Nerds on Fire (8 page)

“
Now that Dad has met Nina,
we have to figure out more ways for them to interact. We couldn’t
have planned their first meeting better if we had
tried.”

“
Right, at least some good
came out of my rough morning. He and Nina met. She’s beautiful,
gracious, kind, and the exact opposite of a gold
digger.”

Katy’s voice sounded far away for a
moment. “Yes, and I’ve always thought I wouldn’t mind having her as
a stepmother.”

“
I know, whenever I think
of a new wife for Dad, since meeting Nina, a woman like her comes
to mind.”

“
She
is
perfect for him.” In the
background, Trixi heard kitchen sounds. “Are you eating
alone?”

“
Yeah, Leo and Mark had
something going on tonight. So I’m on my own.”

“
The casserole is in the
oven, and I’ve got fresh bread due to come out soon. Get your butt
over here.”

The sounds abruptly stopped. “Fresh
bread?”

“
Yes.”

“
Leo is going to be so
jealous.”

“
I know. But that’s life
for you.”

“
He said they had something
Morrison family related tonight and wanted me to come along, but I
didn’t want to intrude.”

A smile creased Trixi’s face. Katy’s
relationship with Leo was amusing because neither noticed they were
dating. In the back of her mind, Trixi wished she could have
something like Katy and Leo had. Their relationship was
effortless.

It was also brand new. This might play
into the effortless part, but then, it could be Katy. Her own
relationship with the woman was also uncomplicated. It was just
plain easy to be Katy’s friend.

Just because she and Leo were best
friends already didn’t mean they could transition into spouses
though. Maybe they would be content with the status quo and weren’t
interested in changing it.

“
Okay, I’ve put everything
away and am getting into my car now. Need me to stop for
anything?”

“
No, everything is
here.”

“
Great. I’ll be there soon.
Oh, and I think we need to steer the conversation, subtly, to Nina
tonight.”

“
That’s a great idea,”
Trixi agreed with enthusiasm.

“
Every once in a while I
like to surprise people.”

“
You’re funny.”

“
I know. Everyone tells me
so.” Laughter infused Katy’s voice.

“
I’m tempted to dump supper
on your head.”

“
A terrible waste of food.
Besides we’ve got work to do.”

“
Right, saving Dad from the
gold digger is very important.”

“
Project Anti-Gold-Digger
is now underway,” Katy intoned in her best radio announcer’s
voice.

Trixi giggled, and it felt good. They
hadn’t had these types of happy moments since Katy bought her own
house. “I really miss you.”

“
I miss living with you
too. But it was time for me to become an adult.”

“
Yes. We can’t go back
now.”

“
Right. It’s sad, but
true.”

They rang off a few moments later,
since Katy would arrive soon. Trixi shoved to her feet to return to
the kitchen. She added another plate, this one with glee and
happiness instead of the cloud of gloom whenever Chrissy
stayed.

When he entered the kitchen, her dad
stopped to stare questioningly at the extra place setting. Before
he could comment, Katy whisked through the door.

Their dad squeezed her until she
squeaked. It didn’t take the three of them long to put the food on
the table. Katy fit in well in this household. She knew where
everything was and understood their routine. It was wonderful to
have her here again.

“
I wish you hadn’t bought
your own house,” Rylan mentioned a few minutes into the
meal.

Katy licked the butter off her finger
after she finished smearing it across a slice of bread.

“
Like I told Trixi, it was
time I grew up.”

“
Of course, but since I’m
getting married and will be moving out soon, Trix will be on her
own.”

Both of them stopped eating to examine
her. Trixi sighed. “You know, I am an adult and perfectly capable
of living on my own.”

They were tough words and a little
untruthful, if she was willing to admit it, even to herself. She
dreaded the thought of rambling around this big old house by
herself. It was meant to be a family home but somehow she couldn’t
imagine a man living in it with her.

“
I have confidence this is
all going to work out,” Katy stated and helped herself to another
helping of the casserole. “Trix, you are by far the best cook known
to man.”

“
I agree.” Her father held
his plate out for another helping. Katy promptly dished it up for
him.

Due to her lonely thoughts, Trixi
wasn’t hungry, so didn’t ask for another serving.

“
Hey, Trix, did you hear
whether Nina’s son is back yet?” Katy subtly introduced the topic
of the night.

Trixi groaned. “Oh no, I meant to ask
her and I completely forgot.” She wasn’t acting, because she had
meant to ask and then didn’t.

“
I also forgot to ask
her.”

“
Nina has a son?” her
father asked.

It took a lot of willpower, but Trixi
didn’t look over at Katy. She frowned. “You know Nina?”

“
Yes, she’s a receptionist
on the surgical unit, right?”

“
She is, but how do you
know her?” Katy asked, oh-so-subtle.

“
I handed Trixi’s lunch off
to her this morning.”

“
Oh, right,” Trixi
responded. Her dad was good. He didn’t give anything
away.

“
She has a son in the
military and he’s finishing his tour overseas.”

“
How old would he be?” Her
dad’s air of nonchalance might be genuine.

“
I think he’s close to our
age.” She glanced at Katy who nodded. “He’s in some really
dangerous country over there and Nina has been a wreck the entire
time,” Trixi said.

Katy paused in devouring her slice of
bread. “How long have you known her?”

“
Years. I was first
introduced to her after I filled in for some surgical nurses right
after college.”

“
She’s a neat lady,” Katy
stated, and since it was nothing short of true, Trixi nodded. Katy
had met Nina during some of her rotations so she also knew her
fairly well.

Her father still wasn’t giving
anything away. He appeared deep in thought as he stirred his tea.
“Do you like this Nina better than Chrissy?”

