Max stopped and leaned against the post-op nurse's station when his phone chimed. It was an email not a text. His text volume had slowed down since Olivia returned from Cyprus. He worried about her every minute she was gone. Growing up, she did a horrible job at hiding her jealousy because her father wasn't in her life. A part of him wanted to run to her as soon as she returned, but his next day off was reserved for another visit to Boston.

Two weeks later, his heart sped when he saw an email from Children's Hospital. He opened it and let out a long sigh. He stopped reading after the word sorry. Alicia's connections must not have been good enough.

"Fight with your girlfriend."

He looked up at the nurse. She was close to his mother's age. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"You were walking around texting for a week. Rumors were flying."

"Don't people have more important things to do than talk about me?"

She laughed. "Not really. Why the long face?"

"Boston Children's said thanks but no thanks."

"Sorry. Their loss. We're already losing."

He forced a smile. "I'll miss the people, not the grueling hours."

Another nurse said, "Stop flirting with Doctor Max. He's waking up."

Max closed the gap with long strides. It had been a difficult procedure on a newborn.

Later he had a text from Olivia asking details about the wedding. It was in two days. He hadn't seen her since the birthday party. The picture she sent of a young Olivia dancing with her father worried him. She found her father in time to lose him. He had studied the photograph of the handsome man who loved his daughter.

As he sat to eat dinner, he placed a call to her. She was out of breath when she answered.

"Is this a bad time?"

"No, it's fine. How are you?" She sounded happy.

"I'm okay. Tired." Rejected. "So Saturday. The wedding is at three. Where do you want to get ready?"

"Not before the train ride. I hope you're planning to put me up."

He felt uneasy. "You can stay at my place." A night alone. They had never had one before. Even the time Olivia and Zach visited Yale, Zach stumbled back to Max's room in the early morning and Max moved to the floor to sleep with his brother.

"So what time should I get the train?"

"Depends on how long you need to get ready. The wedding is about a half hour from New Haven." His phone buzzed. "I have to go. Text me. I'll pick you up."

He was halfway across the cafeteria on his way to the ED.

Saturday arrived sunny, but still cool for April. Max was ready to have a fun night. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be drinking more than the toast and maybe a glass of wine with dinner. In his profession, he had witnessed the devastation drinking and driving caused. The day before, he had received a job offer. It was from his third choice, Boston Medical Center, but at least he wouldn't be unemployed. His fingers were still crossed for Mass General Brigham.

He chuckled when Olivia walked out of the station. He stood leaning against his old car. She lugged a suitcase as she fumbled with a garment bag. He jogged to meet her. "Need some help." He took the garment bag.

"Thanks a lot."

Laughing, he didn't hide his amusement at her expense. "I know you packed a few bricks in there."

She pouted. "Not true. I have one pair of shoes."

"Okay, fine. I'll take it."

She walked ahead. "I'm a strong woman, so I can do it."

He couldn't wipe his smile. Sparring with her was his favorite pastime. Maybe that should have been his answer in his interviews.

Once in the car, he looked over at her. "Any update on your father?"

She shook her head. "He's still alive."

"I guess that's good. Will you go back?"

"No. He doesn't want us to. His housekeeper has the final instructions. He wants to be cremated and sprinkled in the sea. My mother said he hated the beach and water, but people changed. He didn't know I could swim."

Max laughed. "Neither did your mother. I witnessed her surprise."

They laughed at their shared history. "Tell me about your friends."

He explained how they had been in medical school together. "We didn't see each other as much during residency. They both picked medicine."

"No fellowships?"

"She did one-year of geriatrics."

"That's job security."

Max's laughter turned to a frown. His friends were going to love her. He parked in front of his place. "This looks nice."

"It's not a flophouse."

Once inside, she looked around. "Sparse."

"It's an Airbnb."

"Seriously?" She turned in a circle as if seeing it in a new light.

"Hey, Liv, I'm glad you're okay after your trip."

He stepped to her and instinctively she stepped closer as he pulled her in for a hug. Zach would have hugged her, but he wasn't his brother. The hug was meant to comfort her, but he felt at peace. When she didn't pull back, he kissed her head. She stepped away pouting. It wasn't the kiss she wanted.

She lifted her garment bag from where he dropped it on the sofa and laid it out on the bed. When she attempted to lift her suitcase, he grabbed it and lifted it on the comforter.

"Thanks."

