drive to Eli’s house.
“Dorfee! Roman hugs my legs as soon as Dr. Hathaway opens the door.
“Hey, little Romeo!”
“Careful, wild man. She has her hands full. Hi, Dorothy.” Dr. Hathaway smiles. A real one, I feel pretty sure of it. I’ve seen her smile in professional situations, her confidence shines. That’s the smile she gives me.
“Hi.”
“It’s very kind of you to bring all of us lunch. What do I owe you?”
I follow her inside, slipping off my tennis shoes. “Nothing. Really. It’s fine. I can afford it.”
She questions me with a look that I ignore as I set the sacks on the counter and slip off my jacket. “What can I get you to drink, Dorothy?”
“Water is great, thank you.”
She pulls all of the food out of the sacks and sets each wrapped sandwich on a plate. “Yours must be the egg salad.”
“Yes.”
“If you want to set the plates on the table, I’ll go help Eli get to his chair.”
“Oh … yeah. Or I can help him. I’m a lot stronger than I look,” I say.
“Just grab the plates.”
Okay then …
I move the plates to the table, where she has a bowl of cut up vegetables and a bowl of grapes. I consider my feelings about eating food prepared by Boss Bitch. Since I’m on the fence, I decide to stick to my sandwich and cookie.
“Hey …”
I turn toward Eli’s voice as Dr. Hathaway helps him to the kitchen table.
“Hey! How are you feeling?” I ask.
“Good.”
“Weak,” Dr. Hathaway corrects him with side-eye.
“Good and weak.” He eases onto the chair, and she props up his cast on a stool.
“You don’t have to eat at the table,” I say, taking a seat next to him.
“I do. Otherwise, Roman would think all meals for eternity can be eaten in the living room. Julie sneaked me breakfast on the sofa before Roman woke up.”
“Roman, come eat!” Dr. Hathaway calls.
He runs into the kitchen.
“Bib, wild man.” Dr. Hathaway puts on his bib. “Where are you going?”
He runs to the other side of the kitchen and pulls out another bib. “Dorfee, here’s your bib.”
“Buddy, no …” Dr. Hathaway and Eli disapprove in unison.
“Fantastic. I was wondering where you put my bib.” I take the bib and tie it around my neck.
Eli and Dr. Hathaway look at each other and then at me. I return a satisfied shrug and unwrap my sandwich.
“Mmm … this is a really good sandwich.” Dr. Hathaway rolls her eyes like eating gives her an orgasm. “Reminds me of the sandwiches we had at the little hole-in-the-wall place just down from our hotel when we went to London right before I got pregnant. Remember?”
“Oh yeah.” Eli nods. “Best sandwich ever. This comes close though. Good find, Dorothy.” He winks at me.
“You ever been to London, Dorothy?” Dr. Hathaway asks.
“No. I’m pretty much a homebody.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. There’s so much to see in the world.” She wipes her mouth and takes a sip of water.
I finish chewing my food … thinking of an appropriate response.
“When I get better, we should go somewhere. What do you think?” Eli asks.
“Me too! I go somewhere wif Dorfee.”
Dr. Hathaway clears her throat. “You’d stay with me, wild man. We’ll go someplace together. Maybe back to Disney World.”
“If it’s my week with him, he could come with us,” Eli informs Dr. Hathaway.
“I suppose. But I don’t want you taking him to London. I want to be with him the first time he sees London.”
“Well, what if I want to be with him the first time he sees London?” Eli gives his rebuttal.
Me? Oh, I just keep eating. In fact, I can’t eat fast enough.
“I don’t think you honestly care. I just think you’re acting like you do because you know how much it means to me.” Dr. Hathaway wipes her mouth.
“Yes, you and your need to experience all of his ‘firsts.’ Did you ever think I wanted to be with him for his first visit to Texas? Doesn’t seem fair given the fact that you made the decision to have him half the time. That means you should be fine with half, the way you make me have to be fine with half. And maybe his first time in London won’t be part of your half.”
“Eli—” Dr. Hathaway narrows her eyes.
“Maybe …” I interrupt before fully swallowing. “You could take him to London together.”
I focus on the now. How to get out of an uncomfortable situation now. Not later when the three of them are on their way to