Sweet Surrender (26 page)

“She’s so short,” another woman added, “they make an odd-looking couple. You and Marc are perfect together, Chrissy; tall, dark-haired, and both of you gorgeous.”

Marc. Were they talking about her Marc? If so, that meant she was the short woman with the chunky body.

A third voice cut in. “I heard they were getting married because she was pregnant. After seeing that dress, it seems the rumor mill was correct. No hiding that baby bump.”

Jessie gasped. Dammit! Not this again. Why did everyone think she was expecting? Her hand swept self-consciously over her stomach. It was flat; okay, maybe not as flat as she’d like but she still had hipbones and although she might be a few million crunches away from a six-pack, she did not look pregnant. She bristled with indignation, then a thought occurred to her. Maybe, after the big to-do with his mother and sisters, she was being paranoid and it was another Marc altogether.

A fourth woman, her voice low and sultry, joined the conversation. “Her dress was like a second skin, wasn’t it? Who can say if that’s all her or a baby belly? If it turns out to be the latter, it would be just like Marc Trent to make an honest woman of the little tramp.”

Un-freakin’-believable. Who were these bitches? Jessie had heard enough. She was ready to stomp around the half-wall to confront them when she spotted Stacy and Jenna heading her way. Summoning them to her side with wildly flapping hands, she grabbed an arm each and pulled them farther down the hall.

“Jess, what on earth is wrong?” Usually soft and melodious, to Jessie’s distraught ears Stacy’s voice sounded loud and blaring.

“Shh, they’ll hear.”

“Who?” Stacy and Jenna both asked in unison, puzzled by her bizarre behavior.

“The women at the table around the corner who are talking about me and Marc.”

“Really?” Jenna said and started toward their table.

“What are you doing?” she hissed.

“Reconnaissance, be right back.”

She and Stacy watched in fascination as Jenna nonchalantly disappeared around the corner. A few minutes later, she returned from a different direction. Before she could say a word, Jessie dragged her further into the hall, demanding information.

“Did you recognize anyone?”

“I know two of the four. As do you. It’s Drs. Barlow and Andress.”

Jessie paled upon hearing the name that had seemed to haunt her of late.

“Who?” Stacy asked.

“Dr. Christina Barlow. She’s on staff at the hospital. So is Dr. Melanie Andress. I didn’t know the other two women.” Jenna nervously glanced at Stacy a moment, sharing some silent communication before meeting Jessie’s worried gaze.

“Marc and Dr. Barlow used to date.”

“I know that. His mother and sisters keep going on about her like she’s a goddess or some such nonsense and thereby perfect for Marc, unlike me. Do you know if they were serious?” Jessie asked.

Jenna shrugged apologetically. “I’m not sure, but I doubt it. I saw them together at a hospital function, once. Dr. Barlow is one cold fish and judging by Marc’s face at the time, he wasn’t a fan of her brand of sushi, if you catch my drift.”

“That was before Jessie started dating him, wasn’t it Jenna?” Stacy asked.

“Definitely. It was a while ago, long before you started working here and it didn’t last long at all. I don’t know how it ended, but it wasn’t long after that he started dating Amanda in OB—oomph.”

Stacy’s elbow to the gut cut her off short.

“Sorry,” Jenna said ruefully when she realized what she’d let slip.

“I know about her too, and several other nurses. Apparently, Marc has a fondness for women in scrubs.”

Stacy squeezed her hand in reassurance. “That ended with you, right?”

She nodded. “What should I do now? They were gossiping about me, saying I was pregnant.”

Both women stared at her aghast. It was a major insult to call anyone fat. To imply someone was pregnant, when in truth they were not, was an unpardonable offense. Jenna came to her defense instantly. “Those bitches.”

“My thought exactly,” Jessie replied.

Stacy was a bit more action-oriented. “I say we open up a can on their asses. Let’s go.”

“Yes, confrontation in a public place, they won’t know what hit them,” Jenna agreed.

Confrontation until lately had been so out of character. Lately, it had become commonplace, at work, with Marc’s family… The support of her girls gave Jessie courage, or maybe the champagne and other mixed drinks had made her foolish, but she was fed up with rich bitches like Mariella, Giada, and now Christina. She was ready for a reckoning. Emphatically, she uttered, “Oh, yeah, it’s on!”

Taking a deep breath in and out to steady her nerves, she then smoothed her dress and hair purposefully before marching back down the hall. Behind her, she felt Stacy and Jenna close ranks—her girl posse. Damn, this was gonna be fun.

