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Chapter Thirteen
Returning to Cincinnati was a rude awakening. On her first day back at work, Brenda gasped at the pile of notes on her desk, the number of new patients waiting to be seen, the complaints to be settled… At lunch time, Matt texted:
We should have stayed in Paradise. Doctors, nurses, patients all turning into monsters trying to destroy my well-being. Already deleted my relaxed mood. Grrr…
She laughed at his perfect description of her feelings.Same here. Good luck.
We should get together, watch our pictures and reminisce. When we have time.
Two weeks passed before either of them had time.
Finally, they met for dinner, a rushed after-dinner drink, and a quickie. Matt couldn’t stop talking about his cases. Actually, he was discussing them with himself out loud, and she listened, not bothering to ask questions he would ignore.
“Patient confidentiality,” he grumbled. “It’s as if half of Ohio has decided they need surgery as soon as I returned from vacation.”
She laughed. “They must think you’re relaxed and in better shape to operate on them.”
“Exactly.”
Her own practice having returned to normal, she decided to take advantage of Mia’s absence and do some needed house renovations. She called the company she’d dealt with in the past, explaining her desire to modernize the kitchen—an island, new cabinets, granite counters, and a ceramic tile floor. The contractor promised to have the work finished in less than a month. When Matt surprised her by arriving with dinner on Friday evening, he was stunned by the chaos greeting him.
“We can eat on the porch,” she suggested, trying to apologize for the mess.
“Better yet, let’s eat on my balcony.”
“Okay, but I have to come back home tonight. They’ll be working this weekend to finish in time before Mia’s return from camp.”
“All right. Whatever you say.”
Another fast dinner, a rushed after-dinner drink, and a quickie, this time in his condo.
She was too busy and concerned about her renovations to pay attention to Matt’s grumblings.
The kitchen work progressed on schedule, and a month later, she invited Matt to an inauguration dinner. He brought her a vase filled with a dozen roses and set it on the kitchen island.
Surveying the room, he admired the counter and new cabinets. “Don’t bother dirtying anything. Let’s go out.”
When they returned, she invited him to stay. “Mia will be here soon. I’m picking her up on Friday.”
“Wait.” He pulled out his phone and checked his schedule. “I’m free on Friday. I’ll drive you there.”
“Not again, Matt. You’ve already—”
“It’s no problem, Brenda. I’ve been so busy since our return, I haven’t seen you often enough. You should know by now that Mia is the closest thing I have to a daughter.”
Tears tickled her eyes. Without a word she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his shoulder.
He caressed her hair and rained small kisses on her temple. Gently, he pulled her away. “Let’s go to dinner. I’ll be delighted to spend the night here and every night until Mia’s back.”
His scorching kiss showed her that his passion hadn’t decreased one bit during the busy time he’d spent with his patients.
***
On the way to camp, Brenda sat next to him. To temper her nervous impatience, Matt asked her about the kitchen renovations, and she detailed the problems and headaches she’d encountered.
“The contractor is a great guy, easy to relate to, but some of his workers act as if a woman is a complete idiot when it comes to construction. One of them kept saying, ‘You don’t need to worry, Ma’am. Wait till I’m done. You’ll see how great it’ll look.’ Except I didn’t like the color of the sample he showed me for the cabinets, whether they looked good or not. I ended up talking to his boss.”
“I can imagine the discussion.” Matt chuckled. “Good for you for holding your ground.”
