Chapter 23
HE MAY HAVE STAYED UP way too late last night. He should have just ended the evening on a high note after Kenya left. Instead, he decided to study for hours after her departure. His body had protested all day from the lack of sleep.
“Today seems like a good day to quit,” he growled.
“You say that every other day.” Ben reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone with an attached credit card holder. Setting his eyes on the vending machine, he sauntered toward it.
“But today I really mean it.” Solomon leaned against the wall of the triage area of the emergency room. “This shift has drained me. Is there a rugby match in town that we haven’t heard of? Or did all the kids in the surrounding area go and do flips on trampolines at the same time?”
“Something like that,” Ben agreed. “Thankfully, I’ve got some free time coming up. I think I am over my limit.” He grabbed a soda from the vending machine and guzzled down half of it.
Solomon cocked an eyebrow. “What happened to your diet?”
“Ahh.” Ben lowered the can. “I’ve never been on a diet.”
“Okay then, insert whatever word you use for your various eating emphases.”
Ben nodded his head, giving a slight frown of respect. “I’m impressed with that word arrangement. You make my food choices sound more elevated.”
Solomon chuckled and sighed. “Trouble in paradise?”
“Nah, just too good in paradise, maybe. Or too boring?”
“Sooo . . .”
“So basically, she wants us to move to something more . . . more committed.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”
“Dude, commitment gives me the creeps.”
“That sounds like words every woman wants to hear.”
Ben sighed and started down the hallway. Solomon followed him into the break room. Some of the tables were filled with other medical professionals, with one doctor snoring unabashedly on the couch. Par for the course. Everyone did what they could on days like these.
And it was only 1:00 p.m. on a Wednesday.
Ben sat down with a huff. “I know it’s been a while since a woman has graced your threshold. Unless of course you’ve been seeing more of your friend from our bowling night.”
Solomon kept his expression neutral. Ben didn’t need to know that in fact said bowling woman did grace his threshold yesterday, but not in the way that would matter for Ben.
And it was none of his friend’s business that he and Kenya played video games, watched a movie, and talked longer than they should have. A second date for the books.
“My whole life has changed.” Ben continued his complaint. “She is rearranging my things, cooking elaborate meals for me. Get this, the other day she organized my pantry.”
“You have a pantry?”
Ben shrugged. “It came with the apartment. But I barely have anything in there, and she’s already got containers with those printed sticker things . . .”
“Labels?”
“Sure. But I mean, what are we doing here? What is happening to my bachelor pad?”
“A woman you love is happening.”
Ben choked on his soda. “Love?” he sputtered.
“Yes, Ben, even you seem capable of it, although I’ve had my doubts.”
Ben crossed his arms and looked away.
“How about I bet that the reason commitment gives you the creeps is not because she is the wrong person, but maybe she is the right one and you don’t know what to do with it.” Solomon chuckled. “Am I cutting too deep with the scalpel?”
Ben harrumphed. “Now I think it’s time for you to mind your business.”
Solomon’s laughter died as he grabbed his things. Maybe it was time for him to take his own advice.
SOLOMON ADDED a quick signature to a chart and glanced up as the nurse quickly flipped the file.
“Kenya, hi. How did you get here?”
Seeing him immersed in his element with his scrubs on was quite the full circle. Especially since almost a month ago, he’d rolled her in here and now she had a plan to roll him out on an adventure.
Today he looked more tired than she’d ever seen him. She might be to blame, but even that wouldn’t deter her from why she came. She liked to move on the fly and on the pivot—much harder these days—but she couldn’t shake the desire to invite him on a little trip with her.
“We have a robust Uber system in this town. Can you do me a favor?”
The way his eyes floated over, she almost expected him to say, “Anything,” which she could tuck away in the labyrinth of her mind and pull out when she needed it. But instead, he responded to her with a half-smile, a weary one but still a smile.
“I want to say yes, but the look in your eyes has me concerned. Plus, I have been up longer than usual, and I may not be awake enough for whatever it is you have planned.”
“There will be time for a nap.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Where is this favor going to take me?”
“That is my surprise, but just consider it payback for surprising me with a trip to the library.”
“Why do I feel like I should be worried?”
Kenya stepped closer and took in his face, the slight scruff around his jaw, his full lips. “Haven’t you learned by now that you should always be worried around me?”
Just another foot and she’d be right there, close enough to put her wonderings at rest. Near enough to answer the questions that seemed to fill his eyes the more they were together. But she wouldn’t cross that threshold. Not now. And not here anyway.
Solomon cleared his throat. “You are a whirlwind.”
“Hurricane-force winds, baby.”
He laughed nervously.
What was wrong with her? There she went again, saying more than necessary. She retreated and stood a safe distance away. Maybe what she planned wasn’t the best idea after all, but she was too far in to stop now.
He beckoned her to follow him and led her out the staff exit door. He shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand, holding the door open for her as she placed the sunglasses hanging on her blouse onto her face.
“So hit me with it. What is your favor and what will it cost me?”
“An afternoon with me, if you are free.”
“I am, mostly.”
“Wonderful. I knew if I just texted you, you might say no. I will pick you up in a couple of hours.”
Solomon glanced pointedly at her foot.
She shrugged. “Oh, okay, I guess you can pick me up then.”
“What happened to me sleeping on the way?”
“Sorry, my favor is not fully formed.”
