“No!” she screamed, temper so fried, she didn’t give a flying leap who heard. “Because newsflash, bucko—you’re not gonna be married to me!”
“Wanna bet?” Ben jerked her from the wall and swept her up in his arms, carrying her bucking and hissing into his house. “We’re going to talk, Tess, and Jack and Lacey stayed at the hotel, so you can scream, kick, hit, or soak me, but you’re going to listen to my side of the story.”
His arms were like a vise, blocking all resistance, and it took everything in her not to bite him on the shoulder. “You mean the story you failed to mention?”
Chest heaving, he dumped her on his white leather sectional without ceremony, riling her further when it bounced her like a trampoline. “Yes, and for this exact reason.” He stood over her, hands on his hips and feet straddled, obviously ready to pounce if she even thought of bolting. “I was planning to tell you the night on the dock, but then you told me about your problem with jealousy, and I thought it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.”
She singed him with a glare, arms slanted back on the seat of the sofa. “Sleeping dogs or sleeping wolves, Doc? Because I’m a little confused.”
Squatting before her, he reached out, and she lurched back a full foot, arms rigid on the seat to spring up if he even tried to lay another finger on her. “Tess,” he whispered, genuine hurt in his eyes, “look at you. I’ve only seen you like this one other time—when I took a swipe at Cam, and both times it was because of jealousy—your Achilles’ heel, remember?”
The flow of blood in her veins collided with a dam of bitterness as hard as the truth that hit her right between the eyes.
Jealousy. That insidious little sin that took her down every single time. The blight on her soul that crippled her marriage to Adam, and now was trying to do the same with Ben. Her eyelids sank closed as her head lowered in shame.
“Tess,” he said quietly, the touch of his hand causing water to swell beneath her lids, “that isn’t the same woman who barged in my life and made me face the truth that set me free.” His fingers entwined with hers, and against her will, tears slipped from her eyes. “The same woman who stole my heart without me ever having a say.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “And the only woman who could ever—ever—possess me heart and soul.”
Her face crumpled like a soggy Kleenex, and before the sob could quiver from her lips, he swallowed her up, holding her close while she wept in his arms. “I love you, Teresa Catherine O’Bryen, and as God is my witness, you are the only woman my lips have touched since I kissed you goodbye in the hall at Lacey’s wedding.” He pulled back, lifting her chin with his finger as he gave her a tender smile. “Other than my daughter.”
She started blubbering all the more, sniveling through each of the five Kleenex Ben nudged in her hands. When the heaves tapered off, she sagged against his soggy chest, a mountain full of sodden tissues piled in her lap. “Anybody ever tell you have a real knack for inflicting guilt, Ben Carmichael?”
His low chuckle feathered her ear as he brushed a kiss to her cheek. “No, but I’d say that’s the ultimate compliment, Ms. O’Bryen,” he said with a gentle knead of her back, “because I definitely learned from the best.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Hey, Doc, we’ve missed you at Club 51.”
Sam glanced up from his book and half-eaten dinner at Memorial’s cafeteria to flash his trademark smile at Patty Rude and Annie Sturtevant, two of his favorite nurses on Peds. Appetite gone, he pushed his tray to the middle of the table while Patty sidled close to check out his plate of roast beef and mashed potatoes. She wrinkled her freckled nose. “And comfort food in the hospital café instead of happy hour at Rocks on the Roof?” Her palm immediately pressed to his forehead. “Are you feeling okay?”
Comfort food. For some reason Shannon’s sweet face flashed in his mind, and closing his book, he shot a crooked grin, stretching both arms overhead to reveal a loosened tie and shirt beneath his white coat. “Actually, never better.”
“And reading a book on a Friday night instead of clubbing?” Annie butted a hip to the table and picked up his book, scrutinizing it with a kink at the bridge of her nose. “Wild at Heart.” A sultry smile crossed her lips as she wiggled her brows. “Tell us something we don’t know.”
Patty snatched the book from Annie’s hand. “Yeah, like where did ‘Wild at Body’ go the last few months, Dr. Cunningham?” She squinted at the cover. “Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul, eh?” She turned the book over. “Huh. Maybe I need to borrow this after you.”
