A Marriage Takes Two
Chapter 1
Two hours of pep talks, a dozen whispered
mantras and five sets of calming breaths failed to settle Carrie Graham’s acute
case of nerves. Get a grip, she told herself. She was going to see Tony,
childhood defender, teenage ego booster and the one person who’d always
listened. Besides, she’d already eliminated every other candidate for the
position.
Who are you kidding?
Myself?
From the moment she’d been presented with
her current dilemma, he was the only possibility. All she had to do was
convince him… But could she? Sure Tony
listened, but he didn’t talk about his problems or his feelings.
The fading light of dusk made her slow the
car in order to read the street signs. She’d planned to leave the apartment at
noon but the short nap after her night shift had stretched until late
afternoon.
She made the final turn into Fourth Street in a
small West Virginia
town established in the days when coal mining had dominated the area. She shook
her head. Rundown houses and boarded storefronts were the norm along the town’s
main street. Why was Tony practicing medicine in this end-of-the-road place?
She hadn’t seen him for years, not since
several months after his marriage, an event that had shaken her life. His wife
hadn’t understood the friendship or Tony’s and Carrie’s mutual interest in
medical mysteries. With a flash of anger, Carrie recalled the night that woman
had stormed into the hospital cafeteria and spewed jealous accusations.
Carrie’s hands tightened on the steering
wheel. She’d been embarrassed, hurt and angry enough that she’d walked away
from her best friend.
She’d heard rumors that Tony’s wife had
taken off for greener pastures. At least that’s what the hometown gossips had
said. Not that Carrie believed in gossip, especially after the news of her
inheritance had brought the tongue-waggers out in force.
She slowed the car to a crawl. Waves of
panic lashed against her momentary calm. The place in her head where she’d
filed his address was empty. She braked. The paper with the directions
fluttered from the dashboard. She bent and grabbed them.
One glance was enough to retrieve the
forgotten data. She eased off the brake and cruised the street. Half the houses
had missing numbers. What now? Then at
the foot of the dead end street, she saw the ones she’d memorized displayed in
shiny brass on a massive gray house that looked like the setting for a Gothic
novel.
A broad lawn fronted the house. The
tailored grass stood in contrast to the tangles on either side.
“This is the place.” She gulped a breath.
After parking at the curb, she slowly
released a held breath. She strode up the walk and onto the wide porch. Muffled
shouts and noises came from inside the house. She rang the bell. What sounded
like a slammed door nearly sent her back to the car. Who was staging a major
temper tantrum? She thought Tony lived
alone.
She rang the bell again, this time holding
for several peals. The door opened and she forgot why she’d come. She forgot to
breathe. Her eyes widened and her heart pounded in a staccato rhythm until she
thought her ribs would crack.
He was more than she remembered.
Are you sure you want to be here?
“Tony.” His name escaped on a sigh. She
felt like a teenager come face to face with the latest movie hero. This was the
man she planned to ask…She changed her mind. Time to retreat. The plan wouldn’t
work, not with the things he made her feel and what he made her want.
“Carrie...Oh lord, it’s been ages. What
are you doing here? You look terrific.”
She did?
He must be blind. Even her coworkers had made comments about the deep
smudges beneath her eyes. Most days, she felt as though she was suffering from
terminal exhaustion.
“Come in.” He took her hand.
Exhaustion vanished. He’d always made her
feet great, but this instant tonic-effect startled her. Coming to see him had
grown corners she couldn’t see around.
“I can’t believe you’re here.” He drew her
inside. “What brings you to town?”
She wanted to tell him, but the words
caught in her throat. “Would you believe I was in the neighborhood?
Tony laughed. “No.”
She inhaled and the spicy scent of him
invaded her space. “I came...” She couldn’t finish the sentence. He’d been her
hero, her prince, her fantasy lover. In the flesh, he relegated those images to
black and white.
“I bet you came to apply for the nursing
position at the clinic.” He steered her down a hall that needed paint into a
large living room. “Did you get lost on the way there? Unfortunately, I’m not the one you need to
see.”
She shook her head. “Another job is the
last thing I need. I already have two.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Necessity.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s a long story.” She sighed. “I
shouldn’t have come.”
