Dearly Loved (6 page)

“Hello?” she gasped.

“Ms. Ambrose?”

“Yes?”

“This is Clay Roberts, Snowflake’s owner.”

Meredith’s mind filled with unease.
Has something happened to Bitsy?

“You’ll never believe this,” he said, “but my father bought my daughter a new Westie. He didn’t know we had Snowflake back and surprised us with a visit last night with a new dog.”

“Oh.” She set her purse on the counter.

“Now we have two dogs. Predictably, Tiffany likes the new dog better since it’s quite a bit smaller, which, of course, pleased my father. Anyway, I was calling to ask if you would like Snowflake back. If you’re unable, I have several friends who’d be interested in having him.” He paused and lowered his voice. “I’m asking you first because you looked like you lost your best friend when you gave him up.”

Meredith flushed at this, but couldn’t ignore her rising feeling of excitement at his words. “I’d love to have the dog, Mr. Roberts. I really do miss him.”

She heard Clay breathe a sigh of relief. “Good. It’s been a zoo around here with the two of them and I know you took good care of Snowflake.”

“He’s Bitsy to me.”

Clay laughed. “That’s a good name for him considering all the times he’s nipped me.”

Meredith found herself enjoying the sound of Clay’s slightly husky voice. “Would you like me to come pick him up?”

“Actually, I’ll be in your part of town in an hour or so. Could I bring him by then?”

“That would be great. I’ll look forward to seeing you.”

“Bye.”

When she hung up the phone, Meredith sat down with a dopey grin on her face.
Bitsy’s coming home!
She wanted to tell someone the happy news, but couldn’t think of anyone who’d be all that interested in hearing it.

What about David? Glancing at the kitchen clock, she knew he’d be awake by now, having his breakfast. Meredith toyed with the phone receiver for a moment before replacing it. She had to face it. Clay Roberts hit the nail on the head. Right now, Bitsy was about the best friend she had.

***

Meredith dried her hands on a tea towel and checked her appearance in the mirror when she heard a car pull into her driveway. A glimpse from the window told her Mr. Roberts had arrived. When she opened the front door, a white bolt of lightening zigzagged into her living room.

Clayton followed Bitsy in, laughing when the puppy finally came to a stop, flopping onto his back on the sofa. “Well, it’s easy to see he feels comfortable here.”

Meredith smiled. “Thanks for bringing him over. And I would like to pay you since I’m officially adopting him.”

Clay shook his head. “Thanks for offering but it’s enough to know he’ll be in a good home.” He set the kennel and a paper bag down near the doorway. “Here’s all his canine paraphernalia.”

Shifting from one foot to the other, Meredith tucked a curl behind her ear and noted a lack of a wedding ring on his hand.
Remember your grand ideas about socializing? Why not start now?
And with a real guy—not a dusty memory
. “Can I get you anything to drink? I just made some fresh lemonade.”

Clay glanced at his wristwatch. “Uh, sure. I have to meet my daughter for lunch in half an hour, but lemonade sounds great.”

“Why don’t you come out back? I’ll bring the drinks out there.”

Meredith showed him into her backyard and while he settled in a café chair, she poured lemonade into tall glasses. When she joined him at the little wrought iron table on the patio, he gave her a warm smile.

“Ah, this looks wonderful, thanks.”

Meredith sipped at her lemonade and watched while Bitsy chased a squirrel up an oak tree bordering her property with the neighbor’s yard.

Clay set his glass down. “Your garden is beautiful. You must spend a lot of time here.”

“Thank you, I do. Unfortunately, Bitsy has left his mark in a few places. I used to have a small azalea bush in that corner,” she said, motioning.

Clay grinned. “I used to have several nice pairs of shoes. Snowflake, er…Bitsy was quite busy in that respect. And for any shoes I have left, Snowflake II is doing her best to finish them off.”

“So that’s what you named the new puppy?”

“My daughter Tiffany, who’s four, was still partial to it. They’re having a lot of fun together. I think having a dog is helping her deal with her grief…” His voice trailed away as he stared into the depths of his glass. “Her mother, my wife, died a year ago. Naturally Tiffany’s having a terrible time.”

Meredith murmured condolences and couldn’t resist touching his hand. “And you are too,” she said softly, “but you feel you have to be strong for Tiffany, right?”

Clay looked surprised. He gave her a sad smile. “That’s it exactly. I’m worried that if she sees me upset, she’ll start to become upset as well. I’ve tried to keep her life well ordered so she has a sense of security. Only in the last few months has she been able to be separated from me for any length of time. Since I own the company where I work, I was able to keep her with me. But now I’ve had to be gone a lot more on business. That’s why having the dog was so important.”

“Speaking of your daughter, it’s almost noon,” she said gently. “I would hate to be responsible for you being late.”

Clay drained his glass and stood. “Thank you, Ms. Ambrose—”

“Meredith.”

He smiled. “Then call me Clay. Thanks again for the lemonade…and for talking.”

She gestured toward Bitsy. “Thanks for the dog. It’s a blessing to have him, I
think
.” She frowned when she saw him digging in a flower bed. “No, no, Bitsy!”

“Trust me, you’re doing me a favor,” Clay said with a lopsided grin.

Meredith walked with him to the front door. He stopped on her porch and shook her hand.

“Maybe we’ll run into each other at the park one of these days. We’re there quite often.”

“That would be nice.”

After Clay was gone, Meredith went in search of Bitsy. When she saw him, she knelt in the grass and patted her hands together.

“C’mere, you little scrapper.”

The puppy obliged by racing into her arms and covering her with doggie kisses. Meredith rubbed her face in his silky fur and hugged him tight.

