Page 11 of Charmed, I'm Sure
Never mind the fact that she was barely in her sixties, she acted like she was turning eighty tomorrow and would die the day after.She also seemed to have selective memory since her daughter, my thirty-two-year-old sister, was getting married the next year.
“Ma, Addy is getting married soon. Why can’t she give you grandkids?”
Her mouth popped open, hand flying to the pearls around her neck in stereotypical Southern woman fashion like I’d just cursed in church. “Adelaide will have babies when she’s ready.”
When I raised a brow at her words, she grasped my hand, her eyes turning all dewy and sentimental. “I just want you to be happy, Taylor.”
“Laying it on kind of thick there, Ma.”
“It’s just because I love you. I signed you up for it. You’re going.” Just as the last syllable left her lips, our drinks arrived, and she switched subjects. “So, how’s work?”
The sound of the French doors opening behind me pulled me from my reverie, and I listened to the shuffle of soft footfalls as the interloper sidled up beside me.
“Hey, TayTay,” Addy said with a smile before taking a sip of her coffee.
She was the only person on the planet allowed to call me that. It started when she was a toddler, unable—or unwilling—to say Taylor, and it just… stuck.
“Morning, Addy. You’re much too chipper for six a.m.,” I grumbled.
“And you’re much too morose. What’s got you all Grumpy Gus this morning?”
After taking a sip of my coffee and grimacing at the cold liquid that should have been hot, I sighed. “Mom signed me up for the mixer down atCharCutielast night, and I went.”
The squeal that came out of my sister’s mouth was far too loud when the magic bean juice hadn’t worked its… well…magicyet.
“Did you meet someone? Are you bringing them to the engagement party? Oh my gosh, what’s her name?”
Rolling my eyes, I turned toward my sister and placed a hand over her mouth to keep her from rambling anymore. Her eyes popped wide before turning into a glare.
“If I remove my hand, will you stop?” I asked, raising a brow. Addy huffed into my palm but nodded. “Good.” Begrudgingly, I did just that and placated her with answers.
Yes, I went.
There’s no name to tell because I didn’t meet anyone.
No, I’m not bringing anyone to the engagement party… because I didn’t meet anyone.
No, I will not be going again.
She didn’t need to know that the spitfire owner was the one who’d captured my attention. Didn’t need to know that ruffling Magnolia Bellevue’s feathers was the most fun I’d had in years. Because if she did, I’d never hear the end of it from her or our mom. It wouldn’t matter that Magnolia seemed to try to light me on fire with her eyes anytime she saw me. If they knew that anyone had caught my eye, they’d be up my ass for details that didn’t exist and planning my wedding before I even asked them on a date.
Addy looked at me skeptically, her eyes narrowing as if she could see through my carefully placed mask and read my mind. “I don’t believe you for a second, but I’ll let it slide.”
Shit, maybe she could.
After a beat of silence, I looked down at my watch, the hands nearing the six-thirty mark.Shit.I had a shift in thirty minutes. “Addy, I love you, but I gotta head out before Dad has an aneurysm.” I gave her a peck on the cheek, then turned for the door, her words following me as I entered the house.
“It’s a beautiful day to save lives!”
Someone really needed to talk to her about her obsession withGrey’s Anatomy… and the difference between an emergency room doctor and a neurosurgeon. A shiver took over my body at the realization that A) I knew the quote, and B) I knew it was said by Derek Shepherdandthat he was a neurosurgeon.
I really need to find my own place.
Work had been a cluster-fuck, and that was putting it mildly. Outside of the usual emergency room visits from people who couldn’t get in to see their primary care doctors because it was the weekend—colds, flu, strep, etcetera—there were sprained ankles, psych holds, asthma attacks from the rapid drop in temperature, the list just went on and on. But that’s all just a day in the life of an ER doctor.
What pushed it over the top were the hunting idiots.
It was basically hunting season—of some kind or another—all year round in Louisiana, but deer season was just ridiculous.
