Nerds on Fire (38 page)

“
I have the best of both
worlds.” Johnny helped himself to more potatoes.

“
I prefer regular surgery
and I get to work with Janine Morris,” Katy burbled.

Johnny whistled softly. “I’ve heard of
her.”

“
So have I.” Miriam’s grin
was impish.

Everyone laughed, since Miriam,
although she didn’t work there, knew a lot about the hospital
because she served on several hospital related charity boards. She
was a great source of information, and could have been a doctor
herself, except she had a flair for business like Rylan.

The conversation changed again, as her
dad asked Shawna about her recent promotion. “It’s hardly a
promotion.”

Reed corrected her. “You’re a vice
president now.”

With pink cheeks, she glanced at Leo,
Mark, and Nina, the newcomers. “It’s not as impressive as it
sounds. My family owns the company.”

“
Becoming a vice president
is impressive.” Nina pointed out.

“
She beat out several other
candidates, all of whom are older than her, but Shawna was the best
choice,” Reed said proudly.

“
How long have you worked
there?” Leo sounded interested.

“
I’ve had an actual job
there since I turned fourteen. So it’s been eighteen years.” Shawna
looked surprised.

“
What all have you done?”
Trixi knew Shawna had started at the lowest level.

“
I swept the floors and
cleaned, and then moved into the mail room. From an early age I
wanted to go to work with my dad.” She smiled.

“
So she worked her way up,
earning a Bachelor’s degree, then CPA, and finally her MBA, all
while employed full-time.” Reed slid his hand up and down her arm.
“Her experience and education is why she got the vice presidency.
Because she’s the most qualified.” He kissed his blushing
wife.

“
That’s what my dad said
when he appointed me.” Shawna smiled at Reed. Trixi had known from
her first meeting with Shawna that she would do very well as Reed’s
wife, and hadn’t been surprised when the couple later announced
their engagement and then married.

“
What does your company
make?” Leo asked.

Shawna tore her gaze from Reed’s to
focus on Leo. “Electronic components.”

Reed explained further. “It was Shawna
who figured out which way the electronics market was going and
convinced the board to head there. It shot them to the
top.”

“
I like technology so my
interests helped,” Shawna said modestly. A mischievous smile
overtook her. “My company and Reed’s compete for a few of the same
contracts.”

“
Don’t we know it.” Her dad
moaned. “My shark of a daughter-in-law has snatched several tasty
contracts from our grasp.”

“
We’ve since moved in a
different direction,” Reed added.

“
You’ve entered the medical
side rather than consumer electronics.” Shawna rubbed Reed’s
hand.

Mark turned to Rylan. “So you’re also
in the electronics business?”

“
Correct, but like Reed
said, we’ve switched to the medical side now.”

“
I wonder why?” Leo asked
facetiously.

“
He was being threatened.”
Gran smiled at her, Katy, and Johnny.

“
This is only going to get
worse.” Her father glanced at Mark and Leo.

“
I’m in the medical
profession, too,” Nina piped up and set them all off on another
round of laughter.

Her father leaned forward to plant a
proprietary kiss on Nina. That lady blushed prettily and her
embarrassed happiness wasn’t lost on anyone in the room. “Yes, you
are,” her dad agreed.

Trixi was super happy for both of
them.

“
What do you do?” Shawna’s
curiosity was genuine.

“
I’m a receptionist on the
surgical unit.” Nina smiled at her.

“
Oh, you are in the medical
field then.”

“
I enjoy it.”

“
Not half as much as we’re
thankful Nina is there. She’s one of the few who sends through
everything correctly,” Trixi said loyally. Except it was true, not
just loyalty. Whenever one of her tiny patients returned from
Nina’s department, Nina could be counted on every time.

Nina’s peachy color heightened. “I’m
just doing my job.”

“
It’s nice when people
enjoy their jobs though.” Katy set down her butter knife. “Some
people don’t and they make the working conditions miserable for
everyone.”

Bernadette served dessert then. Trixi
wished the meal had lasted a little longer. It was one that would
stand out to her for the rest of her life.

This sense of family, love, and warmth
was precious. It was wonderful to not feel the deep sense of loss
for her mother. There was a pool of sorrow there that would always
remain, but it was calm now.

For the first time since her mother’s
death, she envisioned a brighter future.

Chapter 37

At breakfast the next
morning Mark looked around. “Where’s Gran?”

“
She was feeling tired, so
decided to stay in bed.”

Mark frowned. “Is she
okay?”

“
I asked her that.” Trixi
ladled cinnamon raisin oatmeal into two bowls. The enticing
fragrance made her stomach rumble. This particular recipe had never
turned out wrong.

“
What did she
say?”

“
Sometimes she gets tired
so decided it wouldn’t hurt her to stay in bed. I couldn’t fault
her logic.”

He looked knowing. “What was her
temperature?”

Trixi rattled off Gran’s temperature,
blood pressure, and pulse. “I also checked her eyes and asked about
aches and pains. She seems fine, just a little tired.” She handed
him a bowl of the delectable cereal. “We’ve had a lot of excitement
here lately but not much sleep. I think it’s realistic for her to
need more rest.”

“
I’m sure you’re right. If
you checked her, I won’t.”

“
If she’s coming down with
something, she’ll let someone know. Our housekeeper lives a few
houses down and knows Gran well. I called her already, so she’ll
stop by later this morning.”

His lips twitched.

She narrowed her eyes at him.
“What?”

