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busy and diverse schedule."
"Says the man who works seventeen hour days,"
Windham muttered. "Everyone's always so busy these
days."
Nashan chuckled. "I still find time to visit every
week, don't I?"
Looking at him speculatively, Windham asked, "Why
are you here tonight? It's not Wednesday."
"Dad found someone to cover Garcia's shift for the
rest of her maternity leave, so I'll be a kitchen helper
come Thursday."
"Waitresses get maternity leave?" Bradley asked
skeptically.
Nashan gave him a cool look. "When they've worked
for the family in one capacity or another for the last
fourteen years, yeah, they do."
"Enough talking," Windham interrupted with a quiet
belch. He pushed his plate to the side. "I have a chess
game to win."
Collecting their plates, Bradley took them to the sink.
Nashan waved him off.
"I've got it, Brad. You go get fleeced by the old
man."
"Whippersnapper!"
***
His brother, his mother, Brianna -- they all kept
calling and he ignored the voice mails, let his mother's
disappointment at the little things just roll off his back.
Ivory - 30
On Monday, he was able to go into a patient's exam
room and tell her that her cancer was in remission; that it
had responded remarkably well to the drug therapy and
that she would see the high school graduation of her two
teenage sons. Her pale face had relaxed and she'd
clutched her partner's hand and laughed, tears on her
face, joking about being used to the wigs now.
Her partner -- the woman that had been her
cheerleader and drill sergeant for months, always
smiling and determined and never backing down
because they were going to beat that cancer -- stepped
out into the hall with him as he left.
When she broke down into relieved sobs while trying
to thank him, he let her hold on and wondered at her
strength.
This was why he was needed; why he went to work
every morning and stayed into the night; why he slept on
spare hospital beds more often than not, and ate cafeteria
food, and couldn't deal with his brother always looking
at the bottom line.
His life, with all his petty problems and pressures,
seemed so insignificant compared to this.
***
"I have to warn you," Nashan said as he unloaded the
takeout bag several Tuesday nights later. "Dad is trying
his hand at some Indian-Peruvian fusion dishes."
Bradley and Windham had both followed him into
the kitchen like stray cats, but old William made a face
at the proclamation.
"It's what now? Where are my croquettes?"
"Don't worry, they're here," Nashan laughed. "I've
also got some fried rice mariscos, too, and that lamb
dish you like."
Ivory - 31
"Harumph. I don't see why Jeffrey has to go looking
into Indian now, too. Isn't Japanese and Peruvian
enough?"
"It's almost like you have issues with change,"
Bradley mused, serving himself what looked like a
biryani dish.
Windham snorted. "Who had to steal your chess
board?"
"So you admit it was stolen."
Accepting his plate with an unhappy grumble,
Windham puttered back into the living room to sit in his
comfortable old chair. The television turned on a
moment later.
"I take it he didn't win tonight?" Nashan asked dryly.
"What gave that away?"
Snorting, Nashan served up a dish for himself and
leaned against the counter to eat. The silence was
different than what Bradley had become accustomed to
with the other man.
"So what's in this?" Bradley asked him with a smile.
"Your basic lamb biryani with some mango-passion
fruit reduction my dad thought up."
"I love biryani badshahi," Bradley said with a sigh.
"You're a fan of Indian food?" Nashan asked
conversationally, looking curious.
Bradley shrugged. "I-- knew someone in college
whose parents were from India. Whenever he was
homesick, his mother would send him care packages
with cardamom cookies and a jar of sweet-sour lemon
pickles, along with spice mixes. He'd cook up these
elaborate dishes and I'd help him out with the leftovers."
"Good friend to have," Nashan said and pulled a six
pack of beer out of the bag. "Natty Boho?"
Bradley accepted the beer and settled at the island
counter. Unlike his own lavishly decorated dining room,
Ivory - 32
Windham's dining table was covered in crayons and
Dora the Explorer coloring books. In the weeks Bradley
had been coming over on Tuesdays, he had yet to see the
table be put to other uses.
Sipping his beer, Bradley took a moment to study [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]