?
Speaking only to Tommy until she and Brandon left fifteen minutes later, she didn’t know what to say. Brandon asked her about her day, and she told him what she had done, but not why.
“I appreciate this, Brandon,” she said when they were pulling out of the parking garage. “But you don’t have to do this all the time. The bus is perfectly safe, and I do know self-defense. I even carry mace,” she said, trying to sound lighthearted.
“I don’t mind. I feel better this way.”
It didn’t make any sense to argue with him. She had never particularly liked walking to and from bus stops when darkness fell before seven. Letting Brandon drive her would also give her another twenty minutes with Tommy each evening.
Her concerns about their date last night, however, remained. She needed to tell him things were moving too fast and that she wanted to take their relationship slower.
“Hey, guess what?” he said, pulling up to the stoplight. “I can make it to Tommy’s game tomorrow after all.”
“I thought you had a meeting.”
“I changed it,” he said.
“So you could come?”
“Yep,” he said, flashing a smile. “One of the perks of being your own boss.”
“I don’t expect you to change your schedule to come to a soccer game. Tommy will understand if you can’t be there.”
“I want to go,” he said, moving the truck with the flow of traffic once again.
“Brandon--”
“I meant what I said last night, Josie.” He reached to take her hand. “If we’re going to be together, I want to let Tommy know he is important to me too.”
“I know,” she said, enjoying the feeling of his fingers holding hers. “But I don’t want you to be sacrificing--”
“Spending time with you and Tommy is not a sacrifice.”
The traffic stopped again, and she met his gaze. “Brandon, I think we need to talk. I’m concerned that--”
“Concerned that we’re getting too close, too fast?”
She could only stare back at him.
“I think it’s a little late for that,” he said. “You better get used to me being around.”
Josie couldn’t hold back a smile. Her defenses melted away, and she knew she didn’t want to fight this. She wanted Brandon in her life, and he wanted her--and Tommy. Trying to deny that would be foolish.
Pulling up to the curb in front of the hospital, Brandon reached for her before she could open the door. “I’m sorry if I was too pushy earlier,” he said. “I feel better driving you like this. You didn’t see me before you stepped through that door tonight, but I was worried. Ask Natalie. I don’t want to think about you ever being in danger, of someone hurting you or Tommy.”
“I know. I appreciate it. You just surprised me.”
“I couldn't think about anything today except you,” he went on. “I had a great time last night.”
“Me too.”
Brandon smiled and leaned to kiss her. His tender lips felt as good as they had last night; then it had been the newness of his touch that she enjoyed. Tonight it was the familiarness.
Josie remained in incredible spirits throughout the evening. She took her time with each of her patients and could see her good mood boosting her patients’ morale. Even Dr. Curtis could not get her down, being his usual self. He had been treating her with more respect since the night he had been too late to make a delivery himself, but when he had to wait around for an hour or more, she still heard about it.
After seeing one woman safely through labor, Josie went to check on her other patients. When she returned to the nurses’ station to answer Sue’s page, she had a new assignment for her.
“I know you already have three and some of the others only have two, but I think you will want this one,” Sue said. “Both the woman and her husband are deaf.”
“Oh, yes. I do,” Josie said, her face lighting up.
“Do you want me to assign one of your other patients to someone else?”
“Two of mine are sleeping,” she said, already heading down the hall. “I’ll holler if I get swamped.”
Entering the room, Josie saw the couple talking, and she waited for them to notice her presence. They both had apprehensive looks on their faces when she approached them.
“Hi, Katherine,” she said, both with her voice and her hands. “My name is Josie, and I’ll be your nurse tonight. How are you feeling?”
Katherine’s face lit up. “Are you deaf?” Katherine asked, and then added something with her hands moving so rapidly that Josie missed most of it. She spoke also, but like many people who were deaf from birth, her vocalization had never become complete, resulting in partial words and sounds.
“No, I’m hearing,” Josie said, smiling. “And please excuse me, my signing needs practice. Can you slow down please?”
