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Graham nodded. “He’s of the opinion Mike Francis is a womanizer. That’s the polite version of what he told me last night.”
“Zak should know the media sensationalizes everything. I’ve gotten to know the real Mike. He’s a terrific person.”
“I’m sure he is or you wouldn’t be dating him. That’s what I told Zak.” He winked. “Just thought you’d like to know I’m on your side.”
“I appreciate that.”
How ironic that she’d already decided to stop seeing Mike, and all because of Zak.
His mere existence was causing turmoil in this house. Judging by the shadows beneath Sherilyn’s eyes as she came down the stairs to find Graham, it wasn’t over yet.
“Darling? Zak heard the bell and wondered why you haven’t come up for him yet.”
“I’m on my way.” He kissed his wife’s cheek before taking the stairs two at a time.
Michelle hurried over to her sister-in-law and gave her a hug. “He was telling me about Lynette.”
“I can’t believe what’s happened.” Tears entered her eyes. “If that’s not bad enough, Zak’s going away again. We see so little of him as it is.”
“Why don’t you come to the beach on Sunday, with or without Lynette. I’ll fix dinner. We haven’t all sat down together for a long time. It’ll be good for everybody.”
It’ll be good for me to have family around.
“That makes me feel better already. I’ll bring the dessert.”
“Just bring yourselves. Let me wait on you for a change. In fact while I’m taking care of him, why don’t you plan on coming every Saturday for the next month and staying overnight.”
“You’d have to check with Zak first. He keeps his private life to himself, but I know he has a girlfriend because she called his room every day while he was in the hospital.”
For some strange reason Michelle didn’t want to hear about that. She didn’t want to think about him being intimate with another woman.
Furious with herself because she shouldn’t care about Zak’s private life one way or the other she said, “I guess we can talk about future plans on Sunday. Now tell me where his medications are.”
“In the kitchen. I’ll get them.”
“Okay. I’ll meet you at the car.”
Relieved she wouldn’t have to have physical contact with Zak until they reached Carlsbad, Michelle hurried outside and opened the front passenger door.
The month wouldn’t be nearly as difficult to get through if the family showed up on a regular basis. Maybe a miracle would happen and Lynette would come to her senses before this weekend was over.
Michelle slid behind the wheel and shut the door, ready to begin her nursing job. That’s what it was. She had a patient to take care of. Period.
Out of the periphery she saw Zak walk slowly toward the car with her brother and sister-in-law bracing him on either side. This morning he was dressed in sandals and the same pair of gray sweats.
Her thoughts raced ahead. In a few minutes they were going to be alone. She sat there and waited, not daring to look at him.
No one could actually help Zak get in the car. The breath he expelled when he lay back against the seat told her what the effort had cost him.
Graham set an overnight bag in the back seat, then shut both doors. “Drive safely.”
Sherilyn nodded. “Two of our favorite people are inside.”
“Michelle was always an excellent driver,” Zak murmured. “For a number of reasons I couldn’t be in better hands.”
Zak’s voice seemed to have taken on a velvety quality just then. She’d felt it resonate to the very core of her being.
Her hands tightened on the wheel. “I promise to call you when we get there so you’ll stop worrying. See you on Sunday,” she called to them before backing out of the driveway.
Once they drove off he drawled, “What’s happening on Sunday?”
“They’re coming for dinner.”
“That sounds nice.”
“I think so, too.” She was pleased the thought of it made him happy.
“It’ll be good for Lynette to see everyone together,” he murmured.
His comment convinced her he didn’t know the latest development. She waited until they reached the freeway to tell him what had happened earlier that morning.
“Your remarks to Graham were right on,” Zak said when she’d finished relating the gist of the conversation with her brother. “Lynette’s perspective will change once she’s part of the working world. She’s a smart girl. Given time she’ll figure out her life.”
“That’s easy enough for both of us to say, but then she’s not our daughter.”
She bit her lip when she realized what she’d just said.
“If Lynette were ours, at least we know we’d be in agreement over our course of action. Speaking of children, I know you always wanted a family one day. Did Rob’s illness affect your ability to conceive?”
Considering the fact that she and Zak used to be able to talk about anything, she shouldn’t have been surprised by his personal question. But that was before this…awareness of him had sprung into existence with a life all its own.
She had no choice but to tough out moments like this if she was going to last as long as it took to take care of him.
“He became ill before I could make an appointment with my obstetrician to undergo tests for infertility. When Rob was diagnosed, he felt it best we didn’t pursue trying to bring a child into the world.”
She could still hear her husband saying those words in his quiet yet implacable tone that brooked no argument.
“I realize his opinion was colored by all the single mothers whose children he took care of in the emergency room. No father around, no husband providing for them. No hope for a happier future. He wanted me to be free to get on with my career, my life.”
She heard Zak take a deep breath. “His reasoning makes perfect sense. In his place I would have said the same thing. To know you were going to die would bring out every protective instinct to leave your spouse in the best circumstances possible.
