Love changes everything, p.26
Love Changes Everything, page 26
And then, just when she thought she couldn’t bear the wait a moment longer, a white Jeep pulled into her driveway, and Kirby waved to her from the passenger seat. She stood and waited at the top of the stairs for the trio to make their way from the car. Kirby got there first.
“What a lovely place,” she said as she gazed at the landscaping. “You’re still a gardener, huh?”
“Yeah. It’s mindless work, and very gratifying. Good morning,” she said to Sam’s kids. “How are you guys today?”
“Great.” Kyle took the lead. “We did a little shopping last night, so I’m ready for summer.”
“The mall’s sort of dead, huh?” Kirby asked.
Sam frowned as she nodded. “Sadly, it is.”
“We ended up at Montage,” she said.
“Come on in.” Sam beckoned them up the steps and into the house. “That’s a good place to shop.”
“Mom took us for Valley Forge pizza,” Kyle said as he bounded up the stairs.
Sam laughed. Valley Forge, Old Forge, what’s the difference? “Really? Which restaurant?”
“Francesco’s, of course,” Kirby replied. “We saw Jim’s brother Frankie.”
“Did you remember him?”
“Sort of. I introduced myself and told him I’d been there with you once before, and he pulled out this laminated article about Jim winning some sort of award. He’s like a proud papa.”
“It’s a pretty prestigious award. Did Frankie tell you I was there last night?”
“He did. I wondered if we might be having pizza for breakfast again.”
Kirby wore her blank lawyer face, but Sam felt a blush explode across her own, and she turned to lead them into her house, hoping Kirby wouldn’t notice. She and Kirby had had Francesco’s pizza for breakfast in the early morning after they’d spent the night of her graduation making love. Kirby had given her the Tiffany pen, and Sam had told her she loved her. Sam sighed. It was the shortest love affair in history. Two days later Sam broke up with her.
“I still have the pen,” she said a moment later when she regained her composure.
“Get out!”
Sam nodded as Charlie came up behind her. “Hey,” he said.
Smiling, Sam introduced them all, and just as she finished, Danny appeared, and she did it all over again. They retreated to the kitchen, and then the four kids made their way to the sunroom while Sam and Kirby stayed back. “I threw a pizza in the freezer for you. So you could take it home.”
“Really?” Kirby’s smile stretched across her face.
“Yep. And I got you Stookey’s to go, too.” Sam told her how the restaurant had started selling takeout, then about Jim as she warmed up the griddle.
“Would you like coffee or tea?” Sam asked, remembering the night Kirby brought her coffee and doughnuts at work.
Kirby’s smile told her she remembered, too. “I’ve graduated to coffee.”
Sam put a cup in the Keurig and pressed the button.
“That’s amazing about Jim. It sounds like he’s done great things with his career.”
“He has. He truly has.”
“Did he ever come out?”
For a moment, Sam debated whether to out Jim, but it wasn’t such a big deal now as it’d been back then. And even then, it was pretty obvious to anyone in the know. And this was Kirby, after all. “Yeah, he did. He’s married to a very successful oral surgeon named Alberto.”
“That’s great. It looks like he could have made his fortune selling pizza in Old Forge, but he’s saving the world, which is good, too.”
“You know, when he comes home, he still tends bar. It’s like his therapy. I go and hang out with him, he makes me specialty drinks, and I have to Uber home.”
Kirby didn’t flinch. “Uber’s useful under such circumstances.”
While they talked, Sam mixed the pancake batter and then drizzled a drop onto the griddle to test the temperature. When it sizzled, she poured eight pancakes, then loaded a tray with drinks, fruit, and condiments for Kirby to carry to the sunroom. A moment later she delivered the first stack of pancakes, and when the second was cooked to a golden hue, she joined everyone.
“Mom, guess where these guys are going when they leave?” Charlie asked.
“Work?” Sam asked.
“No. The beach. Why is it we’re all working on the holiday weekend, and they’re going to the beach?”