“
You’re already way ahead
of me.” He leaned over to kiss her. Trixi forgot all about her
breakfast and instead lost herself in his kiss.

When they arrived home that evening,
Trixi was ready to drop into a ball of exhaustion. They had a
really sick baby on the unit and his care kept her moving. Between
his treatments, assuring his anxious parents, and running the unit,
it had been a long day.

Mark drove into the garage and parked
with expert precision. As the door rolled down, she finally thought
about Gran. “Oh no,” she said, worried.

“
What?” Mark sounded as
weary as her.

Panic ensued.
“
Gran
.”

He stayed her flight with a calming
hand to her arm. “We can go see her now.”

Trixi nodded, but her internal critic
berated her for forgetting all about Gran. When they entered the
house, her neighbor, Josie, met them at the mudroom door. Her grim
face catapulted both her and Mark into the room.

Lying against the pale blue of her
sheets, Gran’s face lacked color except for a fever flush. Her eyes
were dull and her entire state was one of listless
disregard.

“
Oh, Gran,” Trixi murmured,
her heart beating unsteadily, as she took Gran’s pulse while Mark
felt for swollen glands. They ran through their examination, both
of them asking the poor woman questions. Once they were both
satisfied, their diagnosis was the same.

“
You have the flu,” they
said together.

“
Feels like it,” Gran
rasped. She didn’t seem to care what it was.

Trixi rose from the bed to hurry into
the kitchen. There she found the drinks she thought Gran might like
and returned to her bedroom at top speed.

“
Drink as much of this as
you can.” She poured a generous portion. Trixi hoped the fluids
helped combat dehydration.

Gran accepted the drink, but she
didn’t swallow very heartily. She merely appeased them. Trixi
understood but she still coaxed her grandmother to drain the
glass.

Once they left her to sleep, Trixi
sought out Josie for additional details. “She’s been lethargic all
day. Just listless like and not herself,” Josie
confirmed.

“
She’s got the flu. Are you
okay?”

As one who enjoyed good health, Josie
nodded. “I’m fine, lovey. I assume you’ve got this now?”

Trixi assured her they did and sent
some dinner home with the woman since she had spent the entire day
with Gran.

“
It was sweet of you to
share,” Mark said from behind her. His arms snaked around her and
she leaned into his warmth and strength. It was wonderful to be
with him like this.

“
It wasn’t sweet, it was
necessary. Josie has been here with Gran all day. She’ll have a
hungry husband to feed and nothing to give him. Whereas we have
plenty.”

He hugged and then released her.
Together they set the table and put their meal on. Trixi had
started the rudiments this morning and now all she needed to do was
place a tray of dinner rolls in the oven. They were ready by the
time she and Mark sat down.

It didn’t take them long to polish off
the meal. She took a roll in to Gran, who only took a few bites
before she indicated she wanted to sleep again.

Behind her, Mark stood watching Gran
sleep. His face was set in serious lines and her heart contracted.
What if something happened to Gran? Her heart squeezed so tight it
was painful. Not having Gran would be... unbearable.

Mark coaxed her out of the room and
back into the kitchen.

“
Do you think she’s going
to be okay?” Her question was faint.

“
Yes, she has the flu.
Sleep is good for her.”

Trixi nodded as she started to clear
the table. He helped and they soon set the kitchen back to rights.
It didn’t take long since only the two of them ate. She shoveled
the remaining food into storage containers before Mark tucked them
into the fridge.

After she gave a final swipe to the
island and then ran her sponge over the table, he pointed toward
the family room. “Let’s go in there.”

With a nod, she followed his
direction. She had spent a lot of time here during her growing up
years. Now it seemed to be transitioning into her, Mark, and Gran’s
room.

“
Gran’s made some changes,”
Mark commented.

Trixi smiled. “Yes, it looks nice. She
moved things around.” She had also added a few of her favorite
pieces.

Her thoughts drifted from the room to
her companion. This man was her boyfriend. Therefore, she could
kiss him whenever she wanted and right now, she needed
to.

Leaning in she kissed him, thankful
she could. He responded by yanking her closer and she lost herself
in the kiss. This was exactly what she wanted.

It was freeing, scary, magical, and
wonderful.

“
Is everything all right at
Trixi’s house?”

Rylan looked up from his plate, where
he wasn’t eating the beautifully presented meal. “What?”

“
What’s wrong?”

He sighed and pushed his plate away.
It looked like he had barely touched it. Nina laid her own fork
down, alarmed.

“
Trixi is fine. With Mark
there and some of his cousins keeping watch, she’s as safe as she
can be.” He drank some water. “She mentioned my mom is down with
the flu.”

That didn’t account for how upset he
was. “A lot of people get the flu,” she said gently.

“
Yes.” He ran an agitated
hand through his hair.

Nina picked up his other hand. It was
slightly cold and a little clammy. A sneaking suspicion crept up on
her. She waved their waiter over to request the check and ask for
their meals to be boxed.

“
She’s tough and healthy.
However, she is living with two doctors.”

“
Why does living with Trixi
and Mark matter?” Rylan’s voice sounded a little hoarse.

“
It means a lot of germs
are being brought home to her. So she needs to build up her immune
system. She might get sick a lot this year. And then by next year
she’ll be fine.”

“
This is
common?”

“
Oh yes. I imagine you were
exposed to a lot of germs, but did you get sick very often while
living with Trixi?”

He frowned. “No, it was
rare.”

“
It will be the same for
your mother,” she assured him.

“
How do you know all
this?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Because I work
in the same germ factory they do.”