living area, where he leaned his shoulder against the wall and watched Emma with Cooper. Her face absolutely glowed. Her eyes sparkled. The diaper bag sat close by, and a half dozen toys lay on top of the sleeping bag.
She glanced at Dylan. “How’s it going?”
The joy on her face made his stomach float. The way she was feeling right now was how he wanted to make her feel every day for the rest of their lives.
“Good.” He moved toward them and took a seat beside her. “Demo and cleanup are done. Now we frame it up and get the plumber to run the lines. Then I can put it back together. Taking it apart is fast, but putting it back together is slow.”
Emma held the baby upright in front of her, and his little feet pushed against her leg, making him bob.
“You’re getting strong, little guy,” Dylan said. “Bet you’ll be walking next week.”
Emma laughed. “He is surprisingly strong.”
Cooper gurgled and reached for Dylan’s face. Emma let the boy angle toward Dylan, and he took the baby from Emma.
“I have to go soon,” she said. “My shift starts at three.”
“Okay.”
“I know it’s still early in the process, but how long do you think the renovation will take?”
His mind turned that direction. He thought of plumbing and electrical changes, insulation and drywall, bathrooms and kitchen, flooring. “Without any snags, three months. With snags, maybe five months. Why?”
“Vanderbilt wants an answer.”
“I thought you said it was the best in the area.”
“It is.”
“Then why do you look disappointed?”
She took a deep breath and seemed to consider her words before she spoke. “I was hoping to take something overseas.”
“Aren’t you going to Honduras for a month with Maizey?”
“I was, but I thought that, depending on when I could pay off my student loans, I might be able to jumpstart my dream and take something long-term now.”
“I thought we—”
“We did talk about it. And I don’t want you to think I ignored everything you’ve said, because I haven’t. I’ve given all your experience serious thought.”
“But…”
“I want to experience it myself.”
Well, fuck.
Cooper reached for her, and she took his hand. “If I had no desire to do anything else, I’d take the job at Vanderbilt. But I feel like I’ve waited forever to do something that makes a difference. Something that moves the needle. And, honestly, over the last few years, watching you live your dreams—literally watching you—it makes me want to live mine even more.”
Panic blipped on his radar. Dylan didn’t do panic. Where he was from, you panic, you die. But the pinch in his chest was the first talon of panic digging in.
“What organization are you looking at serving with?” he asked. “Doctors without borders?”
“No. They require two years of practice post-residency.” She averted her gaze and picked up one of Cooper’s toys. “There’s an organization that’s been on my radar. They’ve been spotlighted in emergency medical journals and documentaries. International First Responders. Have you heard of them?”
A streak of heat cut through his chest. His mind rolled back in time, to dark streets, the roar of jet planes overhead, the thunder of collapsing rubble, Amir drowning in his own blood.
A wildly protective urge built in his chest. He did not want Emma out there, not like that.