Chapter 5
“So you could see us on TV?” Brad winced as he awaited the answer he already knew would be forthcoming.
“Oh yes, little brother. You and your blond date were quite visible,” Ben said. “And I’ll save you the trouble of asking about Grace. Yes, she saw you. And yes, she saw that woman throwing herself at you. And I must say you didn’t seem to object very much.”
“I was leaning away as far as I could. Couldn’t you tell I was trying to get away from her? I practically peeled her off me. Especially the second time.”
“Grace left right after that second kiss.”
“She left?”
“Yes.”
“As in, she left before the game was over? She didn’t stay to watch the end of the game?” When had Grace ever failed to watch the end of a game?
“I’m fairly certain watching you swap spit with your date upset Grace enough she couldn’t watch anymore.”
Brad felt a strange sense of pleasure because she’d been jealous. Perhaps she had feelings for him after all. “Maybe it was good then. Maybe she needed to see me with someone else.”
“It was great. In fact, I’m fairly certain she retched in the bathroom.” Now Ben fixed him with a cold stare. “If you’re going to treat her like that and be happy when you hurt her, you don’t deserve her anyway.”
“I never said I wanted to hurt her.”
“No, but I’m your brother, and I recognize that satisfied look on your face. Just forget it. I’m not helping you anymore.”
“I never asked for your help in the first place.”
“Fine!” Ben folded his arms across his chest.
“Fine!” Brad grabbed the remote and switched on the television, flipping aimlessly through the channels.
“After she came out of the bathroom, she was wearing a diamond ring.”
Brad froze, cutting his eyes toward his brother. Was he fabricating a story to rile him up? But Ben’s face was impassive.
“She was wearing a ring? A diamond ring?”
“I shouldn’t even tell you. All you want to do is hurt her anyway. I suppose you picked that girl on purpose. It was worse because you went with someone she knew.”
Brad frowned. “She doesn’t know Kara.”
“Grace knows her. She said her name was Leanne.”
“She’s got her mixed up with someone else. The woman I was with was Dr. Kara Dickson, and Grace doesn’t have any way of knowing her. But what were you saying about a ring?”
Ben gave a lazy stretch. “Just that after she saw you sucking face on television—”
“I wasn’t sucking face!”
“Before the game, she’d told us she wasn’t interested in this guy who liked her,” Ben said. “But after you two made out, she came back from the bathroom with that ring on her finger. So I guess you helped her make up her mind. Good job, brother. Like I said, you don’t deserve her anyway. Who knows, you might not like her with short hair anyway.”
“Short hair?”
“Yep, she chopped it off short. She’s cute, like a little elf.”
It had only been a week. How could so much have happened to Grace in a week?
“By the way…” Ben arched an eyebrow. “I asked her out.”
The remote in Brad’s hand threw itself across the room, where it hit the wall and cracked open, double-A batteries rolling across the floor.
“Temper, temper, little brother.”
Brad wanted to wipe the smug grin off his brother’s face.
“I told you to keep away from her.”
One corner of Ben’s mouth kicked up. “Once you turned your baseball game into a real date by kissing that girl, I assumed I had the go-ahead.”
Something snapped inside. Brad grabbed his brother’s shirt collar and shook him, barely resisting the urge to break his jaw.
“Hey! Ow! Man… I think you made me break a molar.” Ben fished in his mouth and pulled out a small chunk of enamel. “Look at that. You broke my tooth.”
“It’s your own fault.” Brad released him, with a little shove for good measure. “You know I didn’t kiss her—she kissed me.”
“That’s just semantics.”
“You don’t read—you don’t even know what that word means.”
“Audiobooks, bro. Who needs to read when I can simply listen? But the point is, the kiss made it a date. You’re dating someone else, so you have no say in who Grace dates.”
“I’m not dating Kara. And you’re breaking the brotherly code by asking her out.”
Ben let his mouth widen into a grin. “I’m sorry, but in my book, the brotherly code is to hassle you as much as possible.”
“You’ve obviously never read that book, because brothers are supposed to cover each other’s backs, not stab them.”
