(Complete) When Tim Burke meets Julie at a party, she isn't impressed. When they see each other again, Julie decides to give him a chance. As Julie faces burdens and sorrow in her own life, Tim and his family provide the support and love she needs...
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One evening Michael was leaving work late when his phone rang.
"Hi Linds."
"Call Clare."
"Why?" Her lack of greeting concerned him.
"She's upset. She tried to hide it when I called to make plans with her for this weekend."
"What plans?"
"We're going to walk Teddy. Relax and call her. She needs a shoulder, so let it be yours."
He heard silence. Lindsay didn't wait for his response.
Ever since the dinner party, he had been talking to Clare a few times a week and texting in between. Her schedule had normalized, and she worked during the day, except on the weekends.
She answered unenthusiastically. "Hey."
"I was just going to grab a pizza. Have you eaten?"
"What kind?"
Her question surprised him. He expected an automatic no. "Whatever kind you want, so obviously no mushrooms."
"Why did you say that?"
"Because you hate them."
"You remembered." He heard the smile back in her voice.
"Well, you repeated 'no mushrooms' with your omelet order ten times, so it was hard to forget."
"I said it once."
"Five times." He exaggerated.
"Okay, twice."
"Do we hear four?" He mimicked an auctioneer.
"Three! It was three!"
"Fine. Now for the pizza?"
"Surprise me!"
"Okay, one mushroom pizza. Text me your address, so I can deliver it."
She laughed as he hung up. Thirty minutes later, he stood at her door. She grabbed the pizza and turned and walked away from the door. He followed her.
Her apartment was small but neat and organized. It would have surprised him if it wasn't. Glancing around, her bed was on the other side of a decorative screen, as there was only one room. He didn't want to think about her bed and Marco.
"Oh! Pepperoni! How did you know it was my favorite?"
Would he sound like a stalker if he reminded she told him? On the phone one time, she mentioned they had brought in pizza because a nurse was leaving and they ran out of pepperoni before she had any. He felt like a creep for remembering everything she said.
He focused on Lindsay's report. "How was your day?"
"It sucked." She answered abruptly.
He was ready to console her over her homesickness. "I diagnosed a stillborn this morning. Then I had to deliver it. It was awful."
