Даниэла Стил - Turning Point

“Well, that was interesting,” Bill said to Wendy. “For a minute there, I thought Gabriel was going to hit him, or maybe the other way around. I wouldn’t have the nerves to be sleeping with someone else’s wife, or want to. I’d be on Xanax all day long.” She laughed. “That was intense.”

“Yes, it was,” she agreed.

“I like your dress by the way.” It was short and tight, but not vulgar and she had the figure to wear it.

“I bought it for tonight.”

“Lucky mayor,” he said and she laughed.

“How are your girls?”

“They ask about you all the time. They want to go back to Euro Disney. So do I. That was fun. You were a good sport.”

“I loved it,” she said sincerely.

They all stayed for another hour, and the group wanted to go to dinner at a restaurant nearby. Andy said he was going home.

“I’ll come with you,” Stephanie said.

“Don’t you want to go to dinner with your friends?” He seemed surprised.

“They’ll be fine. I want to go home with you.” She felt that she owed him something for coming. She didn’t want to just dismiss him, even if she hadn’t wanted him there. He had done it for her.

They left a few minutes later and drove home without saying a word. The boys were already asleep, and they let their housekeeper go home. Then he took off his coat, laid it on the couch, and looked at her.

“Did you have something going on with the guy I met, the one who shook my hand? I think his name was Gabriel something.” He looked her squarely in the eye and she shook her head.

“No, I didn’t,” she lied to him. “We’re all good friends.” He nodded and didn’t question her further. She didn’t think he believed her, but he had the decency not to press the point.

“I thought he was going to take a swing at me for a minute,” Andy added, as he watched her face. “There’s only one reason a guy like him does that. It’s a turf issue, between two men who both want the same woman. Maybe he’s in love with you.” Andy headed toward the stairs. “You looked very pretty tonight. I liked your dress.” But he didn’t approach her or tell her he loved her. He wasn’t even sure if he did anymore, and he was sure she didn’t love him. It was over. Their marriage was dead. And they’d have to bury it one of these days. He wondered if the French guy knew it, or sensed it, and was staking a claim. It felt like it to Andy.

Chapter Seventeen

After the dignity of the mayor’s reception at City Hall, and the tension of Andy and Gabriel’s meeting, their tour of Alta Bates Summit Medical Center was easy and anticlimactic. Tom sang the hospital’s praises, telling about their exceptionally good track record with cardiac surgery, neonatal intensive care, and obstetrics, and their outstanding emergency room facilities. He loved working there and they all noticed that nearly everyone in the hospital seemed to know him and said hello. Tom introduced the team, and the local staff were interested in what they were doing. The atmosphere was pleasant and welcoming and easygoing, and they could see why he loved it. And the emergency room was one of the best in the city. Valérie was proud of him as he showed them around.

They had lunch in the cafeteria because he said the food was so good, and everyone greeted him again. He took them to the doctors’ lounge and all the little nooks and crannies where he hung out. They felt as though he was welcoming them into his home. Whereas San Francisco General was a stern, imposing place, dealing with some of the city’s most acute trauma cases, which was the challenge Bill loved, and Stephanie was proud of the extraordinary new facility where she worked, Tom was proud of the medicine they practiced at Alta Bates, providing outstanding care in a warm atmosphere that allowed him to be himself and have a strong rapport with patients and staff. In each case, the place where they practiced medicine suited them perfectly. They had each chosen the right venue for their talents.

Their tour of Stanford University Medical Center with Wendy on Friday was outstanding. They had an immensely impressive pediatric and adult trauma and critical care program. Their trauma center had been one of the best in the city for thirty years. And while Wendy was one of the most modest physicians in the group, her credentials, academic training, and history at Stanford shone the minute she walked into the building and started showing them around. Once she was in her own environment, they could see what a star she was. The administrator who joined them said she was one of the most valued physicians on the trauma team, and likely to be head of the department at some point. She looked embarrassed when he said it, but her extensive knowledge was obvious. They all listened to her raptly as she described what they did there, and the trauma services they provided as a matter of course. She was frequently a guest lecturer at the medical school, which she hadn’t mentioned before. She was a very discreet person, and they all thanked her warmly after the tour.

It was difficult to decide which of the hospitals they’d seen was the most impressive. Although the teaching hospitals offered a broader range, each institution had a distinct personality and something special to offer.

Bill enjoyed talking to Wendy about it afterward since he’d done his residency there. He had been offered a job at SF General that he couldn’t resist but he could see why she loved working at Stanford. She was typical of the high-quality physicians who practiced there. Her ex-lover Jeff was one of them too, in cardiac surgery. His surgical skills were what had won her admiration in the first place and the rest had come later. She was in love with her work and where she did it, and it showed.

She invited them all for a drink at her house after the tour, since it was close by. They were coming back on Sunday night for a barbecue, but they enjoyed a glass of wine sitting around her pool on Friday afternoon, and since they had a driver to bring them to Palo Alto, they could relax with a second glass. Valérie and Tom were sharing one of the lounge chairs, and Gabriel was sitting slightly apart from the group. He had been brooding and sulking for two days after meeting Andy, and Stephanie’s refusal to spend the night with him afterward. He said that she had humiliated him. She had apologized profusely, but had explained repeatedly that if she had disappeared that night, Andy would have caught on that they were having an affair. Gabriel felt it was time for Andy to know, but he finally relaxed sitting at Wendy’s pool on Friday afternoon, put his arm around Stephanie, and kissed her. They had had a busy and informative week, and she had promised to spend the night with him on Saturday. She was going to tell Andy that she had to work, to cover for someone who was sick. Friday night, they were having a girls’ night, and the four men were going out together, which promised to be rowdy, and they’d have hangovers the next day.

The women were having dinner at Perbacco, an Italian restaurant downtown, and Stephanie was planning to join them for that too.

“I love your house, Wendy,” Bill said warmly, as they sat in chairs side by side in the afternoon sun after the tour. She had decorated it in soothing muted colors, warm beiges and pastels, which suited her, with some paintings that she loved. “You inspire me. My place looks like a bomb shelter. It looks like the tenant has already moved out. But I like the view.” She smiled at how he described it. But seeing where he worked and the long hours he put in, she could guess that he spent almost no time at home. “I have to do something with the girls’ room before they come out this summer. I promised I’d paint it pink for them. Alex wants purple, but we compromised on pink.” They exchanged a smile, thinking of his girls, now that she knew them. “Maybe you can help me pick the right shade. I’m not good with color. Or decorating.” He had wanted to have the group over for dinner, but he didn’t have enough chairs, or even plates and forks. And he only had four glasses. “I had a nice Victorian place when I was married. I never bothered after I sold it. I didn’t care where I lived once Athena and the girls were gone.” But he admired the fact that Wendy had a real home that looked like someone who loved it lived there.