Page 8 of Boyfriend Material
“Not necessary, baby.” Theo grinned as she blinked up at him. He’d obviously surprised her when he called her baby. She probably hadn’t noticed that he’d said it when she was having her panic attack earlier.
Considering it was the day before Thanksgiving, the line moved quickly, and a half hour later they were in the car and headed to Ellijay. Livie insisted on driving part of the way and took the first leg.
Once they were on the highway, Theo got out his phone and opened the note app.
“What are you doing?” Livie asked.
“I’m taking notes. If we’re going to be successful, we need to answer any question your family asks. Since you’re driving, I figured I’d ask you questions and take notes.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. You’re right, they will grill you big time. Probably not tonight, since it will probably be after ten by the time we get there. You’re right, we should be prepared for the grand inquisition tomorrow, especially with my brother and sister there.”
Theo laughed. “You really think it will be that bad?”
“Yes. Without a doubt. My parents have been waiting for me to settle down. They’re probably hoping that if I get married, I’ll give up the whole doctor idea. Plus, my sister and brother will love egging them on. This is going to be, I don’t know, since I’ve never brought a man home before.”
“Never? Not even in college?” Theo looked up from his phone as she spoke. Her admission triggered a bunch of questions. Had she ever dated? Was she totally inexperienced?
“Nope. Don’t get me wrong. I dated in college, just no one for very long. I’m not a virgin or anything. Bringing a guy home would mean I was serious about him. Since I wasn’t, I never did.”
“That means they are going to be waiting for me to propose?” Theo should be rethinking this crazy plan. Except he wanted to spend time with Livie, and if it meant putting up with her family, then so be it.
“I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re probably right. Good grief, what was I thinking asking you to do this? Damn. What were you thinking when you agreed?”
Theo chuckled. “Maybe we were suffering from over oxygenated air from the plane.”
“That’s as good an excuse as any, I guess. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Livie glanced at him before concentrating on the traffic.
“I’m sure, and that means we need to learn all we can about each other in the next hour.”
“Yup. I guess we should start with how we met. Let’s go with the Ready Room. We might as well keep it as real as possible.”
“I agree. The Ready Room it is. How long have we been dating?” Theo typed all the answers into his phone. He had an excellent memory, but he didn’t want to take any chances.
“Hmm, it can’t be before August since I was home for the summer and didn’t mention you.”
“Okay, so how about I invited you to a Labor Day party at my friend’s house for our first date?”
“That’ll work.”
Theo could barely make out her expression in the dim the light from the passing cars, but he saw her smile.
“What’s your specialty going to be?”
“They won’t expect you to know that. I doubt they know it. They’re probably praying I don’t pass my boards or get chosen for a residency.”
“Maybe, but I want to know. Did you pick something yet?” He couldn’t understand these people. How could they treat her like what she wanted didn’t matter? That she’d put up with their mental abuse for all these years spoke volumes about her character. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to fall for Olivia Anderson hard.
“Actually, I have. I want to be a pediatrician.”
“Any particular reason?” Her choice didn’t surprise him, but he was curious about her reasons.
“You really don’t need to know all of this.” Shaking her head, she sighed.
“But I want to know.”
“When I was in elementary school, I had a close friend with horrible parents. I didn’t realize until I was older that they’d probably been abusing her. No one had noticed or cared back then. One winter, she got very sick and stopped coming to school. When I asked about her, the teacher told me she died. I don’t think her parents ever took her to the doctor. I want to help as many children as possible, so they don’t end up like Lanie.”
“That’s horrific. I’m sorry you lost your friend. My parents had to deal with abusive situations sometimes. I guess as teachers, they saw too many children suffering in abusive homes.”
