She hadn’t seen him, and that was a fortunate thing. Thomas Farell had seen Elena and her husband, however. He couldn’t remember her husband’s name even after they’d met on numerous occasions. Rickie or Robbie or Bobby. A name that ended with an “ee” sound. The doctor was glad that the couple hadn’t seen him. The last thing he wanted to do was strike up small talk with the nurse who annoyed him and her husband he didn’t know. Especially since dinners with Andrea were still a fairly new thing.
Something new that was hopefully going to be a regular sort of thing.
Initially, Dr. Farell had been skeptical of anything to do with Andrea. She was a friend of a doctor working at the hospital. A lawyer. It had sounded like the start of a joke. So a doctor and a lawyer agree to go out on a blind date . . .
Actually, it hadn’t been exactly a blind date. Dr. Kesey had shown him some pictures from her Facebook page. She was friends with Andrea, and it turned out this lawyer happened to be extremely attractive. “She’s hot,” had been his casual response to Dr. Kesey.
“She’s very smart,” the doctor had been quick to tell him. “And she’s single.”
“I like the single part,” he had said back, half joking and half not.
The two of them had many things in common. Both had been in serious relationships before—he having been married and Andrea having been engaged—so they both had some war stories to share. They were successful in their fields and were happy to talk about that success. Thomas enjoyed people who owned up to life and actually took pride in their accomplishments. Why shouldn’t they? In a day and age when everybody was so nice and inoffensive and worried about what others thought, he was always pleasantly surprised when he met people who freely spoke their minds. Especially when they were blond and shapely and available.
The food had just arrived and they were slowly starting on the meal. Andrea had ordered the blackened mahi-mahi while he had chosen the filet mignon. He took a sip of his wine and remembered a question he’d forgotten to ask.
“Are we still on for our little weekend getaway this weekend?”
She finished her bite. “As long as my deposition doesn’t run late. No point in making the trip if we’re not out of here by noon Friday.”
He’d been thinking of the trip for a long time. It had been his escape, his fantasy during the day whenever he could take time off patients and work. Getting away with Andrea for the first time. They’d spent the night together, but this was different. This was Miami. This was a weekend. This was going to be Heaven.
Almost nothing could have ruined the warm space the doctor found himself in, glancing at her red lips and dark green eyes and her long hair falling down to one side. He was going to say something else but then something made him glance toward the table near the corner. The table the nurse and her husband were sitting at.
They held hands while they prayed.
Oh come on . . .
He didn’t even realize he had sighed so loud until Andrea asked him what was wrong.
Dr. Farell nodded at the couple. Andrea turned just in time to see them finishing their prayer. Their blessing. Their who’s going to say grace tonight?
“Can’t someone go to dinner without being proselytized to?” he said while he took another bite of steak.
Andrea smiled and nodded in agreement. His eyes cut over to Elena, who didn’t seem to be very engrossed in what her husband was saying.
“What’s the point?” he continued on, feeling irritated and annoyed that his dinner had suddenly been ruined. “Jesus was a carpenter, not a chef. If they need to thank someone for their meal, shouldn’t it be whoever’s in the kitchen?”
He couldn’t stop looking toward the couple. Dr. Farell shifted in his seat, loosening his tie.
“You know, I actually know that woman,” he told Andrea. “She works at the hospital. I just don’t know what she’s doing here.”
“Well, how about you don’t let it ruin your dinner. Or mine.”
She gave him a cute little knowing smile. He knew she wasn’t interested in the woman at the table or even the silly little prayer they’d given. He also knew he should drop it, but he didn’t want to.
“I’m just sick of it. I save their lives, and who do they wake up thanking? ‘Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.’ ”
Andrea laughed.
“Hey, no argument there. I grew up with those people.” She rolled her eyes. “They’re a bunch of hypocrites. But you know—I never realized you had such a God complex.”
“It’s not a complex,” he said, completely serious. “I do his work. I should get the credit.”
Andrea nodded and then took a sip of wine. “And I thought lawyers were full of themselves.”
Her grin and her teasing lightened the mood. He loved that about her.
Dr. Farell didn’t want to think about the nurse or about faith anymore. He just wanted to think about Andrea. And Miami. And leaving the hospital and the Windy City behind for a while.
It couldn’t come soon enough.