“So do something about it. Stop me. If you don’t want me to date Grace, call her up. Apologize for whatever stupid thing you did and patch things up.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Even as he spoke the words, he knew they weren’t true. He’d known in his heart it was too soon to tell Grace about his feelings for her. Mentioning marriage after two months of dating had sent her into a panic. She’d been completely irrational after his slip-up.
“I understand you believe you’re infallible, but even the great Dr. Brad Gates can make a mistake.” Ben bowed in mock subservience. “Please forgive my audaciousness at making such an unsettling, though astute, observation, Your Greatness.”
Brad snarled his response, “I know I’m not perfect. That’s not the problem.”
“Then what is the problem?”
What was the problem? Why hadn’t he called her or texted her after she’d run away from him? Why hadn’t he listened to her when she’d called, asking to talk to him? Pride—his pride was hurt. He’d never had a girl break up with him before. He’d always been the one to do the leaving.
Ben’s head tilted as he watched the thought process play out on Brad’s face. “Have you had an epiphany, Your Greatness?”
Brad glowered at his impudent brother. “It’s none of your business.” He stomped into his bedroom, slamming the door and sending a picture hurdling to the floor. He heard a faint voice call behind him.
“I have a question.” Ben’s smug voice rang out.
Brad pulled the door open with such force it slammed against the wall, denting the sheetrock. “What?”
“Are you planning to go to dinner at the Marshall’s tomorrow night?”
“No, I’m not.”
Brad started to shut the door, but Ben called out, “Wait! I think you should go.”
“Why? Did Grace ask if I was coming?” His heart did a little flip against his ribs.
“No, but it seems like she still has feelings for you, though I can’t imagine why.”
“Thanks a lot.” Brad gave him back the same sarcasm he’d used. But Ben’s words struck home. Grace still cared about him. Maybe it wasn’t too late.
“Sunday night dinner would be a perfect chance for you to show up and win her back.”
“She’ll probably bring that guy with her if she’s wearing his ring. I don’t think I could stand seeing them together.”
“Like when Grace had to watch you and the blond doctor canoodling on national TV?”
Brad grunted and shut the door on his brother’s chuckling. The ache in his chest was worse than ever. But Brad knew what he had to do. He needed to swallow his pride and call Grace. And this time he would be kind and gentle and listen to what she had to say. Hopefully, his little episode with Kara hadn’t damaged their relationship beyond repair. His heart pounded as he reached for his cell phone.
* * *
Grace struggledthrough her bedroom door with her packages. She took in the sight of Hannah and Claire lying on the floor in contorted positions as a voice on the television provoked them into further torturous movements. “Yoga?” she asked as the bags slipped from her hands to thud on the floor.
“It’s some new kind of Pilates.” Claire managed to squeeze out the words although her chin was wedged against her chest as her entire body curved back over her head.
“Looks comfy,” Grace remarked, with amusement. Her two youngest sisters regularly took up every new fitness craze.
“What did you buy?” asked Hannah, twisting her neck to eye the shopping bags.
“One pair of shoes that were too cute to pass up and a bunch of hats.”
“Good call on the hats,” said Claire. “Model them for us.”
Grace pulled out a straw hat with a white bow on one side and propped it on her head. “What do you think?”
“It’s adorable,” said Olivia, emerging from the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream.
Grace’s mouth watered when she spotted the scoops piled high with whipped cream and chocolate syrup and topped with chocolate chips. “Aren’t you hitting the hard stuff a bit early?”
Olivia eased onto the couch, balancing her bowl and spooned a huge bite into her mouth. “Mmmmm.” She swallowed. “I have a six p.m. to six a.m. shift tonight. I’m stocking up energy.”
“Doesn’t that just make your blood sugar drop afterwards?” Grace replaced the straw hat with a floppy blue-jean hat.
“Yeah, that’s what we learned in nursing school, but I don’t care. It’s worth it. That’s pretty cute, too. Where did you find these hats?”
“Some from Century Twenty-One. Some from the resale store. I figure I need a big supply of hats to cover up this scarecrow hair.”
“I’m already used to it,” Hannah huffed as she stood on her head with her knees on her elbows. “It’s not so bad. It’s kind of the color of sweet potato casserole with brown sugar topping.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. If I ever want to look like a food again, I’ll repeat all eight of our processing steps on my hair.” Grace slipped a brown derby on her head, her spirits lifting at her sisters’ approval.
