The Best Medicine (24 page)

“Didn’t you tell me your decorator is Fontaine Baker?” Gabby asked.

I nodded.

“OK, well, let’s hope when he said
big reveal
, he meant your house.”

Chapter 25

DES M
C
KNIGHT’S HOUSE WAS LOCATED
just a few miles from my new place, on a quaint little street full of picturesque houses with meticulous landscaping. Tyler had arrived at my apartment in plenty of time, but I’d stalled getting ready until he’d finally insisted we leave. We were headed to the baby shower for Jasper and his wife. A baby shower that was sure to be full of hospital staff, a multitude of Gabby and Hilary’s cousins, and heaven only knew who else.

I should be fine. All of this should be fine. But the truth was, I was nervous as hell about showing up at this party together. I couldn’t imagine there was anyone in Bell Harbor who hadn’t heard about us. They’d certainly all discussed my private life before. But being whispered about was one thing. Boldly walking down the red carpet together for all the Bell Harbor paparazzi to see was something else entirely. I was about to make a public declaration. Yes, I was
officially
involved
with Tyler Connelly. His ultimatum two weeks ago had pretty much cemented that.

We stood on the brick front step until the door to Dr. McKnight’s h
ouse swung open and a pretty little girl smiled at us from the other side. “Are you here for the baby’s shower?”

“We are. Is this the right place?” Tyler said.

“Yep.” She nodded, sending a wave of curls around her face. “I’m Paige. Come on in.”

I spotted Mrs. Baker immediately. Of course she’d be here. She was the soon-to-be grandmother. That frothy, pale pink chiffon number she wore looked like it had been whipped up on a cotton candy machine. Des was next to her, holding a tiny baby. My heart gave a little hop, skip, and a flutter. Not because he was handsome, although he was, but because of the sweet bundle in his arms. A precious little junior McKnight all snuggled up right in the crook of his elbow. The pretty brunette next to him must be his wife, Sadie. Fontaine had mentioned her several times, saying they worked together when she wasn’t—as he put it—
breeding
. She was holding a baby too.

Twins. Oh, yes, of course. Dody had told me about the twins. My uterus clanged a Tibetan gong, sending out a particularly hollow sound in the cavern of my abdomen. I’d squashed most thoughts of babies lately, knowing that the SS
Fertility
was sailing off without me. Since I’d halted my husband hunt, that illusory dream of motherhood was fading away. With some effort on my part.

“Evelyn, hello and salutations!” Fontaine fluttered over, wearing white pants and a lavender-striped shirt. “How are you, darling?” He air kissed me on both cheeks and then stepped back.

“Oh! And how are
you
?” His voice went husky and dropped two octaves when he spotted my date. Tyler did look particularly fine tonight in a blue linen shirt and nice khaki pants. My decorator obviously approved.

“Fontaine, this is Tyler.”

“Yes, I know.” He smiled psychopathically, then leaned in and whispered, “Coo-coo cachou, you lucky little cougar.”

Oh, no. I was a cougar?

Fontaine grabbed my wrist and pulled me farther inside. “Do you love what I’ve done here? Tell me you love it. My partner and I decorate for parties too. You’ll have to let us plan the first soiree in your new house. Your furniture will arrive any day now, by the way. When do you want to move in?”

“As soon as possible. I’ve been waiting forever.”

“I know, baby girl. I’m getting things done as fast as I can, but artistry like mine can’t be rushed.”

We took another step forward and I saw . . . pink. Lots and lots and lots of pink. Bright pink vases, crimson flowers, cherry-colored balloons, even maroon lampshades. It was like the Cat in the Hat had thrown up in here.

“It’s remarkable,” I said.

“Oh, my stars! Is that my Dr. Rhoades?” An operatic voice cut through the mellow din of conversation as Mrs. Baker turned and saw me. She moved like a fluffy tornado, coming straight at us.

“Oh, it’s simply delightful to see you, dear. Fontaine, darling, get Dr. Rhoades and her escort some of that yummy punch.”

“It’s lovely to see you, Mrs. Baker.”

“Pish-posh, call me Dody. We don’t stand on ceremony around here. And who is this delectable fellow?” She flipped open a plastic fan and began to wave it at her flushed cheeks while her gaze roved over Tyler like he was a centerfold.

He smiled his flirty smile, which was to say, his normal, everyday smile. “So nice to meet you. I’m Tyler.”

“Oh, why yes. Of course you are. I’ve seen you at Jasper’s restaurant. You’re very handsome.”

He blushed adorably. She and I nearly swooned in unison.

“Thank you, Mrs. Baker,” he said.

