Dearly Loved (22 page)

“We’d love to,” he said. “Where did you want to meet?”

Rosa clapped her hands together. “Gino knows this great little Italian restaurant where they serve authentic food from recipes from the Old Country.”

“The Old Country being New York City, mind you,” Gino said with an engaging grin. “How ‘bout it?”

“Sounds good. Is that okay with you, Merrie?”

Since when did what she want have anything to do with David? “Where is the restaurant located?”

Gino rattled off the directions. They agreed to meet there in twenty minutes. Meredith rose from the pew, followed by David. As they walked out from the sanctuary, he draped his arm around her shoulders.

She stopped in her tracks, her heart pounding. “Please don’t do that.”

“Why?”

Moving to the side to allow people to pass, David moved right along with her, giving her a squeeze.

“People might think we’re a couple, that’s why.”

“Is that so bad?”

Meredith gave him a sharp look.

“Maybe it’ll help keep all my groupies away. They’ll think I’m taken.”

She knew he said it to make her laugh. She saw red instead.
How dare he treat me with such a flippant attitude?

David gave a gentle tug on one of her curls. “C’mon, you know it’s because you fit so perfectly in my arms.”

Her heart twisting, Meredith faced him. “You know, David, you have two modes. Insufferably arrogant mode and Don Juan mode. I don’t care for either.” She shrugged off his arm and marched ahead of him.

When she got out to the parking lot, David caught up with her. “Are you going to make a scene every Sunday, Merrie?”

Ignoring him, she went over to her car and got in. To her amazement, David swung into the passenger seat of her car, closing the door behind him. “Looks like you’re driving!”

She fumed. “I’ve changed my mind. Tell Rosa I’ll catch her later.”

He turned toward her. “You know, Merrie, you have two modes. Pouting mode and Ice Queen mode. Personally, I don’t care for either.”

Meredith gripped the wheel until her knuckles turned white. “
Get out of my car.
”

David settled deeper into the seat. “No. I will not get out. We are going to lunch with Rosa and Gino. He’s really been wanting to talk sports with me and I don’t want to let him down. Start the car.”

Meredith gulped in air to feed her oxygen-starved brain. When the sensation of faintness had passed, she started the engine with numb fingers and drove out of the parking lot. On the way to the restaurant, she couldn’t bring herself to look at David. He had utterly crushed her. How could he be such a pig? She fought against the overwhelming urge to cry.

When they arrived at the restaurant, she shut off the engine and reached for the door.

“Merrie.”

Meredith paused, but didn’t turn around. She felt him take hold of her hand and give it a tug.

“Please look at me.”

She turned. “Have you thought of some new insults you’d like to hurl my way?”

He released her hand and leaning over in the seat, reached up to touch her face. His fingers left a trail of heat down her skin. “I was a jerk to say those things to you, Merrie, but you have a way of provoking me. Forgive me?”

Meredith found herself captivated by the appeal in his eyes. Her anger evaporated, leaving her worried she was losing her marbles. “Am...I really that bad?” she whispered.

He smiled. “No, you’re sweetness itself…when you want to be.” He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. “Like now. Very sweet.”

The kiss ended too soon, giving her no time to react. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the headrest, hoping her tilted world would right itself again. David got out of the car and came around to the other side, opening her door.

Meredith took his hand and emerged from the car. In a daze, she locked the Saturn and went with him into the restaurant. Inside it was dark and for that she was thankful. Rosa and Gino were already at a table.

The decor wasn’t too impressive—just some netted red candleholders on about a dozen tables spread at odd angles throughout the space. Old light fixtures with smoky glass gave little light to the room. A dark little man with a white apron seemed to be the only waiter. Most of the tables were filled, the diners appearing to be more intent on eating than conversing.

The dim atmosphere suited Meredith. She could only hope Rosa’s perceptive gaze wouldn’t discern the truth about what she felt for David—whatever the truth was. Thinking about the drive over was like looking back on the actions of a stranger.
I’m a quiet and steady person. Hardly anything ever upsets me. With David, for some reason I turn into a raving madwoman, then become boneless the minute he touches me
.

Despite the state of her mind, the lunch passed pleasantly enough on the surface. The service was prompt and courteous. David and Gino talked about sports, while Rosa darted adoring little looks at her fiancé. Gino often responded with affectionate looks of his own, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze.
Rosa and Gino have love and respect for one another. David no doubt views me
as a sort of handy female to have around. It’s all just a game to him
. The thought he might never return her feelings left her paper napkin reduced to a feathery mess in her lap.
I don’t want to play games
.

Lunch came to an end. Meredith had barely tasted her food—she couldn’t even remember what she’d ordered. After the bill had been paid, the four of them made their way out of the restaurant. With forced joviality, she waved goodbye to Gino and Rosa before heading back to her car. Dark clouds piled up in the sky to the west, bringing with it a feeling of moisture in the air. Meredith gave a little shiver, wishing she’d worn a warmer coat.

In the car, she thanked David for lunch and chatted inanely about their lunch conversation while she drove back to the church. She wasn’t really cognizant of what she said. Politeness, drilled into her from her youth, came to her rescue.

At the church, David got out of her car and came around to the other side. Meredith rolled down her window and gave him a forced smile. Instead of returning it, he gazed at her steadily, his lips absent of a smile. For the first time, Meredith noticed little lines around his eyes. A chill wind tugged at his curls.

“I’m sorry, Merrie. I’ve been doing this all wrong.”

Before she could ask what he meant, David turned and walked to his Jeep. She watched him for a moment. Then, with shaking hands, she gripped the wheel and drove home.

