It was so sweet.
Cleo was the first one to pull away, like she knew her husband wouldn’t make the first move. She turned to me. “You two haven’t formally met, but this is Sicily. She’s the woman who will be perfect to help Dex get back on his feet.”
Her husband gave me a polite smile before he extended his hand to shake mine. “Deacon. It’s nice to meet you.”
I shook his hand, and since this was the closest I’d ever been to him, I could see Dex’s features in his face, in that sharp jawline, that shadow around his mouth, the masculine tightness to his cheekbones and neck. Dex inherited the lighter shade of his hair from his mother’s and her smile, but the rest of him came from this man. “The pleasure is mine.”
Deacon pulled away. “I’ll let you two get to work. Dinner is almost ready.” He headed back to the kitchen.
I could already tell Dex had had the perfect childhood, and not because he grew up in a luxury condo, but because he had two loving parents. They obviously didn’t believe in gender stereotypes either because Deacon was the one in the kitchen instead of Cleo. The atmosphere in the room was warm and loving, like a lot of happy memories had happened here. I wanted to look for childhood pictures, but I was there for work, so I bottled my curiosity and joined Cleo at the table.
Deacon opened a bottle of white wine and poured three glasses before he returned to the kitchen.
I pulled out my laptop and my notebook, unsure where to begin.
Cleo turned to me. “Okay, we’ve got a lot of work to do. We need to find him an office, we need to set up that office, we need to set up a medical filing system for him, not to mention getting him personally adjusted. Dex isn’t the most organized person in the world, so he’ll need help adjusting to this lifestyle.”
I didn’t know how to do that. “Should we hire other staff?”
She shook her head. “Just keep it the two of you to start.”
“He might need a nurse to take vitals before he walks in to see a patient.”
“Dex can do that himself. He’s always been hands-on with his patients.” She opened her laptop and started typing everything. “I want it to be just you two for a while. Dex has agreed to try this, but it’s not going to be smooth sailing, and we need to make sure no unexpected events trigger him into another spiral. He doesn’t take a lot of patients because he devotes so much time to every single one, so you won’t have a jam-packed schedule with people constantly coming and going.”
“Oh okay, that helps.”
“We’ve got a lot to do, so let’s just focus on the priorities. We need to find him an office, we need to set up that office, and we need to find him a new place to live.”
“What’s wrong with where he lives?”
“Not close enough to work. His apartment is in Brooklyn.” She continued to type on her computer.
Opening a new business was expensive, so I didn’t know how he would have enough money to just get an apartment, but I didn’t ask because his finances were none of my business.
Deacon came into the dining room and served us dinner, baked salmon with thyme and sweet potatoes and a side of broccoli.
“Whoa…” I looked down at the gourmet meal because I definitely didn’t eat like this.
“Is fish okay?” Deacon asked as he straightened.
“Yeah, this looks amazing.” I immediately grabbed my fork and started to eat because I was starving.
Cleo smiled. “My husband is quite the cook.”
“Heck yeah, he is,” I said after I chewed a bite.
She chuckled then got back to work.
Deacon sat down at the opposite end of the table with his laptop and paperwork, enjoying his glass of wine and dinner like our chatter didn’t disrupt him at all.
“I’m really glad Dex had a change of heart about everything,” I said. “And I’m happy I can help him get there.”
Cleo turned back to me and gave me a soft look. “I know, honey. That was the reason I picked you for this job.”
18
Dex
I agreed to try again, but I honestly didn’t know where to start.
I hadn’t even opened the file Mrs. Torres gave me.
If I thought too hard about my decision, it gave me anxiety and self-doubt, and then it made me want to run all over again. The only reason I didn’t was because my father believed in me, he said he was proud of me, and I couldn’t go back on it now. I had to keep pushing forward.
I continued to work at the lab during the day because my bills weren’t going to pay themselves. I’d been living paycheck to paycheck since I’d left my practice, and it never bothered me because it was better than going back to that old life. But if my parents hadn’t paid for my education while I was going through it, I would be in deep shit. I got a scholarship for my undergraduate degree, but my medical school and residency were a big-ass bill. I was really fortunate that I had parents who took care of that for me without breaking a sweat.