“Oh, gracious. You can call me Dody. Or you can call me, maybe.” She held an imaginary telephone to her ear and Tyler laughed.

Fontaine came back with glasses of cherry-red punch. I almost asked if it was a strawberry dickery but immediately saw that conversation veering off in an irreparable direction. I took a sip and looked around instead. There must be close to thirty people here, chatting and laughing, and most of them were holding children at some stage of development. Tiny ones, bigger ones, wiggly ones, sleeping ones.

“You didn’t tell me this party was BYOB,” I whispered to Tyler.

“BYOB?”

“Bring your own baby?” I suddenly felt empty-handed and out of place. I should have anticipated a Bell Harbor baby shower would be full of babies.

“Have you met my niece? Come and meet my niece.” Dody pulled on my arm, almost causing me to spill the punch as we worked our way through the crowd. Tyler tagged along behind us, an amused smile on his face.

If Des McKnight was surprised to see me there, he didn’t show it. His wife gave me a warm smile too.

“Look who I found.” Dody’s singsong voice reverberated through the crowd. She’d make a good auctioneer.

“Evelyn, hi,” Des said. “Tyler. Glad you guys could make it.”

Tyler blushed as they shook hands, and I realized they’d met once before under less auspicious circumstances, when Des treated him in the ED. Des’s manner gave no indication he was thinking of that, though.

“Thanks for having us,” Tyler answered.

“Our pleasure.” Des leaned forward. “Please understand our house is not usually this pink. Fontaine had a theme, and there is no going against him.”

Sadie nodded in agreement. “My cousin was in charge of decorations. Don’t judge us.”

Don’t judge them? I nodded and smiled, feeling more at ease already. I slipped my arm through Tyler’s. “I’ve worked with Fontaine. He is tenacious with his motifs. He thinks my bedroom should look like a sultan’s harem.”

“Well,”—Dody stepped up closer—“I think it looks simply delightful in here. Lots of pink for a baby girl. They’re having a girl, don’t you know? Another girl, just like these two beauties.” She pointed at the twins. “This one is Shelby, and that one is Sydney.” Then she scratched her head furiously. “Oh, or is that one Sydney and this one Shelby? I can never tell.”

“I’ve got Shelby,” Des answered. Then he looked at his wife. “Right?”

She slapped him playfully. “Stop pretending like you can’t tell them apart. It’s not funny.”

His glance at me told me he wasn’t kidding. I hid my smile behind a sip of punch.

“Dr. Rhoades is going to do my surgery soon, but of course you already knew that. Aren’t I lucky to have the best surgeon in all of Bell Harbor?”

“That’s very kind of you to say, Dody, but I’m sure there are lots of great surgeons in town,” I said.

“Oh, pish-posh. I know how good you are. You needn’t be so self-defecating.”

Des burst out laughing and Sadie gasped. I heard Tyler chuckling beside me.

“I think you meant self-deprecating, Mom,” Fontaine called from over her shoulder.

“I do? Why? What did I say? Oh my goodness! That damned Anita Parker is stealing all the thin mints. Anita!”

Dody bustled away, on a mission. A whirlwind in pink fabric.

“So how old are these two?” Tyler asked, reaching out and squeezing a pudgy baby foot.

“Almost five weeks. And still completely nocturnal,” Sadie answered.

“I imagine with twins your hands are pretty full.” He nodded as if he knew anything at all about babies.

“They are,” she said, “but our older kids help.”

Des chuckled. “
Help
being relative. The other day our son wanted to put the babies in his wagon and pull them around behind his bike. I stopped that joyride in the nick of time.”

Sadie laughed. “Where was I?”

“Taking a shower. It all went down pretty fast.”

She pressed a hand against her face in false chagrin. “I’m just not as sharp as I used to be. Two babies now is a lot more exhausting than when my other kids were little. That extra ten years makes a big difference.”

Ten extra years. She looked to be about my age. See? I was already too old for a baby.

“Was that your daughter who opened the door?” Tyler asked.

Des nodded. “That’s Paige. She’s as good a hostess as Fontaine. And speaking of proper hosting, I have to admit this punch is awful. Tyler, want a beer? Come out on the deck with me and we can escape all this pink. I think Jasper is hiding there already.”

“It’s too warm outside for the baby,” Sadie s
aid, tipping her head at the mini-McKnight he was holding.

Des looked over at me, optimistically. “Would you like to hold her?”

Would I like to hold her? The baby? Would I like to hold the baby? That’s what he said, but what I heard was
Would you like to jump from this plane with no parachute?

“Um, sure.”

