“Mom,” he sighed, “it’s not that I was ignoring you. But you all have already met Sandy. Hell, she practically ran Sean and Harper’s wedding.”
“Don’t be obtuse, Rory. You know perfectly well that’s completely different! That was me getting to know Harper’s best friend. The Maid of Honor. It’s completely different to get to know her as your girlfriend. A girlfriend, I might add, I knew nothing about until Hannah announced it over coffee cake this morning!”
Blay, you’re busted. Just wait, man…
“What I want to know is are you hiding her from us or us from her?” his mother continued.
“Jesus—”
“Language, Rory!”
Losing the battle to roll his eyes, he was glad he was stuck at a red light. “Ma, neither is the case. We’re still kind of new and getting to know each other. You want us to come to dinner, let me know when. Her parents happened to ask first, so we're having dinner with them tonight. To be honest, I’m not exactly looking forward to it.”
And just like the mama bear she was, Sharon pounced on his last statement. “Why aren’t you looking forward to it?”
“Her dad’s loaded. Sandy doesn’t live like it. She lives off what she makes with her own business, and she’s not a trust fund baby. But I have no doubt that I’ll be grilled by her dad. A paramedic who doesn’t play golf and isn’t a part of the country club is probably not who he wished his daughter ended up with.”
“Well, if that man doesn’t know what a prize she’s got in you, then he can just—”
Pulling into the parking lot of the station, he interrupted. “Mom, don’t say anything that’s gonna make you have to run to the priest and confess. Honestly, don’t worry about it. I’m good with who I am. She’s good with who I am. If her dad doesn’t like it, so be it.”
“Humph,” she groused.
“Gotta go, Mom. I’m at work. You figure out a time you’d like us to come to dinner and we’ll be there.”
“Love you, baby boy.”
Parking, he was glad to start his shift. “Love you too, Mom.” He disconnected as he climbed from the cab of his truck and shoved his phone into his pocket as he jogged into the station.
By the end of his day, he was beginning to doubt his sanity even though it had only been an eight-hour shift. He had responded to a car accident with only minor injuries that turned into a brawl between the drivers, broken up by both men being arrested; a dumpster fire set by two teenagers that exploded, causing injuries when garbage projectiles hit one of the boys; working with the fire department in enlarging a house doorway to extract a bed-bound obese man who was having heart palpitations; a school incident where a child fell off the monkey bars and broke his arm; and responded to a police officer’s injury when he fell while chasing a robbery suspect.
With only an hour left, the final call of the day came in. Seventeen-A-four. Shooting Shania a glance, he checked the GPS and shook his head. “That’s Mr. Charles’ assisted living. I wonder if it’s him again.”
They quickly made it to the facility and, sure enough, walked into Mr. Charles’ room, finding him on the floor again with the CNA hovering nearby. The elderly man’s face held a blush, although with his paper-thin skin, Rory wanted to make sure it was due to just embarrassment.
“Let’s get you off the floor and checked out, Mr. Charles.”
“I’m so sorry she had to call you,” the elderly man said. “I was trying to get from my comfy chair to the wheelchair but got my feet tangled up.”
Mr. Charles was in no pain, and they checked his hips, back, neck, arms, and legs. “Looks like everything’s all working.” Rory also checked his pulse and blood pressure, finding them normal as well before he and Shania assisted him to stand, then asked, “Did you want to be in your comfy chair or the wheelchair?”
Mr. Charles blushed again and muttered, “I was going to go to the bathroom. I could do it by myself.”
“Mr. Charles, you know you’re supposed to call one of us,” the CNA said softly, with a touch of authority.
He looked up toward Rory and said, “It ain’t easy getting older. It robs us all of our dignity.”
He smiled toward the older man and patted his shoulder. “Well, I’ll tell you what. If you still need to go, I’m here and don’t mind helping.”
Mr. Charles nodded and said, “I don’t mind taking you up on that if you’re sure.”
Rory assisted the elder into his bathroom, helping him to finish his business while maintaining his dignity. Rolling him back to the others, he observed Shania had finished the paperwork and turned to shake his hand. “Good to see you again, Mr. Charles.”
Mr. Charles held onto his hand longer than just a shake, moisture gathering in his eyes. “You’re a good man. Thank you.” Then he grinned and added, “Bet you bring a smile to the girls’ faces.”
“Well, I’ve got a girl, but it’s her big smile that makes my day.”
He walked out of the room with Mr. Charles’ chuckle reaching his ears. Climbing back into the ambulance, he looked at the clock. “Thank God, the day is over.”
“You’ve got just enough time to get home, get cleaned up, and change so that you can go have dinner with your girl’s parents.”
His head swung around, and he stared at Shania. “How did you find out about that?”
Bobby chortled in the back of the ambulance, and Shania grinned. “Blay sent me a text that said to make sure you’re on your best behavior tonight for the big dinner.”
“Fuckin’ hell.” Blay… just wait, man. Payback’s a bitch.
“Mrs. Carmichael, the dinner was delicious.”
Rory leaned back in his chair, lifting his arm to rest it across the back of Sandy’s, his fingers gently rubbing her shoulder. She twisted her head to look at him,
