Christmas Every Day Part 16

Nik untied his ap.r.o.n. There was a phone in the kitchen, but he opted for the privacy of the office. Jennifer was out on a catering call and Katie was down for a nap.

As he walked off he thought he heard Antonio utter a triumphant noise behind him. But when he turned, the old man looked inordinately busy boning the chickens.

There were twelve magazines spread out across the s.h.i.+ny black lacquered coffee table in front of her in the lounge. Agitated, Sara had arranged and rearranged them into piles, straightened them until the edges all appeared to be marching down the edge of the table. She couldn't concentrate long enough to even read the names that were written across the front covers.

d.a.m.n him, she wasn't supposed to care. After the way he had abandoned her, she had every right in the world just to drop him off at the front door and keep going. She shouldn't even be here.

And yet, she was.

She had had every intention in the world of bringing her father to the hospital admissions desk and then just leaving the premises. But at the last moment she couldn't bring herself to do it. It wasn't even that her father had asked her to stay. Not verbally, at least. But the set of his shoulders had.

And her own concerns got in her way.

Why couldn't she just divorce herself from her father the way he had from her?

She slapped a magazine angrily on the table. Tears gathered in her eyes as she knotted her hands helplessly in her lap.

d.a.m.n, it wasn't fair. Why did she have to care? "

" How is he? "

Sara literally jumped at the sound of the softly spoken question. She had been so engrossed in the internal war she was conducting she hadn't even realized that there was someone standing over her. She looked up and saw the last person in the world she expected to see.

Nik.

She s.h.i.+fted on the oatmeal-colored sofa. The soft vinyl molded to her body, making her feel as if she was sinking in. " " What are you doing here? "

If he concentrated, he could actually see her defense mechanism activating. "Offering a shoulder."

She lifted her chin defiantly, a smile playing on her lips. It didn't reach her eyes. "I don't need a shoulder. I have two of my own." She rotated first one, then the other, like a gymnast warming up. " " See?

Yes, he saw. "And a d.a.m.n stubborn head in between, it seems."

The smile faded. "You're not paying me enough to listen to you talk to me like that."

Under normal circ.u.mstances her retort would have been enough to make him turn and walk away. He didn't need to put up with some woman's flippant att.i.tude. But he'd watched Sara for a few moments before he had spoken to her. He'd seen the way she fidgeted with the magazmes, the way she twisted her fingers together as if she was trying to braid them. He'd seen the unconscious concern on her face and knew that everything she was saying now was a sham, a facade she was throwing up for the world.

But why, was the question. To protect herself? From what? Curiosity made him want to find out.

"I'm not talking to you as your boss," Nik answered quietly, his eyes intent on hers.

Nerves jangled within her, but she couldn't draw her eyes away. "What other position are you applying for?" she challenged. " " Friend .

The single word made her feel ashamed of herself. Sara lifted a shoulder and let it drop, embarra.s.sed. She offered him an apologetic smile.

"I guess friends snap at friends sometimes. Want to sit down?" Sara indicated the seat next to her with her eyes.

Nik sat beside her. Her nerves, he knew, had to be raw right about now. His had been, he remembered. Except that each time he'd been in this hospital, waiting in this very same lounge, the news, when it arrived, had not been good.

"It would be dull otherwise," he agreed. "And I've a feeling that you're anything but dull."

She laughed a little then, the way he'd hoped. "You've been talking to Brom."

"No, but maybe I will." Maybe Brom had some information that would shed light on this mercurial woman who pretended not to have a care in the world for reasons Nik didn' tunderstand. Yet.

"So." Nik looked down the hall that led to the operating room. " "

Any news? "

She shook her head. Her hands felt icy as she pressed them into her lap. She tried to think of something else besides what was happening in a room a few feet away from her.

"How did you know that I'd be here?"

Antonio had been right, Nik thought, looking at Sara. There was concern in her eyes. " " I called the number on your application form first. There was no answer. "

Why was he putting himself out like this? She was nothing to him. Sara resented his very presence here.

And yet Now that he was here, she realized that she was glad he was.

But she still didn't understand why he had come. "I said I'd be shopping."

Nik smiled as he sat back on the sofa. It was new. They'd changed the color scheme in the lounge since he'd been here. And the furniture.

But the room still made him tense. He couldn't get away from what being in the room represented

"Antonio said you'd be here. I've known Antonio a lot longer than I've known you. I went with a sure thing." He glanced at his watch. "The hospital said your father went into surgery over an hour ago." Sara's eyes narrowed as she looked at him in surprise. "I checked first before I came over."

She nodded vaguely at his explanation. Her eyes drifted toward the doorway. Why hadn,t the doctor come out to talk to her? Had something gone wrong? The coil within her stomach tightened again. "It's only a forty-five-minute procedure."

Her voice was whispery, as if it was a slender thread that would break if she raised it even a decibel louder. His heart went out to her, even though he knew she'd probably jump all over him if he offered her sympathy. "Sometimes it takes longer than they expected."

Sara nodded. "So I've heard."

It was a stupid thing to say. She hadn't heard. She didn't know why she even said that. Didn't know why her nerves were jumping now like tiny frogs leaping over one another.

A doctor dressed in the green livery habitual to operating rooms stepped into the lounge. Seeing him, Nik placed his hand over Sara's.

Without realizing it, she curled her fingers around it and clutched, hard.

Chapter 6.

Vntying his green surgical mask, the doctor approached the sofa in slow, measured steps. There was no one else in the small lounge. His eyes were kind but tired as he looked down at Sara. " " Ms.

Santangelo? "

Sara shot to her feet. She had to stand. There was this feeling coursing through her that she would be crushed by the weight of any bad news if she was sitting down. Belatedly she realized that her hand was still in Nik's. It tethered her. Sara pulled it free. She was vaguely aware of Nik rising beside her.

Quickly she scanned the doctor's face, trying to discern a glimmer of information from his expression. All she could see was that the man looked exhausted.

"Yes?" Tension pulsed in the single word.