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She sent Alec a give-me-a-minute smile and turned to Wayne. “Let's walk over to the census board. I'll give you a brief rundown on the patients and their dispositions.”
“I'm sure I can figure it out on my own,” he sneered. “I don't need your help.”
She stared at him for a long moment, trying to understand what was at the root of his nasty tone. Then she decided to ignore him, turning back to the census board. She spoke, without caring if he listened or not. “There are two patients still waiting for diagnostic testing to determine their disposition, Jennifer Walden in room 21 and mark Robbins in room 18.”
She was determined to give Wayne a concise report on their patients so he couldn't claim down the road that something was her fault because she hadn't given him some bit of information. She didn't trust Wayne as far as she could spit.
“You'll need to check their radiology reports before they can be cleared. There are three patients currently on the admission list waiting for inpatient beds. And there are four more patients we are waiting for lab results on.” She swung back to meet his board gaze. “Any questions?”
“No.” He turned on his heel and walked away. For a moment she marveled at his rudeness, then shook off her irritation. No way would she let Wayne's crankiness ruin her evening.
She was free to go.
In her office, she picked up her purse, then left, locking the door behind her. She returned to the emergency department to find Alec was still waiting in the same spot, leaning against the wall. He straightened when she approached.
“Hi.” She tried not to sound as awkward as she felt.
“Hi, yourself.” He grinned and she immediately relaxed when he pulled a bouquet of daisies out from behind his back. “I don't know what your favorite flower is, but these were growing in my garden. I hope you don't mind. Shannon helped me pick them.”
She could easily imagine his daughter helping him to pick flowers for their date. It was probably the sweetest thing anyone had done for her. Burying her nose in the blossoms, she took a deep breath. Then looked up at him. “Thank you, Alec, they're beautiful.”
He pulled her into his arms for a quick kiss. “You probably deserve orchids or roses, but I didn’t have any of those in my garden. Since we're celebrating, I wanted to stop by to check in on you. I wasn't sure if you wanted to go home to change first before we head downtown to DiCarlos.”
His comment about orchids or roses surprised her, neither were her favorite. But she decided it didn’t matter. “I would like to go home to change, if you don't mind.” The fact that he'd come here to surprise her with flowers, was touching.
“Great. Then I'll meet you at your place.” He grinned and turned to head back to his car.
The ride from the medical center to her house didn't take long. She pulled into the driveway, then gathered her purse and her bouquet of daisies. She pushed open the car door and stepped out only to find Alec standing there ready to help. She flushed at his attentiveness.
“Thank you.” She used her key to unlock the door then stepped inside. After taking a moment to put the daisies in water, she disappeared down the hall to her bedroom to change her clothes.
She'd agonized a bit over what to wear. It was a date, not a formal event. She finally settled on a yellow sun dress. Not too fancy and not too casual, she decided.
When she returned to the kitchen, she blushed when Alec gave her an admiring look. “Wow. You look beautiful.”
“Um, thank you.” She was so out of practice, it wasn’t funny. Since when was dating this difficult?
Only when it mattered, she quickly realized.
“Are you ready to go?” Alec asked.
She managed a nod, picking up her purse from the table. Always the gentleman, Alec opened the door for her so they could step back outside. Then he jogged around to open the passenger door of his car, too.
As she slid into the passenger seat, she subtly pressed a hand to her stomach, trying to settle her nerves.
“I know it's a bit early,” Alec said as he settled in behind the wheel. “I thought we could take a little walk down by the lakefront first, before dinner.” He flashed a dazzling smile. “If you don’t mind.”
“That sounds wonderful.” Instantly, she relaxed, understanding that there was no pressure here. Just his intent to show her a nice time.
She wasn’t sure why, but being with Alec felt right.
CHAPTERELEVEN
As he drove downtown to DiCarlos’ restaurant, Alec tried to think of something to say. At one time, women had flocked to him, and he hadn’t hesitated to enjoy himself. Case in point—Shannon. He shouldn’t have been so irresponsible, but he couldn’t regret having his daughter.
Just the circumstances, maybe. But as he was often reminded in church, God was in charge and everything happened according to His plan.
He’d changed his life one hundred and eighty degrees over the past nine months. And if he were honest, he’d admit that none of the women he’d dated before ever meant as much to him as Jillian. Although really, she could have any man she wanted. Why would she want to be with him?