“I like that one,” said Claire. “The straw hat is my second favorite.”
“Reserve your judgment—I’ve got eight more.” As Grace dug through the packages, she murmured to Olivia. “By the way, I’ve decided to tell Brad about Leanne if he comes to dinner, so don’t say anything to him if you see him at work.”
“Who’s Leanne?” asked Hannah.
“Nobody,” said Grace.
“No fair keeping secrets.” Claire sat up, folding her hands to beg. “Please tell us.”
“I will,” said Olivia.
“No!” Grace grabbed her arm. “You took the Vow of Secrecy.”
“But that was before the Right of Coercion allowed me to invoke the Right of Protection.”
“Oooo, we’ve got a new law,” said Claire. “I love it. What is it?”
Grace gave her sisters a practiced glower. “I’m invoking Presidential Power.”
“Aw fudge!” said Hannah.
Olivia groaned. “If you invoke that too often, you’re going to have a coup on your hands.”
“I haven’t used it since I made you girls zip your lips about Spencer’s lack of kissing experience,” said Grace. “But I want a chance to talk to Brad myself before everybody knows all the gory details.”
“You have a point.” Olivia tapped a finger on her chin. “Sorry, girls. You’ll have to wait until Sunday night.”
“Pooh!” Hannah stuck her lower lip out. “We’re always the last to know anything.”
“You can be the first to see the email I got this afternoon.” Grace dropped her current hat on the floor and grabbed her purse.
“Did you get accepted?” Claire’s voice lifted to a squeal.
“I did! I’m in! Two years from now, I’ll have a master’s in education!” Grace burrowed through her purse in search of her cell phone. “Where’s my phone? I can’t find it anywhere. Did I drop it when I came in?” She and her sisters searched the floor and all the shopping bags to no avail.
“I must’ve left it on the subway.” Grace collapsed on the chair, her former excitement gone. “I can’t do anything right.”
“Isn’t that the second one you’ve lost this year?” asked Hannah.
“No, the other one was in December.” Grace jutted out her chin in defiance.
“Hang in there, Grace.” Olivia bent to give her a hug. “I’ll see Josh tonight at the hospital, and I’ll make sure Brad is coming to dinner tomorrow night. I know you two can work things out if you just sit down and talk.”
Grace didn’t respond, but her heart pounded at the prospect.
* * *
Brad triedGrace’s number for the fifth time, and for the fifth time it rang for a while before going to voicemail. He wasn’t about to leave her a message. For the fifth time, he sent a text message asking her to call him. Maybe she was tied up or maybe she’d forgotten her cell phone at home. She was always losing it or forgetting it. But he began to worry.
Maybe she was afraid to call him because he’d been angry when they’d last talked. This time he texted, “No matter how late it is when you get this message, please call me. I want to talk to you.” He was about to press send, but decided to add one more important thing. “I need to apologize.”
* * *
Olivia slidinto a chair beside Josh, using her coat sleeve to wipe her forehead. “That was crazy, tonight. This is the first time I’ve sat down in ten hours.”
Josh raised bloodshot eyes toward her. “It’s not usually like this. I haven’t been this tired since I was a first-year resident.” He gave her a crooked smile. “Do you still think this is what you want to do? You could always just stop after nursing school—we can always use more good RNs.”
“No, I’m going to be a doctor.”
“Well, you’ve got a long time to decide what branch you want to pursue. You might change your mind about Emergency Medicine before you’re done.”
“That’s true, but I really love the adrenaline rush. I’m afraid I’m already hopelessly addicted.”
They sat in companionable silence for a moment. Josh had seemed so downhearted as of late, and Olivia knew the reason. He was totally besotted with Emily’s sister, Charlie, who wouldn’t give him the time of day. She cut him a sideways glance. “I heard from Charlie.”
“Really? What did she say?” His expression was so eager and earnest, her heart broke for him.
“We didn’t actually talk or anything. I just saw a Facebook post about starting her classes at University of Colorado. She says it will only take her two years to finish her prerequisites for law school.”
His entire body slumped with defeat. “She unfriended me on Facebook. I can’t even see her posts anymore.”
“If you want, you can use my Facebook account to stalk her. Just don’t tell anyone.”
