Page 4 of Paging Dr. Breakup
Yes, a little more ED business would be helpful. Anything to keep the staff too busy for matchmaking.
Stepping into the on-call room, he selected a fresh set of scrubs from the closet and placed the coffee-stained vest at the bottom of his locker.
He stopped and rubbed his palms together, trying to replicate the sensation of having Deirdre in his arms. After all these years.
He dropped a fist onto the locker, enough for the smack of pain to jolt him back to reality.
Unfortunately, his brain wouldn’t stop. Not after getting a hint of what he had walked away from years ago.
The definition of torture was the image of Elijah and Deirdre as partners. Happy. Together. Close. He couldn’t turn off the mental video. Deirdre had looked up at him mere minutes ago with that gentle smile that hid years of sadness.
Sadness that he wanted to—
To what? What would he do? They had no future.
The first virtual bucket of ice water hit him.
No future.
Then the second virtual bucket woke him the hell up. His chest clenched at the specter of Elijah, his friend’s grinning expression warm and welcoming. Cal couldn’t compete—wouldn’t compete—when it came to his friend.
Resting his head against the cool metal locker door, Cal remembered what it was to be second best.
Why hewassecond best.
Chapter Three
“Hey, sis, how’sit going?”
Deirdre looked up from her office desk. Her younger—but not smaller—brother had arrived early for the Thursday morning seven a.m. district trauma committee meeting. “Busy. The usual. How are the babies doing?”
Mav rolled his eyes as he shrugged out of his labeled navy EMS jacket. “Eating me out of house and home as usual.” He loved those motley sled dogs.
Deirdre did too, though nowadays, she never seemed to have time to take them out for a run.
He continued. “Before you ask, I’m fine to handle this weekend’s guest arrival. There is only one couple coming in, and I don’t have any EMS shifts.” His mouth twisted in a rueful expression. “Not sure what outdoor activities the visitors will want to do. Snow’s melting, mud’s growing. Hope they don’t mind getting a little messy.”
Deirdre nodded as she shoved her heavy-duty XTRATUF boots under her desk. She’d clean the silty wet clumps on the floor before the environmental services staff gave her the stink eye. Ugh. Mud season. Almost as fun as mosquito season, which followed a few months later.
Pivoting in the chair, she slipped on leather pumps appropriate for work. As she stood, Deirdre snagged the black cardigan on the back of her office chair and shrugged it over her beige button-down shirt, all while she glared at her brother.
Going from practical outdoor gear to professional was magical transformation at its finest. “I wasn’t going to grill you about your preparations, Mav. I know you have it handled.”
“Hey, just covering my bases with a micromanaging older sister. Anticipating fifty questions and all.”
“I’m not that bad. Or that much older.” She sputtered. “I want to help out with the lodge, though. Do my part in the business.”
“As long as you can pinch hit when I’m unavailable, come visit the babies from time to time, and help cover the costs of various repairs and improvements, then that’s enough.”
She frowned at the clods of mud her brother was shedding from his black EMS work boots as they exited her office. “With Tuli’s social media boost, bookings are up. It’s nice to see the lodge business moving in the right financial direction for a change.”
“Not like it could have gone much further in the other direction. It’s a relief, though. Mom and Dad would be proud of us.” He rubbed his chin, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Speaking of making Mom and Dad proud…”
Oh, no. Not Mav. She opened her mouth to veer the conversation in a safer direction, but she wasn’t fast enough.
“I heard you saw Dr. Garrett.”
“Calvin? Sure. We ran into each other.”