Annie chuckled as she ruffled the curls at the back of Sam’s neck. “We already know the secret of Dr. Love’s soul, don’t we, Ham?” She leaned close to whisper in his ear. “Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a body that won’t quit?”
Sam blinked, the sudden image of Shannon’s sweet face taking him by complete surprise.
Patty slid into the opposite chair, sympathy soft in her gaze. “You got it bad for her, don’t you, Sam?” she whispered.
He looked up with a half smile. “Is it that obvious?”
“Your absence is obvious,” Annie stressed, taking the chair next to him. “When the number-one eligible guy at Memorial disappears from the social scene, it sets rumors abuzz.” She laid a hand on Sam’s arm. “And the rumor is you’re biding your time, waiting for Jazz.”
He leaned back with a mysterious smile. “Maybe.”
“Well, if it is …” Patty drawled, “a little birdie told us there’s trouble in paradise, so you might want to give her a call soon, because I think she’ll be needing a shoulder to cry on.”
Annie pinched his arm. “Among other things,” she said with a wink.
Sam grinned. “Thanks, ladies, I appreciate your support.”
Expelling an exaggerated sigh, Patty rose while Annie followed suit. “If you weren’t so hung up on Jazz, Dr. Love, I’d give you way more than support.”
Sam forced a smile that felt plastic while Shannon’s words circled in his brain.
“If you really love Jasmine, Sam, then love her honest and true and selfless, because that’s the greatest love of all. And commit to her alone, body and soul.”
His eyes had practically bulged. “But I’ll die!” he’d argued, jaw distended over what Shannon wanted him to do.
“Feel this,” she’d said, pressing his fingers to her wrist, “do I feel dead to you?”
“Gotta go, Sam.” Annie broke into his thoughts. She leaned to give him a side hug. “But we’ll be looking for new rumors soon, you hear?”
“Yeah,” Sam said with a weary sigh after the two girls had left. He picked up his book and sighed. But they won’t be the kind you’re wanting to hear.
“Hey, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Jack eased into Patty’s vacated chair with a grin. “Your light was on and your briefcase still there, so I knew you had to be around, but I sure didn’t expect it to be here.” He scanned the sterile “cough-a-teria” as Sam called it, nodding at a few colleagues who waved. “You hate this place, man, and on a Friday night too? Shouldn’t you be out clubbing or breaking hearts somewhere?” Squinting, he reached across the table for Sam’s book, eyes going wide. “Wow, dude, you sick or lose a bet with Shan or something?” He turned the book over to study the back. “This is a spiritual book.”
Sam snatched it back, his smile wry. “I lost a lot of things when I started hanging out with your sister, bro, some of which were part and parcel for my Friday nights.”
Jack slanted back in the chair with a grin that was way too broad. “Yeah, the kid has that effect on people, but I gotta give it to her—I never thought you’d be one of them.”
Sam’s mouth zagged off-center. “Me neither.”
So …” Jack leaned in, elbows on the table. “I have a favor to ask.”
“Sure you do.” Sam tilted back in his chair with a knowing smile. “No other reason you’d be tracking me down on a Friday night with a wife like Lacey waiting at home.”
&
nbsp; Jack’s grin was downright cocky. “Yeah, I know, but it’s actually because of Lace that I need the favor.”
“Shoot.” Crossing his arms, Sam studied one of the few men he respected in life when it came to faith and family.
Jack absently scrubbed the back of his head. “Lace is pretty stressed right now because she’s got this cock-eyed notion she won’t be able to have kids.”
A frown creased above Sam’s nose. “Why would she think that? You just got married.”
“I know.” A tinge of color bled up Jack’s neck as he averted his gaze. “But we’ve been trying since the honeymoon, and the longer it takes, the more” —he cleared his throat— “well, ‘focused’ she becomes, if you get my drift, almost like she’s got a one-track mind.”
Sam grunted, lips swerving into a wry smile. “Doesn’t sound like a problem to me, dude, especially since your sister has clipped my wings.”
“Trust me, man, that’s not the problem,” Jack said with a lovesick grin that almost made Sam jealous.
