Page 50 of Anatomy of a Meet Cute
“Do you still see Gary?” she asked, carefully watching his face for any signs that he might be done with the subject.
“If it’s convenient for me, we might grab coffee, but I don’t go out of my way.” Grant shrugged one shoulder, then scowled slightly. “I don’t typically tell people about Gary. Does that sound cold?”
“Not any colder than me saying my mom is controlling.” Sam chuckled and watched the lines on Grant’s face relax. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that he might be nervous about what she thought of him, and it made her heart squeeze just a little. For good measure, she threw in, “But I’m coldhearted. Hence why I like ice cream so much.”
“In that case, I guess we’ll just be coldhearted together. Must be why we are engaged,” Grant said, beaming at her corny joke as they approached the block where the car was parked. Pulling his keys from his pocket, he said, “What do you say, fiancée? Want to check out another venue? Or do you need more weird-flavored ice cream?”
“Is both an option?” Sam laughed.
“I think I can arrange for that.” Grant winked at her as he unlocked the car, and Sam was almost positive that if she hadn’t been holding so tightly to her heart, it might have floated away.
Chapter Fourteen
“No wonder the chaplains were so willing to share.”
Duke’s voice bounced off the sad beige walls and shook Sam out of her horror-induced stupor. When Dr.Franklin had said the space needed work, she’d thought he meant it needed paint or something. This room didn’t just need paint; it needed an act of God.
On one side of the room, decrepit-looking benches were piled high. Dust and spiderwebs that looked too costumey to be real hung off them. On the other side of the room was a series of scattered folding chairs, ancient desks, a tipped-over garbage bin, and one half-deflated BOSU ball. The one bright spot was a stained glass window depicting a peaceful garden scene, which was mysteriously mounted on a wall with no windows.
“The head of the chaplains and therapy services swore that the window works if we change the light bulb,” Grant said helpfully. Taking in Duke’s look of skepticism, he added, “I don’t think an imam would lie.”
“There is a first time for everything,” Theo said under his breath. Jehan snickered at the joke, which she quickly turned into a cough when Kaiya glared at her.
Turning her attention to Sam and Grant, Kaiya asked, “This is what we’ve got?”
“Yes,” Sam said, feeling disappointment set in. It wasn’t really the grand unveiling she had wanted to give Kaiya and the team. She hadhoped to at least run down here and look at the room before everyone else, but of course, a doctor’s schedule was never that simple. Instead, she’d been called in to observe the birth of triplets, an experience that was great for her continued education but terrible for her preparation.
“And this is who is going to help us get the room together?” Kaiya sniffed at the stale air, then looked at the group of helpers Sam had cobbled together.
“That’s right.” Sam tried to sound upbeat. When she’d recruited everyone, it seemed like enough people; three players from her and Grant’s respective basketball teams, plus Duke, Jehan, and two other emergency doctors Jehan had managed to guilt into helping. Of course, now that she was taking the mess in, Sam wished she’d recruited the entire hospital basketball league.
Finally, Kaiya shrugged and said, “We’ll make it work.”
Next to her, Sam heard Grant’s audible sigh and looked over just in time to see his shoulders relax. After Kaiya had agreed to be part of the project, Sam had sent Grant literally everything she’d written. He hadn’t said much about her at the time, but given the way he was acting, Sam suspected she wasn’t the only one who was a little starstruck.
Nodding at Kaiya, Grant said, “All right. While Kaiya works on a new layout for the room, why don’t we get busy cleaning up? Theo, Raphael, and Kelly, would you all be up for carrying the benches and old furniture down to storage? Jehan and the emergency team, maybe you all could be in charge of clearing up the dust and dirt. And Duke, I’m sorry, but you are the tallest, and before we can get this room painted professionally, someone has to take the cobwebs off the walls.”
“Well, what are you and Sam gonna do?” Duke asked, frowning at the walls like they might bite him. Sam almost laughed. Grant had no way of knowing that he had literally just assigned the biggest neat freak in the entire hospital to lean up against dirt.
“We’re going to take on the most emotionally taxing job of all.” Grant half smiled and paused a beat for dramatic effect before saying, “Putting together IKEA furniture.”
“Woof. Good luck with that,” someone from the emergency team laughed.
“If you want to sit on the dirty floor and wonder where the hell I9 is, you’re welcome to join us.” Sam smiled sweetly at Duke while the rest of the room started to shuffle toward their assignments.
Duke looked down at the floor, then back at the walls before saying, “I’ll stay standing, thanks.”
For a moment, Sam and Grant watched Duke shuffle toward the wall in silence as if he were about to face a firing squad. Turning to look at Sam, Grant said, “Do you think he is gonna pass out before he gets to the wall, or ...”
“He might. You never really know with Duke.”
Grant smirked and shook his head, then looked over his shoulder at the small mountain of filing cabinets, desks, and storage crates that needed constructing. Kaiya had rightly suggested that they get the chaplains and doulas furniture on casters so the room could be rearranged as needed. At the time, Sam had thought this was a great idea, but now, staring down at about a zillion wheels she needed to attach, she wished they had the budget for something preassembled. Sighing, she said, “You ready to feel deeply inadequate and fight with a tiny wrench?”
When Grant didn’t immediately respond, Sam looked up to find him staring at her hard. Locking eyes with her, he said, “I was born ready.”
Sam’s memory flashed back to their interview at Anjo as Grant laughed so hard the sound would have echoed off the walls if they weren’t plastered with dust. Sam snorted and shook her head. He must have been waiting weeks for her to say something that would let him make that joke. Watching him wheezing at his own humor, a small part of Sam enjoyed the fact that the Grant she’d met in front of thatbuilding wasn’t as stuffy as she’d thought he was. Even better, he was, deep down, a nerd who planned his jokes.
“I deserved that,” Sam said when Grant looked up, his body still shaking slightly as he tried to get his giggles under control.
