Best Dating Rules, Tamie Dearen [literature books to read txt] 📗

“Okay.”

“Ready to go?”

“Yes, but...” She looked at him and started giggling.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“Could you keep that stuff at home for later on? I’ve always had this fantasy about doing it with a doctor.”*****

Emily knocked on the penthouse door. She was so relieved when Steven called her after work to say her mom was out of the hospital. But she was nervous they’d taken her advice and hired Spencer’s mother to be their nurse. What if they didn’t like her? What if they fired her for some reason? She’d be mortified to face any of the Marshalls again. Steven yelled for her to come in. She opened the door to discover her mom sitting on the couch, attached to an IV bag hanging from a mobile pole.

“Hey, Mom. You look better. How do you feel?”

“Better now I’m away from that awful place. How does anyone get better in a hospital?”

“And you’re eating?”

“Yes, and we’re figuring out what my triggers are. I can’t stand food with strong smells. Everything has to be really bland. And I can’t eat and drink at the same time. But I’ve eaten three crackers since two o’clock and they didn’t come back up.” She seemed quite proud of this accomplishment.

Emily was thinking this was too much information, so she changed the subject. “Where’s Connie?”

“She’s gone home for the night,” said Steven. “She’s only going to be here while I’m at work, and she’s on call if we have a question or an emergency.”

“Do you like her?”

“She’s really sweet,” said Anne. “I like her a lot.”

“She’s keeping the location of her job confidential with her daughters,” said Steven. “Her story is she got a private nursing job, which is true. And I’ll make sure she gets a great reference for her next job.”

“But Spencer knows?” Emily asked.

“Spencer’s in the loop. He helped us get everything set up with his mother. And he’s the one who warned me about...” His words stopped abruptly.

“Warned you about what?” asked Anne.

“Uhmm... about... his family... being so close and all. That it might be good to keep his sisters in the dark.”

“I thought that was Connie’s idea,” said Anne.

“Uhmm, yes, they were thinking along the same lines.”

“So what’s for dinner?”

“I ordered food to be delivered, so your mom doesn’t have to smell it cooking. Some pastas and salad.” He turned to Anne. “I’m hoping you might be able to stomach some pasta with or without sauce.”

“Maybe.” She scrunched up her nose.

“So Mom, I’m going to an art class tomorrow night.”

“Really? That sounds fun. How did you hear about it?”

“I’m going with Grace. That’s Spencer’s oldest sister.”

“So, does this mean you’re getting closer to Spencer?”

“Lay off, Mom. He’s really nice and all, but he’s a player. You told me so yourself.”

“I said that? I think what I said was there are always girls hanging around him.” She cocked her head to the side. “So what do these sisters look like?”

“Well three of them are tall—taller than me. And Grace, the oldest one is short. She only comes up to here.” She held her hand up to her chin.

“You know, it’s possible some of the girls I saw hanging around were his sisters.”

“Oh... Well Grace made a comment about him having a lot of female friends. I guess she could have been teasing, but he didn’t deny it.” She paused, pursing her lips. “Maybe I’ll find out the real truth from Grace.”

“That’s a good idea—he’s been so sweet.”

“Yes, but we’re only friends, Mom. Don’t push.”

“I’m not,” Anne said innocently. “But I’m trying to find a match for him. Remember? One of my nurses was about the right age. Tall and thin. Pretty. Maybe she’d be a good match.”

She felt a small knot in her stomach. “I don’t think he’d like to date a nurse. They wouldn’t have anything in common.”

“She said she liked doing outdoors stuff. They might have that in common.”

“Oh.” Emily was irritated. And her irritation irritated her even more. “Well, I still think he’s not interested right now.”

“We’ll see… I’m sure Connie will be helpful. And we’ll be together eight hours a day. I don’t know why you’re doubting my abilities. I have a pretty good track record.”

Steven grinned. “Let’s see... How many different women did you consider as my possible mate?”

“Okay, I didn’t do so well with you. But that’s because you kept messing with my mind.”

“That’s because I wanted to mess with more than your mind.”

Emily spoke in a pleading voice. “Could you two please remember there are innocent ears in the room?”

“You mean you don’t want to hear how I fantasized about your mom—”

“Na-na-na-na. I’m not listening. Na-na-na-na.” Emily put her fingers in her ears.

Anne giggled. “Oh. I haven’t really felt good enough to laugh in a while. But it makes me dizzy.”

With a knock at the door, their food was delivered. Steven and Emily ate at the table to keep any strong food aroma away from Anne, who managed to swallow a few bites of pasta while sitting on the couch.

“I’m going to be so out of shape by the time this is over,” complained Anne. “The doctor said I shouldn’t stress my body with exercise. When I was pregnant with y’all, I was doing all my normal exercise the whole time. I hardly slowed down at all.”

“Well, I think I shouldn’t try to do an Iron Man competition this summer. I’m already getting behind on my training.”

“But, I hate for you to miss it. If we have a baby—”

“When we have the baby,” he said. “When we have the baby, I can still do a competition next year. I’m not planning to drop the training altogether. I don’t have to do it every year, as long as I don’t slack off too much.”

“Maybe next year, Spencer could do an Iron Man competition. Y’all could maybe train together,” said Emily. She noticed her mom’s smug smile. “And my suggestion doesn’t mean anything. He’s only a friend. And you have to promise