“What about summer break? You’ll have more time for yourself then, won’t you? Medical school isn’t in session in summer, right?”
“Connor has a couple of months off school. He told me he’s doing something called a preceptorship. Basically, shadowing in a family practice clinic.”
“That’s what he wants to do? Family practice?”
“Last I heard.” Not that she’d talked to him much lately, she thought glumly. “There’s a huge demand for family practice doctors as opposed to specialists. They don’t make as much money, but that isn’t why Connor is going into this, as we’ve already discussed.”
“I still think he should have stuck with teaching,” Natalie murmured. “That’s another field with huge demand. And because money supposedly doesn’t matter to him, he shouldn’t mind living on a teacher’s salary.”
“He wants to be a doctor.”
“Hmm. Wants it badly enough to sacrifice a lot for it, apparently.”
Mia frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Come on, Mia. Look at the hours he’s already put into this. His old friends here at the school never see him anymore. Coach Johnson told me the other day that he felt as though Connor had dropped off the face of the earth, and they were pretty tight when Connor worked here. And I know his other old buddies feel the same way.”
“He just doesn’t have time.”
“He’s got a kid he hardly sees, leaving you completely responsible for her. You’re trying to do your work, prepare for your future and take care of his daughter all at the same time, and the strain is showing on you. You never go out, you don’t seem as happy as you used to be, you’re blowing off chances to meet guys who could have something to offer you other than an unpaid housekeeping position, you know?”
“Oh, come on, Natalie, that isn’t—”
Some sixth sense made Mia aware that they weren’t alone. She turned to see Connor standing in the doorway.
At first, she thought her eyes might be deceiving her. Surely he wasn’t really there, at that most inconvenient moment, his face looking as though it had been carved from granite.
But then he gave a big, bright smile and moved forward, greeting Natalie warmly. “Hey, Nat. It’s good to see you. Been a long time, hasn’t it? How’s everything with you?”
“Connor!” Sharing a quick, oh-hell look with Mia, Natalie stood to exchange air kisses with her former coworker. “Great to see you. How’s medical school? What brings you here today?”
“Medical school is going well, and I just stopped by to give this to Mia.” He pulled an envelope from the inside pocket of his battered leather jacket. Because it wasn’t an ICM day and he hadn’t been required to wear a tie or his white coat, he’d dressed casually in a pullover, jeans and the jacket.
He looked very handsome, of course, as he always did. But his eyes…
Mia swallowed as she reached out for the envelope. If she’d had any optimism that he hadn’t heard at least part of what Natalie had said before he’d entered the room, that hope died when she saw the turbulent expression in his unsmiling eyes. “What is this?”
“I was supposed to send this paperwork with Alexis to school today, but I forgot all about it this morning. It’s a permission slip and some insurance information they need before the museum field trip on Friday. I wondered if you’d mind dropping it off when you pick her up today. I’d have run it by myself, but I’m on my way to James’s place to study and the school is out of my way. Still, if it’s too much trouble…”
“Of course it’s no trouble,” she assured him quickly. “Like you said, I’ll be there, anyway.”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely.” She tucked the envelope in her purse. “Have you had a chance to see anyone else here? I know Coach Johnson would like to see you.”
“Tell him hello for me if you see him, okay? I’ll try to stop by soon and catch up. But right now, I’m running late for the study session.”
He turned to Natalie. “Great to see you, Nat. You and Mia should have a night out soon. Mia knows that I’m always available to watch Alexis when Mia has other plans.”
“Yeah. We were just talking about that. Uh, see you around, Connor.”
He nodded once and was gone.
Groaning loudly, Natalie sank back into her chair. “Can you believe he showed up here, out of the blue, at that very moment? Man, what were the odds? And why does that sort of thing always happen to me? At least he didn’t act as though he heard what I said. That’s a relief.”
“Yeah. A relief,” Mia muttered, though she knew very well that they hadn’t been so fortunate.
What were the odds that he’d have walked in at that very minute? And how should she handle the fact that he had? Things had already been strained between them since those kisses in the power outage. They’d both pulled back again, expressing their tumultuous emotions only in occasional searching glances. They’d been careful not to touch, but when their hands had brushed by accident, they’d both jerked back as if they’d been shocked. The strain of pretending nothing had changed was beginning to show on them both.