Make Time For Me

Chapter 5

“You made breakfast?”

“I’m not working today. It was my turn.”

“Does that mean I’ll have to take a turn at dinner? Because it’s going to be sandwiches or stir-fry. I can’t make anything else.”

Ellie laughed.

“I’m fine with either, but you don’t have to. You had a rough night, so I wanted to make something nice for you. So we have buttermilk biscuits and sausage gravy, and we have grits, and we have some nice ham and greens to go with it all.”

Olivia frowned, a little puzzled.

“That’s so… Ellie, where did you learn to make such good southern food?”

Ellie grinned.

“Why, back home in Alabama.”

Olivia nearly gasped when Ellie turned the drawl on. Ellie giggled again when she saw how shocked Olivia was.

“I know, I don’t exactly advertise it. My family and I don’t get along very well, to be honest. It’s my grandmother who taught me how to make all of this, and Nana and I were peas in a pod. She didn’t really get along with the rest of her family, either. She’s the one they – the rest of my family – blamed for me being, well, like me. But she’s the only one who cared what I wanted to be. Or who I was. Needless to say, I’m a great disappointment to my family.”

“A doctor? You’re a doctor and a disappointment to your family? My God, this is wonderful. You could be a chef if you didn’t want to be a doctor.”

“Really? It did turn out pretty well today! I only make all this as a special treat. I am a doctor, I know it’s not exactly the definition of healthy. But I figured we needed a little something special today.”

“This is a lot of something special. Thanks, Ellie.”

Ellie smiled, full of sunshine. Olivia couldn’t imagine how anybody could not fall in love with Ellie.

“Thanks. I don’t have much to do with my family now that Nana has passed, so I try to make family wherever I go. A bit needy, I know, but… It’s nice to be looked at and seen as just me, and not a failure. I was supposed to join societies and pretend we weren’t in the twenty-first century and marry my father’s partner’s son to consolidate the family business. I didn’t want to do any of that, so I had to find out the hard way that there are limits on even a mother’s love.”

“And you chose to specialize in Obstetrics.”

Ellie shrugged.

“I guess I’m a glutton for punishment! But it does help me not become cynical, you know.”

Olivia could not imagine Ellie being cynical.

“How?”

“Well, I see all these people who would do anything, literally anything for their children, and I know that if my parents couldn’t love me no matter what, that means they never loved me enough. There aren’t supposed to be conditions there. At least, not like this. It’s not like killed somebody or destroyed a planet or something. I think they might have preferred that, to be honest.”

“Wow. I’m sorry, Ellie. You don’t deserve any of that.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ve been pretty much on my own for years now. I’m good, I really am.”

Olivia smiled at the woman she had just vowed she would protect until the end of time.

“Only child?”

“Yes, thank heavens. I can’t imagine how it would’ve felt to have a sibling and not be able to protect them from all of that!”

“I have four. Sisters – two of them, twins – and two brothers. My brother Caleb is engaged to Cara, my best friend. She’s a florist. Well, she’s actually an artist and a florist. My sisters are musicians – Hazel plays the cello and Hattie is a violinist. They’re first chairs in the state symphony. They’re amazingly accomplished. My oldest brother, Daniel, is a scientist. He’s on a project in Antarctica – trying to save the planet and things like that.”

“Wow, that’s an incredibly accomplished family.”

“I know. My parents are doctors, too. Failure has never been an option in my family. But it’s not like anybody has to succeed in any particular thing. My mom once told me that if my ambition in life is to have a garden full of flowers and be able to pay my bills and watch the sun rise every morning with happiness in my heart, then as long as I achieved that, it was fine.”

“She sounds wonderful.” Ellie sounded wistful, and she looked almost sad.

“She is. And once I tell them all about you, you’re going to be adopted into our family just as much as Cara was. And you won’t even have to marry any of my siblings to do it.”

Ellie let herself laugh.

“Sounds like a good deal. So, what would they think of Jason?”

“I have no idea, and I see no reason to find out.”

“Come on, Olivia. I could see that there’s something between the two of you. You were too stressed out to notice what he was like after he dropped you home, but you should’ve seen him. He was half raging against whatever hurt you and the rest terrified that you were hurt. It was thoughtful of him to pick me up and then leave us alone.”

Olivia shrugged.

“He’s a thoughtful man, and he’s a friend. There’s nothing more than that.”

Ellie didn’t press her, thankfully.

“Well, you have to get going in fifteen, so you’d better hurry.”

And hurry she did, all the way to the clinic, where she found that she had a packed day. Dr. Heart was in no mood to be gentle, and Olivia welcomed the toughness. She welcomed being pushed hard enough that she couldn’t even take a break. She welcomed meeting so many people that faces began to blur into each other.

When Jason finally found her, she was glad to shake her head at him.

“No time, I’m afraid. Got to keep working.”

“Take a breath, Olivia.”

“I…”

“Come on. You don’t have to work yourself to death just to avoid me. I promise.”

“I’m not…”

Olivia tried to deny it, but it was obviously true.

“Have…”

“Hey, guys! Crazy day, huh?”

Olivia wasn’t sure if she was relieved or sorry for the interruption, but there was Angela.

“Angela! What are you doing here? How are you feeling?”

“I feel fine. I should feel like hell, shouldn’t I? I feel fine, though. I had to come in, I had some paperwork to deal with and stuff. So, what’s up?”

Olivia smiled and shook her head.

“I can’t believe you sound this good.”

“All thanks to you, Livvy. You know, I owe you. Why don’t I take you for dinner? We’ll make a girls’ night out of it. Sorry, Jason, can’t invite you on that.”

“Well, I…”

“Come on, it’ll be fun! Say yes. Come on, yes. Yes, right?”

Olivia nodded yes, and she could admit to herself that it was partly because she wanted an excuse to get out of dinner with Jason. She didn’t quite trust herself to be alone with him.

Angela seemed to have decided that she owed Olivia a life debt. She did not leave Olivia’s side unless she had to, and before Olivia knew it, the young woman was trying to book every evening of her damn life.

Jason noticed, too.

When Angela left, he looked grumpy.

“I helped, too, you know.”

Olivia chuckled.