Page 29 of Between Our Hearts

When he dug it out of his front pocket, his wife caught his mom’s photo on the screen before he silenced it.

“You can answer it.”

He set the screen face down on the table. “That’s okay.”

“What if she needs something?”

Sadie didn’t understand that his mother often called just to chat. He knew that when Sadie talked to her mother, often when driving home from work, Penelope generally wanted something from her.

Clark opened his mouth to say his mother didn’t need anything, but then decided to tell the truth. “They’d actually like to visit. They haven’t seen Lottie since Christmas.” His parents usually visited four times a year, but he’d made excuses for them not to visit in early spring like they normally did. “Maybe they could come down this weekend for the Memorial Day holiday? Lottie can show them her swimming skills at the pool. It should be hot enough for us all to swim.”

They’d only been on good terms for less than twenty-four hours, but the desire to be back to normal scratched like thirst at his throat.

The skin around Sadie’s eyes pinched before her lips parted to speak, and he tightened his abs for the blow. “I think . . .” She paused, glancing at Lottie again. “Okay.” Her head bobbed. “That could be nice.”

He barely keptReally?inside his mouth. “I’ll call her on the drive home and let them know.”

As dinner wound down, Sadie chatted with him about some resident drama, and he shared more details about his new business. Everything in him felt like it was loosening, like shaking his muscles out before a workout. By the time he’d paid the check and gathered up a whining Lottie, he’d banished that worrisome shadow telling him to second-guess his reality. When Sadie automatically leaned over to kiss him goodbye before they separated in the parking lot, his lips pulled away with a smile on them.

At last, everything was as it should be.

?Chapter 15?

Sadie counted silently in her head to encourage patience as she waited for the unit assistant in the ER to find her Dr. Duran—the man who was supposed to have met her in the cafeteria ten minutes ago. When a stinging sensation rocketed over her backside, she jumped four inches. “Hiya, toots” accompanied the slap, preventing her from immediately having the offender’s head on a surgical tray.

“Parker, that’s not professional.” She turned, shaking her head as a smile curved her lips.

“I know.” Her friend beamed. “But it’s fun. You here for a consult?” The fact that Parker’s scrubs were already covered with a freshly donned yellow PPE gown meant she was likely waiting on an alpha-trauma to roll through the ambulance doors.

“No administrative stuff, but the ER director’s disappeared.”

Parker’s eyes twinged and flowed over Sadie’s set of scrubs.

“I added on a surgery this morning, but I’m supposed to be doing director duties today.”

“Ahh.” She nodded before a slightly wicked grin tugged on her lips. “So. . .” Parker leaned into the word. “How was date night?”

It’d been three days since her and Clark’s date. Since he’d looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen and then had held her in his arms like she was something precious. Every day since had seemed a little lighter, the tension that used to sit between them had felt looser. It’d been easier and easier not to turn off in a different direction once she left the hospital complex and spend the evening hours curled up in a ball. Yesterday, she’d even driven straight home, catching the end of an impromptu backyard cookout with several of the dads and kids from Clark’s fitness class.

A slow smile spread across her face. “Good.”

Parker rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, causing the trio of multicolor hummingbirds on her left wrist to peek out from beneath her shirt cuff. “Really? You’re going to go all monosyllabic on me?”

“Fine. It was better than good. It felt like”—she shifted her shoulders—“us. The old us.”

“That’s great.” Her face lit up before she playfully punched Sadie in the arm. “Now you and Clark can go on a double date with Ivan and me. I’ve been wanting to try out that new distillery downtown.”

“You’re still seeing Ivan?” Sadie tried to keep the surprise out of her voice.

The fact that Parker was still seeing the sexy financial advisor that had brazenly approached their table and left his card six weeks ago was noteworthy. Usually by the two-week mark, Parker would tout that things had “gotten stale” and began looking for a new man.

Her friend shrugged. “I’m trying something new.”

Sadie opened her mouth but was interrupted by two quick blasts of a siren, signaling that the ambulance was here.

“Gotta go,” Parker said before striding toward the ambulance bay.

Eventually, Dr. Duran showed up, and after wrapping up her meeting, Sadie headed to the on-campus building where their outpatient office was. She had a permanent office there, even though early in her directorship, she had generally headed home to complete her administrative tasks remotely once her meetings were done.

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