shapeless scrubs similar to her own royal-blue ones. It was nearly seven-thirty and dinner was over. The cafeteria would close in about half an hour. She spotted a nurse she knew from the E.R. and walked over to her.
Kate Carpenter was a beautiful brunette with big hazel eyes and a gift for connecting with the patients who came into Mercy Medical for emergency care. She was alternately tender and tough, depending on what was needed, and situations in the E.R. could get pretty intense. It was important to have someone who moved fluidly between people looking for help and the doctors who made the hard calls. Rebecca knew some of them weren’t easy to get along with.
“Hi, Kate. Mind if I join you?”
Kate shrugged. “Sure.”
Rebecca sat down in the hunter green plastic chair across from her. “How’s life in the E.R.?”
“Hectic. As usual.” Kate pushed away her plate and what was left of her salad. “How’s your patient doing?”
“Elena Castillo. Mother and baby are doing fine.”
She’d gone into labor and come into the hospital through emergency. Kate was on duty and on the ball. She’d sent her straight up to Labor and Delivery. It didn’t often happen, but sometimes an expectant mother got hung up with paperwork. Kate was good about making sure that didn’t happen.
“Thanks for sending her straight upstairs,” Rebecca added. “There wasn’t much time to spare. That baby was in a big hurry. Her last office visit was three days ago, and I told her then that she wouldn’t need another one. I was sure the next time I saw her would be here.”
“And you were right,” Kate said with a smile that showed off her dimple.
“I love being right,” Rebecca agreed. “And now she has a beautiful baby girl.”
Kate cut her apple in half then in quarters. “Good APGAR?”
APGAR, an acronym for activity, pulse, grimace, appearance and respiration, was the test designed to quickly evaluate a newborn’s physical condition post delivery. It was done at specific intervals.
“The one-minute APGAR was eight. Not bad for a forty-year-old mother’s first baby.”
“Any reason she waited so long?” Kate asked.
“She didn’t want to go the single mother route, and it took her a while to find the right guy.” Her friend didn’t comment, and Rebecca noticed the pensive expression. “Speaking of babies, how’s your little guy?”
“J.T. is perfect.” She smiled and the shadows in her eyes evaporated. “Getting too big too fast.”
Rebecca didn’t believe she would ever experience those maternal feelings, and that made her a little sad. She believed that a child should have two parents in a committed relationship and since Rebecca wouldn’t commit again, she wasn’t likely to become a mother. She knew her friend was a single mother, but not much more than that. “What does J.T. stand for?”
“Joseph Thomas. After his father.”
“Joe—nice name,” Rebecca said. “What does he do?”
“He’s a Marine Corps helicopter pilot.”
“A dangerous job these days,” Rebecca commented.
The shadows regrouped and gathered in Kate’s eyes again. “Yeah.”
“Is he excited about being a father?” Rebecca asked.
Kate stirred her coffee without looking up and finally said, “He never responded to my letter telling him about the baby, so I’d have to say he wasn’t happy.”
“Is it possible he didn’t get the letter? Maybe—”
“I don’t mean to be rude, Rebecca. But it’s not something I’m comfortable talking about.”
“Of course. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosy. I just—I wish I could help.”
“I know and I appreciate it. That’s just not a time in my life I want to dwell on. It’s taken a while, but I’m okay.” She shrugged, but the troubled look in her eyes belied the words. “I have a beautiful boy and will always be grateful to Joe Morgan—”
“Morgan? His father’s last name?”
She nodded and a smile curved up the corners of her mouth. “It’s who he is. With him around there’s never a dull moment.”
Rebecca picked that moment to glance over her shoulder and saw Gabe Thorne in the doorway looking around the room as if searching for someone. “Speaking of dull moments—”
“What?” Kate sat up straight to look over her shoulder. “Who’s that?”
“Brother of one of my patients. President of T&O Enterprises.”
“Isn’t that the company doing the hospital expansion?” At her nod, Kate continued, “He doesn’t look like a happy camper.”
“No kidding.”
Rebecca could count on one hand the times he didn’t look like he wanted to implode something. Right now wasn’t one of them. But the few times she’d seen him smile or grin were pretty unforgettable. Like three days ago when he’d been annoyed by her optimism. One minute his grin was a wicked challenge, the next it was replaced by sadness brimming in his eyes. The man definitely got to her and that was unacceptable. She hunched forward, hoping he wouldn’t notice her.
“He’s a nice-looking man,” Kate observed.
“Nice-looking? If there was an APGAR for guys, he’d score off the scale,” Rebecca said.
“Oh, really.” Her friend’s voice dripped innuendo like a leaky paper cup.
“What?” Rebecca stared at Kate. “I may be a brainer geek, but I know a good-looking man when I see one. But that’s all there is to it.”
“If you say so.”
“What does that mean?” Rebecca asked.
“Nothing. But your body language is speaking volumes.”
“No way.”
“Oh, yeah,” Kate said, clearly enjoying this. “You could crawl under the table so he doesn’t see you. Oops, too late. He just glanced this way and is now striding purposefully in this direction.”
The next moment Gabe stood beside their table. “Your answering service said I could find you here. Rebecca, I need to talk to you.”
“I was just leaving.” Kate stood and picked up her tray.
He seemed to realize his behavior was abrupt. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt. Miss—”
“Carpenter. Kate,” she said.
“Miss Carpenter.” He nodded. “Don’t leave on my account. I just