What would it be like to love a woman that much?
Jack’s smile dimmed somewhat, and Sam homed in, noting the deep concern in his friend’s tone. “I’m worried about her, Sam, because I don’t want to see her hurt, you know? But the more we try and fail, the more stressed she becomes, which just eats me up alive. So I was thinking that maybe we need to get away for a while, a second honeymoon of sorts where we can relax and—”
“Make babies?” Sam supplied, wondering why on earth something like that could set off a stupid twinge of envy in his gut.
Jack’s sigh ruffled the crumpled napkin on Sam’s tray. “Yeah, God willing, hopefully priming the pump for even more babies. At least, that’s our prayer.”
God willing. A smile automatically tilted Sam’s lips over an expression Shannon used all the time. “So, how can I help, Jack? Since you’re doing all the heavy lifting?”
Relief skimmed across his friend’s face along with a grateful grin. “Can you fill in for me at Camp Hope this week? I know it’s short notice, but Caryl Kane in X-ray booked a suite at a couples’ resort in the Bahamas for her and her boyfriend, and the jerk dumped her. So she loses a hefty deposit if she doesn’t use it. She asked me if I knew anybody who could take it off her hands, and since Augustine okayed switching my vacation in late August to this Wednesday through Monday of next week, I jumped on it. So all I need is for you to cover Camp Hope.”
“Consider it done, my friend,” Sam said with a smile, “and may I say I find it highly suspect that the married couple won out on this one.”
Jack rose to his feet, a cheesy grin in play. “Yep, the wealth of the wicked is reserved for the righteous, my friend, so you listen real good when my sister speaks, you hear?”
“Don’t have to worry about that,” Sam said with a mock scowl. “As far as I’m concerned, your sister is E.F. Hutton, so trust me—when that woman speaks, I listen.”
“Good to hear.” Jack shoved in his chair. “Can’t tell you how much I appreciate this, man, really, and I’ll return the favor, I promise.”
Sam’s mouth hooked. “Naw—just name a kid after me, O’Bryen, because Samuel means ‘heard by God,’ according to your sister, so it looks like He’s answered your prayer. The one about me filling in for you at the camp, that is.” He winked as he picked his book back up. “You’re on your own for the other.”
“Thanks, Sam.” Jack paused, resting his hands on the back of the chair. “I know I ask you this every week and every week you say no, but if you’re ever interested in going to church with Lace and me early on Saturday nights, just say the word, okay?” He grinned. “And I’ll even sweeten the pot if you do, buying you a Cold Stone smoothie every afternoon for a week.” He tapped the chair with both palms. “See you, Sam, and thanks again.”
Jack turned to go, and Sam huffed out a sigh. “Hey—you still play volleyball at your church on Saturday nights?”
Pivoting slowly, Jack cocked his head. “Yeah, once or twice a month, and this Saturday night, in fact. Why? You looking for exercise?”
“Maybe. I told Shannon I might try it one of these days. What time?”
“Seven, after the service, with pizza after the game.” Jack went completely still, as if holding his breath.
Sam nodded. “Thanks, man. No guarantees, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Sure thing, Ham.” Jack raised a palm in a wave and headed for the exit.
“Oh, and, Jack?”
Jack spun around, the look of hope in his eyes enough to make Sam laugh out loud. “Yeah?”
“If I do?” He grinned as he picked up his book with a shake of his head, wondering what on earth he was getting himself into. “Make it a strawberry mango on Monday.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Give me a break, Lace. You’ve been married for all of—what? Ten months?” Cat popped the cork on her fishing rod over and over, emitting a loan groan when she missed a bite. “I mean I want to be an aunt as much as you want to be a mom, but these things take time.” She tossed a peanut in the air and caught it with her mouth.
“Not always,” Lacey said with a glum look, slouched deep in her Adirondack chair next to Cat and Shan as the three of them fished on the O’Bryen’s dock. She breathed in the earthy scent of the marsh and the salty smell of the Skidaway River and sighed. “Your mom said she got pregnant with Jack on the honeymoon.”
“Yeah, well that’s Jack,” Cat said, tone dry as she recast her line in the water. “A chronic overachiever. He probably negotiated with God on his due date.”
