Chapter 4 #3
“So you’re planning to back off from doing things for her?” She said that she was going to start by not memorizing her schedule. “Take it slow, then. That’s the way I’d do it. It’ll make you feel better, too, that you’re not just cutting her off. Why doesn’t she drive?”
“I don’t know. She has a license. I took her to the bureau myself when she had to have it renewed.
She’s allowed to have one so long as it isn’t over a certain price range.
I don’t think they want her buying a new car when she’s supposed to need assistance with her food and housing.
I’m going to bring that up too when I see her the next time.
I have to go over there today to get the last of my things.
She claims that they’re cluttering up her home.
I’m her flipping daughter, not some stranger that makes clutter in her home.
” He laughed a little bit at that and could feel her anger dissipating like his did.
“It’s good to be able to talk to you, too, I guess.
I don’t feel so lost and angry as I did when I was thinking about my mom the way that I was. ”
After talking about dinner plans that they had, she told him that she had to go.
He was glad again for this link. He thought that over the next few days, while dealing with the fallout of Mulkeen, he might need to have her close all the time.
As he made his rounds with one of the other doctors, he enjoyed the day better than he thought he might have.
He caught glimpses of Doone throughout the day.
Twice she asked for a doctor to get something put on a chart that she could do, and then one other time she went out on her ‘smoke’ break to stand in the cooler part of the day.
He made his way out there to do the same.
Since neither of them smoked, it was a nice fifteen-minute break away from all the things going on in the emergency department for a change.
When four o’clock rolled around, he was ready to go home.
He wasn’t in any hurry, as Doone wouldn’t be there yet because she had to go to her mom’s house.
He did hope that things worked out for her concerning her mom and wondered what he’d do if his own mom pulled those kinds of tricks on him.
He couldn’t think of a single thing, as she’d never do that to him in the first place.
His mom was a straight shooter like he’d been told Doone was.
Falkner was falling in love with his mate and couldn’t wait to be able to tell her without her freaking out.
She might too. Since they’d been living in the same house for a week now, they’d skirted around feelings like that.
He probably could tell her, but then she might move out.
Thinking that feelings that heavy are too quick for them.
There were times when he felt the same way about them.
Just too fast for them to be falling in love.
After clocking out, he took a few moments to look over his own schedule.
He wasn’t working weekends yet, as he was still learning the hospital and the way they did things.
But he knew that this weekend, Doone had to work.
Since her overtime had been cut out, she’d been home all evenings, and it was nice to have someone to talk to at the end of the day.
He was looking forward to that more as summer approached and they could hang out at the house together.
He did wonder what he’d do this weekend.
He thought about painting the bedroom that he was using and realized that he didn’t want to be in the house during the day.
The days were getting warmer more and more, and he wanted to catch the spring weather most of all.
It was his favorite time of the year when things were coming up around the house in the form of fragile little blooms. That and fall when things were going to sleep for the long winter months.
He also loved the colors that both seasons brought.
The bright flowers in the spring and the beautiful earth tones in the fall months.
Stopping by the store on his way home, he picked up some flowers for Doone.
She might need them if this thing with her mom didn’t go well.
And he loved seeing her face when he picked something up for her.
Like the time he’d picked up some soda that she liked, and she loved it.
He wanted to be a romantic like his father was.
He’d been giving their mom flowers just because he loved her since they were children.
With flowers in hand, he entered the house and was surprised to see Doone there. After hanging up his jacket, he handed her the flowers. He didn’t want to ask how things went with her mom, but since she was crying, he did ask her if she was all right.
“Not particularly. She told me I should be ashamed of myself for even asking her why she didn’t drive herself to her appointments.
I even offered her my car to do it in.” He said he’d get her a newer one.
“Thanks, but you don’t have to do that. I was just offering it to her to see what she did.
She told me that she wouldn’t be caught dead in that old thing, even though it’s what I drive when I take her around.
I guess she doesn’t like the idea that I might be too busy on some days to take her someplace when she wants or needs to go, either. ”
“Your mom has a serious problem. What did you do when she said that to you?” She told him she told her that she couldn’t take her to her appointment in the morning as she had to work. Which she did, so it wasn’t a lie. “I take it that she didn’t like that.”
“She told me that I needed to be at her beck and call all the time because of her being my mom and that I should want to take her places as she’s couped up in the house all day with nothing to do.
I even suggested she get a job, which has been something that the welfare office has said that she should do.
Not full-time, mind you, but enough so that she could pay her bills.
I guess me and my car are all right to take her places too, so that she can cash her check she gets each month. Again, because of me.”
Doone sounded like she was having more issues with her mother than she’d had before.
All this has taken place since she had to move in with her mom when her place burned to the ground.
There had to be something that had happened there that made them both seem to not care for each other at all.
The more he thought about it, the more he thought that her mom just needed someone to talk to, and it wasn’t Doone.
He’d offer himself, but he already had a thing against her for treating his mates like she had been.
Perhaps Amy or one of the other women could talk to her.
Maybe see what the root of the problem was for Meggie.
Falkner knew that he needed to ask Doone what she thought of his idea, but she was just too upset right now.
He was going to wait and see how she felt after dinner and ask her then.
With a full belly and the flowers he’d gotten her on the table, she might be better receptive to all kinds of things, like him telling her that he loved her.