She stepped around the corner and with arms crossed, simply stood at the end of their table, waiting. The two women on the far side noticed her at once. She made eye contact with the first mean girl, then the next, giving her best contempt-laced glare. They must have had some sense of propriety—although buried beneath ingrained layers of spitefulness—because they flushed to the roots of their over-processed hair before looking away. One glanced meaningfully at her friends across the way, giving a head nod in Jessie’s direction.

They didn’t take her subtle cue, likely due to the ceaseless yammering of one of the women, her contemptuous harangue still focused on Jessie.

“That brassy hair is so lower class. Hasn’t her stylist heard of toner? She must go to Super Cuts or somewhere equally cheap because—” She stopped abruptly, letting out a loud yelp, before glaring at the woman seated across from her. “That hurt! Did you just kick me, Gracie?”

Gracie, evidently done with subtlety, pointed at Jessie. The other two women swung their heads in Jessie’s direction. One was a particularly stunning brunette. Without being told, Jessie knew this was Christina, damn her luck. Her surprised expression soon changed into a derisive smirk. She then proceeded to give her a thorough once-over before scoffing, her snooty tone dripping with condescension.

“I can’t fathom what he sees in you. A hidden talent of some kind, maybe, because from where I’m standing, I’m not seeing much to recommend.”

Her nasty message couldn’t be clearer. Stacy and Jenna, who stood behind Jessie, gasped in outrage.

Incensed, Jessie held her ground. “I don’t think I’ve had the displeasure. You are?”

“Christina Barlow.
Dr.
Christina Barlow. Marc and I went to Columbia together.” Her eyes dropped to Jessie’s left hand, adorned with Marc’s ring. “We also dated for a while a few years back. If I hadn’t left the country on a fellowship, I’d be the one wearing his ring.”

“Hmm… Barlow… Barlow…” Jessie replied, her brow furrowed as if in deep concentration. “No, I don’t seem to recall him talking about anyone named Barlow.”

Jenna said to Stacy in a mock stage whisper intentionally loud enough to carry, “I couldn’t hear, did she say Dr. Blowhole?”

Stacy, without missing a beat, answered back. “Actually, I think she said Dr. Bunghole, must be a proctologist. Bless her heart,” she added, sadly shaking her head, “to have to bear such a name.”

Jenna snickered. She knew, as did Jessie, that ‘bless her heart,’ to a southerner, meant many things, but a blessing it was not.

Her girls had her back, which had a calming effect. It also made her bold. She tapped her lips with a red-tipped finger, as if trying to remember something.

“Wait, did you say Christina? He did mention something about a Christina. He said she was boring, but there was something else. Now what was it?”

Stacy chimed in to help. “Frigid?”

Jenna countered, “Sexually repressed? Oh, wait, that’s pretty much the same as frigid, isn’t it?”

Stacy laughed aloud, obviously enjoying this verbal smack-down. Jessie was surprised the women hadn’t responded. By the looks on their faces, they were too shocked.

“Let me think and I’ll come up with it.” She imitated Christina’s cursory inspection, dragging her gaze over the brunette slowly from head to toe. Her eyes zeroed in on her non-existent chest and she nodded before declaring, “That’s it. He also said you had the sex appeal of a jackfish, which I’m thinking is a northern pike.” She turned to Jenna in dramatic fashion for validation.

“That’s right. My daddy calls it a toothy because they have really sharp teeth.” Her eyes locked on Christina as she spoke. “They’re cold sallow-looking lake fish, rather ugly, but also quite aggressive, territorial, and can turn on a dime, becoming quite vicious and even cannibalistic, at times.”

Jessie nodded as she turned back, eyeing Christina up and down yet again. “That explains it then, doesn’t it?”

Dr. Barlow finally found her tongue and stood, moving in close, trying to use her height to intimidate. “I understand now why we didn’t suit; he likes his women short, fat, and ill-mannered.”

Jessie didn’t flinch, staring up at the Amazon without blinking.

“Um, did you say you’d be wearing his ring if you hadn’t left? Have you lost weight and possibly grown a foot since then?” Jenna, also smart as a whip, caught the woman in her own lie.

Turning her head, Jessie scanned the other women before she said with false amiability, “I’m not sure about short, although I know for a fact my fiancé like curves and softness to cuddle up with.” Her head tilted in Christina’s direction at this point. “Not a bony stick figure with sharp edges; his words, not mine. He deals with bones enough at work each day, you see.” Jessie’s eyes switched back to her intended victim, eyeing the front of her blouse pointedly before looking up at her. “I’m sure that your shortcomings and fish-like personality are why you didn’t suit.”