"Did you bring the famous dress?"

She smirked. "Nope. My grandmother bought this one. I think she felt sorry for me. I could have bought my own, but she offered."

"What color tie should I wear?"

"My dress is blue."

"To match your eyes? Is it weird to match?"

She unzipped the garment with her back turned, she asked, "Are we cousins or dating?"

"I'd rather not admit I couldn't get a date."

She turned her head, her baby blues gazed into his soul. "You can always get a date with me." She straightened up. "Show me your ties."

"Zach probably has fifty ties. I have three."

He went to his closet. When he turned around, she was right behind him. With three silk ties in his hand, he held out his arm. She studied each like they were a piece of art.

"Your suit is charcoal?"

"Yes, unlike my brother, I only have one of those."

Her eyes narrowed. "You know Zach and his suits could be on a glossy page, but I told you a long time ago he is too perfect. Lilli wouldn't argue, because he's very human. When he lived with us in college, he would come in my room and fart."

"It's a natural body function."

"I know but he would literally come in and then leave."

Max laughed. "My brother is a pig."

"A pig who wears a suit to work, but you wear scrubs. Believe me, you look sexier. I watched the women check you out."

"Now you're teasing me."

She ran her finger down his chest over his tee shirt causing nerve endings to misfire. "I'm serious. Surgeon Max is hot." The minute she said the breathy compliment, she grabbed a tie and held it up. It was a gift for graduating med school from Zach. Max should have left the pink tie with little stethoscopes all over it in the closet.

"I love this. The pink is perfect with the gray. I think it's perfect for your interviews."

He froze. She didn't know. No one knew about his job offer. He was waiting for the Mass General rejection.

"If you want to look sophisticated, wear the black, although the blue would work, but sometimes matching couples are too cutesy. Zach would do it, but Ian wouldn't."

Max laughed. Both their brothers were in love, but his was an 'I want the world to know' kind of guy. Her brother kept his relationship private.

"Black it is. The novelty tie doesn't work when most of the guests are doctors."

"Most?" She gulped.

He shrugged a lot. "They both come from a long line of doctors."

"Like the family business."

"Yeah, now you'll know how I feel when the talk turns to publishing. Did you want to eat something before you get dressed? We have an hour before we need to leave."

"We need to be early."

He rolled his eyes. "Who do you think raised me? I'm not a complete failure in social etiquette."

"At least you didn't have weekly lessons from an uptight old woman."

Olivia called her Thursday afternoons with Grandmother Browning finishing school. He studied her face at the mention of her grandmother - no clenched jaw. Aside from the long-lost father, she had traveled with the strict woman. From Olivia's childhood stories, he envisioned her as a cross between the wicked witch and Queen Victoria.

"We got along well. I know it's crazy. Either she's mellowed or I've matured."

"She must have mellowed."

"Ha, ha." She reached out and tickled his side. Did she always touch him so much?

He turned towards his small kitchenette. "I have bread and..."

"Peanut butter?"

He laughed. "Yes, but I have some turkey too."

"I'll take peanut butter."

As teens, they would invade the kitchen after midnight and make peanut butter sandwiches. Zach ate cereal, but Olivia chose Max's snack.

"For years, I switched to cereal because my bread kept disappearing at the flophouse. Now if I'm here for a meal, I eat sandwiches."

They worked side-by-side. The companionship was like a megaphone announcing how alone he had been. It reaffirmed his decision to move back home.

"Have you been to visit Zach recently?"

"Nope. I've been home since my trip. I know we texted, but so much happened. My grandmother opened up about things, like she never hated my mother. She taught me the importance of forgiveness."

Max chewed on his lip, but it didn't hold his thoughts in. "I'm worried about when he passes."

She looked at him with her expressive blue irises. "I made my peace with him. Will I cry? Maybe. It's hard to know. He doesn't want us there with him or for the funeral or whatever it is he has planned. The sprinkling." She gestured quotations with her fingers.

"Maybe he knows he would be a burden. At least you know he cares. That picture sums it up."

"It's odd because I don't remember it. The picture makes me think of Zach. Some day, he will dance with his little girl."

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Both turned their heads when Olivia's phone rang.

"It's probably Zach." Max's brother never enjoyed being left out.

Olivia lifted her phone and frowned. "Grandmother."

Max had peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth when Olivia answered her phone. He watched her face for sadness as she held the phone to her ear.

Finally the date ⭐️