Nerds on Fire (24 page)

While she sat and stewed, he emerged
from the house. There was a happy spring in his step as he hurried
down the stairs toward his very nice car. As he slid into the seat,
her eyes narrowed. His outfit didn’t look like one a businessman
would wear to an “appointment.” It didn’t look remotely
businesslike, in fact.

It was date wear. The flowers he set
on the seat beside him also weren’t what one took to a business
meeting. He stowed another package on the floor.

Her body temperature rose as her jaw
hardened to the point of pain.

He had lied to
her
. This wasn’t about business, at least
nothing to do with his company. It was
personal
. Dear Rylan hadn’t wanted
her to know he was cheating on her.

The car took off out of his driveway
so she shoved hers into gear and followed him at a discreet
distance. He threaded through some side streets and a few alleys
before entering a quiet neighborhood. The houses were all on the
modest side, although they were well cared for.

Rylan pulled into the driveway of one
a quarter of the way down the street. It sported a profusion of
fall flowers and neatly trimmed shrubs. It could have belonged to
her grandmother. The place was neat, tidy, small, and
boring.

It didn’t begin to compare to Rylan’s
new estate.

The car door sprang open and he slid
out with eagerness, looking years younger. His jaunty walk dropped
at least a decade off his age. He had never looked like that with
her.

She stared hard at the door
and gasped, then gaped when it opened.
That woman isn’t even close to
my
league
.
For one, the other woman looked her age. While a few years younger
than Rylan, she wasn’t
much
younger.

There weren’t any streaks of gray in
the neat dark hair, but there were lines around her eyes and mouth.
Even her figure, while okay, wasn’t like Chrissy’s. It was trim and
athletic perhaps, but not at all what Chrissy classified as
attractive.

How could Rylan find this
woman more attractive than me?

Her stomach turned as Rylan leaned
forward and kissed the woman on the lips. The other woman’s cheeks
reddened and Chrissy saw some red of her own.

How dare he?

Despite that embarrassing
police interrogation she had endured the other day... Chrissy
sniffed in disdain as resolve stiffened her spine. This
changed
everything
. The stakes had just been raised.

When Trixi excused herself after they
finished the dishes, Mark turned to Gran. That lady had something
on her mind and he was interested in hearing what it was. They
heard Trixi’s light footsteps patter up the staircase and then
disappear into her room.

“
Again, thank you for what
you did for Trixi,” Gran said. “I’m relieved she’s finally
cried.”

“
She
never
cried?”

“
We’ve doubted it all these
years. She could have in her room, and we didn’t know it, but Rylan
has been concerned about her.”

A sense of satisfaction swirled
through him at the thought that Trixi had cried with him. In his
arms. Somehow, it seemed right to him. “I’m glad.”

She patted his arm. “So am I. I don’t
believe you understand the significance of this yet, but you
will.”

After her cryptic remark, she took
herself off to her rooms. And left him staring after her, wondering
what on earth she was talking about. He understood the significance
of Trixi crying with him.

Or am I missing the entire
point?

Since he couldn’t answer this
perplexing question, no matter how hard he tried, Mark finally
wandered into his study. He had a stack of paperwork to comb
through and it wasn’t getting done with him standing in the middle
of the kitchen.

He took away two things from this
evening. The first was Gran and Trixi Duvall both trusted him and
he trusted them in turn.

The second was he was quieter and more
content this evening than he had ever been after losing a patient.
The difference being that tonight he had been able to talk about it
with the people at home who were willing to discuss the tragedy
with him. He was settled in his own mind.

A priceless gift.

It showed him coming home, despite
being a hard call, had been the best decision of his
life.

“
I think you’re early,”
Nina said as she invited him inside. The smile in her voice and on
her exquisite face welcomed him.

“
I am? I was afraid I’d be
late.”

She accepted the flowers with happy
delight. “Oh, Rylan, they’re beautiful.” Nina gushed as though he
had given her the crown jewels. He wanted to.

“
You’re welcome.” He
grinned when she blushed again.

“
Oh, where are my manners?”
Her eyelashes cast intriguing shadows across her cheeks. “Thank
you.”

“
You are most welcome.” Not
able to resist, he traced the pattern. Then he remembered the other
package. “This is for supper.”

She peeked into the grocery bag and
started laughing. “You remembered my favorite tea.”

“
Yes, because it’s my
favorite as well.”

They shared a smile and a feeling of
contentment burst through him. It must have shown on his face
because she placed a gentle hand on his arm. “This is
nice.”

He slid his hand over hers.
“Yes.”

When they sat down to eat, he was
impressed. “You went to a lot of trouble.”

“
No, I didn’t. I put this
all into different slow cookers and went off to work. When I got
home, most of it was finished.” A small dimple at the corner of her
mouth winked at him. “It just takes a little planning.”

“
I’m glad.” The bubbly
feeling inside was nice and he appreciated the sense of contentment
again. The food was spectacular, on par with Trixi or his staff’s
cooking. The beef was melt-in-your-mouth tender and the vegetables
were done to perfection. She had roasted the potatoes with some
sort of savory rub and the flavors burst on his tongue.

“
I had a visit from Katy
today.” Nina mentioned this casually, partway through the
meal.

