Page 39 of Paging Dr. Breakup
She rubbed her forehead. “It’s Calvin.”
“Before we go any further, do I need to beat him up?”
“What? No!”
Steepling his fingers like the sage he absolutely was not, he nodded gravely, “Yup.”
“Yup? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Means I might be a meathead and your brother but have eyes and a brain and can put two and two together. Could you and Calvin be any more obvious?”
“No.”
“Um, yes.”
“Seriously, there’s nothing going on.”
“But I can see—”
She huffed. “It’s fake.”
“Huh?” His jaw hung open.
Leaning on her elbows, she motioned at him. “We’re pretending to see each other so that people like you stop bugging us. His folks are driving him up the wall with twenty questions about his future plans. You and everyone in this hospital keep prying into my personal life and setting me up with anyone in the greater Yukon Valley area who’s unattached and in my target age group.”
“That’s like three people.” He closed one eye and stared at the ceiling for a second. “Five if you’re flexible on gender.”
Despite herself, she snorted. “Anyway, it’s all a sham.”
“Clearly, it’s not working.”
“What isn’t working?”
“Your little plan didn’t get me off your back. My interest is way higher now. I’m guessing that Bruce and Aggie are no less invested than before. They’ll just bother Calvin with different annoying questions now. But go on with your story.” He wiggled his big fingers and lifted his chin, like a target that begged her to pop himright there. He sat still, not saying a word. It amazed her how he weaponized silence, but she couldn’t deny her little brother.
In the end, Deirdre and Mav were ride or die for each other.
Leaning on one armrest, she said, “So you know how people have been nagging me about my dating life? Calvin’s been getting the same treatment from his parents and now from coworkers. We both got tired of it, so we formed a little team to combat the nagging. End of story.”
“Denial isn’t the same as Denali.”
She reared back. “What kind of dumb saying is that?”
He pretended to be offended. “One I made up on the spot.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“It does to me. Go on. Tell me more about your relationship, please.”
“Mav!” She slapped the desk. “There is no relationship. That’s what I’m trying to explain. Calvin and I are old friends and current coworkers, pretending to lightly date so that we get a break from the whisper network.”
“Whisper network?” He leaned forward and pinned her with an I-have-a-secret stare. “That sounds illicit and juicy.”
“Like you don’t know. How did you like it when you had to wait for Lee to decide if she wanted to stay and be with you? And everyone—literally everyone—in EMS, fire, and the hospital were constantly asking you for updates?”
He flicked a frayed area of leather on the armrest. “As I recall, you were one of the people bugging me. Shoe’s on the other foot now.”
“No.” She paused. Okay, yes, she had encouraged her brother to embrace the possibility of a future with Lee while also giving her time to sort out her feelings. The wait was healthy for him. Built character. “My advice was for a good cause. You and Lee are happy together.”
