The Best Laid Plans (8 page)

Scott cleared his throat. “Yeah, that’s really sweet of you. Those places give wigs to kids with alopecia and burns, too.”

“I didn’t know that,” Emma said, self-consciously raking her fingers through the hair at the nape of her neck. Having the attention of both Charlie and Scott was more than she could stand.

“I worked in the Burn Unit at my last hospital. Some of the toughest work I’ve ever done.”

Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets. “There’s nothing more gut-wrenching than trying to care for someone with burns. Those are always our most harrowing rescues.”

The conversation suddenly turned into a competition. “You’re lucky all you have to do is drive the patient to the hospital,” Scott said. “I don’t know who has it worse, the firefighters who rescue a burn patient or the doctors who have to try to ease their pain.”

Charlie gave him a curious look. “Right. Because all we ‘ambulance drivers’ do is drive the ambulance.”

Emma found herself feeling protective of Charlie. She had a lot of respect for EMTs and paramedics, but they didn’t always get it from everyone else. “Paramedics are in the trenches with the firefighters. We all know that. Plus, I think the burn victims have it the worst. If we’re voting.”

“Of course.” Scott cleared his throat again and shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Well, forgive me if you catch me doing a double take when I see you. Your new look is going to take some getting used to.”

“I won’t hold it against you.” Emma was unsure if that meant he liked it or not. Scott gathered up his things and went to check on another patient.

“Isn’t he charming?” Charlie said, watching him go.

“He’s a nice guy,” Emma said in Scott’s defense. “He didn’t mean anything by that comment.”

“Sure he didn’t,” Charlie said, clearly unconvinced. His eyes flashed with understanding, as if all of a sudden something dawned on him. “Is that the guy? The one you told me about the other day?”

Emma stiffened, praying no one had heard him. She should never have confided in him. Charlie made it too easy. Talking to him was like talking to someone she’d been friends with her whole life.

“Let’s keep things professional when we’re working, okay?”

Charlie set his hands on his hips. His eyes fell to the floor between them and his jaw tightened. “Sure.”

The tickle she had felt in her stomach earlier was now replaced by a hundred-pound weight. Guilty as she might feel, Emma needed to find Bobby and go over the shift-change report. Working and seeing patients was her best shot at turning this morning around. No one visiting the ER today would have any idea what her hair had looked like two days ago or would care who she had a crush on. The best part about working in the ER was people came and went. Every day was something new.

She left Charlie standing by the desk with his head hanging low. Why did it bother her so much that he seemed upset? Why did it matter what Scott
and
Charlie thought about her hair? Charlie and Scott were not on the same playing field. Falling in love with Scott was Emma’s destiny. Her plan was well thought-out and made perfect sense.

She glanced back at Charlie. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments and that little flutter was back. She gave her belly a pat. She must need to eat something, she told herself. Any other reason for this physical reaction was preposterous. There was no changing destiny.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“A
RE
YOU
READY
for the invasion of the drama queens in a few weeks?” Charlie’s sister Becca was checking in.

“I’m ready to hang with you. Does that count?”

“I am so not a drama queen.”

She was right. Becca was cool. She avoided drama at all costs. Her personality was similar to Charlie’s. She was laid-back and easy to get along with. Her husband was a forest ranger in Colorado while she worked as a ski instructor at Winter Park. They didn’t have kids yet but were trying. It had been taking longer than she liked, but Becca took every setback in stride.

She was the complete opposite of their sister Kristin. The family had received daily updates on her fertility struggles when she was trying to get pregnant. Charlie knew more about his sister’s fallopian tubes than anyone other than her gynecologist should know.

“You still planning on staying here?” he asked, hoping she hadn’t changed her mind and made arrangements to bunk at their parents’ house. She was coming by herself since it was next to impossible for her husband to get time off in the summer.

“Of course I am,” she reassured him. “There is no way I would survive anywhere else. I need you to keep me sane.”

“Good. I need you, too.” He didn’t mean it in the same way she did. He’d make it through this party and all the family turmoil that was sure to come with it. He needed his big sister to tell him there was still hope for a nice guy like him. He needed her to tell him that he wasn’t destined to be stuck in the friend zone forever. One day, there would be a woman who would choose him over some guy who didn’t even know how to give the most beautiful girl in the world a compliment.

“Are you okay? You sound funny.”

“I’m fine.” He sighed, a sure sign he wasn’t.

“Come on, tell the ski bum all about it,” she encouraged.

He hadn’t planned to get into it over the phone, but she’d asked for it. “Is there something wrong with me?”

“That question is just begging for a mean answer. You’re killing me here.” The two of them had the most playful relationship in the family. They teased and tortured one another, but it was always in good fun. Becca was hilarious and made Charlie laugh more than anyone he knew.

He wasn’t in a joking mood, however. “Seriously. There has to be something fundamentally wrong with me to make me so undatable. Is my job not fancy enough? Do I lack some quality that makes other guys that much more desirable?”

“Hold up. You are not undatable. You date all the time. Everyone loves you, Charlie. What’s not to love?”