“No. If she doesn’t want me to see the stuff she posts, I won’t invade her privacy.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, Emily still thinks she likes you. She says Charlie is just really careful about admitting her feelings. And she’s coming to Emily and Spencer’s wedding in December, right?”
“I know. Emily told me. And I haven’t given up. I’m not a lightweight like Brad.” He made a sour face like he was swallowing medicine.
“Speaking of Brad... Is he coming to dinner tomorrow?” Olivia glanced at her watch. “Oops, I mean, tonight?”
“I don’t know,” said Josh. “He’s not scheduled to work, but do you think he should go to dinner? Will it make Grace uncomfortable?”
“I think it’s really important for him to come to dinner. Grace wants him there. I’m hoping they can work everything out if they get a chance to talk face-to-face.”
“I hope they do. He’s been a real bear lately. We’ve had a few shouting matches, and we’ve never done that before.”
Olivia smiled. She was glad Brad was out of sorts. It would be a bad thing if he were functioning well without Grace in his life.
Josh said, “I’ll enlist Ben’s help. He can get Brad to do anything by pushing his buttons. I’m sure we can get Brad to Sunday night dinner.”
“Awesome,” said Olivia. “I’ll be so glad to get the old Grace back. Although, she doesn’t much resemble the Grace from a week ago. But eventually, everything will be back to normal.”
* * *
Brad felt his phone vibrate,and his heart rate accelerated. Could it be Grace? A message from Kara. Disappointment set in his stomach like concrete. Grace had never responded to his phone calls or texts, not even the last one where he’d humbled himself and admitted he was going to apologize.
It confirmed what he’d reasoned after a sleepless night and a tense morning. Grace had made her choice. She was with the other guy now, the one who’d given her a ring. And they couldn’t have gotten that serious unless Grace had been going out with the guy for a long time behind Brad’s back.
He startled as the apartment door crashed open, and a sweat-drenched Josh stepped inside, stripping off his shirt as he walked toward his room.
“Did you go for a run?” Brad asked.
“Five miles,” Josh replied. “I would’ve asked you to go with me, but you were holed up in your room.”
“Yeah.” Brad didn’t comment on the reason he hadn’t felt like socializing.
“Hey.” Josh paused at his door. “Are you coming to Marshall’s tonight? Spencer said there’d be plenty of food.”
“I’m coming,” Brad growled. “And I’m bringing Kara.”
Josh whipped around to face him, his brow creased with anger. “Are you out of your mind?”
Josh might be mad, but Brad was madder.
“No, I’m thinking quite clearly.” He squeezed the words between his clamped teeth. “Grace is with someone else. He’ll probably be at the Marshall’s tonight. Why shouldn’t I bring a date?”
“Olivia told me Grace is hoping to talk to you tonight. To clear things up. Why would Grace say that if she’s with another guy?”
“Maybe Olivia doesn’t know the whole story,” Brad argued, though without his former confidence. “If she wants to talk to me so badly, why didn’t she answer my calls or texts?”
“I don’t know.” Josh mopped the sweat off her forehead with his t-shirt. “Maybe she wants to talk to you in person.”
Brad’s heart skipped a beat. Could that be it? No, the Grace he knew hated confrontation. She preferred settling things at a distance whenever possible.
“If she wants to talk, I’ll listen. But I’m not going to let her make a fool out of me.”
“She won’t have to,” Josh retorted, turning back toward his bedroom. “You’re doing that all on your own.”
* * *
“What am I going to do?”Grace paced at the foot of her bed where Olivia was perched, having just delivered the latest news from Josh. At her sister’s sustained questioning, she’d finally revealed the whole story.
“The way I see it, you told a lie, but it happened when you were in a complete panic. Your mind wasn’t working right. Since then, you’ve made plenty of efforts to come clean, right?”
“But none of them worked.” Her stomach churned. She couldn’t imagine eating, much less sitting down to dinner with Brad and Leanne. Josh had called her by a different name, but it was the woman Brad had taken to the game. The same woman who had absconded with her card and flowers. “Don’t you see? He finally called me, but only after I lost my phone. It’s another sign we aren’t supposed to be together.”
“I’ll agree it seems like the universe is conspiring against you, but the Grace I know would never give up this easily.”
