CHAPTER FIVE
“The food here is delicious,” she said softly. “It’s not doing much for my diet.”
“Then don’t diet,” he said calmly. She looked at him with an expression bordering on anger, then it softened.
“I can’t say this enough, Marnie. I like you the way you are.
Your weight isn’t a factor in any of my thoughts about you.
Or in anyone else’s thoughts on this property.
No one here is mentioning your weight. Not one person. Please stop talking about it.”
She set her fork down by her plate and folded her hands in her lap. He was waiting for her to either get angry or cry. He almost hoped she would get angry. Crying would make him feel like shit.
“From the time I was old enough to remember, I was always bigger than the other girls. Taller, heavier, bigger shoes, everything. My mother reminded me of it every day of my life. She would remove food from my plate.
“If I grabbed a slice of bread, she took it back. If I wanted more pasta, she took it from my plate. If I wanted dessert, I was spanked. I couldn’t even go to kids birthday parties because I might eat cake out of her sight.
My mom was skinny, really skinny. I know now that part of it was related to the alcoholism but the other part was her own personal belief that I wasn’t enough. Or, maybe I was too much.”
“Those were her issues, Marnie, not yours. I wish I could make you see what I see. You’re a beautiful woman. Have you never met a man that appreciated your beauty? That loved your curves and wanted to get lost in them?” She laughed a sad laugh, shaking her head.
“No. Not one that didn’t want something in return.”
“What did he want?” asked Mitch.
“It doesn’t matter, Mitch. He’s gone and I’m happy working here at the hospital and clinic. Kennedy, Kelsey, all of them are so amazing!”
“Nice change of subject,” he smirked. “Okay. I’ll let that go for now.
Listen, all I want you to know is that I’m serious about dating you.
Just don’t give up on me before we even get started.
Look around the room at the beautiful women in various shapes and sizes.
These men love their wives like no other and size has zero to do with it. It’s not how we were raised.”
“What if I’m not good enough for you?” she said with a sad expression. She stared down at those damn folded hands again and he wanted to scream.
“Not good enough? Marnie, you are more than good enough for an idiot like me. You’re the brilliant doctor. I’m just a retired SEAL who obviously needs a full-time doctor since I’m so clumsy I slice open my head on rusty file cabinets.”
She laughed. She actually laughed loud and clear and he smiled, proud of himself for making that happen. Marnie shyly looked up at him, her head cocked a bit to the side.
“What’s it like being a triplet?” she asked.
“Amazing. Annoying. Wonderful. Exhausting,” he laughed. “I love my siblings, all of them. Brooks, Marissa and me are the closest but we have younger triplet brothers that are about to leave for the Navy.”
“You’re joking,” she said wide-eyed.
“Not joking. Caleb, Levi, and Cooper.” He looked around the cafeteria and found them sitting with some of the girls their age. “That’s them over there. The three handsome devils trying to decide which one they love the most.”
“Wow, they are handsome,” she laughed. “They look like you and your brother.”
“And my father and his triplet siblings. And my grandfather and his triplet siblings.”
“Holy cow,” she murmured. “I’d love to study that.”
“Why does every doctor say that?” he laughed.
“Because spontaneous triplets is extremely rare and to have more than one set in a family is incredible. I know there are lots of multiples here but it’s truly miraculous. And the fact that you’re all healthy and normal is amazing.”
“Well,” he smirked. “At least you think I’m normal.”
“Actually, I think you’re above normal,” she smiled.
“I’m sorry I’m so weird about all this Mitch.
I wasn’t trying to be self-deprecating. I didn’t have one date in high school.
Not one. The night of my senior prom, Hal took me to a Broadway show, dinner and then a long walk around the city.
It was the first ‘date’ of my life and it was the best one. ”
“No dates in college?” he frowned.
“A few here and there. It was always the super nerdy kid that just wanted to tell his buddies he went on a date. Or the athlete or frat boy going out with me on a dare. When I was in my residency, I was too busy to date.”
“After residency?” he asked quietly.
“There was another doctor in the ER at the hospital where I was working. The nurses had warned me about him but I didn’t listen. I never thought he’d ask me out.”
“Did he?”
“Sort of,” she said looking away for a moment. “He always made sure we worked the same shift and I was his junior so I’d rush to get the meds if the nurses weren’t available. Sometimes I would question him because the meds seemed too much or too different for the situation.
“He threatened to report me to the hospital administration board and I got scared. Until. Until a patient died because they were given a medication they were allergic to. I had to come forward. And I did. He was taking narcotics from the drug locker and taking them himself and selling the others.”
“A doctor was doing this?” he frowned.
“He had a lot of med school debt. Not that it’s a good reason but that’s why. I had to appear before the medical board and his license was suspended.”
“How did he take that?” asked Mitch. He had that feeling in his gut like he wasn’t going to enjoy the answer.
“He was pissed. More than pissed. Threatened to kill me. Threatened to find a way that I would lose my license. He-he said some pretty awful things during the hearings.”
“Let me guess. It was about your appearance.” She nodded at him and he could see the shame and embarrassment on her face. “He was doing that to make you feel inferior, afraid.”
“Well, mission accomplished. I felt like a fool for believing he enjoyed working with me, working in my company. He said so and I believed him.”
“That’s on him, not you,” he said reaching across the table for her hand. At first she tugged, pulling back. Then she relaxed, enjoying the feeling of his hand in hers.
“You look tired,” she said with concern in her eyes. “Let’s get you to your cottage.”
“I hate to admit it, but I am tired,” he said. “I can get Brooks to take me back if it’s out of your way.”
“Actually, my cottage is close to yours,” she said beneath her breath. He stared at her and tilted his head.
“Is it? How fucking lucky am I?”
“You might not think you’re lucky when I see you doing something you shouldn’t and yell at you,” she smirked. He smiled at her, leaning over her shoulders.
“You’d be surprised how happy that would make me.”