“Then my answer isn’t either.”
She laughed out loud. His sly remark had the opposite effect on her than it probably did others.
Some may have been offended by it, but she had to fight off a sudden urge to throw herself into his arms. He made her laugh like few could.
He didn’t reject the whirlwind, as he called it, but seemed to set up camp, anchor down, and ride it with her—in the calmest way, of course.
“Come on, Doctor, do this favor for me and eventually yourself. Live a little.”
He glanced at his watch. “What time is all this supposed to commence?”
“T-minus two hours. You have most of that to take a nap and dress a little nicer than you are right now. Like going to the club but still ready to run a marathon if needed. And make sure you have your ID with you. Okay, bye-eeee!”
No need to give him time to change his mind. Because if she was starting to understand one thing about Dr. Anruchi, it was this—he didn’t like disappointing anyone, and she had a sense she was making her way to the top of that list.
WATCHING SOLOMON’S face when she told him to drive them to the Huntsville airport had delighted her more than she dared to admit. He had balked at first, but then her heart swelled when she watched him swallow his apprehension and hand his ID to the ticket agent.
He trusted her. And the impact of that took her breath for the first few moments.
Lingered with her as they made their way up the escalator, walked through security, and sat down at their gate.
Kenya wiggled her fingers, the only movement she would allow herself, even though her whole body vibrated with anticipation.
He probably thought that she was slightly out of her mind. And she probably was. She was basically kidnapping the doctor and had commandeered his time to take him not just down a street or two but all the way out of state.
But what an incredible idea it was, and hopefully it would be an amazing surprise.
Maybe it was selfish of her, but at least for now—for just this afternoon and evening—she could have him all to herself.
He wouldn’t be distracted by his patients or the pressing decisions that seemed to weigh him down or all the plans for his family or the expectations that drove him that he probably didn’t think she noticed. Not even her foot would get in the way.
She snuck a glance at him tapping out a rhythm on his pants then shaking his hand out. A silver watch glistened on his wrist. Not his Apple Watch. He wore a button-down shirt with a crisp collar and an athletic jacket. And sitting there next to him felt like exactly where she needed to be.
His hand on the armrest was tempting. She pictured herself sneaking her more petite one under his. Maybe if she did, he would remain stiff and unbothered, but maybe he would hold on, squeeze tight.
“So.” His voice startled her out of her distracting perusal. He sent a glance her way, his mouth tipped in knowing. How long had he sensed her looking at him?
She willed herself to respond casually, not with the longing permeating her being. Couldn’t even sit next to this pillar of a man without swooning all over him in her mind.
She smoothed her hands down her lap, careful not to snag her gold bangles on the fabric of her peach dress. The dress flared out over ankle booties she’d finally been able to put on, although she may regret it by the end of the night.
“Are you going to tell me exactly where we are going?”
“You are at the Atlanta gate.”
He guffawed. “True. But Atlanta is a big city. Much bigger than Huntsville.”
Kenya squirmed in her chair. “Leave it alone for a moment. I don’t want to give it away yet, and if you ask me more, I’ll spill the details.”
“Ha.” Solomon slanted his eyes at her. “If you really wanted me to leave you alone, you wouldn’t have dragged me along on a trip that involves a flight.”
Kenya offered a demure smile. “But you still said yes. And the flight is less than an hour.”
He stayed silent, but she sensed his demeanor relaxing even more, his grip loosening.
“Do you have trouble with the unknown, Doctor?”
He released a breath. “I don’t have trouble with the unknown as long as I remember the One I follow knows way more than me.”
She chewed on that for a bit. Sat back in her seat.
Hmm. She prided herself on going with the flow and making something out of all the scraps that life threw her way.
The last few months had blown her processes out of the water.
Every step she took lately seemed more compounded and cumbersome than before.
But maybe that wouldn’t be an issue if she trusted God better, the One who knew infinitely more than she did.
“What about you, Kenya?” She must have been imagining the tender way her name rumbled from his throat. Surely the texture in his tone when he said her name didn’t have any other meaning besides the perfect way that God formed his vocal cords. “Has the unknown been troubling you lately?”
She turned from watching a plane taxi to the adjacent gate, her laugh an exhale. “That’s an interesting way to put it. I don’t think I’ve been troubled with the unknown as much as I have with the present. My flaws have been very evident, in real time.”
“In time, injuries heal. I can attest to that.” He paused, rubbing his kneecap. “I can also confirm that some injuries last, even when we don’t see them as clearly.” The words were said almost to himself.
“With my luck, my foot will probably take an eternity to recover fully. It seems to be my way.”
He didn’t join in on her self-deprecation. Instead, in a miraculous turn of events, he reached over, grabbed her hand, and squeezed it. No stoicism or lack of emotion in that grip, but it also wasn’t the caressing clasp of affection. It was solidarity, simplicity, and just right.
“You will heal. I had my own injury in high school that I thought was the end of everything. But it wasn’t.
And this won’t be the end for you.” He squeezed her hand again.
“Maybe just the beginning of something new.” Her eyes drifted from their intertwined hands to his face.
She sucked in a breath at his expression.
Didn’t expect the tightening at her core.
She averted her eyes. When would they board?
Ah, at 4:15, in just fifteen minutes. Too late to turn around.
Too late to avoid crossing the threshold in this fake relationship turned friendship that was slowly becoming the more that she longed for and feared.