Page 28 of Take Me to the Wedding

I had a very limited understanding of orthopedics. I really didn’t know beyond a basic textbook-knowledge level what went on among the crowd of doctors, nurses, and surgical techs on the other side of my station in the OR. I was too focused on my own job to notice.

Caleb shrugged. “Ortho’s really just working with power tools,” he said.

Lilly stared. Quinn chuckled.

And this was the best Mr. Romantic could do? Power tools? Not romantic or related to art. So I dug even deeper. “Tell them about Joseph’s surgery. Nowthatwas artistry.”

He sent me a confused look. I wasn’t going to risk him screwing this up, so I plunged right in. “This little boy, Joseph, broke his leg so badly that after two surgeries, it was still shorter than the other one, so Caleb and his team did a graft. It took three specialists and many hours, but they let you do a lot of the work, didn’t they?”

“How did you know that?” Forget confused. He was genuinely surprised.

“I was there, remember?” He’d done an amazing job. He had his faults, but he was a gifted surgeon, I’d give him that.

Before another word could escape from his mouth and ruin the moment, I added, “That little boy’s dream is to play baseball.”

Caleb nodded, and I saw the tiniest smile in the mirror. “I think he will one day,” he said quietly.

I put a hand to my chest because I’d felt something viscerally. His pride. In his work and in Joseph’s outcome. Hopefully Lilly did too. Finally!

“Aw, Cay, that’s so sweet,” she said.

Whew, all right. Success! At least, the start of success anyway. I sat back and quietly blew out a breath.

This was going to be a very loooong weekend.

“You still coach that disability basketball league?” Quinn asked.

Oh. New info here.

“Yep, every Tuesday evening. Those kids are great.”

Oh jeez. He coachedkids? I felt something else squeeze in my chest. My heart. Like a big block of frozen ice cream sitting on the counter, I felt one tiny edge get a little soft.

But just a tiny edge.So youdohave human qualities,I thought to myself.

The eyes were back in the mirror. Except now they held amusement. “Sometimes, yes.”

Oh no. I’d just said that out loud, didn’t I?

Quinn pushed playfully on my arm. “She’s funny, Cay. So, you two are good friends, huh?”

“Yes,” Lilly said. “Tell us about that.”

“Mia is my best friend,” I said carefully, not wanting to lie. “So of course Caleb and I know each other through her.”

“But we actually didn’t meet through Mia.”

My heart, which was getting quite the aerobic workout, flat out stopped.Please, please do not tell this story,I prayed. Actually, I’d forgotten all about a time when we didn’t want to tear each other’s eyeballs out.

“We met at a residents’ party,” he continued. “On New Year’s Eve.”

I’d managed to somehow erase that entire incident from my memory. Only the bitter aftertaste remained. I had no idea why he’d brought it up, but I really didn’t want to relive it again, so I did damage control. “And we realized we’d be working together in the OR. And we figured out that Caleb was Mia’s brother.” I shrugged. “So voilà.” I flourished my arm and smiled widely. “Instant friendship.”

Caleb rolled his eyes. I glared—the most I could do outside of saying stop.

“It’s got to be more interesting than that,” Lilly said with a laugh. “Tell us more.”

I struggled to think of something positive.He’dbeen the one to bring it up, butIwas going to control the narrative. “Caleb saved me from the worst date of my life.” Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “On New Year’s Eve.”

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