“But I’m not in his place yet, thank God, and I can see how much comfort you would have derived from having his child to love and nurture.”
Don’t say anymore, Zak. You understand too much. You have a wisdom beyond your years. You always did.
It was time to change the subject.
“Sherilyn told me there was a woman who called you at the hospital every day. I don’t remember hearing her name.”
“It was probably Breda Neilson.”
That sounded Scandinavian. Most likely she was statuesque and beautiful.
“Why don’t you ask her for dinner on Sunday?”
“Does this mean you’ve already invited Mike Francis?” He’d fired the question at her so fast she was stunned. Graham had warned her.
“Of course not. When I’m on duty I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
“Just after hours,” came the baiting rejoinder.
“I’d rather not talk about Mike if you don’t mind.”
“He’s not the right man for you, Michelle.”
She’d already found that out on her own, but not for the same reasons Zak judged him. Maybe it was better he didn’t know she was about to end it with Mike. For her own self-preservation the pretense of a love interest could help act as a buffer against Zak’s devastating charisma.
She fought for a steadying breath. “What I was trying to say is, you must know Graham and Sherilyn would love to meet anyone important to you.”
“When that day comes, they’ll know all about it. How long was Mike Francis laid up with his broken leg?”
They were back to Mike again.
“After he was released from the hospital, two months.”
“I understand his townhouse borders the golf course.”
“Yes.”
“To look out the window every day and know he couldn’t work on his putting, which needs a lot of help by the way, must have been tough on him.”
“It was.”
“But not too tough with you there to see to his every need.”
His innuendo sent warmth to her cheeks.
“Between therapy sessions he watched videos of his game to see where he could improve.”
“Is that what he told you,” came the mocking reply. “No doubt it fed his ego for you to sit for hours admiring him.”
Michelle blinked. Zak really didn’t like him. How could he possibly swallow all the lies fed by the media? Why did he care?
“Nursing Mike taught me about the game of golf. I never understood it or had an interest in it before.”
“And now you do.”
“Yes. Not to play, but to watch. It takes incredible skill and tenacity.”
After a pause, “Did you know his wife left him because he’d had a string of affairs?”
Michelle might not be in love with Mike, but she cared enough about him to disabuse Zak of that myth.
“It’s the other way around. He divorced his wife when he found out she’d had an affair. She wants him back. I know because she came to the townhouse several times to try to talk to him. When he refused to see her, she broke down and talked to me, hoping I would intervene.”
A strange sound escaped Zak’s throat. “The truth probably lies somewhere in-between both their explanations.”
She’d thought the same thing. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“Are you prepared to be the new focus of the press?” he demanded. “If you can’t see the way they’ll exploit the nurse turns lover scenario, I can.”
Michelle had thought about it. Zak’s blunt way of putting things only underlined her own misgivings in that department. However if she’d been in love with Mike, she wouldn’t have let fear of the intrusion of the press stop her from being with him.
“How’s the nausea?” she interjected on purpose. “Would you like me to stop somewhere and get you a drink?”
“I can see I’ve touched a nerve,” he murmured. “The answer to both questions is, my stomach seems to have settled down and I don’t require anything more than to be back in my own home with my favorite nurse.”
She smiled. “Sounds like the name of an old radio show. And now folks, stay tuned to My Favorite Nurse. I’m old enough to qualify.”
He let out a chuckle that was quickly followed by a groan. “Somebody lied,” he said. “It takes more muscles to laugh.”
“Except that laughter has other medicinal qualities to cure what ails you.”
“I happen to agree. Now tell me where in the hell you ever got the idea that you were old.”
“When you reach the venerable age of thirty-five, you won’t have to ask that question. Fortunately for you, that time is many years away yet.”
“If anyone were listening to us, they’d assume you were talking to a child. Don’t you know once a person reaches adulthood, age becomes a relative thing? You’re feeling old inside because you’ve been nursing patients nonstop since college.”
This line of conversation was starting to make her uncomfortable.
“You didn’t even take time off from your work after you got married,” he persisted. “When your husband became ill, you nursed him with everything you had in you, then lost yourself in the care of other patients. It’s time for a change, Michelle.”
“You mean I should find another way to earn my living after you no longer require my services?” she teased to hide her increasing turmoil.
“I’m talking a complete break from any kind of work.” He sounded so serious, she was astounded.
“I’d go mad from boredom.”
“Good, if that’s what it would take to shake you out of your octogenarian mind set.”
She pressed on the accelerator. “Anything else you want to get off your chest before we reach the Coast Highway?”
“I’ve only scratched the surface, but the rest can keep for later. We’ve got weeks ahead of us.”
The reminder that they’d be alone together for the next month sent tremors through her body. Michelle couldn’t explain her own overpowering awareness of him unless it was the fact that he’d been in the background of her life since Graham had met Sherilyn.
Once he’d decided to marry her, he sold the family home he and Michelle had grown up in. Being a protective brother, he found another house with a separate apartment for Michelle so they could still remain close.
