Three of Hearts Read online

  “So Mae, I hope you don’t mind, but Robyn told me a little bit about you before you moved in. You moved here from Boston and you are an oncology nurse at Hamden General.” Lynne said as she handed Mae her tea cup and saucer.

  Mae took the cup and began to sway the tea bag back and forth three or four times before taking it out and placing it on the saucer. “Yes. I grew up around the country on different Air Force bases but settled into Massachusetts while I was in high school. I went to Boston College and studied nursing, then on to Dana Farber there and started my specialty of oncology.”

  “Oncology that takes a special kind of person” Lynne said sipping her own tea now. She grabbed a muffin from the basket that was on the bar in front of her now that she was sitting beside Mae.

  Mae smiled. “Well thank you, but I really enjoy it. Cancer is such a horrible disease and to know that I can help soothe and comfort anyone, makes me feel like I accomplish something daily.”

  Just as Mae picked up her tea again, some yelling from the front of the house broke the morning’s tranquility. Both she and Lynne turned toward the direction of the shouting as Lynne muttered “here we go again.”

  “No you are not taking the boat out alone! First of all you don’t have a license to drive and second if anything was to happen, I would be responsible.” Seth bellowed from the other room.

  “But Dad, it’s only to the South Cove and it will just be me and Michael,” Conner insisted loudly.

  “I wanna go!” Aidan leaped up from the couch and ran toward his father and brother.

  “Dream on shrimp” and “he isn’t going” were said to Aidan by two deep voices simultaneously.

  Coming further into the great room, Mae could see Conner and Seth walking side by side. She could certainly see that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Even though Conner had blonde hair and Seth was bald that was where the differences stopped. At this age, Conner was already nearing six feet tall, and she saw that all three children got their eye color from their father. Conner’s body was beginning to become broader and bulkier. With Conner in swim trunks and tank top and Seth in khakis and a light blue dress shirt open at the collar, there was no denying they were father and son.

  Conner noticed Mae first and made a beeline straight for her. After all, any 14 year old boy needed to hone his pick up skills on any hot babe he saw. “Hey Mae, how about letting me drive your sweet ride?” Upon hearing the name and his question Seth immediately looked up and saw Mae sitting in his kitchen with a tea cup in her hand. What the hell? Was this going to be an everyday thing? It is bad enough he couldn’t sleep worth a damn last night without thinking she was just on the other side of his wall. Annoyed, Seth said “What’s going on here? Having a tea party?” He realized he sounded rather rude, but he still couldn’t help it. Both Mae and Lynne looked directly at him.

  “Way to be a ladies’ man, Dad” Conner said and decided that he should get out of the line of fire. Conner joined Aidan and Megan on the couch. Of course both his siblings were looking toward the kitchen as well, Conner decided he should too.

  Lynne piped up “I just asked Mae to join me for a quick cup of tea. I thought we could get to know each other a little better.” Being from Ireland and married to an Irish fisherman for 42 years, she was used to not backing down when someone barked like that. She also had known Seth Finn since he was five years old and he only snapped rudely like this when he was caught off guard.

  “I was, uh, just leaving. Thank you, Lynne, for the cup of tea and the chat. And thank you again for the pot roast, it was very kind of you and delicious.” Mae brought the cup and saucer to the sink and placed them down gently. She turned and headed for the door and tried not to let anyone see how red she was.

  Once the door closed, Lynne turned to Seth and said “The poor girl will be lucky if she will ever have the nerve to step onto the deck again.” With that said Lynne brought her own cup and saucer to the sink placed them in and then went to the laundry room to start a new load. Megan quickly got up and followed Lynne.

  Seth stood there and stared at the closed door. Well that went well he thought. He turned towards the couch where the boys sat and rubbed his head. Aidan was the first to speak “How come you yelled at Mae, Dad?”

  “Because as a renter she shouldn’t be over here having a cup of tea” Even as the words left Seth’s mouth, he realized how dumb they sounded.