“What’s wrong? Sounds like you need a shoulder.”
The entire body, she thought. “You could
say...It’s like this...I have a problem that needs a solution...It’s sort
of...” Her throat closed. Maybe she should leave. Go home. Forget the plan.
Find a new one. Except, he was her first, last and only choice.
“Be glad to listen.” He patted her hand.
“Are you saying in all these years, you haven’t found anyone else to listen?
I haven’t looked, she thought. There
couldn’t be a replacement for Tony. She couldn’t tell him that. “I
thought...Maybe you can help.”
“Be glad to try. Go ahead.”
A crash resounded. Carrie jumped. “I think
you’re the one with the problem.”
“You could say that.” Tony rolled his eyes
upward. “My son’s protesting his punishment for his latest series of pranks.
He’s grounded with no TV and no phone.”
“What did he do?” She sat on one end of a shabby brown couch.
“Do you really want to know?”
She nodded. Hearing about Tony’s problems
could give her time to gather her courage.
He slumped beside her. “He glued the
sitter’s clothes together. She left in a huff.”
“Don’t blame her.” Carrie frowned. “I
thought your son lived with his mother.”
“He did until July. She’s remarried…to one
of the Brinkers. She and her new husband are on a world cruise honeymoon. They
didn’t take Chad.”
His blue eyes were bleak. Was his pain for
his son or himself? How badly had his failed
marriage hurt him? “Are you all right
with the idea?”
He shrugged. “I’ve mixed feelings.”
His expression showed hurt and anger, not
ones she’d consider mixed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s great having Chad
here, but he’s angry about the divorce, about living here, about his mother’s
new husband. Wasn’t a great summer. Even with him in school, there are
problems.”
“Maybe I can help.”
“Don’t know how.” He winked. “I’m not
without experience in dealing with angry kids. “Remember…”
“Yes and don’t even mention the first time
we met.”
“Or my black eye? Lord, it’s great to see you again. Why don’t
you tell me why you came all this way?”
She ran her tongue over dry lips. She
searched for an answer and couldn’t find one he would believe. If she asked
him, he would think she was crazy.
Good grief, my thoughts are scrambled.
He was too…too… male.
And your feelings for him haven’t
changed.
“Carrie.”
The demand in his voice made her feel like
a child facing an adult. “It’s...” What sounded like glass shattering brought
her to her feet.
“Chad!”
Saved, she thought. “Don’t you think you’d
better see what he’s doing before he trashes the house?”
He raked his ebony curls with his fingers.
“You’re right.” He headed to the door. “Promise you’ll stay ‘til I settle him.
Then we’ll talk.”
“I’ll be here.”
She sank against the cushions. Maybe he
would need the entire evening to deal with his son. This visit was an act of
desperation. After all, it had been years. Maybe he’d changed.
She looked around the sparsely furnished
living room. Most of the pieces looked like refugees from second-hand stores.
What had gone wrong for him? He’d been
on the fast track. He’d entered practice with one of the largest medical groups
in Pittsburgh.
From some of her classmates, she’d heard how wonderful her was, what a caring
doctor he’d become, and how loyal he’d been to his wife and child. Had the end
of his marriage caused him to turn his back on success? She hadn’t heard and she hadn’t asked until
two months ago. Her jobs had been in hospitals where he hadn’t been on staff.
The sound of a throat being cleared made
her jump. A woman with streaks of gray in her brown hair stood in the doorway.
Who? Carrie wondered. Hadn’t Tony said the sitter had quit?
“Dr. Flynn wondered if you would like
something to drink?”
Carrie covered a yawn with her hand.
“Coffee if you have some made. I’m Carrie Graham, an old friend of Tony’s.”
“Hazel Smithton, housekeeper and reluctant
sitter for a spell. Be right back.”
A short time later, Carrie sipped the
strongest coffee she’d ever tasted. Two iced cinnamon rolls helped her swallow
the bitter brew.
The hollow feeling in her stomach
vanished, but the matching sensation in her chest expanded. She closed her eyes
and planned explanations for the question she’d come to ask. No matter how she
phrased her reasons, the words sounded like a desperate plea. Over the years,
she’d learned begging never worked. Would this time be any different?
* * *