Five

At the staffing office that evening, Meredith was surprised to find she was assigned to David’s unit again. Erin must be off for the night. She couldn’t stop a wry smile from appearing on her face.

After getting the reports of her patients from the day shift nurses, she began her assessment rounds. Tonight she had three women and three men patients. All were recovering from surgery for various ailments and as visiting hours came to a close, it was a time when patients had a tendency to become lonely. Without the distraction of friends and family, they were likely to experience more pain in the night hours. Meredith spent much of her shift handling requests for pain medication.

As she took extra time to respond to patient calls, answer questions, or just hold someone’s hand, it reminded her of why she’d chosen to work nights in the first place.
If I work days, I’ll lose a lot of this opportunity being snowed under more paperwork, doctor demands, and petty politics
. 

Meredith had heard stories of what went on in some of the huge hospitals, the stricter policies and rigid protocol. Choosing to work at a mid-sized hospital had been no mistake. The atmosphere tended to be more relaxed, along with the fact they didn’t deal with the highest-risk cases. Those patients were automatically routed to the bigger hospitals in Sacramento. Working nights in a smaller hospital was by design.
Would I regret changing?
Meredith thought about the day job she’d applied for.
Maybe I was too rash. How can I offer the kind of care that’s important to me and have some semblance of a normal life?

Since she’d already applied for the Peds position, she decided to rely on God’s direction by whether or not she actually got the job. Sighing, she stopped in front of David’s room, preparing for his assessment. He’d had visitors earlier and she'd made a note to return later.

Meredith noticed, with some annoyance that her heart rate increased at the thought of seeing him again. Knowing she’d probably be able to linger in his room, she double-checked her appearance. Tonight, she had on blue pants, a nurse’s smock with a greenish-blue watercolor pattern, and white clogs.
Not much I can do with the outfit
. Of course, it shouldn’t matter anyway.

She wished she’d thought to freshen her lip gloss as her hands reached up to check the blue silk ribbon she’d threaded through her French braid.

Pathetic
. Meredith rolled her eyes at her behavior and tapped on his door. After hearing David’s “come in”, she pushed the door open. Finding three men standing next to his bed, Meredith came to a stop.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had visitors. I can come back later.”

“No! Stay, Merrie. I want to introduce you to my old teammates from when I played with the Colorado Rapids. They were in San Jose for a game and came to say hi.”

Meredith smiled at the men as she took a few more steps into the room. Oh, my. Every one of them, lean, strong, and tanned, was a veritable heart breaker.

“Jim, Torrence, and Walt,” he said, pointing to each one in turn. “Meet my angel of mercy, Merrie Ambrose.”

“It’s Meredith,” she murmured as they all greeted her with enthusiasm.

“Merrie has been taking good care of me,” David said, catching her eye and winking. “But lately hasn’t been around.”

She smiled. “I’m a float nurse and have been working in another unit.”

“Well, that’s okay then. I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”

Meredith felt her cheeks heat. Being in a room where the testosterone level was almost palpable made it difficult for her to think. “It’s nice to meet you all.” She turned to her patient. “I’ll let you continue with your visit and come back for your assessment later.”

“Thanks, Merrie.”

After a profusion of good-byes on their part, Meredith went out into the hall. She shook her head as if to clear it. A burst of male laughter made her quicken her pace to the next room.

***

From his bed, David grinned. “Well, what did you think of the future Mrs. Steller?”

Three pairs of eyes bulged.

“You’re getting married?” Torrence sputtered. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

David gave a chagrined smile. “Uh, she doesn’t actually know anything about it yet. But that’s what I’m working toward.”

Walt looked askance at David. “She didn’t seem overly affectionate.”

He cleared his throat. “I’m working on that part, too.”

“Just where and when did you meet her?” asked Walt with disbelief in his voice.

“She was the girl next door when I was growing up. We’re getting reacquainted.”

Jim sighed mistily and wiped away mock tears from his eyes. “Lovely ladies battled for your attention all over the country but it’s always the ‘girl next door’ that makes a fellow dream of hearth and home.”

The other three groaned and punched him in the shoulder.

Amidst all the laughter, David spoke up. “So, Jim. You’re the only one here who’s married.” He gave him a sly look. “Is it worth it?”

Reddening under his tan, he grinned. “Oh, yeah. It’s worth it.” He slapped David on the shoulder. “Invite me to the wedding.”

***

Later that night when Meredith came to check on David and found him asleep, a part of her was glad she didn’t have to talk to him. In her teen years, she would’ve given anything to have such access to him. In the here and now, when he was awake, looking into his brown eyes and hearing his lightly flirtatious words, made her increasingly uncomfortable.

Soon he’ll be released from the hospital and all this will be at an end
. She gazed at his features. His face had fully healed. Soon that face would be in viewer’s living rooms all throughout Cedar Hill and surrounding areas. She’d see him on the news on a regular basis. Meredith frowned, suddenly realizing that David would almost certainly live in the same town where he was employed.
Duh
.

So now the question is, which is worse? David halfway across the country, only existing in my thoughts? Or a nearby resident, only a remote click away?
Meredith considered it for a moment and decided that though he might be closer in many ways, he’d be further from her than ever.

“Good!” Meredith started at the sound of her own voice. She noticed David beginning to stir and quickly slipped from the room before he discovered her there, talking to herself like an idiot.

***

When Meredith’s off-days began, she decided to clean her house from top to bottom. Bitsy had left his mark in more ways than one. She started with the kitchen, and by lunchtime, had finished the dining area, her bedroom, and the bathroom, cringing at the amount of dog hair and paw prints that had to be cleaned up. She wagged her finger at Bitsy, wondering what he could do to earn his keep besides looking cute.