Page 38 of Motivating Mira
I looked around at the restaurant, reminded of how excited I was to be here the last time. Not the restaurant, but the ranch itself.
“I’m focused on another situation, but soon. Soon, I’ll need my own life. I spend too much time at the hospital or at home putting out fires.”
“Fires? You mean your roommates? Why don’t you just move? You’re a doctor, surely you don’t need roommates.”
“They’re not just regular roommates,” I replied, staring at the flecks of gold in her brown eyes. “They’re the reason I’m here. Well, one of the reasons.”
She picked up her margarita glass, taking a sip. My eyes instantly fell to her mouth where her tongue flicked out to lick excess salt from the rim of the glass. My groin tightened.
“Tell me about them.”
“Well, you know Jesse.”
Her brow furrowed. “I do?”
“Dr. Tanner.”
“Oh! He works in the emergency department with you.”
I nod. “Yeah. So, I met Jesse in med school. He was my roommate, and he introduced me to Beth, a girl in our class who he went to high school with. We all got close. They both had wholesome albeit boring childhoods here in Montana. But where Jesse didn’t have a serious bone in his body, Beth was all determination and hard work. And me? Well, I already told you about my brother, and my parents and their expectations, so you know I was serious myself.” I took a sip of my margarita and continued.
“Jesse helped us let loose and in turn we helped him stay on track. None of us would have made it as well-rounded people and MDs without each other.”
“So, you all still live together?” She throws up her hands to stop me before I can answer her. “Is this a love triangle? Is your life a real like medical soap-slash-drama? Are you McDreamy or McSteamy? Or, oh man, are you poor George?”
I shook my head, chuckling but didn’t continue since Silas returned suddenly, setting chips and salsa on the table. We ordered some guacamole for the chips, two more margaritas, and fish tacos.
“So go on,” Mira reminded, as soon as he was gone, shoving a chip into her mouth. I drained my margarita.
“Not roommates. Beth never lived with us. She lived at home with her parents but spent a lot of time on campus with us, since according to her, there was no way she could study at home with all the noise. Anyway, when school was done, we all went our separate ways, doing our internships in different hospitals and cities.
“And then Beth took a residency in the hospital where I worked the next year in Canada. And since she had no family, friends, or support system there, or even back home since her parents had died, she had to come clean about a little secret she’d been keeping. She had a daughter.
“She’d had her when she was nineteen and told me the father wasn’t involved, so it had been her parents who had helped her all those years while she was in school. But with them having recently passed away in a car accident, she had no one.
“I gave her shit for not telling us about her parents’ deaths, reminding her that both Jesse and I would have flown in to be with her, but being her usual stubborn self, she said she had it covered. And then swore to me she hadn’t followed me to Canada for support. Told me it was just a happy coincidence that she got accepted into the same residency program as me.”
Mira listened intently, her eyes focused completely on me.
“Anyway, she hadn’t found a place yet and I had a three-bedroom condo that my grandparents bought me when I was accepted into the program so… it was too big for one man and Beth hated that Marni would have to be with a nanny so much while she worked. With our shifts often being opposite, Marni got to be with me or her mom more often than the hired nanny.”
“Wow. I can’t imagine how hard that would have been for her.”
I nodded, grabbing a chip and chewing it even though it tasted like cardboard since my story was about to turn tragic.
“They became my chosen family. I watched Marni grow from an adorable seven-year-old to a smart and sassy teenager.” I shoved my margarita glass away, as if it was the rising grief inside me, and folded my fingers together to keep myself from fidgeting. “Long story, long, Beth died five months ago, leaving me and her thirteen-year-old daughter wrecks.”
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” She reached out and touched my hands, giving them a squeeze. “That’s so sad.” She looked like she might cry so I took her hand and gave it a squeeze back.
“So, with her having no family…” I watched her do the proverbial math. Her eyes widened. “You’ve got a thirteen-year-old?”
“No. Well, kind of. There’s a twist.” I rubbed my thumb along the top of her silky hand, noticing they were clean where I used to see little flecks of paint on them that she’d never gotten completely off when she’d wash them. “I was only her temporary guardian until Marni’s father could be found and notified.” I looked at Mira, her eyes were focused on me, and she sat forward waiting almost impatiently for me to continue.
“Father? But he wasn’t in the picture, right?”
“Right. I didn’t even know Beth knew who he was until her lawyer told me the request Beth left in her will for me.”
“What request?” Mira’s brow furrowed.
