"It'll get better with time. You could go up to Canada. Or you could move to Europe or Africa and work there. There's probably a lot of hospitals who would be totally pleased to have a highly skilled young neurosurgeon on staff."
I sighed and took another sip of my beer. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll play it by ear. If things get too bad at the hospital, I'll consider taking a year or two off. I don't know what I'd do with myself in the meantime."
"Live."
I shrugged. "I've always worked, since I started medical school. I've never taken more than two weeks off."
"Now's as good a time as any to learn how to relax. You could write a text book."
I'd never thought about it, but I could write about robotic surgery.
"I'll see how things go, but thanks for listening."
"My pleasure," Ethan said and smiled.
When Kate came out onto the deck, she bent down and kissed me.
"What have you two been talking about?"
"Stuff and things," Ethan said. "The stock market and the price of wheat in China. That kind of thing."
"I don't believe you for a moment," Kate said with a laugh. "What do you know about wheat prices in China?"
"That's code for private man stuff," Ethan replied.
"Oh," Kate said and gave me a look of surprise. "Forgive me for intruding on your father-son tête-à-tête. Can I get either of you a refill?"
"As a matter of fact, I think we'll crack the bottle of wine, if you don't mind. Drake? Can you do the honors? I'm not as handy with a bottle opener as I used to be."
"I'd love to." I smiled and stood up, giving Kate a quick kiss before going into the house. She squeezed me, smiling up into my eyes, her expression suggesting so much more would happen between us in a few hours, once we finished dinner and were alone back at the house. I felt a surge of emotion at the thought of how eager she was and hoped it would wash away all the negative thoughts about Maureen and Liam and the trial in Manhattan.
I needed some Kate time.
Badly.
Chapter 7
KATE
We had a lovely dinner with my parents at their house and after dinner, I offered to give Sophie a bath before we put her down, but Elaine was insistent that Drake and I go home as soon as possible to start our romantic night alone.
"I want to give her a bath," Elaine said and took Sophie from my arms. "I bought some bath toys specifically for tonight, so you have to let me do it."
"Okay," I said and laughed, pleased to see Elaine so into looking after Sophie. "If you insist."
"She'll be fine," Elaine said.
"She wakes up most nights and wants to sleep with us," I added, feeling now anxious about Elaine having to deal with Sophie if she was upset it wasn’t me picking her up in the middle of the night. "She always has a bottle at that point. I hope you won't have any trouble with her."
"We'll manage. I'm sure she'll be happy to go back down with her bottle. Worse comes to worst, I'll bring her into bed with Ethan and me and she'll sleep with us."
"Are you sure?" I chewed my bottom lip, worried now that this was a mistake and I should be taking Sophie home with me.
"We'll do fine," my father said, waving at me from his wheelchair. "I get up every night for a trip to the bathroom, so it won't be any different from our usual routine. Go. You two have a nice night alone."
"If you're certain..."
I looked them both in the eye to make sure they were truly fine with the prospect of Sophie waking up in the middle of the night.