***

“I’ll see you back here for more highlights at eleven.” David smiled at the little black ‘eye’ of the camera, waiting for the red light to go off for the commercial break. As soon as it did, his smile disappeared. He stacked the papers in his hand on the desktop and slid from the chair.

Stepping over cables and around the set, David made his way over to the water cooler. Pouring himself a paper cup full, he drained it and poured another. It had been more than a week since he’d seen Meredith. He had to work the last Sunday, so he didn’t see her at church either.

David worried that he wasn’t making much headway with her—and what he’d achieved so far was iffy. She’d turned out to be more prickly and unpredictable than he remembered—but so much more desirable as well. He thought back to the teenage Meredith. She’d been fresh-faced and pretty with her blue-gray eyes and strawberry blonde hair. He remembered a light sprinkling of freckles over the bridge of her nose. Most of all he remembered her adoration.

Self-absorbed scoundrel that he’d been then, he knew Meredith was crazy about him. He appreciated the way she didn’t gush and giggle around him the way the other girls did. When they were together, her eyes rarely left his face. She seemed to hang to every word that came out of his mouth. He remembered the innocence of her kisses, her whispered words of love, the sweetness of her arms around his neck.
Why can’t she be like that now?
David crumpled the paper cup in his hand and tossed it into the trashcan, smiling to himself. If he was honest, he knew he liked the new and improved version a whole lot better.

The fact is I love Merrie
. He leaned back in his chair.
Wow
. When did a nebulous longing for something in his past turn to love?

When I opened my eyes in the hospital bed and saw her again
.

He eased out a sigh at the knowledge she wasn’t exactly leaping into his arms. Maybe she just wasn’t interested. Was he blinded by his own desire that he didn’t recognize indifference in her?

He thought of that last Sunday they’d spent together. Somehow he knew his wooing aggravated her instead of, well, wooing her.
What am I doing wrong? How can I let her know that I want another chance?
David walked back to his desk and sank onto the chair, all but deaf to the noise of the newsroom around him.

What if Merrie really doesn’t want me and is just too polite to tell me to get out of her life for good?
The notion was too depressing to think about.
I need to find out. I need to try something new. Something more obvious—like asking her what her feelings are
.

Well, duh
.

Meredith’s birthday was coming up. It was the week before Thanksgiving. He’d call her up, ask to take her out, and reveal his feelings…his love for her. If she tossed the contents of her glass in his face, then the game was over. No sudden-death overtime. He’d respect her decision, go home, and chew on his pillow.

The phone on David’s desk rang. A newsroom employee dropped a stack of papers on his inbox, his computer mail program alerted him that he had twenty new e-mail messages, and he heard someone yelling his name above the general din. The tyranny of the urgent beckoned. David took a deep breath and entered the fray.

***

Whoever invented birthdays should be shot. Meredith’s face hurt from faking smiles to her co-workers. Since she was new to the Peds unit, it was understandable that her birthday wouldn’t be general knowledge among the staff, but one of the nurses had stumbled onto the fact and had rushed out to buy a cake. The other nurses apologized over and over for the lapse, deaf to Meredith’s assertions that she couldn’t care less about her birthday.

Her lunch break offered a reprieve from the embarrassed looks of her co-workers. After a quick bite to eat, she went to the chapel, needing a quiet place to sit and think. Two other people occupied the small room. Meredith slipped into a pew in the back. Closing her eyes, she silently poured out her David troubles to the Lord. Although she knew her prayers were becoming redundant, she felt no closer to any answer. He’d called the evening before, asking her to call him back. She hadn’t. She didn’t want to become embroiled in any more scenes with him. They were just too painful.

A muted voice sounded over the intercom system. Meredith heard her name being paged, STAT status. Heart pounding, she jumped up and dashed back to the Peds unit.

***

David pulled his Jeep in behind Meredith’s gold Saturn and shut off the engine. Finding her home increased his feeling of impatience—and lack of confidence.
Why is she avoiding me? Why didn’t she call me back? She’s treating me like I have the plague!

David emerged from the Jeep, reaching across the seats for the bouquet of flowers and gift box. He walked up to door and rang the doorbell. He could hear Bitsy barking frenetically inside.

The door swung open. Meredith stared at him in obvious shock. David’s eyes widened at her appearance. Her eyes were red-rimmed and twin spots of color burned on her otherwise white cheeks.

Regretting his impulse to pop over to her house unannounced, he held up the bouquet of flowers. “Happy birthday, Merrie.”

She burst into tears.

David froze.
What did I say?
He reached around her, placing the flowers and box on the table just inside the entrance. Meredith continued to cry. He put his arms around her and eased her into the living room, shutting the front door with his foot.

“What’s wrong, Merrie? What happened? This isn’t about your birthday, is it?”

She shook her head, clutching at him like she was drowning. David grew more worried by the moment. He led her over to the couch, ignoring Bitsy’s commotion, and drew her down beside him.

“Is it Gloria or Roy? Any of our family?”

“No one you know,” she said on a sob, holding a wad of tissues to her face.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he pulled her closer, nestling her head into the hollow of his shoulder. To his surprise, she seemed to melt into his side. David rested his cheek against her hair, praying for the wisdom to deal with this unexpected situation.

After some time, Meredith’s weeping subsided. With sniffles and hiccups, she told him about a young patient who’d died in emergency surgery from unexpected complications.
Dear Lord
. David held her more tightly, wondering if she felt so deeply about every patient she had. It wouldn’t surprise him. She’d always been the type to put others before herself.