Chapter 11 #2
He chuckles. “I was tempted to say I was operating with or without his consent. It wasn’t a complicated surgery, but it couldn’t wait. Fortunately, he agreed with me, and it went well. The next day I told the Tates she was stable to be transferred, but they decided to leave her in Somerset.”
“That’s flattering.”
“I guess,” he agrees with a shrug. “And management made sure they got a lot of attention. Heather Larkin asked me to clear my schedule so I could devote myself to Amber Tate full-time.”
“And did you?”
“Of course not,” he scoffs. “I wasn’t going to cancel surgeries so I could sit and hold hands with the Tates.
But I spent a fair bit of time with them.
And after Amber was discharged, they invited me and the CEO to dinner at their cottage and told us they were making a large donation to the hospital.
They’ve had me to the cottage a couple times since, and they come to the Spring Fling Gala every year. ”
“And this thing with Nina?” I’d like to know just what I’m walking into tonight. “How long has she been interested in you?”
“I don’t know,” he says with a sigh. “My last relationship ended about a year ago, and Nina started texting about a month later. Just every couple weeks, but it’s been a bit awkward. I mean, her parents donate a ton of money to the hospital every year.”
“Yeah, that’s awkward.”
He nods. “I don’t think they donate because they’re hoping I’ll date Nina, and the money doesn’t come to me directly, but . . .”
“Still awkward.”
“Yeah,” he says. “In retrospect, I probably should have made it clear I wasn’t interested when she first started texting. But she was doing her PhD in Toronto, so there was the distance . . . I guess I just assumed that if I didn’t encourage her, she’d lose interest.”
“But now she’s thinking of moving to Somerset for her post-doc.” It seems pretty clear that Nina Tate hasn’t lost interest.
“Yep,” he agrees.
“What does she study?”
“Fish.”
“Fish?” I repeat incredulously.
“Yeah. Fish.” He glances over at me. “You seem surprised.”
“Well, from the way she was talking about helping with your research, I assumed she was in the medical field. Or at least something medically adjacent.”
“Well, fish are part of the animal kingdom.” He pauses. “I think.”
I try to suppress a chuckle and fail miserably. Drew Malone’s sense of humor is subtle, but it’s definitely there. “So Nina studies fish health?”
He frowns. “I think so. Something to do with environmental toxins? Or maybe migration patterns?”
“You don’t really know, do you?”
“Not really, no,” he admits. “But if the conversation’s slow tonight, you can ask her about it.”
“I might just do that,” I reply. “What do you study?” It seems like the sort of thing his girlfriend would know.
“Brain aneurysms,” he replies. “An aneurysm is basically an outpouching off a blood vessel that can burst and cause a bleed. So you can put a clip across, which is usually effective but needs open surgery. Or you can put a metal coil inside, which will cause a blood clot and decrease the risk of rupture. A coil is much less invasive because you can thread it up through an artery in the groin, but historically it hasn’t worked as well for big aneurysms. We’re looking at a new coiling technique for high-risk aneurysms.”
“Oh,” I nod. “That sounds interesting.”
“Some days it is,” he says with a grin. “And some days it’s really frustrating, but that’s research. Anyway, that’s enough of a lecture for tonight.”
I nod, and we drive in silence for a few minutes until I realize there’s something we forgot to discuss.
“So I guess the goal for tonight is to make it seem like you’re off the market for good?” I ask.
“It would be helpful, yeah,” he says.
“So we need to convince Nina we’re madly in love.”
“Basically. I mean, without being obnoxious about it.”
“I think couples who are madly in love are obnoxious by definition.”
He chuckles. “Just do your best.”
“Okay. But couples in love are looking for any excuse to touch each other, right? So would you be okay with holding hands, that sort of stuff?”
There’s a beat of silence before he replies. “If you’re comfortable with it, it’s fine with me.”
“Yeah, I think it makes sense.”
Another pause before he answers. “Okay.”
He turns off the road onto a gravel lane, through a metal gate that’s been left open. Thirty seconds later, the cottage comes into view.
But cottage seems like the wrong word for the stone and cedar structure, which is bigger than my parents’ house. A large wooden deck wraps around the front, and Lake Ontario shimmers off to the side. There’s a smaller cabin behind the main building, probably for guests or staff.
“Wow,” I breathe.
“Impressive, huh?” Drew says, as he pulls up behind a Mercedes SUV and an Audi convertible.
“Very.” It’s both impressive and tasteful, and it seems to fit with its surroundings. Drew told me the Tates were low profile, and I see what he means; this cottage could belong to a regular rich family, not an obscenely rich one.
But I still wouldn’t call it a cottage. This is a vacation home.
Drew reaches around and plucks something off the backseat. “Chocolates,” he explains, holding up a box of truffles from a specialty store downtown. “I never know what to bring to the Tates’.”
And just like that, it feels like we’re in this together. Just two everyday people who don’t quite know what to bring to a dinner party with billionaires. “Well, everyone loves chocolate,” I say.
We get out of the car, and Drew extends his hand to me. After a split second’s hesitation, I reach out to take it. His fingers curl around mine with just the right amount of pressure, and I feel a twinge of excitement shoot down to my toes.
“Ready?” he asks, and I realize I’ve frozen in the driveway.
“Yep.” I gather my courage, and Drew and I walk up to the door hand in hand.