“Penance,” Sam answered as she plopped a raspberry into her mouth.
“What kind of doctor are you?” Kaitlyn asked.
“ER. Hence the holiday weekend.”
“That kind of sucks, but at the same time, it sounds cool,” she said.
“That’s a great description. I have a fun job, but weekends and holidays are tough.”
“Don’t forget overnight shifts,” Danny added.
“Do you work every weekend?” Kyle asked. “Or do you think you could come to the beach some time?”
“Just one weekend a month. And a couple of holidays a year. But I don’t know about the beach. We have a big trip planned already, so I don’t think we can do another vacation this summer.”
“You could stay with us. It’d be free.”
Sam swallowed her smile as she watched Kirby shoot Kyle a stern look, which he ignored.
“We have plenty of room. My grandparents’ condo has four bedrooms.”
“That sounds wonderful, and I promise to talk to your mom about it when we get back from our trip.”
“Where are you going?” Kaitlyn asked.
Charlie filled them in.
“Whoa! Yosemite!” Kyle said, and the conversation turned as they began talking about the upcoming vacation.
Sam and Kirby were mostly observers to the interplay between their children, but Sam also noted Kaitlyn checking her out. While she hadn’t clued her sons in about Kirby, Kyle and Kaitlyn definitely understood that something significant had once happened between her and their mom. And while Kyle was trying to light a fire between them, Kaitlyn was more reserved, holding back her energy and collecting evidence before she rendered an opinion on the matter. Even with their opposite approaches, Sam liked them both for their obvious love for their mom.
And then, to her surprise, her sons melted her heart. “Our mom is amazing. She plans the best vacations,” Charlie said.
“And then, when we get home,” Danny added, “she makes us photo books.”
Kirby smiled. “I love photo books.”
“Me, too,” Kaitlyn added.
They talked until the boys reluctantly left for work, and Sam walked them all to their respective cars, lagging back with Kirby as their children led the way to the front of the house.
“I’d say breakfast was a great success,” Sam observed.
“Yes. Thank you so much for having us over. We should do it again, but I’ll cook next time.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Maybe at the beach.”
Sam turned and their eyes met, and she saw happiness on Kirby’s face, instead of the mask she’d so often worn when they were together. “Let’s get through this legal business.”
“Call me, or text me, or email me. Something.”
“It’s a crazy world, isn’t it?” Sam asked.
“It’s a lot easier than it used to be,” Kirby said, and Sam knew she wasn’t talking about methods of communication.
“Yes, it is.”
Chapter Twenty-two
Sam looked in the mirror and frowned. Her two weeks on vacation had been wonderful, but now that she was back home, she had a million things to do. Laundry. Gardening. Work. And this stupid deposition for the non-lawsuit.
She’d worked on her resume and emailed it to Kirby before the trip, and they’d set up a date to meet again and go over details and to stage a mock deposition. And then she’d sent a text to make sure Kirby approved of her resume. It was perfect, she told Sam, and she included a picture of her kids at the beach along with the message. And then Sam sent a picture of her boys at the Grand Canyon. And back and forth it went, at first once a day or so, and then a few times a day, until they were practically pen pals via text.
Now she was home, and despite jet lag, and all the other things she had to do, she was meeting with Kirby today. The real thing was in two weeks, so they couldn’t put it off until later.
Their last business meeting had been very casual, and Sam was tempted to dress that way, but another part of her wanted to look really good. They were taping this, after all. And Kirby would be there.
Sam wasn’t sure why that mattered, but it did, and she’d spent the last several weeks oscillating between visions of Kirby her lawyer and Kirby the mom, and memories of her former lover. She was almost giddy at times when she thought of her, so much so that Charlie and Danny commented on her good mood. It brought back something her mom had said years earlier, about how Sam had pranced around like a puppy.
