Chapter13
I Know Just The Place
Dash’s POV
I sat beside Zinnie’s bed watching her doze, Melitta in my arms, also asleep. I tilted my head back
against the chair, thinking about how angry my wife was with me, surprised at this side of her I’d really never seen before.
I’d known her since she was a twelve–year–old girl, Iris’s younger sister by five years. Iris and I
had dated for a year, during our senior year of high school, and had broken up a month before we
left for college. Iris had been fun and wild and outspoken, her parents‘ golden child. I don’t remember much of Zinnie from that year Iris and I dated except she’d gotten braces because Iris
had teased her about them unmercifully, and Zinnie was always in the background, especially
when Iris was around. While Iris enjoyed being center stage, Zinnie never had a chance to step
into the spotlight to see if she liked it there or not.
In the way people often unthinkingly spoke of when comparing sisters, Iris was the beauty and
the brains, and Zinnie was kind of just…there. The child who never demanded attention so she
never got it. All eyes were on Iris. At the time, as a high school senior, Zinnie’s treatment didn’t
really register with me. Like everyone else, I was focused on my girlfriend.
I’d been really down after Iris and I broke up even though it had been at my prompting, and it took a couple of years before I’d been willing to date again. My grandfather, who was a pastor, wasn’t in my immediate vicinity to preach hellfire and damnation at me and the high probability of getting a girl pregnant if we were to have sex before marriage. That one scared me the most because it meant I’d never achieve my dream of becoming a doctor and that had been my goal – to follow in my other grandfather’s footsteps. So, I’d kept it in my pants, as my grandfather said, until I was a junior in college, and I finally learned what everyone was talking about a few times before I graduated and began medical school.
—
Wanting to get top grades, I focused on my courses and never had a girlfriend, and honestly, there wasn’t time for one anyway given how much I studied. What I didn’t understand was how my
parents viewed my girlfriend–less state until they came up for a rare weekend visit and tried to talk me into dating.
“You have to get over Iris,” my father had said. “It’s been more than five years.”
“I know how much you loved her,” Mom said, “but you need to put yourself out there. Your father
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and I are worried about you. First love seems so intense, but Stuart, it’s time to move on from
her.”
I’d never told them about the three girls in my undergrad years for fear of it getting back to my grandfather, so as far as they knew, Iris had been the last girl I dated.
“I’m not hung up on Iris,” I told them, not willing to give them more than that one truth.
My parents looked at each other knowingly, and then back at me.
“Just think about it, Stuart,” Mom urged me while patting my hand. My father just shook his head
at me.
I was two years into my pediatric critical care fellowship, walking into the hospital cafeteria when I saw a gorgeous woman sitting alone at a table, reading a book in between bites of her cheeseburger and fries. There was something about her that drew my eye more than just her looks, though, something way back in my mind. She must have felt me staring because she looked up from her book and did a double take.
“Dash?” she asked.
I still wasn’t quite able to place her even as she got up and walked over to me. Holding out her
hand for me to shake, her eyes were dancing with amusement.
“You don’t remember me, but I’m Zinnia,” she said and no way would I have ever guessed that.
She’d been a gangly thirteen–year–old when I’d last seen her twelve years ago and had grown into a beauty that I bet had surprised her family. The ugly duckling, as I’d heard one cousin refer to Zinnie, had grown up to outshine them all.
I let go of her hand and pulled her into a hug. After some hesitation, she hugged me back.
“Do you mind if I join you?” I asked. “I’d love to catch up. Let me just grab a sandwich.”
Her face had fallen a bit when I’d mentioned catching up, but she’d recovered quickly. Less than
three minutes later, I was seated across from her, asking her question after question about
herself.
I’d discovered she worked in the billing department and had just started her job at the hospital two weeks ago.
“It’s a job,” she laughed when I’d asked her how she liked it.
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I looked at my watch, surprised the twenty minutes had flown, and realized it wasn’t long enough. I needed more time to listen to her talk.
“I have to get back on shift,” I said, “but I’d love to meet you for lunch tomorrow if you’re
available.”
“Ah —”
“No pressure,” I said. “I just really enjoyed talking with you today. Let’s leave it like this: I’ll be here around one o’clock tomorrow and I’d love for you to join me if you can.”
She did. And we met the next day and the next, and Sunday I had off, so we met for lunch, which turned into dinner because we couldn’t stop talking.
The day ended with the sweetest kiss when I walked her to her door.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Where’s my little honey bee?” Zinnia asked groggily when she opened her eyes, trying to figure
out where she was.
When she realized she’d fallen asleep, leaving me holding our daughter, she struggled to push herself up.
“It’s OK, Zin, I’m right here. Melitta’s right here.”
She rubbed a hand over her face, still trying to get her bearings. Childbirth and the first nap after
were no joke.
“I panicked when I realized I fell asleep with you in the room.”
One month had sent our relationship straight to hell.
“I told you I wouldn’t take her from you,” I said.
“How could I be sure of that, though? For all I knew, you could have Mom and Iris out in the parking lot in a getaway car, waiting for you to make your escape with my baby.”
“Our baby, and they aren’t here,” I corrected her assumption. “And unless you want them here, they won’t be here.”
“I don’t really want you here,” she said with so much honesty that I winced.
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“I know I haven’t been the husband you needed me to be, Zinnie. I’m sorry.”
“Husband. Man. Decent person. Teller of jokes,” she corrected me, then added, “Don’t touch me,” when I reached out to cup her cheek.
“All of that,” I agreed.
“When are you going back to work?”
“I took my four weeks, which they weren’t happy about since I was using all my time off at once.”
“Feel free to go back early,” Zin said.
“I’m not missing out on this time with you and Melitta,” I said. “You’re going to need help and I’m going to be the one helping.”
“I have women here to help.”
“And now you have me,” I told her.
“Do I?” she asked. “I’d like to do nothing but focus on taking care of my baby. I’m not sure if I can
do that with you around.”
“I promise I’ll be helpful and I won’t upset you, but Zinnie, now that she’s born I have every right to be with Melitta. I know that doesn’t make you happy, but it’s the truth. Don’t try to keep her away from me because that’s not happening.”
A discreet knock on the door was followed by my midwives coming into the room, followed by
Aggie.
“What’s happening with this one?” Aggie asked, jerking her thumb at me.
“He says he’s staying, but I don’t want him at the cottage.”
Aggie’s smile was wide.
“Well, I know just the place for him, Zinnia,” she said to my wife,
I just bet she did.
“We’ll see how badly you want to stay, doctor.”
Chapter13
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.