Diagnosis: Daddy

Natalie shook her dark head in disapproval. “Can’t imagine why he wanted to take that on. He had a good job here. He probably would have been named head coach when Coach Johnson retires next year. Now it’s going to be years before Connor finishes school and then he’ll have all those loans to pay back. Not that he’ll have much trouble doing that,” she admitted. “Doctors certainly make good money.”

“He didn’t go into it for the money. He’s pursuing a dream he’s had most of his life. And he’ll be a great doctor.”

“He will,” Natalie admitted. “But he was a good teacher, too. And a good coach.”

“This is what he wanted.”

“And heaven knows you want him to have everything he wants,” her friend murmured over a plastic tumbler of watery iced tea. “Just like you do for everyone else you care about. I still say you try too hard to make everyone happy.”

“Yes, well, I’m going to be very selfish when I start grad school in the next year or so. Watching Connor has reminded me of how much work it’s going to be to take classes and tests again. I’m going to have to concentrate entirely on myself while I earn my doctorate.”

Looking skeptical, Natalie crumpled her napkin and tossed it on her plate. “You? Selfish? Yeah, right.”

“Just watch me. You’ll call and want me to go shopping with you and I’ll tell you I can’t. Have to study. Or you’ll want me to give you a lift to the airport and I’ll turn you down flat because I have a paper to write.”

“Hmm.” It was obvious that Natalie didn’t believe a word of her friend’s assertion. Even Mia wondered if she would be able to follow through. She’d always had a hard time with that no word when it came to people she cared about.

“So, about tomorrow night…”

Mia paused in the process of gathering the remains of her lunch onto the brown plastic tray in preparation for carrying it to the conveyor belt that would sweep it back into the kitchen for cleaning. “What about tomorrow night?”

Natalie sighed loudly and rolled her eyes. “Double date? Me and Donnie and you and…uh, Donnie’s friend whose name I’ve forgotten.”

Groaning, Mia sat down again. “I never said I would do that. I said I would think about it.”

“C’mon, Mia, it’ll be great. Donnie’s fun and his friend’s probably fun, too.”

“Probably?”

“Well, I’ve never actually met him. But Donnie says he’s a great guy.”

“And this allegedly great guy needs a date tomorrow night because…?”

“Because he’s new in town and doesn’t know many people yet. We’re just being friendly. You know, welcoming him to town. Southern hospitality—”

“Only extends so far,” Mia muttered.

“I’m not asking you to sleep with him or anything. Just join us for dinner. Maybe a movie or something. How bad could it be?”

“You really want me to answer that?”

“Do it for me, okay? Donnie was really pleased when I said I’d bring someone to meet his friend. You don’t have to see him again if you don’t want to, but at least meet the guy.”

Letting out a gusty breath, Mia nodded. “All right. I’ll meet him.”

Natalie beamed. “Thank you. You’ll see, it will be fun.”

Mia wasn’t so sure. But she hadn’t been able to disappoint her friend.

That was going to change, she promised herself. She really was going to learn to say no. Next year.

Mia was getting ready for her double date the next evening when Connor called. “Didn’t you have another exam today? How did it go?” she asked.

“As hard as I expected. But I think I did okay on both tests this week.”

“I’m sure you did well. When will you know?”

“Middle of next week, I think.”

“Did you get any sleep last night?”

“A few hours,” he said, notably evasive. “But then I came home after the exam and crashed. Just fell facedown in the bed and slept for three solid hours.”

“You needed the rest.”

“Yeah, I feel better. Good enough that I might go out for pizza or something tonight. It’s been days since I’ve been out of the house other than to go to class or lab. Want to join me?”

For some reason, it irked her a little that he just assumed she would be free to join him on such short notice. Even though normally she would have been. And would have accepted the last-minute invitation. “I’m sorry, I can’t tonight. I have a date.”

There was a distinct pause before he responded. “Yeah? Anyone I know?”

“Not even anyone I know. Natalie set me up with someone.”

“Oh. You, um, trust Natalie’s taste in guys?”

“I guess I’ll find that out tonight.”

“Yeah. I suppose I need to let you get ready. I hope you have a good time.”

“I’ll certainly try. Thanks. And congratulations on surviving the exams.”

“Yeah. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Sure. Later.”

She disconnected the call with a frown. That had been a bit weird. Connor had actually seemed disapproving that she was going out on a blind date. Surely he wasn’t annoyed that she’d been unavailable to have pizza with him. If so, then maybe it was time she stopped being quite so available for Connor. Maybe he was starting to take her a bit too much for granted.

Resolutely, she turned to the mirror to finish applying fresh makeup. Tonight could be fun, she reminded herself. This guy Natalie had found for her could be very nice, she could have a great time, they might even want to see each other again. She should really be looking forward to this date.

Unfortunately, she was too keenly aware that she would much rather have been free to go out for pizza with Connor.

Connor joined four of his classmates for a study session Saturday morning. The five of them had met several times to study together during this first semester of medical school. They seemed to click as a group, and their learning styles meshed well. He liked them all and enjoyed working with them, although sometimes he just needed to study alone. Or with Mia.

The thought of Mia made him frown. He wondered how her date had gone the night before.

He was undoubtedly a selfish jerk. He should be pleased that she’d had the chance to go out and have a good time. Like him, Mia tended to be a workaholic. When she wasn’t actually teaching, she was preparing for classes or grading papers or doing something nice for a friend. It was rare that she took advantage of an evening just to indulge herself. And while he suspected that her double date last night had been a favor to Natalie, he should still be hoping that she’d had a great time.

Instead, he found himself worrying that she’d had too good a time. For all he knew, she could be with that guy right now. Laughing and flirting and…well, whatever. And he was trying to study, wishing she were with him to light his house with her smile, to cheerfully nag him into eating and taking breaks, to reassure him that he could survive this training and that all the effort and sacrifice would pay off someday.