through the crowd and past the bar, where there were long lines of people waiting to be served. He bypassed the alcohol altogether, not that he would have minded a good, stiff drink to get him through the evening, and went off in search of his seat. The number 17 was clearly marked on a placard in the center of the table, right next to the centerpiece of pink and white carnations mingling with red teacup-rosebuds and snuggled into sprigs of greenery and baby’s breath. Two of the chairs at the table for eight were tilted up, indicating that two people had already laid claim to their spots, then wandered off. Probably to the bar, he guessed. Interestingly enough, the two reserved spots were not next to each other, so the people who’d tipped up those chairs had purposely chosen spots on opposite sides of the table. No new friendships would be forged at this table tonight, Daniel thought to himself as he pulled out a chair and seated himself.
He glanced at his watch. There were still fifteen minutes to wait. A long, boring fifteen minutes, since he doubted he’d know anyone at the table, which meant conversation would be held to a bare minimum. At least on his part it would be, as he hated shouting over the noisy crowd in the room just to be heard. Well, so be it. That was fine with him, as he didn’t have time for new friends in his life, anyway. These days, he barely had time to acknowledge his old friends, and on those occasions when he was thrown together with someone from his past it was usually someone he’d related to with Elizabeth.
Once, he’d lived in a world where his wife had been enough and now, without her, he was afraid he caused everyone around him to be uncomfortable. They didn’t know what to say or how to act since her death. There’d been some invitations to dinner or other activities at first, more out of pity than the genuine desire to entertain him. But he’d always had the graciousness to decline as he didn’t want to cause the ones asking him to feel ill at ease. Besides, he always had the excuse that he had to get home to Maddie.
Maddie might have been a convenient excuse on more than one occasion, but he truly enjoyed his limited hours with her. Wanted more of them. Envied the time his mother-in-law had with her, the parts of Maddie’s life that he was missing out on.
“Is this seat taken?” The familiar voice from beside him startled Daniel out of his deep ponderings.
He looked up, then rose slowly to his feet. “You’re assigned to the notorious singles table, too?” he asked Zoey as he pulled out the chair for her.
“Is that what this is?”
Daniel chuckled. “Always put off to the side where people don’t have to observe our awkwardness at being here alone.”
“What if being alone is a choice?” she asked, sliding into her chair.
“Then you’d prove the banquet planners wrong, since they set up all but one or two tables for couples.”
“Ah, yes. The current mindset. Better off staying home than coming alone. But you’re here alone, so how do you feel about that?”
“I’m here, but it’s not by choice.”
“You were forced?” She smiled and her blue eyes twinkled.
“Let’s just say that it was strongly recommended that I attend this year. In other words, I took the hint from my department head and came, although I’d rather be home in my jeans and T-shirt, drinking a beer, reading a story to Maddie.”
“Well, I’ve never been to one of these affairs before, so I don’t know how to respond to that.” She picked up the glass of ice water in front of her and took a sip. “But I was pleased to receive an invitation. This was my first one and I felt honored that the planners would think to include me. Call me dumb or misguided, but I’ve been looking forward to tonight for weeks. Even bought a new dress for the occasion.” She sat the glass of water down and looked over her shoulder at the crowd who were slowly migrating to their tables. “So do they expect us to whip out our checkbooks and make a contribution later on?”
“Well, they call it a fundraiser because there are a lot of dignitaries and corporate heads here, but the goal is to raise funds from them. Let them whip out their checkbooks and write the checks.”
“Then why are we here?”
“To show that we all stand behind the cause.”
“Which means they’re showing us off as one big, happy family?”
“Something like that.”
Zoey sat up straight in her seat and smiled at the man taking a seat across the table from her. “Nice size crowd,” she said to Daniel. “Is it like this every year?”
Daniel sat up straighter too but he wasn’t appraising the crowd. Instead, he was trying to catch glimpses of Zoey without her noticing. “Actually, it seems to get larger every year. I remember when they used to hold it in one of the hospital banquet rooms, but we’ve grown so much they moved it a couple years ago to this hotel.”
“Hospital services are expanding, aren’t they? I suppose that accounts for the size of the crowd—expansion equals more VIPs to court. Do you like working for such a large institution, Daniel?”
“Actually, I do. It offers a lot more medical services for its patients than a lot of other smaller hospitals can offer. So, since the goal of the hospital is to provide the best patient care we can, having better and bigger medical opportunities is a good thing. It allows me to accomplish more in the course of any given day.”
“Elizabeth was proud of your accomplishments, you know. She mentioned that several times.”
“Did she?” It was still not easy talking about Elizabeth but, surprisingly, Zoey did relieve some of that anxiety for him as she was so easy about the whole subject.
Zoey nodded. “She said you made a difference. That your work here was important.”
“Well, she was a little bit biased, I think.” He looked around at all the tables beginning to fill up, frowned and shook his head. So many tables, so many people... Not really his thing. Although, the prospect of sitting next to Zoey all evening seemed good.
“You’re frowning,” she said. “Something wrong?”
“You know, I wish they would have put me in the last row. I actually asked for that assignment, but the organizers told me those tables are reserved for latecomers.”
“The last row? Why? Because you wanted to sneak out?”
“The word sneak sounds so devious. I wouldn’t have been devious about it. Instead, I would simply have said my goodbyes and walked out the door. Tux tails flapping in the breeze, I’d be in that much of a hurry.”
“So your master plan was spoiled by your lack of proximity to the door?”
“Leaving from this spot’s not so easy.” He gestured to the back half of the room. “Too many witnesses.”
“I could almost be offended.”
“Why so?”
“You’ve got exceptional company at this table.” The table was almost full now but the only two people sat down who were talking were Daniel and Zoey. “Including me. And I take it personally that you want to escape.”
“Not escape so much as depart with an excuse.”
“Excuse?”
