Who’d have thought Ryder’s calm, cool and collected pediatric cardiologist colleague was terrified to fly, albeit, she certainly had good reason?
Or that she’d be nervous as a kitten about seeing her family?
Or maybe it was her family meeting him that had her so on edge?
“Is someone meeting us?”
She shook her head. “My brother offered, but I wanted us to have our own transportation. I arranged for a rental car.”
“In case we need to make a quick escape?” he teased, hoping to elicit a smile, even if just a small one.
She didn’t, just nodded. “Exactly.”
Which made him wonder about McKenzie’s relationship with her family. She’d considered hiring an escort service to keep from making the trip home alone. Just what kind of pressure had her family put on her in the past?
“Surely they aren’t that bad?”
Shaking her head, McKenzie sighed. “They’re not bad, just think it’s within their right to meddle in my life. Always have and likely always will try to.”
“Is that why you moved across the country? To get away from them?”
“Of course not.” But she hesitated long enough that he wasn’t sure she bought her answer any more than he did. “But my mother did once sign me up for a speed round dating service night. And then there was the time she contacted local churches to find out if they had programs for singles to meet.”
“Seriously?”
McKenzie nodded. “Oh, yeah. Mama has no problem with meddling in my life even from half the country away.”
“Is that why you ended up in Seattle?” he wondered out loud.
“I visited Seattle with a group of friends while in med school and fell in love with Pike Place Market and just everything about the city.” Her appreciation for the city sparked to life in her eyes. “I applied for residency there, got it, fell further in love with the city, and when I was offered a permanent position at Seattle Cardiac Clinic for Kids, I stayed. How about you?”
“Similar story in some ways. I’m originally from Atlanta, went to medical school in Birmingham, did a cardiology, then a surgery residency in Pittsburgh, then took the positions with Trevane and Seattle Cardiac Clinic for Kids.”
Ryder stood, stretched out his six-foot-plus frame as best as he could in the plane aisle, before grabbing their carry-on bags from the overhead bin.
She stood, double-checked their seats to make sure they hadn’t left anything, then took her bag from him. “Thanks.”
Once inside Nashville Airport, they made a pit stop, then went to the lower level where McKenzie had made arrangements to pick up a rental car.
“Nice,” Ryder teased when the clerk handed over the keys to a minivan.
“This isn’t what I purchased,” McKenzie argued, but to no avail.
Ryder didn’t mind, but McKenzie had the clerk checking again to make sure there wasn’t another option.
He’d stowed their bags in the back of the minivan.
“I’m driving since I know where I’m going,” she informed him, climbing into the driver’s seat.
They made a quick late-night fast-food run, but otherwise it was only a twenty-minute drive from the airport. The closer they got to McKenzie’s family’s house, the tenser she got.
The house was a moderate-size old-style ranch.
“Be prepared for anything,” McKenzie warned as they got their luggage out of the van. “It wouldn’t surprise me if they were all here and jumped out at us when we walk in. Aunt Myrtle may or may not be dressed if that happens.”
Ryder’s curiosity was piqued, but the only person who’d waited on them was McKenzie’s mother. They’d not made it up to the porch when the front door flung open and the petite woman hurried out to wrap her arms around McKenzie.
“Hello, Mama,” McKenzie whispered just loud enough he could hear. “I’ve missed you, too.”