Page 42 of Paging Dr. Breakup
“She’s fine,” Cal said vaguely. He hated the deception, but giving everyone a controllable bone of gossip to chew on was better than capricious matchmaking and relentless prying.
It was bad enough he had committed to a fake relationship. Earlier this week, he had apparently managed to ruin it. How could someone screw up something that didn’t exist? Exhibit A: Cal.
He looked up. The wonder twins were still staring at him.
He patted his phone and pretended to read a text while he juggled the cafeteria tray. “Gotta go. ED needs me.”
“Huh,” Lee said, lifting an eyebrow.
Chances were, she knew that move. Fake pages worked for years to get him out of boring lunch lectures in residency, timed to occur right after the food was finished and the speaker had begun talking. Busted.
“See ya later, Calvin.” She waved.
Before he could turn fully around, they leaned toward each other once again. Low murmurs and laughter chased him out of the cafeteria.
They were two devious peas in a pod.
Two magnets happily pulling toward each other.
Instead of being irritated, Cal felt… empty. Like he was missing out on something.
His life was fine as it was. He had a flexible schedule. Seattle and Washington state had a lot to offer. He could go whitewater paddling or hiking anytime. No obligations to stop him. No coordinating his life with someone else’s. Work fulfilled him. His parents might drive him a little crazy at times, but he loved them. Their health and safety was a priority.
He had an entire life in Seattle and a place there. He had friends and colleagues. He patted the phone in his back scrub pocket, knowing that he had a way to fix this entire messy situation.
Sure, things could be better. He glanced back as he exited the cafeteria. Lee and Maverick smiled at each other as they murmured.
That was what he could have. Thebetter.
If the situation were different.
If he and Deirdre were different.
He stopped walking. Gripped the tray.
What if she had been right?
What if Cal hadn’t ever been second best?
Chapter Sixteen
Friday evening, Deirdrepulled up in front of the Three Bears. Time for groceries. No dinner with Calvin tonight. An hour ago, he had texted that something had come up.
She knew an excuse when she heard one, but whatever. It wasn’t like they were in a real relationship. Could someone be stood up if they weren’t actually dating?
She hadn’t been looking forward to a dinner out with him anyway. Too many kind but probing questions delivered in his calm, understanding manner would wear her armor away like ice slowly eroding a glacial ravine. Questions she wasn’t prepared to answer now, or possibly ever.
Truth be told, she couldn’t look at his caring, gray eyes for an hour and not break.
With cooler temperatures in early April, the slush had tightened up once again. She zipped up her coat over her tan sweater and rubbed her gloved hands on her wool pants. As she put her hand on the Subaru doorframe, she glanced at the Yukon Valley Diner next door to Three Bears and froze.
Entering the diner was a man with a familiar tall frame, although he slouched tonight, a winter coat collar pulled up over his neck. Despite the twilight, she could see him in the glass entryway of the diner. Calvin.
He had declined dinner with her tonight.
He was here, at dinnertime, tonight. In the place they were going to have a meal together.
She gripped the handle of the car door, unable to move. Sadness. Irritation. Relief. Betrayal and embarrassment rushed through her, like frigid debris and ice-laden water churning downstream to the ocean. She couldn’t filter it fast enough. Couldn’t pull that armor around her.
