One Hot Doctor by Sarah J. Brooks

Chapter 32

Cora

I show up ten minutes early for training, and as soon as I walk into The Caroline, the change astounds me, and I pause at the door to admire the decor. It’s rustic-themed, and you get the feeling that you’ve just stepped back in time. There is a lot of wood complemented by warm, earthy colors like orange and cream and yellows. It makes you want to grab a seat and relax.

“Hi there,” a tall man says from behind the bar. “I’m Tom, the bartender.”

I walk up to the bar with a smile. I offer my hand across the counter, and he takes it. “And I’m Cora. I’m here for the service training.”

“It’s happening in a few minutes. You can pop into the office and let Ian or Caroline know that you’ve arrived. They are the owners. You’ll like them.” He gives me the directions to the office.

I walk into a hallway and then past the kitchen, where tantalizing smells are coming from the industrial-sized stove. I wave at a uniformed chef, and he shoots me a smile. Voices meet me as I enter a smaller hallway with three doors. The last one is open, and I knock on it.

My mom calls for me to enter. It’s a medium-sized office, and she and Ian are seated behind the desk staring at the computer. My mom’s face lights up.

“I’m glad you came, honey,” she says. She hasn’t called me that in years.

“Hi.” I’m nervous, which is weird because it won’t be the first time I’ve worked as a server, but it’s been years.

“Welcome aboard,” Ian says and smiles warmly.

“Thank you.”

“There are clean aprons in the changing room. Then you can join the other guys in the training room. It’s next door.”

“Sure.” I withdraw and retrace my steps to the changing room. I grab a clean apron from the shelf and leave my purse in an empty locker with a password.

A minute later, I’m knocking on the door marked training room, and a female voice calls out that I should enter. There are at least ten people in the room, and the trainer stands out as she’s standing in front of the room. My nervousness dissipates as I join them, and the training starts. Serving is not rocket science as long as you’re a reasonable, polite human being. The most important thing is to keep your cool as you get all sorts of customers.

Halfway through, we are served bacon sandwiches, coffee, or tea. Perfect timing for me as my munchkin and I are starving even though we had breakfast at home.

Training takes most of the morning, and as agreed, I text Thomas to let him know that I’m ready to go home. I have my own car, but he insisted on picking me up.

Before Thomas comes, I pop in to tell Mom and Ian goodbye and pick up my shift schedule.

“How was it?” Mom asks me.

“It was fine. The trainer is awesome, and everyone is pumped for the opening on Friday.” I am too, and I’m grateful that she and Ian offered me a temporary job.

“Good. We are too, right, honey?” she asks Ian.

He smiles at her, and for a few seconds, I feel like an interloper as they exchange a long loving look.

“Anyway, I’m off. I’ll see you on Friday.”

Seeing my mother lavishing love and attention on another man will take getting used to. It’s natural to feel uncomfortable at first. Besides, I have my own personal issues to deal with. I won’t have time to think about them.

Outside, I pick a spot in the sun to wait for Thomas and enjoy the warmth. I spot his car minutes later and go to the passenger side when the car stops.

“Did I keep you?” he says.

“Not at all; I was basking in the sun and loving it,” I tell him.

He leans across the gearshift to kiss me. “You look like you enjoyed yourself.”

“I did. It’s relaxing not to be the one thinking of the bigger picture. All I have to do is make sure that my customers are happy and having a good time.”

He laughs. “You make me want to apply for a job as a server.”

We chat easily on the way home, and then my phone rings from my purse. I take it out and glance at the screen. It’s my sister, Adeline.

“Hey, you.”

“Hey,” she says. “I’m at work, so I’ll make this a quick one. I spoke with Mom last night. Is it true what she said? That you might be going to work at that bar?”

I draw in a breath. My answer is not going to please her. “She was right. I’ve just come from the training.”

“How could you?” she explodes. “How can you agree to work for a man who is fleecing out mother in a business that he set up?”

I let out a sigh. “Adeline, I think we should consider the idea that we might have been wrong. What if Ian is the one person who can make Mom happy?”