  “Hey Dad, do you think Mae will let me drive her Camaro?” Conner asked. Seth shot a ‘if looks could kill’ stare towards his oldest son and refilled with all the earlier annoyance he felt over the boat. Pointing his finger at Conner, he ordered, “do not ask her ever again if you can drive her car. I’m not discussing the goddamn boat thing again either.” With that he opened the door went quickly down the steps to the driveway and got in his truck.

  He pulled out onto the street, only to be stopped by Shannon Upton. Great, just what he needed. She practically stood in the middle of the road, in cut off shorts that showed off more than they covered, and a white bikini top that barely covered her areolas. Her dark tanned skin was emphasized even more by the whiteness of the clothing and her long straight jet black hair hung to her waist. She walked barefoot up to the truck and stepped onto the driver’s side running board. “Hey Seth, off to work?”

  “Yeah, just like every day Shannon,” Seth responded. He tried to keep his words to a minimum with Shannon. The faster he could put distance between him and her the more comfortable he’d be. Ever since Shannon turned 16 she had been flaunting herself in front of Seth. Now at the age of 24, she was especially brazen.

  “Well maybe we can get a beer or something later?” Shannon purred.

  “Not a good idea Shannon, but take care and have a good day.”

  Shannon knew he wouldn’t go anywhere with her standing on the running board. She was about to make him a more sexual offer than grabbing a beer when she heard “Geez Shan, get away from Seth and put some clothes on before Mom sees you.” With that Shannon stepped off, cursed at her little brother and walked up to the house before her very Catholic mother saw her. Seth waived to Michael and said a silent “thank you” to him. The Upton’s had lived across from Seth since he bought the place when he and Maggie first got married, back before Conner was born. He liked them and was glad that Michael and Conner were such good friends. Seth tried to help out with Michael as much as he could. He knew it was hard for Rosemary to understand her teenage son, especially after raising five girls. The Uptons lost Michael, Sr., around the same time Maggie died. Oh Maggie . . . and with that thought Seth immediately went to his ‘white wall’ place. He would not think about Maggie now.

  Mae had never been so embarrassed in her life. She closed the door to Seth’s home and quickly walked through her screened porch into her apartment. She was angry at herself for even accepting Lynne’s invite for tea. Of course Seth was right, she shouldn’t be having tea with Lynne. But yikes she was just returning the bowl that he brought over the night before. After shaking off the last of her embarrassment Mae decided to go grab a pair of scrubs that she could change into at the hospital. She had enough time to explore the area a little more in detail. Mae quickly grabbed her bag that held her scrubs, badge, keys, wallet and dinner and locked the door.

  She walked down the stairs got into her car and started to back up. She couldn’t pull out of the driveway because Seth’s truck was blocking the street and she noticed he was talking to someone, a very beautiful, leggy, skinny someone. Mae immediately rolled her eyes and chastised herself. Oh great I get to watch Seth make plans for a booty call but even as the thought entered her mind, she knew she was more upset about the type of girl he was talking to. Here Mae was squeezing into her jeans and this girl barely had any clothes on. But as Mae continued to have this mental go around with herself, she heard Michael yell to the girl. Then Seth drove off. Mae continued to pull out and followed behind Seth. Mae waved to Michael as she passed and hoped she wouldn’t have to follo
w Seth’s Silverado HD for too long. As Seth reached the stop sign at the end and turned right, Mae made a point to turn left.

  THREE

  Seth reached his office and opened the door to find his secretary, Josie, on the phone. Dylan was standing at the reception desk holding blue prints. Seth walked directly to Dylan and asked “What’s up?”

  “Oh you know, O’Neil is trying to say that the easement on the Campbell project isn’t to county codes.” Dylan Cross was the type of man that didn’t take bullshit from anyone. Seth had known Dylan since they were both in grade school. They played youth football together all the way up through high school. Dylan was the star quarterback to Hamden High football team, while Seth played left tackle. Dylan went All-State until he tore out his shoulder in a game in senior year, instantaneously ending Dylan’s dream of playing in the NFL. The incident left Dylan with a permanent chip on his shoulder. Even with his bad boy reputation, Dylan never had a hard time finding a lady to keep him company. As far as business was concerned, he was a calculating businessman who made both him and Seth wealthy men. His tall lanky body was both athletic and powerful. He may not have been built like Seth but Seth wouldn’t mess with Dylan if he met him a dark alley. Dylan could handle himself quite well and has proved that on countless occasions, usually involving a lady and a bar.

