She was surprised when Edmund actually smiled at his kid brother. “Colin, hello!”
Edmund reached out his hand to his brother, but his brother wrapped him into a big bear hug. “It’s so good to see you again, Eddie. You haven’t been home in a coon’s age!”
Because white folks in blackface minstrel shows used to refer to blacks as coons, that term was considered highly offensive. But to hear it from Colin and then for that look of regret on his face as soon as those words left his mouth, made Maude inwardly laugh. He looked so embarrassed when he was probably just being himself.
But she smiled and extended her hand to the blonde-haired young man who looked to be only a couple years younger than she was. “Hello, Colin.”
When he realized she wasn’t going to cuss him out for being so rude, his grand smile returned and he gladly shook her hand. “You must be Miss Maude. It’s so nice to meet you, Miss Maude.”
Maude laughed. “Maude is good,” she said as he practically shook her hand off. “And it’s nice to meet you too.”
Neither could say that they heard wonder things about the other one because Edmund rarely mentioned either one.
“And Maude,” he said as he moved her along to her parents, “this is Samuel and Eloise Keating. My parents. And mother, father, this is--”
“Another gold digger,” said Samuel dryly. “We know.”
Although she was inwardly alarmed by how easily such a word rolled off his tongue with no embarrassment at all, unlike with Colin, she continued to smile as she extended her hand. “Nice to meet you,” she said.
“Nice to meet you too, Maude,” Eloise said as they shook hands.
When Maude extended her hand to Samuel, he looked at it. “I’ll shake it when I know it,” he said.
“Suit yourself,” Maude shot back, withdrawing her hand, but maintaining her smile.
Edmund and Colin were impressed that their father didn’t rattle her. Samuel and Eloise were surprised. But what his little comments taught Maude was that he wasn’t so tough after all. She’d faced-down tougher bigots than him in Dillon.
“Have a seat,” Eloise said, whom she liked, and Edmund and Maude sat down on one of the two sofas in the room. The parents sat on the sofa facing theirs. But Colin sat beside Edmund.
“How’s life at Saint Catherine’s, son?” Eloise asked.
“The same,” said Edmund.
“Have you gotten a better team around you?” asked Samuel. “That group I saw the last time I was in Baltimore left a lot to be desired.”
Edmund crossed his legs. He didn’t respond to that. It seemed to Maude like a coping mechanism for Edmund. His father, she already could see, was triggering for him.
“What about John Hopkins?” his father asked him.
“Father, must you always go there every time Eddie shows up?” Colin asked.
“You stay out of this!” Samuel shot back. Then he waited for Edmund to respond.
“What about John Hopkins, Father?”
“I spoke with the chief of surgery over there. He’s retiring in a few months. He still wants you to take his place.”
“And I told you I’m not leaving Saint Catherine’s.”
“Why the hell not, Edmund? John Hopkins is premiere. Saint Catherine barely registers in that category.”
Edmund’s jaw tightened, but he wasn’t about to mix it up with his father. “You summoned me here for a reason?” he asked.
“Yes, we did,” said Eloise. “Colin, go get your sister.”
“Yes ma’am,” Colin said and left the room.
But Edmund and Maude were surprised. “Tasha’s here?” Edmund asked them.
