Page 17 of Trick of Light

“Right.” Bethany played along, trying to put the pieces together.

“But it was a close one,” Mel said. “That’s for sure.”

Bethany’s head hammered with confusion. After Mel disappeared to find more beer, she beelined to another colleague from Nick’s hospital, a nurse married to one of the other doctors. Her name was Rita, and she was incredibly peppy and happy, with a high ponytail that reminded Bethany of high school cheerleaders. Rumor had it she was the best nurse in Bob’s entire hospital.

“Bethany!” Rita said. “Congratulations on the twins!”

Bethany thanked her, smiled, and made small talk until she could figure out a way to ask about Nick’s patient. It felt bizarre that she had to learn about this via Mel. Wasn’t this the kind of thing Nick should talk to her about?

Rita’s eyes were shadowed when she brought it up. Under her breath, she said, “To tell you the truth, I don’t know details about that. Only those in the room know, and they aren’t talking.”

Bethany’s stomach tightened. “That’s bizarre, isn’t it?” Normally, gossip was high-powered in hospitals. Stuff got around.

“If you ask me,” Rita said delicately, “your father-in-law made some threats. Maybe even bribed them.”

Rita snapped her hand over her mouth. “Shoot. I’ve drunk a little too much, haven’t I? Loose lips sink ships, as they say.” She scowled. “You won’t tell Nick I told you that. Will you?”

“No. Of course not.”

Bethany felt like she was floating. She went through the party, eavesdropping, trying to put together the pieces of her husband’s “other life” at the “other hospital.”

Was it possible he wasn’t a proficient surgeon?

That his father had given him the position of relatively high-up surgeon without merit?

The thought rang through her. It terrified her. If people like Nick were on the loose, making mistakes that were ultimately covered up, then the medical field was just as corrupt as she’d always feared.

Worse than that, she’d married into that corruption. And there was nothing she could do about it.

In the following weeks, Bethany did her best to dig into the life-threatening surgery that Mel had mentioned. But there was no record of it on file in the hospital office. Nobody would speak with her about it nor acknowledge that it had happened.

And when Bethany finally asked Nick about it to his face, Nick played dumb. Accusing him of lying seemed idiotic, especially as the twins were less than four months old.

Bethany decided to drop it.

Chapter Eight

Present Day

Samantha Coleman had Rod’s best interests in mind when she suggested the blind date. “You haven’t been on a date in how many years?” She gasped when he told her the truth.

Rod wasn’t embarrassed about his single status. Not really. He knew about plenty of unhappy couples who stayed married out of convenience or habit rather than love. He was grateful that he could do whatever he wanted when he wanted it.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t often lonely.

Samantha’s friend Maxine was a few years younger than Rod. Although Samantha didn’t want to tell Rod too much about her before the blind date, she confessed that Maxine had gotten divorced a few years back, didn’t have children, and was usually “incredibly interesting to talk to.”

“Even if you’re not into her romantically, I still think you’ll have a good time,” Samantha had pushed it.

Rod found himself fidgeting outside the coffee shop as a balmy July wind pressed against his button-down shirt and made it stick to his sweaty chest. He swept his fingers through his hair and glanced left, then right down the sidewalk, feeling like a fool. Tourists swarmed downtown, most of them as red as lobsters due to horrible sunburns. Could they tell he was going on a date? Did they pity him?

Because he was overeager (or overly frightened), Rod was early. That only upped his anxiety. He checked his phone for a sign from Maxine. Perhaps she planned to ghost him? Maybe she was going to cancel?

That was when he heard his name. A beautiful woman in her late thirties stepped out from a crowd of tourists and shook her head so that her red tresses swept down her shoulders. She smiled at him and stretched out her hand.

“I’m Maxine. I hope you haven’t been waiting long?”

Rod’s heart thudded with apprehension. “I’m Rod. And no. I just got here,” he lied.

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