  As Dylan stood waiting for the secretary to give him the phone when O’Neil came on the line, his dark brown hair hung over his forehead and his brown eyes were wide under his crossed brow. He looked as if he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, and the scruff of his beard made the scar on his left jaw even more noticeable.

  Seth started walking past Dylan when he said “Come into my office after you finish with O’Neil. We need to discuss the crew assignments and shipment deliveries.”

  Seth opened his door and walked over to his desk. He collapsed into his leather chair and pulled his hands over his face. He needed to get a grip and start making calls to ensure all deliveries for their upcoming projects were on schedule. But all he could think of was the look on Mae’s face this morning after he spoke to her in his kitchen. He admitted he was an ass, but between his sleepless night and Conner starting with the boat nonsense, Seth just snapped.

  Dylan walked in and took a seat on the sofa that faced Seth’s desk. He thought his friend looked rough. “O’Neil is such an ass. He is always looking for something to stick us with a violation. What’s going on that makes you look like you were on a bender last night?”

  “Conner started in on me again about driving the boat. Every morning he asks me the same question like I’m going to change my answer. Aidan’s progress report wasn’t very good and Megan, my little Spitfire, I found out snuck into the apartment and jumped out at my new tenant wearing one of Aidan’s Halloween costumes. And I slept worth a shit”

  “Oh so the sexy nurse who drives the Camaro moved in huh?” Dylan said slyly

  “What do you know about her?”

  “Just that she drives a gorgeous car and she has quite the beautiful face and sexy body” Dylan responded with a teasing smile.

  “How the hell could you know what she looks like and drives for that matter?” Seth said with menace in his voice.

  “This is Hamden; I know everything, especially about sexy woman new to the area.” Dylan was enjoying riling his friend.

  Seth didn’t know why Dylan calling Mae sexy irked him but it did. He didn’t want to think about Dylan seducing Mae with the Dylan Cross love spell. The fact that he even mentioned it caused Seth’s blood pressure to rise.

  “I’m just giving you a hard time, man. Conner and Michael told me last weekend when I was there. Michael was going on and on about the car while Conner was going on and on about her, uh, attributes.”

  The news that Conner was talking about Mae to Dylan made him more enraged than just Dylan talking about her. Seth thought he needed to have a long talk with his son when he got home about respecting women and being a gentleman. Yeah that would go over well, especially after the mockery Seth made of Mae’s presence in his home that morning.

  Seth didn’t want to think about Mae Turney anymore. He needed to get his head into the business at hand and not about Mae’s feelings, car or attributes, as Dylan called them. They were great attributes though. Seth shook his head and said to Dylan “we are not talking about Mae or my sons raging hormones anymore.” With that Seth started right into the delivery of lighting fixtures coming in from Concord for the new Hamden Center Bank.

  Dylan listened as his friend and partner talked shop but couldn’t help think that he needed to get to Seth’s house to check out this Mae Turney for himself. He would make it a point to get there sooner than later.

  Halfway through her shift, Mae was updating Dr. Crest on Mr. Jones’ nausea and Mrs. Foley port-a-cath. She was just finishing when Mallory at the desk said Mae needed to check on Mr. Marotta in treatment room four. Mae walked down the hall to the treatment room and moved the privacy curtain. Mr. Marotta was reclined in the chair with his eyes closed. His treatment IV was almost empty but she saw a huge hematoma appearing under his IV needle. She hated to wake him but she really needed to get the needle out and attend to the blood. Mae put on rubber gloves and gently shook Mr. Marotta’s arm. He awoke and looked at Mae and smiled. “Well if it isn’t my favorite nurse.” His voice was raspy but pleasant-sounding, amicable. Mae smiled and batted her eyelashes. “I bet you say that to all the nurses.”

