“Make sure you keep me posted. I’m glad you’re here, though. I feel better knowing that you’re getting a second opinion.”
Drake had never understood how she’d fallen in love with Dr. Leon. They were nothing alike. Gloria was quirky and spontaneous, while Love’s dad was deliberate and serious. When they’d split up, it had been traumatic and sad. As a permanent fixture in their home, Drake remembered what they were like in love with each other, had seen the stolen kisses and playful swats on the butt. He’d heard the declarations of love and the banter between them. Somewhere along the line, it had disappeared and been replaced with bitterness and resentment, arguments and manipulation.
Aside from the good times between Love’s parents, Drake had never seen a thriving and happy relationship. The ones he’d seen had all ended with broken hearts. He’d figured it was because people expected things of their mates and when those expectations weren’t met, the trust faltered. It was what scared him the most about being with Love.
Love was Drake’s best friend, and he wanted her. He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted any woman before, more than he wanted to scrub in on a thrombectomy this afternoon. But that didn’t necessarily mean he was willing to throw all his sensibilities out the window to risk winding up like Gloria and Dr. Leon, or his father and every single stepmother he’d had.
“Tell me the truth,” Gloria said. “What’s going on between you and my daughter?”
“We’re trying to figure things out.” Drake wasn’t sure how much he wanted to tell his mother-in-law.
“I can ask you because I know you’ll tell me the truth. Lovely likes to dismiss me, keep her life under wraps.”
“You know your daughter. She’s always been very private.”
“This marriage—how did it happen?”
He shifted in his seat. “It just kind of did. I realized that my life was better with her in it and I popped the question.” The lie rolled off his tongue so easily, it shocked him. But he went with it.
“I didn’t hear you mention love. Do you love her?”
“I do.” There was no confusion. Drake knew he loved his wife. Again, it still didn’t mean they’d end up together. He’d rather be without her romantically than lose her altogether.
“I worry about her, ya know? I’m getting older, Drake. I want her to be settled already. She’s so closed off to certain things. That’s why I’m so grateful she has you, because you’ve opened her eyes to possibilities. You wade out in the deep end while she stays near the shallow end. Since she was a child, I’ve always tried to make her see the glory in living life on her own terms. I want her to stop and smell the snapdragons.”
He barked out a laugh. “I think she’ll be okay. She’s driven, goal oriented.”
“Like her father,” Gloria mumbled, a hint of disgust in her voice.
“But I’ve seen her free, unbothered. She is your daughter, too.”
Gloria smiled sadly. “I didn’t want Love to be an only child.”
This was news to him. “Really?”
“I miscarried three babies after God blessed me with Lovely. She’s my little slice of heaven on earth. I’m so proud of her, and I know you’ll take good care of her.”
“Mom, you’re scaring me. What’s going on with you?”
She shrugged. “Nothing. Just thinking back on my life. It didn’t work out with her father and me, but I never want her to give up on love.”
Drake glanced at Gloria, took in her tired eyes. She was sick, possibly facing major surgery. Of course she’d be concerned about where her daughter would end up if she wasn’t around. That was normal. But he hoped that time was many years away.
CHAPTER 13
Love opened the door and stepped in. “You called?”
Her father sat at his desk, pen in hand and a stack of files in front of him. She recalled how hard it was to be his daughter at times, and how she’d almost buckled from the pressure her first year of medical school.
It seemed like Love had had to fight for everything, including her medical school acceptance. Her father was old-school. He believed in hard work and had refused to give her preferential treatment when it came to her admission to the program. She was expected to work twice as hard and get in on her own merits.
Love had tried to pretend that her father’s refusal to help her in any way with school hadn’t bothered her, but it had and still did. The man in front of her was well respected in the medical field, but all she’d ever wanted was his love and attention.