Red shifted in his seat and grumbled at the cold cup of coffee in his hand. They were halfway home when Syd got a call from a nurse who informed her they needed to run another test because the first one was inconclusive. Cursing, he tossed the useless cup into the trash and opened his laptop.
Unable to concentrate, he scanned the hospital lobby. A few people were sitting near him, engrossed in magazines or tapping furiously on their tablet of choice. He could hear the faint sound of a piano in the background. Next to him, an older couple was chatting about a visit from their grandchildren. Red wondered if he’d ever know a grandchild.
As much as he tried not to think negatively, a part of him resigned himself to never knowing Corrine. All because of her trifling mother. He’d worked in family law for a couple of years and hated it. Custody hearings, parenting time disputes, child support battles… not his idea of fun.
“Mr. Williams?”
Red turned and smiled when Dr. Love approached him. “It’s Red,” he corrected as he stood up. “How are you?”
“I’m okay. What are you doing here?”
“We got a call from the lab,” he explained. “I guess Syd needed to repeat a test. I’m waiting for her.”
She nodded and glanced at his laptop. “Getting a little work done, I see.”
“Not really. More like pretending. Are you on a break?” he asked. “Want to walk with me to get a cup of what you’re drinking?”
Her mouth curved into a smile and her deep dimples caught him off guard. “Sure. I have some time.”
He packed up his laptop and they set off at a leisurely pace. “So, you’re from Las Vegas?” he asked, remembering their conversation in the exam room.
“Born and raised,” she told him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone from Las Vegas,” he admitted.
“Really? I loved growing up there. Have you visited?”
“I love Vegas.” Red and the fellas planned a yearly excursion to Sin City. “I try to get out there once a year.”
“Gamble?” she asked.
“Definitely. And I never lose,” he boasted.
She waved at a woman who walked past. “Game of choice?”
“Blackjack,” he answered.
“My favorite, too. I guess we have something in common.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Where did you grow up?”
“Here.” It used to bother Red that he’d never left his hometown. He’d had great plans to escape after graduation, but one of the local firms had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. “I did undergrad and law school here at the ‘U’ and never left.” In their area, The University of Michigan was affectionately called the “U” by students and alumni. “I love it here, though. Can’t complain.”
She finished her coffee and tossed it in a nearby bin. “It is nice here, but sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision by moving here.”
Maybe it was in his nature to be curious, but he was intrigued by Dr. Love. She was beautiful, but she had a way about her, a calming effect. There was an openness about her, but there was an innocence there as well. “Why did you move to Michigan?”
“It’s one of the best programs in the country. And my father is chief of surgery here,” she told him. “The problem with that is everything I get, I have to fight tooth and nail for because of him. You’d think it wouldn’t be so hard.”
“I get it. They make it harder on the boss’ kid. But something tells me you rise to the challenge every time.”
She shrugged. “I try.”
As they neared the cafeteria, he watched as the beautiful doctor greeted almost everyone with a warm smile and still managed to pay attention to him as he went on about the benefits of living in the Ann Arbor area. She told him she had considered buying the house she was renting, but wanted to keep her options open in case she decided to move when her residency was finished the next year. He learned that she loved sports, collected art, spoke fluent Spanish, and had a desire to open a clinic for women and children in an urban area. Talking with someone who was willing to share parts of herself was refreshing. Cali was so closed off, so determined to be in control, he feared there was a part of her he’d never know. It not only made him sad, but he wondered why he’d spent so much time waiting for her to open up to him.
Love was passionate about her work and it showed in the way her eyes sparkled when she talked about her patients and the advances in medicine that would make it so much easier to care for them. He could admit it; he wanted to know more.
After he paid for his coffee they wandered back toward the waiting room, chatting about Michigan football. She was easy to talk to and he appreciated that. It was like a burst of fresh air.
Syd was sitting in the waiting room with a frown on her face when they approached her.
“Hey Syd!” he called.
Syd turned to him, her eyes widening when she noticed Love standing next to him. “Hi. I wondered where you went. For a minute, I thought I went to the wrong area. Then I figured I’d better sit my ass down and let you find me. Hi, Dr. Love.”
“Hello.” Love gave Syd a brief hug. “How is everything?”
“Good,” Syd told her. “Just tired. Ready for a nap.”
“Well, you better get her home,” Love told Red. “I’ll see you soon, Syd. Good talking to you, Red.”