I held out my arms as if he were passing me a porcupine. His motions were casual, comfortable. Clearly he trusted my ability, even if I didn’t. But oh, good heavens. What if I dropped her? What if she cried? What if everyone could tell I hadn’t touched one of these things since my internship rotation in pediatrics? That had been a mighty long time ago.

Still, a rush of warmth spread through me as I took her, repositioning her in my arms. She stared up at me, the picture of intense tranquility. As if she knew how untutored I was and was silently promising to make this easy.

And easy it was. So easy. Maternal feelings fluttered around my heart like springtime butterflies, tickling just a little. She was beautiful, and squeezable, and warm. She smelled like baby powder and pure heaven.

My uterus howled like a lonely coyote.

Damn it. I did want one of these. I really, really did.

My glance up at Tyler was involuntary.

He looked at the baby.

And then at me.

Then he looked at the baby again as if she were Pandora’s box about to burst open. And maybe she was.

His cheeks flamed red.

Des thumped him on the back and gave an amused huff of laughter. “You need a beer.” It wasn’t a question, and Tyler turned and walked away without making eye contact with me again.

“That’s Shelby you’ve got,” Sadie said when the men had left us. “This one is Sydney. Do you have kids?”

The inevitable burn of cheek flush stole over my face as I began to stammer. “Me? No. Not yet. I mean, well, no. I think I may have missed my chance on that.”

She expertly flipped the baby up to her shoulder and patted its back gently. “Why?”

“I’m thirty-five.” I held up my left hand. “No husband. Kind of want one in the picture.”

“Understandable. You’ve got time, though. I’m thirty-six, and it all went fine with these two.”

“Yeah, I don’t see it happening.” I looked out toward the deck where the men were standing around a keg, laughing and talking with animated gestures. Tyler looked visibly more relaxed than he had when staring at me with the baby in my arms. I understood his reaction. He knew I wanted one of these. I hadn’t made it a secret. And it wasn’t my fault that holding her had set off a primordial chemical reaction in every maternal cell in my body, making me sway like a human metronome.

Sadie’s gaze followed mine, and we were silent for a moment.

When she turned back to me, her smile was sincere. “You know, there aren’t many secrets in this town.”

That made me laugh. “Yes, I’ve learned that.”

“Yeah. Well, for what it’s worth, everyone in this town thinks Tyler is a pretty good guy.”

He was. There was no denying it. Tyler Connelly was a good guy.

“Yes, he is,” I finally answered. “And very sweet. He’s also eight years younger than me. What does this town say about that?”

Sadie’s smile broadened. “They say you’re probably having a really good time.”

Chapter 26

THE SUN WAS SETTING OVER
the lake, and a soft haze in the air gave our surroundings a muted, mystical quality. Or it could just be that I’d had two glasses of wine at dinner. Maybe it was my vision that was hazy. Either way, it was a warm, beautiful evening as Tyler and I strolled aimlessly along the docks of the Bell Harbor marina. He pointed out various boats, discussing aspects of each one as if they were old friends. He’d grown up at this place, and every captain we encountered as we walked had a smile and a wave for him.

“That’s the
Mongoose
, a thirty-eight-foot Tiara Express,” Tyler told me, pointing at a white boat with a navy-blue top. “Lots of extras on that one. And next to that is the
Fishing Fortress
. It’s a Sea Ray Express. Most of these have dual big-block Chevy engines.”

He said this as if it meant something significant. It didn’t. Not to me. But I didn’t have the heart to tell him all these boats looked pretty much identical, or that I didn’t know a big-block engine from a big block of cheese. Mostly I was just enjoying his enthusiasm and silently wishing he could somehow manage to restart his father’s charter business.

“Did you know it’s bad luck to take bananas on a fishing boat?” he said as we got to the end of one dock and turned around to go back.

“No. Why?”

He shrugged. “Not sure exactly, but it has something to do with the old trading days. I guess tarantulas would hide in the banana crates, and on
ce you had a couple of mating tarantulas on your boat, it was hard to get rid of them.”

My whole body shuddered. “Oh, that’s awful. I’d have to jump overboard if I was on a boat full of big, hairy, badass spiders.”

Tyler laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I had no idea you were afraid of spiders.”

“I’m not, usually, but being surrounded by an extended family of scary tarantulas is different. Ugh!” I shuddered again but saw a perfect opening. “By the way, speaking of being surrounded by scary families, how would you feel about coming to my parents’ wedding?”

Tyler laughed. “Nice segue. Are they venomous?”

“Tarantulas or my family?”

“Either or.”