Everyone loved him, but no one was
in
love with him. Women loved him like a brother. They didn’t fall in crazy, head-over-heels love with him. The kind of love Emma was so desperate to find with Dr. Not-That-Charming.

“I don’t know,” Charlie lamented.

“Is there someone specific breaking your heart right now? Because I am going to be there sooner than later and I am not afraid to fight a girl.”

Charlie laughed in spite of himself. “There might be someone, but I still like her too much to let you get your hands on her.” All he wanted was to understand what she saw in a guy like that. “She’s falling for some doctor. I’m too nice, too blue collar, too not what she wants.”

“Listen here, little brother. You are not
too
anything except awesome. Don’t get hung up on a chick who doesn’t see a good thing when it’s right in front of her. You deserve someone who adores you,” Becca said as if she believed that person existed. “You have the patience of a saint, Charlie. You grew up in a house of crazy girls and you still respect women. You are generous in every way. I have seen you literally give the shirt off your back to a person in need.”

“One time. The guy was freezing and I had another shirt underneath it.”

Becca snorted. “Did I forget to mention you’re ridiculously humble, as well?”

“Someone would be lucky to have me, right?” He’d heard it all before. He was a great catch, a supernice guy. But that never seemed to matter in the long run. Women wanted dream guys with respectable jobs—doctors, lawyers, financial wizards. Paramedics didn’t get the same kind of respect. That had never bothered Charlie as much as it did now.

“I’m coming to town and kicking this girl’s butt, whoever she is. I will find her and I will hurt her for crushing you. My Charlie doesn’t get depressed. My Charlie is the guy who believes anything is possible.”

“Your Charlie knows you aren’t going to beat anybody up. Not that I don’t believe you could,” he clarified. “I still have nightmares about the time you proved to be the strongest person in the world.”

When he was ten and she was fifteen, Becca had wrestled him to the ground and pinned him down until he admitted she was the strongest person in the world. When he wouldn’t do it, she’d threatened to spit on him. She’d managed to get a long strand of drool to hang an inch from his nose before he finally gave up and said it.

She was probably smiling ear to ear right now. That was the kind of thing that would make a tomboy like Becca proud.

“I’m glad I left an impression on you when we were young,” she said before turning serious. “I won’t beat anyone up, but please believe this—there is someone out there in this crazy world who’s made for you. Keep your eyes and heart open, little brother.”

He would try. But it was getting harder and harder.

* * *

P
ETE
AND
HIS
WIFE
had invited Charlie, Emma, Max and Kendall over for dinner to sample what they could do in the kitchen. For the first time, Charlie was happy to have Max and Kendall as a buffer. Being alone with Emma had become more like torture instead of a thrill. He did not want to hear a single thing about Dr. Not-That-Charming. Any mention of him could send Charlie over the edge.

The O’Reillys’ house was in the Bridgeport neighborhood, home to many of the South Side Irish. Bridgeport’s claim to fame was being the home of both former Mayor Daleys. Pete’s little brick house was on a crowded street, and his neighbors were much less than a stone’s throw away. The sidewalks were wide and there were several groups of kids playing outside in the late-evening summer sun.

Max was driving Kendall’s car, leaving Charlie to share the backseat with a very sweet-smelling Emma. He cursed the designer of the perfume she was wearing; it was completely intoxicating. Happy to put some distance between himself and Miss Smells-Too-Good, Charlie jumped out of the car before Max had it in Park.

Pete greeted them from the front porch. He designated one of the older kids to watch the younger ones and told them to stay outside until the tasting was over. Once inside, he was quick to put a beer in Max’s and Charlie’s hands and offered the ladies a glass of wine. Gianna came out of the kitchen, wearing an apron smudged with flour. She had a little bit in her hair, as well.

“Charlie! So good to see you.” She kissed both his cheeks and then gave them a pinch. “Are you eating when you aren’t at the station? You look a little thin.” She turned to her husband. “Are you feeding this boy enough, Peter?”

“He eats like a horse,” Pete insisted. “The kid has hollow legs or something.”

“He feeds me good, Gianna. I promise.”

Charlie introduced everyone to Pete’s wife. She was especially attentive to Kendall. The bride was always the one people in Pete and Gianna’s business had to win over.

“This is the one you have to worry about,” Charlie said, pointing to Max. “He’s a bit of a groomzilla.”

Creases of surprise appeared on Max’s forehead. “What? I am not.”

“And here I thought he was going to say I was the difficult one,” Emma said.

Charlie ignored that statement. He wasn’t going to say anything about her. He wasn’t even going to think about the fact that she was here. Of course, that Pied Piper perfume wasn’t helping.

“Max is a restaurant manager, so he’s very particular about food. Maybe that’s what Charlie means,” Kendall said, grabbing Max’s hand and calming him down.

It didn’t work. Max was stressed. “I am not particular. That makes me sound difficult. I am not difficult.”

“You’re a little difficult,” Emma said.

“I am not!” Max protested.

Charlie had had his fun. “I’m kidding. There aren’t two easier people to work with than Kendall and Max. And I have no doubt Pete and Gianna are going to knock your socks off.”

“Good,” Pete said with a clap of his hands. “I hope you all came hungry because we have lots of things for you to try.”

