“He wants to start something with me.” She sighed heavily before she continued. “I know Grant’s gone and I have to move on, but Jack scares the hell out of me.”
I was overjoyed at the thought. It had been long enough, but I approached the subject with caution.
“Why does he scare you?”
“I don’t know. He’s amazing, he really is. If I hadn’t…I just can’t get over the thought I’m doing something wrong.”
“Rose, moving on doesn’t mean you didn’t love Grant.”
“You have to do better than that,” she said in a whisper.
“Okay, how about this…Whatever you think you are doing wrong, you put in that head of yours. You put that barrier there and you are going to have to break it on your own.” I leaned back, hopeful that my little bout of tough love would do her some good. I had tried everything to get her to start dating again a year ago. At least this was progress.
“I just hate feeling like this. I know Grant would be pissed at me for taking mourning him this far. I don’t have a life. He wanted me to have a life, a family,” she admitted. I could hear the desperation in her voice and it ate at me.
“He wanted you to be happy and that included giving you your own dream of having a family.”
“Yeah,” she said, standing to walk out in an effort to flee the conversation.
“Sit down,” I said forcefully. This was the most she had bothered to talk to me openly about moving on in months. I wasn’t about to let her go back to the dark place she lived in when she wasn’t at the clinic.
“You have so much left to give, Rose, and you’ve buried it. It’s time to get back on the horse. I know what happened crushed you. I don’t blame you for going inside and staying there, but you clearly want to come back out. If Jack’s the one who gets you to do it, great, if he’s not, at least open yourself to the possibility.”
“I don’t think I’m ready,” she said dismissively.
“Then wait until you are, but at least you took that first step,” I said, giving up on my bath and wrapping myself up in a towel. “I’m fond of Jack and he’s gorgeous, and he seems like a good guy. Just remember guys like that don’t just come falling out of the sky. It couldn’t hurt to have some fun with him while you figure it out. And please, for the love of God, wrap it up tight.”
She chuckled at my plea and added, “They aren’t that bad.” I lifted a brow as her chuckle turned into full-blown laughter.
“They are. They are awful!”
“They are also yours if anything happens to Dean and me, so take that, Rosie.” Rose’s eyes widened as she smiled warmly. I threw my clothes on, no more relaxed than when I walked in, but thankful for the few minutes I got alone with Rose.
We were only a month away from opening our cancer treatment center, a compromise we had come to easily after Rose and I had delved into the possibilities of a new idea for a practice, but our common goal was always the same. We wanted to be doctors, we wanted to make a difference and we wanted to change the game. Once the decision was made, everything started to fall into place. The last two years of one break after another simply reaffirmed what I already knew.
Some dreams you were born with, some dreams you grow into, and some dreams have to be unveiled. I knew without a doubt Rose and I had done all of these to the same dream.
We had both thrown ourselves into the task and it had taken every amount of time, money, and energy we had to get it going, but it was all finally coming into fruition. I would take the lead while Rose finished her surgical training, but she had been involved in every single aspect of the planning.
“One month,” Rose said cheerfully as we exited the bathroom. I put my hands on her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Ready, Dr. Whitaker?” Her answering smile was all I needed.
We walked downstairs to absolute quiet. Rose and I stared at each other in shock when we rounded the corner to see both my kids watching my father read them a book on the couch. Anna was half-asleep and was fighting her nod to stare up at her grandpa with wonder as he read in an animated tone.
Rose and I jumped as our mother approached quietly behind us. “Dean just pulled up. Leave them here. Meet him at the door.”
I shook my head. “Mom, we haven’t been able to leave Anna here a full night since she was a baby. You know she won’t stay.”
“Dallas, go,” my mother ordered, pointing her finger. I hugged her tightly. “Put it on my tab?” I smiled and laughed all the way to the door.
I met Dean there, his expression one of confusion when I emerged and showered him with kisses.
“A-L-O-N-E, baby! Tonight is all ours!” He smiled as I took his lower lip, sucking it mercilessly and chuckled as he stepped back to protest. “But, Anna—”
“Shht, shhht, no, no, no. We are free! That woman in there is Laura Whitaker,” I reminded him. “She says she will handle it, she will handle it. Tonight, you, me, dinner, sex, lots of sex, and…if we have time, a few hours of the four thousand hours of Tevo we have saved.”
He followed me, stopping me at the passenger door. “Dallas,” he breathed out as his kiss trailed down my neck. I was instantly hot and jumped into his arms. He kissed me deeply then pulled away, dazzling me with his crystal blue gaze.
“You still love me, Dean?” I asked, smiling.