“You’re such an old man,” Mindy teased.
“I’m younger than you.”
“Low blow, old man Napier. Very low blow indeed.”
Sam grinned and came up beside her so they could look out over the water. Even though it was chilly out, the brilliant morning sun reflected against the water like diamonds.
“It is beautiful,” Mindy admitted. “I’m glad you brought me out here to see this. Even if it’s cold.”
“You’re welcome.” He glanced at her, actually he couldn’t take his eyes off of her, watching her delight in their trip. “Well, we’d better head down if we’re going to get to our next destination in time.”
Mindy cocked an eyebrow. “Next destination. No, we don’t need to go anywhere else. This was great.”
“I won’t hear any arguments. We’re going to the Empire State Building.”
“What is with your obsession with tall buildings today?”
“I’m taking you to all the touristy spots, like I said I would. I can’t help it that a lot of touristy spots are tall buildings. Well, two are for sure.” And he winked at her. “You’re at my mercy today, Mindy.”
Mindy just rolled her eyes and then laughed. “Whatever you say.”
Sam chuckled as he followed her down the endless steps back to the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. He kept his hands firmly jammed in his pockets so as not to reach out and pull her into his arms.
The idea of having her at his mercy excited him.
Stop thinking that way or you’ll be in trouble.
It seemed to him that he had to keep reminding himself of this fact.
Frequently.
It was hard not to, though. There were so many things he liked about Mindy. Even though she seemed to have her own walls firmly in place, keeping him out, she still was this bright, shiny and happy person. Her brilliance, her enthusiasm for everything she put herself into appealed to him.
She had fire in her. When residents or interns displeased her, especially when working on a fragile case, when a mother and her unborn baby’s lives were at stake, she was a fierce protector of her patients.
Dr. Mindy Walker was someone you didn’t want to cross professionally, but sometimes he got the feeling that she wasn’t always like that. That the fierceness was a defense mechanism, part of the walls.
He’d done a bit of research about her, read some of her papers. She’d had a very lucrative practice in California. What would make her sell it, pack up her life and move to a place where the air hurt her face?
Sam chuckled again to himself as he thought of her saying that a couple times since they’d left her apartment.
“Why am I living where the air hurts my face?”
And then she would make a pouty face.
“Ugh,” she groaned, as they stepped outside and headed toward the dock to pick up their ferry back to Battery Park.
“Yeah, yeah, the air. It hurts.”
Mindy punched him in the arm. “Smart aleck.”
They boarded the ferry and soon they were pushing off away from the Statue of Liberty. This time they sat on the benches inside. He leaned back against the bench, his arms spread, and she leaned back into his arm. She didn’t snuggle in but she didn’t move away either.
It was nice.
“So, why did you move here again?”
Mindy cleared her throat. “I told you. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Professor Langley made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
Sam snorted at the mention of the chief of surgery. “I see.”
“You don’t really like Professor Langley, do you?”
“What do you mean?” Sam straightened up and crossed his arms.
“Aha, so you have some secrets too.”
Sam shrugged. “We just don’t get on, that’s all.”
“That’s funny, because I could’ve sworn that he mentioned to me that you were one of the residents to watch.”
The compliment just slid off of him. He didn’t care if Langley thought highly of him. If it had been Dr. Chang that would’ve been different. He respected Dr. Chang. In fact, he respected most of the surgeons as West Manhattan Saints except Langley, because he’d ruined his parents’ marriage.
“Was it worth it, Monica? The promotion meant so much to you, you felt it necessary to throw our marriage away?”
“You don’t understand me, Frasier. You don’t understand what it’s like being a surgeon. Being the best. Langley understands my needs. You don’t. You just want me to be a mother, a housewife, grubbing around on your land in the Highlands. That’s not what I want. That’s not what I deserve. I never wanted to be a mother!”
His parents’ last fight haunted him.
The heartbreak in his father’s voice because his father had truly loved his mother. Sam’s father had been blinded by love to the point that he had fallen in love with someone who didn’t value love and family the same way he did.
It had nearly destroyed his father and it cut Sam to the quick when she hadn’t wanted full custody of him. That he’d moved from New York to Scotland. In the end, living with his father and being raised in the Highlands had given him a happy childhood, but it was the rejection of the woman he called Mother that still hurt.
When he had visited her, she’d barely spent any time with him unless he’d been in the hospital with her and he’d got to watch her and Langley together.
It was when she’d taken her posting at Harvard and left West Manhattan Saints that he’d stopped visiting her as often, because she hadn’t had time for him.
“What’s wrong?” Mindy asked. “You just totally closed off.”
“Just thinking.” Sam gave her a half-smile. “We’re here. You ready for your next adventure?”
“And if I say no?”
“You don’t have a choice, remember? I’m in charge today.” He held his hand out and she took it as they disembarked from the ferry and moved through the crowds heading to the subway station so they could catch the next ride up to the Empire State Building.
Sam shook the thoughts of his mother from his head.
His mother was not allowed in today. She wasn’t going to ruin this day. This day was all about him and Mindy.
Today he was going