He wasn’t kidding. The smells coming from the kitchen were about the only thing in the world that could steal Charlie’s attention away from Miss Smells-Too-Good. Pete led them into the dining room where there was some antipasti and hors d’oeuvres waiting.

The men didn’t hesitate to begin the tasting. Charlie had eaten a light lunch in anticipation of tonight. Emma eyed all the food on the table. He knew she was wary about hiring a friend of his. She thought he was doing Pete a favor when really it was the other way around. Charlie would eat anything Pete cooked.

Two of the kids came running in and were quickly intercepted by their father. “I thought I told you to stay outside until the grown-ups are done in here.”

“I’m still hungry,” the littlest one said. Pete and Gianna had three kids. The oldest was a fourteen-year-old boy, the middle girl was eight and the youngest was a five-year-old princess and a carbon copy of her mother. Pete was going to have his hands full in ten years or so.

“Impossible,” Gianna said, coming out of the kitchen with a basket of Italian bread and a dish of olive oil. “You had two helpings of fettuccine.”

“I need a cookie.”

Pete put his hands on her shoulders and spun her around so she was facing the door. “You need to go back outside, Eva. You, too, Mia.”

His son, Sean, poked his head in. “Come back outside, you two! I told you not to bother Mom and Dad.”

“I need a cookie. I’m dying of starvation!” Eva claimed in dramatic fashion. She put a hand on her belly and the other on her forehead.

“Come into the kitchen,” Gianna said, giving in. Who wouldn’t? She was too cute.

“My son is the same way,” Max told Pete. “The world is ending right after I ask him to get ready for bed.”

“Kids,” Pete said with a shake of his head. “You gotta love them or they won’t take care of you when you’re old.”

Gianna and Pete had planned a family-style dinner. Gianna’s Italian heritage was evident in everything they had prepared. There were fresh, homemade pastas and pesto-rubbed chicken. She’d made some swordfish puttanesca and eggplant Parmesan lasagna. The fresh-baked Italian bread was the perfect combination of crusty on the outside and soft and warm inside. Charlie wanted to be invited over for dinner every night.

Dessert was a sampling of cannoli, tiramisu, cookies, mascarpone and dark chocolate mousse in white chocolate cups, and berries in some sort of cream that made Charlie’s taste buds feel as if they had died and gone to heaven.

“Everything you’ve tasted tonight we’d consider our signature dishes, but if you have a particular menu in mind, we can always—”

“You’re hired,” Max said without letting Gianna finish. He glared at Charlie and then Emma. “How’s that for difficult?”

Charlie threw his hands up. “Dude! She was about to suggest we have another tasting. You blew it!”

Everyone at the table chuckled. Even Emma, who had remained quiet for most of the dinner.

“You can come over anytime, Charlie,” Gianna offered. “But is the bride-to-be on the same page here?”

Kendall nodded, her mouth full of one of those chocolate cups. She swallowed it down. “Everything was amazing. We would love you guys to cater our wedding.”

Charlie stole a glance in Emma’s direction. She was busy sneaking another cannoli onto her plate. She hadn’t been sure about hiring Pete and Gianna when he’d first suggested it. He watched her take a bite and close her eyes when the incredible flavors hit her tongue. Looked as though she was also won over.

Charlie’s chest tightened. It felt as if his heart was being squeezed. There was no one prettier in the entire world than Emma. Dr. Not-That-Charming had no idea what a gift he was being given.

Before he had a chance to look away, their eyes met. One corner of Emma’s mouth curled up. She licked some of the cannoli filling off her fingers. Charlie was sure he was going to burst into flames. Thank goodness Pete was a firefighter.

“What about the maid of honor? Is it unanimous?” Pete asked Emma, causing her to break their connection.

“Absolutely. That was the best food I’ve eaten...maybe ever.”

What Charlie wouldn’t give for her to see everything his way. He wished she could see how good they could be together. He didn’t have a perfect smile or a fancy medical degree, but he would give her the world if she asked for it.

“You guys should open your own restaurant. I’d eat there. Heck, I’d manage it,” Max said to Pete.

Pete smiled appreciatively but shook his head. “We thought about it once, but with my hours at the station, it wasn’t practical. I would have to quit my job and that’s too big of a risk when you’ve got three kids to take care of.”

“Maybe when you retire,” Max suggested. “I expect a phone call if you do.”

Gianna started collecting plates. Pete and Kendall hopped up to help. Gianna tried to get Kendall to stop. “You don’t have to do that. Please, sit. You’re our guest.”

“You have to let us help you clean up. It’s the least we can do,” Kendall insisted.

“Let’s send the men out to keep an eye on the kids while we take care of these dishes,” Emma suggested.

Gianna refused, but the sisters were adamant. There was nothing she could do but let them have their way. Pete offered the guys another drink and they headed outside to see what the children were up to.

“You’ve chosen well, Max,” Pete said as he leaned against the porch railing.

“Your cooking made it an easy decision.”

“Not that,” Pete said with a laugh. “Although, that was also an excellent choice. I meant your bride-to-be. She’s a keeper.”