“Let’s not have this conversation again,” Adeline says tightly. “I’m honestly disappointed in you.”

I try one more time. “Give them a chance. You never know.”

“Absolutely not. I can’t believe you’re supporting a scheme to rob our mother.” She disconnects the call.

I let out a sigh just as Thomas and I get home. He parks the car, turns off the engine, and turns to me. “I think you’re awesome.”

The compliment is so unexpected and so nice that tears fill my eyes. “Thanks.”

“Let’s go in. I’ll draw you a bath, and while you soak in it, I’ll make us dinner,” Thomas says.

At a loss for words, I take his hand and squeeze it.

“I want to take care of you,” he says and then gets out of the car.

I’ve never dated a man who wanted to take care of me. I like my independence, but I’m learning that it’s nice sometimes to let go of the reins and let someone else steer the ship while you take a breather.

Thomas does as he promises and goes straight to my bedroom bathroom to fill the bath. I undress and wrap myself in a large warm towel.

“It’s tempting to get in with you,” he says. “But I’ll resist temptation and leave you to relax.”

I drop my towel and step into the bath, ignoring Thomas’s hungry stare.

“You’re a mean woman, Cora, do you know that?” he says.

I let my laughter escape. He leaves the bathroom without a backward glance, and I sink into the warm water and allow all the day’s stresses to seep out.

“You look like a different woman,” Thomas says when I return downstairs wrapped in a cozy robe.

“I feel like a different woman.” I was more exhausted than I thought, but I’m sure it had more to do with my emotions as opposed to physical exhaustion.

He pulls out the chair. “Your dinner is ready, ma’am.”

I giggle at his French accent. “Thank you. I like my servers a little less dressed.”

He bows low. “I shall remember that next time.”

Dinner is macaroni and cheese, and it’s delicious. Thomas has impressed me with his culinary skills. I voice my thoughts.

“I never knew how to cook before Tessa died. I’m ashamed to say that she did all the cooking. She used to say that she loved it, but that’s no excuse. Anyway, I had to learn fast,” he says.

I love watching him while he eats. I love the movements of his lips, and I find my mind meandering to thoughts of kissing him.

“I made a lot of mistakes in my marriage,” he says, his voice wistful.

My heart squeezes with pain on his behalf. There’s nothing worse than the pain of regret, especially for something that you can’t go back and rectify.

“I’m sorry.” It seems so inadequate to say sorry.

“What’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had?” Thomas asks me.

“Me?” I squeak, the question taking me aback.

He laughs in response. “Adeline was right that first time we had dinner with your family.”

The memory makes me smile. “I was so angry with you. What was Adeline right about?”

“She said you were secretive when it came to your relationships, and I agree with her. You know all about my past marriage, but I know nothing about your romantic past.”

“That’s because there’s not really much to tell. What do you want to know?”

“Have you ever been in love?”

I have to dig deep into the trenches of my memory to answer that question. I’m not one of those women who fall in and out of love five times a year. I take years to be in love with one man. A case example being Thomas.

“Of course, I have. His name was Alex, and he worked for a marketing farm. He was ambitious as hell, and marriage was not on his list of priorities. Which was cool except he only let me know his views after we’d been dating for three years.”

“What a jerk,” Thomas says hotly. “I know I have issues with long-term relationships, but you should come clean and not give someone false hopes.”

Hearing him admit that he has issues with long-term relationships hurts the slightest bit. It’s a reminder that no matter how good it gets between us, we’ll never be permanent.

“What about you? Before Tessa?” I ask him.

He grins. “You’ll never believe this, but I never had a long-term relationship before Tessa. She hadn’t either.” He shrugs. “Maybe that was the problem. Maybe we needed more experience.”

For all his worldly experiences, Thomas has had very little variety when it comes to love. Listening to him, it’s easy to see now why the thought of long-term relationships frightens him. The one and only time he gave his heart away, it was broken. Then just when he was healing and trying to move on with his life, he found out that his marriage was not what he thought it was.

It will take a big leap of faith for Thomas to believe in love again.