Back then, Sam had been oblivious, unaware of how she’d been broadcasting her feelings. Now, she understood, even if her sons didn’t. Seeing Kirby again, having the chance to talk with her, to meet her children, had Sam flying high. She had no idea if Kirby felt the same way, but something told her that she did.
In a little while, she’d be seeing her again, and perhaps she’d have a chance to find out.
Thirty minutes later, dressed in a skirt that accented her legs and a bold floral button-down shirt, Sam arrived at the Saxton Pavilion. As she had been on the prior occasion, Kirby was waiting for her.
“Welcome home,” Kirby said.
Sam rolled her eyes. “I hate coming home. There’s so much work to do.” She groaned.
“We have to work, right? To pay for the vacations.”
“I suppose so.”
“Did your boys have fun? Bonding with their mom?”
It had been fun, and they had bonded. It was therapeutic. Sam had always been a hands-on mom, coaching T-ball and volunteering for PTA activities, chauffeuring the swim team and helping with school projects, so the separation from her sons as they grew more independent had crushed her. This trip had been healing, and they’d all be okay when they left home for good. Separate, but still strong. “Yeah. It was just what we needed.”
Kirby looked at her in a way that said she understood, and the attention made Sam a little uncomfortable. “How are your kids?”
Kirby beamed. “Great. They’re at the beach for the summer, hanging out with my parents.”
“How does that work?” Sam asked, curious.
“What do you mean?” Kirby looked confused.
“When do you see them?”
“Oh. Well, my parents created a kind of dorm at their condo. They have bunk beds in every room, so it sleeps like twenty. People are always coming and going. I try to take Fridays off, or at least Friday afternoon, so I see them on the weekend. And sometimes, they get tired of their cousins and come home for a few days. Sometimes their other mom goes there to see them, or they come home for a few days to see her.”
“Do they work?”
“No,” she said, and then seemed to feel the need to explain. “I didn’t work when I was their age, and I turned out okay. Besides, they’ll be employed for the rest of their lives. Why rush it?”
It was a strange concept for Sam, who’d been working since she was sixteen. Even during med school, when she came home, she filled in shifts for the other techs in the ER. Yet she understood Kirby’s point of view, and she supposed there was no right or wrong way to raise kids. “I get it. I’d probably spend the summer at the beach if my grandparents had a beach house.”
“Back to your trip. Did you hike Half Dome?”
Sam frowned as she thought of Yosemite’s most iconic peak. “No. I just didn’t trust that the boys were experienced enough. Plus…do you know you have to win a lottery just for the opportunity to hike there? It’s crazy. And then there’s me. I don’t know if I could have done it. That’s a fourteen-hour day.”
Kirby sighed. “Being almost fifty sucks, Sam. But if it makes you feel any better, my family didn’t do it either. Our kids were too young. Do you have more pictures?”
Sam laughed. “That depends. Are you charging me by the hour?”
Kirby looked thoughtful. “I actually don’t know the answer. But if I am, I’ll give you the friends-and-family discount.”
Sam looked at her phone, then back at Kirby. “Can we use your laptop? The pictures will be better.”
Kirby pushed it toward Sam, and she logged into her Shutterfly account, then pulled up the photo book she’d been working on. Sitting beside Kirby, she pressed Play on the slide show.
“Wait a minute, hold on, pause this,” Kirby demanded when the cover came up.
Without question, Sam paused the slide show.
“Sam, you drove an RV?” she asked, in obvious wonder as she pointed to the picture of her sitting behind the wheel of the motor home, leaning out the window, her sons standing below her.
“I did.”
“Cross country?”
Shaking her head, Sam clarified the situation. “No, we flew to Las Vegas, because it’s a direct flight, and rented it there. We camped.”
Kirby looked at her, and Sam knew what she was thinking. They’d always had that connection. “You know about my backup plan as a trucker,” she said softly. That had been their last time together. The last time they made love, before Sam’s world fell apart. The next day she’d met Kirby at the park and ended their fledgling relationship.
“You’re amazing,” Kirby said, shaking her head.