“No to both, but I do have a sneaking suspicion my mother’s personality has been supplanted by an alien. Long story. But the good news is, my family isn’t that big and they’re all sick to death of coming to my dad’s weddings, so it should be a pretty small crowd. It’s next weekend.”

“Next weekend?”

We stopped walking and stood face-to-face. I think I’d surprised him.

“Next Friday I’m working, but I can see about switching with someone, I guess.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mention it sooner. I’ve blocked the whole thing from my mind, and now suddenly here it is. It’s in Bloomfield Hills, so we’d have to spend the night on Saturday.”

One eyebrow rose. “I assume I’d have my own room. I’m not the type to shack up with a woman at some cheesy motel.”

“It will be a very nice hotel.”

He smiled. I tingled.

“In that case, I will happily shack up with you.”

“Excellent.” I rose up on my toes and kissed him. Then we started walking again, our hands linked and swinging.

“So, there is something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” Tyler said. “Something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’m not sure what you’ll think.”

He suddenly seemed a little pensive, and so suddenly, so was I. Any conversation that started with
there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you
usually ended up with someone being very upset. Or someone being very surprised. Or someone being very broken up with.

“OK. Let’s hear it.” We stopped walking again and I braced for impact.

He gazed out over the water for a minute, his lips pressed into a line until he finally started talking. “I’ve been a basic EMT for almost three years now. I’ve advanced as far as I can without additional classroom training. So . . .” He took a big breath and blew out the last part, “So, I’m thinking about enrolling in an advanced paramedic training course.”

“Paramedic training?” I’m sure I sounded surprised, not by what he’d said, but purely from relief over the absence of bad news. This was great news.

He nodded and started rapid-fire talking, as if he’d been saving up all these words for just the right moment and they were finally pushing their way out, like a seed breaking through the soil in time-lapse photography.

“Yeah, there’s an excellent program in Grand Rapids that I could do and still keep my job at MedPro. I’d have to keep working, obviously. I need the money. But those shifts would count as part of my internship. It’ll take a while, a year and a half in the classroom, plus I’ll have to take an anatomy and physiology course. But I think I can do it. Tuition is about nine grand, which I don’t exactly have right now, but I’m working on that.”

He ran out of breath and stared at me expectantly, watching for my reaction.

A paramedic?

“Tyler, I love that idea.”

Relief flooded his features. “You do? You don’t think it’s too . . . you know, simplistic?”

“Simplistic?”

“Yes. Simplistic. Evelyn, you’ve made it all the way through medical school and residency. Being a paramedic doesn’t really compare to that.”

The fact that he would think that hurt my feelings, but I guess I could see his point. Still, I wish that thought had never occurred to him.

“It’s not a contest, Tyler. Plus being a paramedic is an incredibly hard job. We both know that. I’ve been in the emergency department enough times when those guys show up to know there’s nothing easy about what they do. Plus I think you’ll be fantastic. You’re a natural.”

He smiled, and I could practically feel the tension easing out of him. We started walking again. “How do you figure that?” he asked.

“You just are. You take care of people constantly. Look how wonderful you were with me when I had the flu.”

His laughter echoed over the water. “Buying you Popsicles because you puked is hardly proof I’ll make a good paramedic. You’re being overly generous.”

“I’m not. And I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me this sooner.”

“I don’t know. I guess I wanted to look into it a little more before saying anything. I’ve been in such a holding pattern waiting for the legal stuff to get resolved. The delay with that is frustrating.”

I felt his elation bottling back up. I leaned closer against him as we headed back toward the buildings of the marina.

“What does your lawyer say about the delay?” I was tempted to mention that his lawyer was my best friend’s husband who may or may not be having an affair, but it didn’t seem relevant. And either way, Steve might be an asshole, but I had no idea if he was a good attorney.

“My lawyer says be patient. Scotty turns twenty-one next week, so at least the assault charges will be sealed forever. That’s a huge load off everyone’s mind, and he’s heading off to Fort Jackson at the end of the month.”

I lowered my voice. “Does your lawyer know it was Scotty who stole the Jet Ski?”

Tyler’s gaze darted around but no one was close enough to hear us. “He didn’t steal it. He borrowed it. And no. There was no point in telling him that.”

“I disagree. I think you should tell him everything. It might influence things in your favor.” Like the amount of crap Steve believed about Tyler and his family. And the amount of crap Hilary believed too.

“This is all being handled, Evie. OK? I appreciate your concern, but you don’t need to worry about it.”

His phone chimed in his pocket and he pulled it out. His face went pale as his eyes moved over the text message. His voice rasped with frustration. “Here’s something to worry about, though. God damn it. My mother’s been caught by security at Mason’s Jewelry Store. Shoplifting.”