“You too,” he said. “Maybe we could talk more over lunch?”
Syd gasped and Red shot her a look. Love glanced at Syd then back at Red. “Sure.” She pulled out a business card and placed it in his hand. “Give me a call. Bye, Sydney.”
He watched as she walked off, noting the easy sway of her hips. The sting of a smack on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. “What the hell are you doing?” he hissed. “Why did you hit me?”
“Because.” Syd pointed her finger in his face. “Don’t do that to Cali.”
“Let’s go.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the parking garage.
“I mean it, Red. You can’t do that.”
“Listen, I can do whatever the hell I please,” he said. “Cali is not my girlfriend.”
She stopped suddenly.
Sighing, he turned to her. “What? It’s not a crime to meet someone and want to get to know them better.”
She nibbled on her bottom lip. “It’s just… I always thought you and Cali would get your shit together and move in next to me and Morgan.”
He snorted. “Yeah, right. Cali is not trying to move in with anyone. She can’t even bring herself to let me spend the night.”
“That upsets you?”
“Can we please talk about this in the car?” he pleaded.
Syd started walking again. When they finally got to the car—after a stop at the restroom and the little booth near the elevators so she could get a muffin—she turned to him. “Do you really like her?”
“Who? Cali?” he asked.
“No, Dr. Washington.” She thumped his shoulder.
“I don’t know her, Syd.”
“But you want to know her?” she prodded.
She is relentless. He thought about Syd’s question. The easy way they’d talked and seemed to click told him yes. Then there was Cali, who wasn’t budging on anything. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to move past the resentment he felt. Was the fight to be more in Cali’s life worth it to him to keep trying? Red knew they could be happy together, but the back and forth with her was starting to take its toll on him. Why not try to see what was up with the lovely doctor? “I guess so,” he admitted to his curious twin sister. “Is that a bad thing?”
She picked at a piece of thread on her coat. “No,” she mumbled. “It’s not. Correct me if I’m wrong, though—but don’t you love Cali?”
He inadvertently pressed down on the brakes. When Syd lurched forward, he reached out and extended his hand in front of her in an effort to protect her from hitting the dashboard. Although, she was not even close.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, munching on the muffin. “That was a parent move, Red. I remember Dad used to do that in the car when we were young.”
“You are pregnant with a big belly. It was instinctive.”
“Glad you’re on your toes. So, answer the question.”
“Was that even a question?” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Sounded more like an accusation.”
“I can see it all in your face when Cali is in the room. You watch her when she walks. You find any excuse to be in the same room with her. You always manage to end up seated next to her when we’re in a group. Reminds me of… me—and Morgan. No matter what was going on, we needed to be close to one another. It’s the way it is.”
Man, she had him down. Unable to form a response, he grunted and decided to remain silent.
“It’s okay, ya know?” she continued. “Love is strange business. You can’t help when it happens. Then you try to control it and it never works. But if you love Cali, why not try with her?”
He rubbed his face. “Shit, you know Cali. There’s no trying with her.”
“I think you owe it to yourself and her to be honest about how you really feel.”
“Syd, I’m tired.” The more he thought about it, the more it irked him because it seemed to be a foregone conclusion that a relationship between him and Cali would never work. “Maybe it’s time to cut our losses. I’ve been thinking about this a lot.” He gripped the steering wheel. “Everything was fine when there were no responsibilities and we didn’t have to answer to each other. Somehow, as much as we tried not to, we started having expectations. I know I did. And because of that, she always falls short. It’s not because she isn’t a beautiful person, inside and out. Cali is… she’s everything.”
No matter how infuriating she could be, Red still wanted to be with her. Through all her faults, she was still the person he wanted to spend his days and nights with. But he needed her to realize they were better together. “I’m not the same person I was when I came up with the ‘easy-out clause,’” he continued. “I want more. And she won’t—or can’t—give me what I want.”
“I think she’s confused about why you’re mad. Why are you mad at her?” she asked. “Is it because she doesn’t want kids?”
He shook his head. “No. She thinks I’m talking about that. I’d be okay if Cali didn’t have my child. I just want her to have my back. I want her to need me. Most of all, I need her to respect me. She says she does, but I’m not sure I believe her.”
“Okay.” Syd stretched and rubbed a hand over her belly. “I get it. So why not end it?”
That was the question of the year. Why not end it? “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s about that time, though.”