had often been thoughtful of others and she was glad he hadn’t changed during the time they’s spent apart. She couldn’t imagine where he’d found the time to translate her sister’s chart for her between seeing patients and doing surgery, but she was extremely grateful for his efforts.
He put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the restaurant across the street from the hospital. The warmth of his hand seemed to burn through her thin cotton blouse, branding her skin. She was keenly aware of him, his scent wreaking havoc with her concentration, as they made their way across the street. There was outdoor seating beneath cheerful red and white umbrellas and she gratefully sat in the shade, putting the table between them.
The waiter came over and the two men conversed in rapid-fire Spanish. She caught maybe one familiar word out of a dozen.
“What would you like to drink, Katerina?” Miguel asked. “Beer? Wine? Soft drink?”
“You ordered a soft drink, didn’t you?” she asked.
He flashed a bright smile and nodded. “You remember some Spanish, no?” he asked with clear approval.
“Yes, muy poco, very little,” she agreed. “I’ll have the same, please.”
Miguel ordered several tapas, the Spanish form of appetizers, along with their soft drinks. When the food arrived, she had no idea what she was eating, but whatever it was it tasted delicious.
“Do you want to review Juliet’s chart now?” he asked. “I can wait and answer your questions.”
“I’ll read it later, just tell me what you know.” She wanted to hear from him first. Besides, there was no way she’d be able to concentrate on her sister’s chart with him sitting directly across from her.
He took his time, sipping his drink, before answering. “Juliet has begun moving around more, which is a good sign. She will likely start to intermittently follow commands soon. We have done a CT scan of her brain earlier this morning and the area of bleeding appears to be resolving slowly.”
She nodded, eating another of the delicious tapas on the plate between them. There were olives too, and she wondered if they were from Miguel’s family farm. “I’m glad. I guess all we can do right now is wait and see.”
“True,” he agreed. He helped himself to more food as well. “Katerina, how is your mother doing? Wasn’t she scheduled to have surgery right before I left the States?”
She nodded, her appetite fading. “Yes. The result of her surgery showed stage-four pancreatic cancer. She died a couple months later.” Despite the fear of being a single mother, at the time of her mother’s passing, her pregnancy had been one of the few bright spots in her life. Things had been difficult until Juliet had gone off to college. Thankfully, her friend Diana had been there for her, even offering to be her labor coach.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, reaching across the table to capture her hand in his. “We both lost our parents about the same time, didn’t we?”
“Yes. We did.” His fingers were warm and strong around hers, but she gently tugged her hand away and reached for her glass. She tried to think of a way to ask him if he was married or seeing someone, without sounding too interested.
“I have thought of you often these past few years,” Miguel murmured, not seeming to notice how she was struggling with her secret. He took her left hand and brushed his thumb across her bare ring finger. “You haven’t married?”
She slowly shook her head. There was only one man who’d asked her out after Tommy had been born. He was another nurse in the operating room, one of the few male nurses who worked there. She’d been tempted to date him because he was a single parent, too, and would have been a great father figure for Tommy, but in the end she hadn’t been able to bring herself to accept his offer.
She hadn’t felt anything for Wayne other than friendship. And as much as she wanted a father for Tommy, she couldn’t pretend to feel something she didn’t.
Too bad she couldn’t say the same about her feelings toward Miguel. Seeing him again made her realize that she still felt that same spark of attraction, the same awareness that had been there when they’d worked together in the U.S. Feelings that apparently hadn’t faded over time.
“What about you, Miguel?” she asked, taking the opening he’d offered, as she gently pulled her hand away. “Have you found a woman to marry?”
“No, you know my dream is to join Doctors Without Borders. But I can’t leave until I’m certain my brother has the Vasquez olive farm back on its feet. Luis has a few—ah—problems. Things were not going well here at home during the time I was in the U.S.” A shadow of guilt flashed in his eyes, and she found herself wishing she could offer him comfort.
“Not your fault, Miguel,” she reminded him, secretly glad to discover he hadn’t fallen in love and married a beautiful Spanish woman. “How old is Luis?”
“Twenty-six now,” he said. “But too young back then to take on the responsibility of running the farm. I think the stress of trying to hold everything together was too much for my father.” He stared at his glass for a long moment. “Maybe if I had been here, things would have been different.”
She shrugged, not nearly as reassured as she should be at knowing his dream of joining Doctors Without Borders hadn’t changed. She should be thrilled with the news. Maybe this would be best for all of them. He’d go do his mission work, leaving her alone to raise Tommy. Miguel could come back in a few years, when Tommy was older, to get to know his son.
All she had to do was to tell him the truth.
Diana wanted her to wait, but she knew she had to tell him or the secret would continue to eat at her. She’d never been any good at lying and didn’t want to start now. She swallowed hard and braced herself. “Miguel, there’s something important I need to tell you,” she began.
“Miguel!” A shout from across the street interrupted them. She frowned and turned in time to see a handsome young man, unsteady on his feet, waving wildly at Miguel.
“Luis.” He muttered his brother’s name like a curse half under his breath. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said as he rose to his feet.
She didn’t protest, but watched as Miguel crossed over towards his brother, his expression stern. The two of them were quickly engrossed in a heated conversation that didn’t seem it would end any time soon.
Kat sat back, sipping her soft drink and thinking how wrong it was for her to be grateful for the reprieve.
“Luis, you shouldn’t be drinking!” Miguel shouted in Spanish, barely holding his temper in check.
“Relax, it’s Friday night. I’ve been slaving out at the farm all week—don’t I get time to have fun too? Hey, who’s the pretty Americana?” he asked with slurred speech, as he looked around Miguel towards where Katerina waited.
“She’s a friend from the U.S.,” he answered sharply. “But that’s not the point. I thought we had an agreement? You promised to stay away from the taverns until Saturday night. It’s barely five o’clock on Friday, and you’re already drunk.” Which meant his brother must have started drinking at least a couple of hours ago.
“I
