“Donna?” My voice cracked a little with surprise. “What are you and the boys doing here?”
“Danny does the deliveries for the bakery,” Donna explained. “I had him move you two up in line to be delivered earlier.”
“How very nice of you,” I replied. Jacob walked in behind the two teens and Donna and shrugged as I made eye contact with him. He wasn't sure what they were doing here either.
“Alright, I have sandwiches and two of Katie's special brownies.” Donna started pulling things out of the bag her tallest son held.
“Mom, I'm supposed to deliver the stuff,” the teen told her softly.
“Do you want me to put it back?” she asked, pausing with only one brownie left to go. The poor kid sighed and shook his head. Donna continued setting the food out.
“And I got the spinach salad. Where is it?” Donna mumbled, looking around. “Oh, here it is.”
“Are you eating with us?” Dr. Matthews asked. He sounded pleasant but the slight twitch in his eyebrow said he wasn't pleased.
“Just me and Chris,” Donna replied, setting out another sandwich. “Danny has more deliveries.”
“Oh. That's too bad,” I replied automatically. I moved to the table and sat down in front of my food.
“Dr. Matthews, you sit here,” Donna instructed, pointing to the seat across from me. “I made sure Katie knew which sandwich was yours so she could pack extra love into it.”
Jacob's eye twitched hard. Extra love from Katie wasn't something that needed to be said so soon after what Jacob and I had just done.
“Let's eat.” Donna smiled around the table, oblivious to the fact that neither Jacob or I wanted her or her son there.
Conversation was quiet and simple. We made poor Chris talk about school and how his summer was going. He was starting high school in the fall and his voice kept cracking every time he spoke. I swear I've never eaten a sandwich faster than I did for that meal.
All I wanted was to get Jacob alone for a moment so that we could talk about what we'd just done. I knew it was a spur of the moment decision, but I needed to know if it was just an adrenaline release or something more.
I wanted, and yet was terrified, of him saying it was something more.
“That was delicious. Thank you for bringing us dinner,” I said, standing u
p from the table. I'd eaten faster than the teenage boy.
“Oh, my pleasure. You two worked hard today,” Donna replied with a smile.
“Dr. Matthews, could I talk to you in my office for a second?” I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “I just wanted to go over some things that happened. You know, for my charting.”
“Right. Charting.” His blue eyes met mine and he nodded. “Of course.”
It was then that my phone chirped. I glanced down at it to see my mother's number, as well as two missed calls from her. Internal alarm bells starting going off. The whole reason I was back in Riversville was to help my father manage his health.
I stopped dead in my tracks. From the corner of my eye I saw Jacob stop moving as well, but I ignored him and read the text from my mother.
* * *
Your father needs you.
* * *
I thought I was ready to take care of my father. I thought that all my years of nursing would prepare me for this moment, but I wasn't ready. It was my dad. The man I loved all my life. And he needed me.
“Are you okay?” Jacob asked, his brows furrowed.
“My dad needs me,” I said, still staring at my phone. I looked up at him and saw concern and understanding in his eyes.
“You should go. We'll go over your charting later,” he told me.