Now there was a loaded question.
Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Trixi shot a glance at
Katy.

“
Answer the question
truthfully, please,” he added.

With a casual shrug, Trixi decided to
go for it. “Absolutely.”

“
Do you like Chrissy at
all?”

“
Not for you.” It was all
Trixi could think to say without causing contention.

“
Why not for
me?”

“
Because the woman is a
nasty little opportunist.” Katy, probably tired of Trixi’s hedging,
answered for her. She loved Rylan as much as Trixi did, and didn’t
want to see him hurt.

“
Tell me how you really
feel, Kates.” His voice was dry. He focused on Trixi. “Do you feel
the same way as this barbarian here?”

“
Yes, I do, Daddy. And so
do Gran and Miriam.”

“
You don’t like Chrissy at
all?”

“
No.” Katy’s candor had
stiffened Trixi’s backbone. “If you were to date anyone, we’d
prefer it be someone like Nina.”

“
Surely Nina is already
dating someone else?”

“
She was dating Dr.
Calhoun, did you know that?” Trixi directed her question to
Katy.

“
No, I didn’t. They’d make
a great pair.” Katy frowned. “He’s gorgeous, but then so is
she.”

“
I know, they both are.”
Trixi bit her lip because she forgot all about Nina already dating
Calhoun, until now.

“
I’m still engaged to
Chrissy, so I’m not in any hurry to start this process all over
again.”

“
Daddy, we didn’t hurt your
feelings, did we?”

“
I asked, Trix. So I wanted
to know your true feelings.”

Katy’s brow furrowed. “We don’t want
to see you hurt. If you love this woman—”

“
We’ll love her too,” Trixi
finished Katy’s sentence.

“
I don’t love her.” His
statement came with easy assurance. “The last little while it’s
like I’ve seen something lurking under the surface of Chrissy’s
glorious facade and it’s not pretty.”

“
That would be her true
nature.” Katy licked the last of her casserole off her fork. “She
isn’t the type of woman you want to spend the rest of your life
with. She’d make you sorry you were born.”

“
I have slowly come to that
same conclusion.”

“
Really? You were having
doubts?” Relief washed through Trixi, sweeping a lot of her worry
with it.

“
Yes. I’ve caught glimpses
of someone I don’t like. Her insistence on either moving in here,
which I’ve repeatedly told her is not an option, or buying another
house, is getting old.”

“
She needs a huge house to
impress all her friends. Chrissy is the type who needs to have a
bigger, fancier estate than all of them.”

He nodded slowly. “I’ve begun to see
this side to her.”

“
It’s ironic, isn’t
it?”

“
What’s ironic, Trixi?”
Katy asked.

“
If she had taken a good
look at Gran’s house, she’d have found the perfect place to impress
all her friends. But she didn’t seem to notice it.”

“
It was dark when we
arrived.”

Katy started to laugh. “If she wanted
an estate, Gran’s is the perfect one. There aren’t many like it.
Not even this house is as massive.”

“
This one is plenty big
enough, thank you.”

“
I hadn’t thought about
appeasing her by stating I’m in line to inherit a larger place than
this. Yet another reason why buying a third money-drain makes no
sense.”

Laughter bubbled up and she finally
stopped fighting it. Her dad and Katy both soon joined
in.

Between bursts of hilarity, Katy
finally managed, “Oh I’d love to see Chrissy’s face when she
realizes Dad is set to inherit the Wintermyer estate.”

Her sputtered statement set off
another round of laughter. Anyone who knew the area recognized the
Wintermyer estate as the old, stately, and gorgeous landmark it
was. Their great-something-grandmother or thereabouts had been a
Wintermyer and as the only remaining child, she inherited it since
her brothers were killed in war. The estate therefore passed down
her line, of which her father was a direct descendant.

“
Chrissy is going to go
ballistic.” Trixi giggled.

“
No, she isn’t.” Her father
shook his head.

Katy hiccuped. “Why not?”

“
Because I don’t plan to
tell her.”

His bald statement set off another
round of laughter.

“
Thanks, ladies, I needed
that.”

“
So did I.” Trixi agreed as
their chuckles pushed the encroaching loneliness away.

Wiping away tears and still suffering
from the stray hiccup, Katy nodded. “Me, too.”

They did the dishes together and then
set up a rousing game to while away the evening. Her father didn’t
get his paperwork done, and didn’t seem in the least bit upset by
it. They talked, laughed, and had a great time. Before they knew
it, the time was nearing ten, so they squeezed Katy goodbye, upon
which she thanked them for supper and their company, and then
hurried to her car.

Trixi and her dad locked up before
parting for bed. As she lay gazing up at her ceiling, she was
thankful for the modicum of peace that settled over her. At least
if her father saw through Chrissy, it meant he probably wouldn’t
marry her. It was such a great feeling she finally fell
asleep.

She dreamed about a man she had begun
weaving fantasies about, wishing for things that could never be. As
her father said, neurosurgeons didn’t notice the staff.

When she awoke, a feeling of
melancholy woke with her, but in the rush of the day, she managed
to shove it away.

Chapter 9

“
No, I’d like to see
you right after work,” Rylan stated. He needed to get this over
with as soon as possible. As usual, Chrissy wanted things her own
way, but he didn’t give in to her this time. Thankful that after
tonight, he would never have to again. He hadn’t even seen the
pattern until just now.

She hadn’t fully brushed against his
will before either. He did not intend to buy the house she insisted
on. Thankfully, he had seen her true nature before it was too late.
His mood lightened as snippets of last night’s silly moments with
Trixi and Katy replayed through his mind. Chrissy would go
ballistic if she discovered he was the Wintermyer heir. He was
doubly grateful his last name was different so he wasn’t the target
of more women like Chrissy.