Katherine’s hands slowed, but her eagerness didn’t fade. ”I’m so happy to see you sign. How do you know sign language?”
“I had a friend in high school who was deaf. She taught me. Then when I went to college, I took some classes, but I’m slow. Please be patient with me.”
“No, your signing is great!” she said, but her smile faded with a contraction coming on. Josie waited and watched, glad to see her handling the pain well.
“How long ago did your water break?” Josie asked when she saw Katherine’s breathing return to normal.
“One hour,” she replied. “I’ve been having mild contractions since about four this afternoon. They are stronger now.”
“How far apart are they?”
Katherine looked to her husband who looked to his wristwatch. “Four minutes,” he signed without any attempt to vocalize.
Josie took Katherine’s vitals and examined her. Katherine looked relieved when Josie signed “seven”. Josie left to go call Katherine’s doctor and then returned. Her smile faded a bit when she could see Katherine and her husband were arguing.
Not wanting to invade their privacy, she turned away and checked the supplies, glancing over her shoulder now and then. After a few minutes she turned and saw Katherine’s husband facing the wall, not listening to his wife. Josie couldn’t hold back a smirk and decided to step in.
“Is everything all right?” she asked Katherine.
“He is stubborn!” she said. “He thinks we should name the baby Gordon if it is a boy. I do not like it.”
“What do you like?” she asked.
“Anything but Gordon.”
Josie laughed. “And if it’s a girl?”
“Rebecca.”
Josie smiled. She had always liked that name and may have named Tommy that if he had been a girl. She hoped she might use the name someday.
Katherine’s husband had turned around, catching part of their conversation. “You decide,” he said to Josie.
“What are my choices?”
Katherine replied. “Gordon,” she said, making a face, then added with a pleasant expression, “Caleb, or Brandon.”
They both looked at her. She stayed out of the name game most of the time, but she could not resist.
“I like Brandon.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Awakened by the radio alarm at one o’clock the following afternoon, Josie opened her eyes and saw bright sunshine streaming in through the window blinds. Tommy’s soccer game wou
ld not be rained-out today.
She showered and dressed and entered the kitchen at one-thirty, looking for something to eat. She had seen Natalie in Tommy’s room as she passed by, helping him get into his soccer uniform. Josie sat down at the table to eat a muffin and a banana. The roses Brandon had brought her looked even better now, opening up from their buds. She admired the colors he had chosen: icy pink, lavender, and white. She fingered the velvety petals and drank in the strong, sweet scent. The lavender ones smelled the best.
The phone rang as she finished her muffin, and she stood to answer it.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” she heard Brandon say.
“Hi,” she said, smiling at the intimate tone in his voice.
“Are you ready to go yet?”
“We have about fifteen minutes to spare,” she said.
“Okay, I’ll finish up here and be over by two.”
“Thank you for doing this,” she said. “Tommy will be thrilled to have you there.”
“I can’t wait,” he said.
She hung up and returned to her chair. Natalie joined her.
“How did things go last night?” Josie asked.
“Fine. Tommy is such a great kid. Brandon came over to play Mario Kart with him.”
“Did Tommy go ask or did Brandon show up?”
“Brandon called and asked if it would be all right. I assumed it was. Was I wrong?”
Josie could see Natalie fishing for information in her usual roundabout way. She smiled. “We’re fine.”
“What was going on yesterday? Why were you so against Brandon driving you to work? I would think it would be a nice change from the bus. And what’s the deal with you being gone all day?”
Josie smiled. It seemed ridiculous now. “I was being stupid,” she admitted. “I was afraid our date hadn’t meant as much to Brandon as it did to me, but at the same time I was afraid it did. Does that make any sense?”
“Yes,” Natalie replied.
“And then the whole driving-me-to-work thing threw me for a loop. It’s hard for me to accept help sometimes, I guess.”
“You know he was scared to death when we didn’t know where you were. You should have seen him.”
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