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“Will you at least tell me you’ll consider it?” Aunt Nora is still going on about motherhood.
“Yes, I’ll consider it.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. Love you, Aunt Nora.”
“Love you, too.”
After the line goes dead, I set the phone down, pull a pillow into my lap, and mull over the mess of my life. Derek helped me to realize I didn’t need a man to be happy. I’m happier without him. Truly. The craving that makes my core ache is for a child of my own. A dream that passed me by. Or did it?
Maybe Aunt Nora is on to something. It took me a few years to get my heart and head back on straight, but this is something I should pick back up and evaluate. If I had a child of my own, maybe the ache from Henry’s absence would lessen.
My phone rings, and I flip it over, screen side up. A grin breaks out.
“Hey, you,” I answer. My fingers automatically touch my lips, and yeah, I roll my eyes at the girliness.
“Mom told me you got back okay. You forgot to text.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I just—”
“No worries. How’s Polly?”
“I think she’s fine. I didn’t see a reason to call the vet. But maybe I should.”
“Don’t they charge you for the visit?”
“Don’t you charge a patient for a consult?”
“No. Actually, I don’t. But a lot of my patients don’t have a choice with surgery.”
“So, what did you do for the rest of the day?”
“Not much. Why?”
“Just curious what a big-time surgeon does on his day off.”
“Big-time?” He chuckles. “You and my family love to give me shit. Well, let’s see. This hotshot surgeon stopped by the hospital to check on his patients after my plans hopped in the car to check on her horse.”
“I thought you had the day off.”
“I do. But pretty much only first years work on New Year’s, so since I had the free time, I stopped in to check on things. And then I ended up spending a couple of hours playing Uno.”
“The card game?”
“Yep. I had one pediatric patient. She was with her family. But there was another kid. Young boy, all on his own. Everyone else had visitors, but his mom had to work. So, I hung out with him.”
My heart melts like a tub of hot wax, envisioning Ian on a rare day off, spending his time with a kid who isn’t his patient, just because. Of the three brothers, he’s always been the kindest. “Look at you. A surgeon with a heart.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
I smile and curl back onto the sofa. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Of course, it is. We always keep each other’s secrets.”
His reference to our past makes me smile. I not only caught him red-handed in high school mixing Mr. Duke’s bourbon with soda, but I’d helped prevent him from getting caught by teaching him how to mix in water so he wouldn’t notice some was missing. I was probably the worst kind of big sister.
“Hey, you know, I had this crazy thought. And I can’t get it out of my head.”