Lacey popped her cork once to every three of Cat’s, her interest in fishing as flat as her fertility at the moment. “Can’t argue with you there. When I started dating your brother at sixteen, his idea of a fun date was studying at the library.”
A soft chuckle drifted from Shannon’s lips as she settled back in her chair, rod loose and expression calm, no nervous popping of the cork for her. She got a bite and quietly stood to her feet, hauling in a keeper like it was no big deal. Hooking the fish on her stringer, she dropped it back in the water and then took her time baiting her hook, her heavy haul of fish proof that patience paid off in fishing.
Lacey expelled a silent sigh. And in having babies, too, no doubt.
“How long have you been trying?” Shannon asked, casting her line in a perfect arc over the water, her quiet skill in sports often overshadowed by Cat’s hyper-competitive delivery.
Lacey’s mouth compressed. “Since the honeymoon, and I’ve read that after a year of trying, you should see a fertility specialist, so we’re almost there.” She huffed out another sigh, the mournful sound of a loon in harmony with her own melancholy mood. “And I had high hopes for the Bahamas, but nothing happened.”
“Nothing?” Cat whipped her rod up and recast her line with a soft whoosh, slipping Lacey an impish smile. “Well, that’s your problem then, goof. Something has to ‘happen’ for it to ‘happen.’” Her brows did a Groucho Marx. “Or didn’t Jack learn that in med school?”
Lacey rolled her eyes and popped a peanut off Cat’s head. “You are such a goober, you know that?” A secret smile skimmed across her lips as she popped her line. “Trust me, there was so much happening on that trip, we barely got any sleep.”
“Ewwwwww, stop!” Cat put a hand over her ears. “I don’t want to hear what you do with my brother.”
Lacey grinned. “Hey, you brought it up, not me.”
“You know, Lace,” Shannon said, manner reflective, “you still have two more months in your first year, so don’t count yourself out yet. And then fertility is different for every woman too. We know a teacher at school who said she always wanted five kids, but wasn’t able to have even one till she was married for five years. Would you believe she now has her five kids—each five years apart?”
“Yikes,” Cat said, working her lip while she reeled in her line. She shot Lacey a wink before she recast. “That poor woman will be a room mother for life.?
??
Shan’s smile was soft as she leaned to give Lacey’s shoulder a squeeze. “Give it another few months, Lace, and we’ll hit it hard in prayer, too, because we all know how important that is in the mix, okay?”
“Thanks, Shan.” Lacey slipped Shannon a sideways smile, a sparkle in her tone that helped chase her gloomy mood away. “And speaking of prayer, you’ve obviously been making great headway with Sam because Jack says he’s actually thinking about coming to a volleyball game one of these Saturday nights.”
Shannon blinked. “Really? He didn’t mention it, but knowing Sam’s aversion to church, I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Cat actually stopped popping her line. “Our Dr. Love? In a church building? Wow, Shan, if he’s even thinking about it, then you have made some progress.”
“Yeah, we have,” Shannon said quietly.
Lacey glanced her way. Too quietly. She zeroed in on the sudden slump of Shannon’s shoulders and the way her rod remained still, not popping once while her gaze trailed into a sad stare over the water. Stomach lurching, Lacey laid a hand on her friend’s arm, her voice as gentle as this woman she loved. “Shan?”
Shannon didn’t answer, and Lacey leaned forward to peer into her face. That’s all it took for a sheen of tears to glaze Shannon’s eyes. Dropping her rod on the dock, Lacey shot up from her chair to give Shannon a tight hug. “Oh, honey, what’s wrong?”
Cat froze, rod suspended as she glanced over her shoulder. “Shan?”
“I … I …” Voice quivering, Shannon calmly placed her rod on the dock and then crumpled into Lacey’s arms, body heaving as her words choked from her throat.
Words Lacey had never wanted to hear.
“I … think I’m in love with him …” Shannon said, fluid and grief congesting her tone.
“Oh, Lord, no, please—” Cat’s rod clattered onto the wood as she rushed to squat beside Lacey, hands trembling while she stroked Shannon’s hair.