“
Oh?” A sneaking suspicion
sprouted.

Her dimple peeked at him again. “Oh
yes. She came by with some papers I needed but she lingered to
chat.”

He couldn’t stop an escaping chuckle.
“What did my daughter want to ‘chat’ about?”

“
Would you
believe...
us
?”

This time he laughed outright. “You
are aware they’ve taken to calling often to pump me for details,
right?”

“
Oh my. I do adore your
daughters, and have since meeting them, but I’m not certain how to
answer their questions.”

“
You don’t have to answer
anything you don’t want to.”

She shot him an incredulous look.
“You’re joking, of course.”

“
No, I’m not.”

“
You
can tell them to mind their own business.
I
have to be
professional.”

He loved the smile twittering around
her lips. “You can tell them to mind their own business. It’s okay.
They won’t take offense.”

Nina bit her lip. “I’m glad to hear
this. Of course, your girls will just go underground to find out
what they want to know.”

“
Yes they will,” he
declared. Nina already knew them pretty well. “The brats.” Even he
heard the underlying affection in his voice.

“
I liked both of them from
the start.”

Her smile was so beautiful he caught
his breath. “Thank you. I love them.”

“
That’s how I feel about my
son.” Her eyes drifted to a framed portrait of a strong looking
young man in a military dress uniform.

“
What’s his
name?”

“
Jonathon Ethan McCormick.
We call him Jon.”

“
He doesn’t look like
you.”

“
No, he’s an exact replica
of his father.”

“
Just because he looks like
his father doesn’t mean his fate will be the same,” Rylan said
softly.

Her eyes snapped to him. Slowly, her
spine relaxed. “True.” Her eyes returned to her son, and a small
frown etched the space between her eyebrows. “Ethan, his father,
was totally a military man. He lived and breathed it. Thankfully
Jon has indicated in the last little while he’s not interested in
making the armed forces his life like Ethan did.” She chased food
around her plate, but didn’t eat much.

“
What branch is he
in?”

“
He’s a Marine. Like his
father.”

Rylan nodded. “Does he see a lot of
action?” He took another bite in an effort to encourage her do
so.

“
Oh yes. He doesn’t say
much when we video conference, but I think it’s pretty
bad.”

He could feel her motherly concern.
“We don’t get to choose for them.”

“
No, and that’s what scares
me.”

Chapter 24

After a
hurried breakfast the next morning, Trixi threw a few more things
into her lunch bag, checked Mark’s, he had forgotten a napkin, and
then raced for the door. She kissed Gran on the cheek before
sailing into the garage.

Mark was already there, and he had the
motor idling by the time she slid into the seat beside him. She had
only just buckled her seatbelt when he backed out with smooth
precision, lowered the garage door, and turned toward the
hospital.

“
You’re late.”

“
I know.” She was
breathless from her run and the busyness of the morning. “I can’t
seem to get it in gear today.”

He sent her a speaking look. “What’s
up?”

“
I don’t know. Just an odd
feeling last night, so I guess I didn’t sleep well.”

“
Did this odd feeling come
from stress or because of an external factor?” The intensity in his
voice put her on alert.

“
External
factor.”

“
Yeah, I got the same
feeling.”

Her eyebrow rose. “And?” She waved her
hand in a circle, in an attempt to encourage him to
continue.

He didn’t. Confusion crossed his face.
“And nothing.”

“
You had this feeling and
that’s it? You don’t plan to do anything about it?”

“
Oh, yeah. I took care of
it.” His mellow attitude set her teeth on edge.

So much so that Trixi found
herself speaking through them. “
What did
you do?
”

Again, he glanced at her as if she’d
lost her mind. “Why do you need to know?”

“
Because I own the house.”
This she managed through a locked jaw.

“
Right.” He sighed and then
took the next corner. They were nearly at the hospital by now. “My
cousin, the policeman?”

She nodded.

“
I called him and he
dropped by. We scouted out the entire area. He found a few things
he intends to follow up on.”

“
Did you actually encounter
anyone?”

“
No, but then we didn’t
make our presence a secret.”

“
So whoever is causing the
trouble is aware a police officer was there.”

“
Yes and whoever it is also
knows I’m there now.”

This was the reason he had moved in.
“You are a little hard to miss.”

“
Correct.” He signaled to
turn into the hospital.

“
So is this creep leery of
making more trouble?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought
maybe I should concentrate on my own job today.”

“
Oh right. Are you seeing
patients or operating or both?”

“
I operate in the morning,
and see patients in the afternoon.” The light changed so he turned
into the doctor lot where he parked. They exited the car and Trixi
grabbed up her bags.

“
Do you need
help?”

“
No.” She shouldered the
purse and then picked up her lunch bag.

When she straightened, he took it from
her. He settled his free hand in the small of her back, tucking her
close to his side. They strolled across the parking lot, and no one
who wasn’t aware they had come together doubted it now.

A quick glance at his face
revealed nothing she didn’t already know, but she was still
confused. What would people think? Would they believe she and Mark
were just friends?
Were
they friends?

Were people even aware they knew each
other?

Since she didn’t have those answers,
she instead walked quietly beside him and enjoyed the moment. Some
of the single females did notice. None of them sent her obvious
looks of dislike though.