  “No, just you, Mae. This is my third round of chemo and I’ll tell you my last. Everyone is so nice and caring here at the Cancer Center but above all you are my favorite. You remind me of my Sandra. We would have been married 57 years this coming June. But the Good Lord took her from me 18 years ago. If it wasn’t for my daughter and granddaughters, I would have been right behind her instead of here every week hooked up to this stupid machine.”

  Mae smiled at the man and thought how lucky Sandra was to have been loved so much and missed so much. She tried to lighten the mood. “Well I’ll let you in on a secret, you are my favorite too. And I say that your daughter and granddaughters are quite glad you stuck around for them. Isn’t your youngest granddaughter graduating next month? You wouldn’t want to miss that.” And on that note, Mr. Marotta launched into a monologue about going to see his youngest granddaughter prior to her prom. He spoke with such love. She cared for his arm and gave him the go ahead to head home for the day. He left in happier mood.

  Mae glanced at the clock, excited she only had another 25 minutes before her shift ended. With her new apartment so much closer to the hospital, it would only take her 10 minutes to get home. She’d be home in time to catch the end of the 11 o’clock news and in her pajamas with a cup of tea to watch Jay Leno. Mae prayed that she wouldn’t run across Seth, but then thought he was probably in bed. After all it is almost 11:00pm and she was sure the man slept. She immediately envisioned how Seth Finn slept, imagining a bed large enough to keep a man that size comfortable. She was sure in the queen size bed in her apartment they would need to sleep on top of one another to fit. Oh my god, sleeping with Seth Finn in her bed, where did that come from? Besides after watching Miss Exotic this morning being in plumpy Mae’s bed was probably the last place Seth would be found.

  Mae might not be a virgin but her sexual experiences were limited. There was Peter, her college boyfriend, and then the couple of guys she casually dated in Boston but other than that, Mae just was not one to be at the other end of male attention. She looked down at her purple scrubs and pink crocs on her feet. She was a professional dressed for work, but she admitted they did nothing for her figure. Mae wasn’t a dressy type of person, normally content in her denim capris or jeans. But she dressed up her wardrobe with shoes and accessories. Along with having expensive taste in beauty and body products, Mae was a shoe-a-holic. Her favorites were flip flops and sandals but she had some killer stilettos—killer both to wear and to her credit card.

  Mae finished up the rest of her paperwork, m
ade sure all the patients charts were put back and went off to her locker. She grabbed her stuff, shut the locker and headed out. Mae said goodbye to the night shift and made her way to the hospital garage. As she walked toward the garage, Leo, one of the security guards made his way towards Mae from the guard shack. Leo was a nice guy. He was one of the first friends she made at the hospital after she moved. They always seemed to work the same shift and so it was quite ordinary to find them having lunch or dinner together. Mae knew him to be 26, but he looked so much younger. With the mandatory jacket and hat security uniform, it brought Leo’s height to a whole 5'5”, the same height as Mae. Because of their many meals together she really learned a lot from Leo even if he didn’t come right out and say something.

  “Hey Mae, leaving for the night?”

  “Yeah, Leo. I honestly can’t wait to be home in front of the TV.” She said

  “I know the feeling I have another hour before my shift ends” Leo said. He needed to come up with the nerve to ask Mae if she would go with him to his brother’s wedding. “Uh Mae, I know this is totally from left field but I was wondering if you had any plans a week from Saturday?”

  Mae stopped and looked at Leo. “I don’t have any plans.” Mae was interested to see why Leo had asked her. She wasn’t attracted to Leo and given her hunch of Leo’s sexual preference; the question did pique her interest. And if she was completely honest, being cliché and all, it was the first time she got the “what are you doing next Saturday” line.

  “My brother is getting married and I need a plus one” Leo said, glad it was dark out so Mae wouldn’t see him blush.

  Not knowing why he didn’t bring a real date, Mae said “I’d be happy to go with you, but…”

  “What?”