all he did was show up. He didn’t threaten me or try to get into the house.”
“Okay, but don’t protect the guy, okay? I’m pissed off enough about it.”
“I won’t. And calm down in case you have to do surgery today. It’s not fair to the patient. Chill out.”
“I’ll try, but right now I’m livid. Maybe I’ll get lunch. I could eat a horse when I’m like this.”
“I have lunch from Aunt Roberta,” she said, laughing.
“Rub it in. I’ll probably have a dry tuna sandwich.”
“Oh no, Rich, go out and get a taco from that vendor you like.”
“No, that might be dangerous if I get a stomachache during surgery. Actually, I should have had you come here for a little call-room action.”
She giggled, aware that her father was standing close by with a plate of food. She mouthed thank you and took it from him. “My lunch was just delivered.”
“Okay, well, next time I tell you not to answer the door, don’t answer the damn door.”
“Yes, my king,” she said, snickering. “Talk later?”
“Definitely.”
While she ate and talked with her father, she couldn’t help thinking about poor Ed, what had driven him to drive for two hours to confront her. She took the blame for it, the way she’d cut off ties with him so abruptly. And then she thought of how he’d distracted her from her mission, and that was to rest with her feet up so the sperm could meet the egg.
***
At about San Clemente, Eddie had to pull over he was so upset. The confrontation with Alison was not what he’d wanted to happen. He was naïve enough to think she’d be excited to see him, to welcome him in with open arms and offer him coffee and pastries like they had done almost every weekend for nearly eight years. It was so out of character for him to do anything illegal or inappropriate, and not only had he done it to his best friend, but to his girlfriend’s father’s surgeon and to the daughter of the president of the state medical board.
A voice told him to make a formal apology as soon as he got home, even if it meant contacting a lawyer to do it. All he could think of was his residency at stake, what he’d worked for since he was a teenager. It could be destroyed with one phone call.
Back on the road, he navigated Saturday midday traffic from hell in LA. The first stop? The hospital, where he called the operator to page Dr. Mortimer.
“It’s Ed Kovac,” he said, his voice on the edge of hysteria. “I want to apologize. You’ll get a formal apology from my attorney if it will help.”
“What the hell were you thinking, Ed? You were at our wedding. Alison has said she’d told you repeatedly that you were just going to be friends. Why would you drive two hours to our private home?”
He repeated his hopes, that they could just have coffee and talk. “I know that was stupid. I promise you, I’ll never do that again. I know what I risked by showing up there.”
“I’m seriously considering contacting your chief.”
“Oh, please don’t, I beg of you,” Edwin cried. “I’ll do anything. I’ll sign a paper that I won’t go near Alison again.”
Rich could hear him crying, and compassion for the guy made him cool down. He wanted to scare him, not destroy him.
“Ed, calm down. I won’t call him, but I might consider having you put something in writing. Going to my house and harassing my wife is not okay.”
“I know that. I’ll sign anything you want. Please don’t contact my chief.”
“Pull it together, buddy. I hope we don’t have to speak about this again.”
“We won’t. Goodbye.”
Ed hung up and ducked into the bathroom to wash his face. Looking in the mirror, something clicked, and for the first time in a while, he knew he’d be okay. He sent Zoe a text.
You ready to get married? ’Cause I’m ready, and I don’t want to wait.
Chapter 9
Two weeks later, the Period Tracker on Alison’s phone pinged. Reaching for the phone on her night table, she looked at it, and a body rush that almost knocked her off the side of the bed passed through her.
Excitement took over from the surprise. Could she be pregnant? She had no signs, no cramps, no headache, no backache. Up on her elbow, she looked at Rich lying next to her, snoring. Carefully sliding out of bed, she tiptoed into the guest bathroom