“You won’t be able to keep him,” Christina hissed. “Unlike you, I have things in common with him, not the least of which an MD after my name, not an insignificant RN.”

“I’d like to see you care for your surgery patients without the lowly RNs you’re trashing right now.” This came from an incensed Jenna behind her.

Christina ignored her, looking down at Jessie instead. “I know how to make him happy.”

“Then you should know Marc likes to know he has a woman in his bed.” Jessie crudely cupped her hands in front of her chest. “He likes T&A, both of which you are sadly lacking.”

Stacy sadly restated, “Bless her heart… As flat as the Great Plains, she is. If you have an MD, dear, maybe you could ask one of your plastic surgeon friends for a consult.”

Sputtering with outrage, Christina bent and reached in the booth to grab her coat and purse. As she turned, Jessie’s gaze dipped to the doctor’s bony ass. Feeling much better about herself, she got in one more cutting blow. “Tsk tsk, you poor dear. If you’re gonna compete for Marc, you should probably stay for dessert.”

Christina’s face flushed as she fumed, shoving past Jessie without another word.

“Is there a problem here, ladies?” The server, who had come to see what the commotion was about, waited for an answer, but no one replied. Instead, Jessie, Stacy, and Jenna stared the rest of them down, silently daring them to spew more of their bullshit. As was so often true, a bully when challenged backed down. In this case, four backed down. With a clash of plates and squeaking vinyl, the other women slid out of the booth and rushed after their leader.

She could feel the waiter’s eyes upon her as well as those of the diners at the surrounding tables. Her eyes dropped, a bit embarrassed now that the scene was over. She immediately noticed the ladies had left something behind. She signaled the waiter. “It seems they forgot a little something.”

Jessie stepped back, coming alongside Jenna and Stacy. All three watched, along with their audience at the surrounding tables, as the poor harried waiter rushed after the doctor’s party waving their unpaid bill over his head.

When the last of the group was out of sight, Stacy turned to Jessie and gave a dramatic fist pump with a boisterous, “Booyah! You were awesome, Jess.”

Jenna joined in on the victory celebration with a jubilant, “Take that, Dr. Beeyotch. She makes the nurses’ lives hell at the hospital. You’ll be a legend at St. Joe’s after this.” Her sparkling eyes shifted to Jessie and she beamed happily. “Thanks for letting me play a part, doll.”

A smattering of applause broke out at the next table. They all turned to see two little blue-haired ladies clapping and grinning broadly. “That was wonderful, dears,” one said.

The other nodded. “Like a high-class episode of Jerry Springer, except less foul language, and no wrestling, hair pulling, or chair throwing.”

“I did think the tall one was about to lose it though, Mildred.”

“Yes, Ginny. If steam could have come out of her ears, we’d have been blasted.” She giggled.

Stacy and Jenna laughed, but Jessie was mortified. “I’m sorry we disturbed your dinner.”

“Nonsense,” Mildred replied. “I haven’t been to dinner and show in a decade.”

“And never one so entertaining,” Ginny added. “You fight for your man, young lady. I had a man who enjoyed curves and a well-rounded behind, until he passed last June.”

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” Jessie answered sincerely.

“I miss him, it’s true. We were married for fifty bliss-filled years and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Thank you, ma’am; that gives a bride-to-be hope. Let me pay for your dinner, please.”

“Nonsense. The entertainment was wonderful.”

After the three women said goodbye, they walked back toward their private dining room grinning.

Jessie turned to Jenna, curious. “How do you know about northern pike? I just pulled that out of my hat.”

“My daddy really is a fisherman. He taught me all he knows.”

Jessie’s smile turned to concern. “Do you think Dr. Barlow will make trouble for you at work after this?”

“No, I work obstetrics, remember? There’s no reason for Dr. Beeyotch, uh, I mean Dr. Bunghole to be there.”

As Jenna’s eyes twinkled in amusement, Stacy’s delighted laughter turned heads.

Jessie smiled and did her best to play her part, but the doctor’s image haunted her, stirring her demons of self-doubt. She’d made a stand, marking her territory, which was Marc in this case. Dr. Barlow didn’t seem the type to give up easily. She made an enemy with the incident tonight and wondered at the repercussions. How close was Christina with Mariella Trent and her brood? Or with hospital higher-ups? Like with Jenna, she could stir up trouble for her at work. An anesthesiologist, specializing in pain management, Christina had little reason to come to her floor except on consult. It should be fine, she tried to convince herself, she’d just have to watch her back.