“I’m not giving up. I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“Do you think it’s right to hurt Brad like this? Is it right to let some conniving shrew end up with him? Are you going to let him believe you ignored his phone calls? He at least deserves to know the whole truth.”
“What about the fact that he picked a girl so totally opposite of me? Maybe I’m not really his type, and it took something like this for him to figure it out. And anyway, I’m not the kind of person who likes to make a scene—I can’t confront her in front of all of my family and friends.”
Olivia’s curls were wild from the pulling of her frustrated fingers. She lifted a pillow to her face and let out a muffled scream. “Arghhh!” She flung it at her sister with all her might, impacting her side, but not slowing her agitated strides. “Grace, I’m going to invoke some sisterly right that allows me to pound some sense into you. Look, here’s the bottom line. You brought this on yourself when you told Brad you were dating another guy. So now, you need to buck up and face the consequences. You’re going to this dinner, and you’re going to pull that girl into a private place and tell her off.”
“I don’t know...”
“Grace, do you like Brad or not? Is he worth fighting for?”
Grace swallowed a hard lump of air. Did she like Brad? No. If she’d learned anything over the past week, she’d learned she didn’t like Brad. She loved him. With all of her heart and soul, she loved the man. His loss had left a yawning, aching, empty hole inside her.
“I like him. I like him a lot.” She swallowed hard, working up the courage to admit her insecurity. “But I’m afraid I’m not good enough for him.”
“I can’t believe you said that!” A deep furrow appeared between Olivia’s eyebrows. “You’re the one who drove Hannah and Claire and me to be self-confident. Over and over you told us we could do anything, be anything. You told us to hold out for a great guy who would treat us like we deserved to be treated. Doesn’t the same apply to you?”
“Forget I said anything.” Grace pressed a hand on her stomach to calm it.
“Why would you think you weren’t good enough for any guy? Did Brad say something to make you feel this way?” Olivia’s tone dripped suspicion.
“No, he would never do that.”
She almost told Olivia about Mark’s eye-opening comments, but she didn’t have time to start that conversation.
“Does Brad deserve to spend the rest of his life with a devious woman like Leanne?”
Grace stopped pacing and squeezed her eyes. Gathering up all her courage, she pivoted to face Olivia. “I want your opinion on the best hat to wear tonight.”
Olivia hopped up from the bed, grinning with excitement. “I’ll pick out your whole outfit, from head to toe. Brad won’t know what hit him.”
* * *
Brad wasuncomfortable bringing Kara to the Marshall’s dinner. Josh had come back to him, claiming Olivia told him there was no other guy. But that probably meant Grace hadn’t admitted it to her family, who’d all been enthusiastic when he and Grace started dating.
He wanted to believe Josh, but he couldn’t square his assertions with the fact Grace hadn’t even returned a single phone call or text.
Brad kept his hands shoved into his pockets as he strolled beside Kara on the way to the Marshall’s home. She’d already attempted to weave their fingers together as she walked beside him, her long legs matching him stride for stride. He knew inviting her to this dinner was encouraging her affections, a complication he didn’t need. But he couldn’t think of anyone else to bring along at the last minute. He glanced at her rather revealing top and decided he should be straightforward and warn her Grace would be at dinner.
“I appreciate you coming to dinner with me at the last minute,” he began.
“I was glad you invited me. Friday night you seemed so angry with me for some reason.”
“Well, I was a little angry. I thought we had an understanding. I went to the game with you to help you with a guy problem, and that kiss was not part of the deal. We’re only friends, Kara. I helped you with a guy problem, and I asked you to come tonight to help me with a girl problem.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What girl problem?”
“So Josh told you about Grace and I breaking up?” Brad struggled to talk with his tongue sticking to his dry mouth. “Well, tonight the dinner is at her house, and she’s bringing her new boyfriend.”
“So now you want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?” she asked. Brad glanced her direction. She didn’t seem offended. In fact her wide eyes and broad smile appeared all too eager.
“No, you don’t need to take it that far. I think having a date will be sufficient. Her entire family will be at the dinner, and Dr. Branson will be there as well. It’s a weekly tradition.”
“No problem. I think I can handle a little family togetherness with your old girlfriend. You know, I never thought she was right for you anyway.”