Sam’s face heated. “Anyway, may I continue?”
“You may, but I would like the authority to press that button and stop the slide show whenever I have questions.”
“As long as you’re not charging by the hour, authority granted.”
Even though she could have, Kirby didn’t stop the show. She simply watched and commented as the pictures changed before her. The boys relaxing in the club chairs in the RV, sitting by a fire, hiking, swimming. Mountains, trees, waterfalls, wildlife. From Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon to Sequoia to Yosemite. One hundred pages and almost three hundred pictures later, the show ended, and Kirby turned to her, admiration in her eyes.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Where do you get your courage?”
“Whatta ya mean?”
Pursing her lips, Kirby seemed to struggle to form her words. “You just tackle things, Sam. You want something, and you figure out how to get it done.”
The words hit her seemingly at the exact moment they hit Kirby, and they stared at each other. Kirby had to feel the same punch Sam did, based on her expression. “Most of the time,” Sam said quietly.
“I didn’t mean anything—”
“No, it’s good. I understand perfectly.”
They stared at each other for a moment. “Shall we get to work?” Kirby finally suggested.
“If we must,” Sam sighed, the energy draining from her.
Laughing, Kirby moved around the table and sat so she was facing Sam. “Okay. I’m going to behave as I anticipate the other side’s lawyer will. I’m not going to be a jerk, but I may bore you into a state of relaxation where you let down your guard and say something really incriminating. So, no matter how mundane my questions—or his or her questions—may seem, don’t relax. Nothing is innocent in this situation. Does that make sense?”
“Perfect sense.”
Kirby gave a slight nod. “Let’s start with your resume.”
Handing Sam a copy of the document she’d only just recently created, she reviewed Sam’s credentials. “I see you did your residency at Newark Beth-Israel Medical Center. That was an emergency-medicine residency, correct?”
“Yes.”
“So you have no formal training in pediatrics. Is that correct?”
“That is incorrect. Emergency medicine includes pediatrics. During my residency, I spent six months in the pediatric emergency department and an additional month in the peds ICU.”
“I see. Thank you for clarifying that point. Is there any additional training in neurology, or neurosurgery, or infectious diseases that isn’t mentioned on your resume?”
Sam thought back to her training almost twenty years ago. “I did spend a month on the neurology service. It was an elective.”
“Okay, Doctor, thank you. On that neurology elective, how many cases of subdural empyema did you see?”
Sam suddenly felt defensive. “Subdural empyema is extremely rare, and most physicians will practice for a lifetime without ever seeing a case.”
“Thank you for clarifying that point. Can you please answer the question? How many cases did you see prior to this one?”
“None,” she said, unable to keep the impatience out of her voice.
Kirby leaned back in her chair and held up her hands. “Relax, Sam. Whatever you do, don’t show the other attorney that he’s getting to you. Keep your answers short. Less is better. Stick to facts. If you don’t know an answer, simply say ‘I don’t know.’ If you don’t remember, say, ‘I don’t recall.’ You could answer that question with either of those responses or a simple ‘none.’”
Sam took a breath and reminded herself that this was just practice. Kirby was on her side. Kirby was trying to help her.
They continued the questions and answers, with better success. Sam practiced what she’d always taught her boys when they were in difficult situations. Take a breath and count to three before answering. The results were better. Kirby questioned her for an hour, asking about general protocols and specifics regarding the case. Sam used the responses Kirby had instructed her to use whenever she could and referred to the chart frequently.
After Kirby finished, she stood, poured a glass of ice water for Sam, and handed it to her, then flipped on the light box on the wall, where a CT scan was hanging. Sam stood and took her place beside Kirby. They both leaned in for a closer look, and Sam suddenly became aware of Kirby’s presence beside her. Shifting slightly, she forced herself to focus on the images.
“Can you spot it?” Sam asked.
“I have no idea how to read a CT scan. But a radiologist I consulted pointed it out to me.”