Brad pressed his lips together to hold back a biting retort. He didn’t want to hear any disparaging remarks about Grace. “Be careful what you say. Grace and I could still get back together.”
“But you really don’t have much in common, with you being a doctor and her being an elementary school teacher. And she’s from New York, and you’re from California.”
“We have plenty in common. For one thing, we’re both sports fanatics.” Brad worked his shoulders to relax the sudden tension. Kara had a habit of saying things that got under his skin.
“That’s fine for you, I guess. But almost every guy is a sports fanatic. Her new boyfriend probably likes sports, too. Don’t you think you’d rather end up with someone in the medical field?”
“Not necessarily. I get enough medicine at work—I need a break when I get home.”
“That’s because you’re working your butt off in the ER. But someday you’ll be in administration, and you’ll have plenty of doctors to do all your grunt work. To be honest you look pretty bad this week. You’re obviously working too many late hours.”
He had no intention of leaving the ER to be an administrator—he loved his job. But he didn’t feel like arguing with Kara.
“Right now I look bad because I haven’t been sleeping well. Maybe someday I might like to move up the ladder a little, but not too far up and not any time soon. I like what I do.”
“You know, my father’s on the board at Central Hospital back in L.A. I’m sure he’d be willing to pull some strings to get you a great position. Wasn’t that your first choice for your ER residency?”
“It was.” He cringed at the admission, although she’d already known the answer. It had come up in a casual conversation when she’d mentioned her dad. “But I like it here. I have no desire to leave.”
“I only came here for the New York experience. I’ve always planned to go back. You should think about working in L.A. You know, I’m only a year behind you in my residency.”
Was Kara actually proposing a long term relationship? Was she bribing him with a position at Central? He felt his heart rate accelerating. How could he feel trapped when he was walking out in the open?
“I like it here and I plan to stay, so I guess it’s a good thing we’re only friends. It sounds like we could never have a future together.”
“You may change your mind about staying here. Isn’t your family in L.A.?”
“My parents are there, but my brother is planning to move to New York someday. In fact, he’ll be at the dinner tonight.”
Kara was quiet for a moment. “My dad might be willing to live in New York half of the year. He could probably get on the board at Mercy General.”
“Steven Gherring is on the board at Mercy General. I doubt your father could have any more influence than he does.”
Kara waved away his objection. “Gherring’s only interest is the publicity—he doesn’t care about the day-to-day operations of the hospital.”
Brad took a slow deep breath and counted to ten. He failed to hide his considerable irritation.
“Steven Gherring is a personal friend of mine and Dr. Branson’s and a really great man. His only interest is the good of the hospital and the patients. He doesn’t give a flip about publicity.”
“Wow, don’t bite my head off! I didn’t know you knew the guy. Is that how you and Josh got in the residency?”
“No! We earned our residency positions before we ever met him. The same way I hope everyone else in the program did.” He spit the words out like venom.
But Kara laughed out loud. “Oh Brad, you’re hopelessly na?ve if you believe that. The only way you’ll ever get anywhere in life is by knowing the right people. I think it’s great you know Steven Gherring—we should be able to use that to our advantage if I can’t talk you into moving back to L.A.”
Brad stopped before entering the Marshall’s apartment building, acutely aware of his perspiration despite the cool evening air. He grabbed her elbow and pulled her toward him, using his slight height advantage to look down on her.
“Kara, I don’t have time to talk about this right now, but let me make one thing perfectly clear. I’m not interested in using my friendship with Steven Gherring for personal gain. And please don’t say anything about that in front of this group of people. They’re all friends with him, and they’ll be quite offended.”
She wrenched her arm away. “Okay, don’t get your panties in a wad. I wasn’t going to say anything, anyway.”
Brad knocked on the door, wondering if he’d made a terrible mistake bringing Kara to Sunday night dinner. But he needed her with him to face Grace and her new man, especially since Grace had ignored his phone calls and texts. Surely Kara would act properly in this social situation. He’d instructed her to keep her mouth shut about Steven Gherring. And she’d been warned about Grace’s presence at the dinner. He’d been clear to Kara about maintaining their relationship at the level of friends and professional colleagues. He’d covered all his bases. What could go wrong?