A day off felt weird. I was used to putting in extra hours and killing myself back at St. Marks, but things were different at Boston Gen. I wasn't a core part of the team. A part of me lamented over the loss of being so fucking important, but I'd be back home soon enough.

I dressed while I watched the news that morning and tried not to get too excited about my date with Ansley that night. Aiden would fucking kill me if he knew what I was up to, but maybe I could keep things friendly. I wasn't interested in a relationship, but a thought kept arising that I knew would get me in trouble.

I needed to let it go, but I couldn't.

Did the beautiful girl want kids? Did she need someone to help her out with that?

I wasn't ready to be a daddy, and I didn't ever want to settle down or get married, but being a sperm donor to a broken-hearted princess? I could manage that part. We could never tell Aiden what I'd done.

"Fuck that," I mumbled and grabbed the keys to the bike. That baby would come out looking just like me, and then what? Would I really be able to walk away? I thought I might. Maybe it was a conversation for another time. It's not like Ansley and I were on good terms in the slightest.

She'd let down her guard a little the day before, and I'd ramrodded my talent into the middle of the calm, causing another storm. But it was to impress her for fuck’s sake.

I got on the bike and drove the hour down to my dad's place, enjoying the wind in my hair and the vision of what the night could be if we just had fun together. She needed some fun, and I was just the guy to offer it up to her. No sex. Well, maybe no sex. Aiden flashed in my mind again as I drove up to my dad's house. Did my mentor really think that me and Ansley wouldn't hit it off?

"Hit it off might be pushing it a little." I parked and laughed at myself. I could make lemonade out of lemons any day of the week. Fuck, I could make orange juice out of lemons given the right circumstances.

I knocked and opened the door, walking in to find the place spotless. "Thank God," I mumbled and stopped at the edge of the kitchen to hear my dad laughing with someone. A woman.

"You like it, really, Ray?" She put her hands on her hips, and the look she gave my father was one of a challenge.

"I do. I'm not usually a cinnamon roll kinda guy, but this is delicious." He was up and dressed. Miracles do happen.

I needed to make myself known before I was discovered and looked like the creeper I was being. "I love them. Got a few extra for me?"

"Parks?" My father turned and extended his arms. "Son! It's good to see you."

He looked so damn good that I had to choke back my emotion. His face was clear, his eyes bright, his mood lifted. I moved into his arms and gave him a warm hug as I winked at the pretty woman behind him.

"Good to see you too, Dad. House looks great." I breathed in deeply and moved back. "It smells like heaven in here."

"Missy here is an excellent cook and keeps the house clean."

"Missy? Nice to meet you." I extended my hand to her and smiled. "I thought I hired two different people for those duties. I'm pretty sure they were both men, right?"

My dad chuckled. "I fired those assholes." His eyes lit up as he glanced over at Missy. "And asked that they send the prettiest woman they had. They outdid themselves."

She blushed. "Ray. Stop it." She turned to me and nodded. "Your father is doing a lot better. I'm very happy to help you both in any way you need."

I watched her closely, making sure that there was a validation of her humility that she put on display. When she glanced back over at my dad, her cheeks grew pink again. Wow. Something was going on between them.

"Excellent." I turned and walked to the stove to find a baking dish with three thick cinnamon rolls drenched in icing. "Oh yeah. I need one of these."

"Have them all," my father responded. "Grab a plate and let's go talk on the back porch. It's beautiful out there."

"Oh yeah?" I glanced around to find Missy was gone and my dad watching me. "Alright. I like the sound of that. I have a date tonight, so don't let me lose track of time, yeah?"

"Of course not." He lifted his wrist and tapped his watch. "Missy found this old thing for me. I'd almost forgotten I had it."

"That the one Papa gave to you?" I fixed a quick plate and turned to follow him out back. The house was immaculate and much to my surprise, the pictures of my mother were gone. There was no sign of her anywhere. I could have wept right then and there.

"Yeah. I love this old thing. I need to give it to you before I die. Don't let me forget." He chuckled as I groaned.

"Can we talk about something other than you dying?" I moved out onto the porch with him and dropped down in a lawn chair, surprised as hell to see some living plants scattered around the porch. It was serene, beautiful.

"It's going to happen one day, silly." My dad sat down and leaned back before looking over at me. "But not as soon as I thought, thanks to you."

"Me?" I cut a piece of the roll and shoved it into my mouth, groaning loudly at how good the damn thing was. "Why me?"

"Because you saved me the other day. I hadn't gone a day without drinking in years."

"And you have since I saw you last Saturday?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "Today."

"Because that pretty girl in the kitchen likes you?" I laughed and shoved more of the pastry in my mouth. The woman could bake for sure. Though I didn't care what she could do if she helped me save my dad's life. He was just about all I had left in the world.

"You think she likes me?" He chuckled. "I'm too old for that shit."

"No, you're not. You're only fifty-eight, Dad. Life stops when you let it stop. Until then, live the fuck out of it."

"And what about you, boy?" He turned a little and studied me. It was damn good to see him focusing on something - anything. "Who is this date with tonight? You've never mentioned a date to me before."

I had, but there was no point in reminding him. He'd been drunk every time I'd talked to him before. I couldn't honestly remember a time when he wasn't drunk.

"She's a brilliant neurologist at Boston General." I shrugged. "She's beautiful, dad, but she's damaged goods."

"You are too." He chuckled, causing me to smile. "Why are you so scared to love, Jacob?"

"You know why." I turned my gaze to the backyard and shoved half of the other roll in my mouth.

"Your mother can't haunt us both forever, son. Let her go."

I swallowed and licked my lips. "Ansley is her name. She's four or five years older than me."

"Older? Interesting. I thought you usually went for the young, bimbo type."

"Oh, I do." I finished off my breakfast and leaned back, stretching my legs out. "She's also Aiden's younger sister."

"Your mentor from New York?" He stiffened.

I laughed. "Right? It gets better. Her ex-husband is the Chief of Staff at Boston General."

He snorted. "Well, this sounds like a challenge you're not going to be able to pass up."

"I don't know." I set my plate down on the ground beside me and turned my attention back to him. "She's everything I want in my life, but that scares the shit out of me."

"Good. Then you're right where you should be." He turned and closed his eyes. "Life is too short to let fear shut you down."

I held my tongue. Fear wasn't what fucked up my father's life. It was a beautiful woman in a red dress. And thanks to her, he'd become an alcoholic and shaved years off his life. I only hated one person in the world, and it was her.

Sadly enough, I knew without a doubt that he still loved her. I refused to admit to myself that maybe I did too...

* * *

I checked my watch and set the menu down on the table in front of me. Ansley was forty minutes late. She didn't seem like the type of woman that would be late at all. My phone sat on the fancy table in front of me, and I wanted so goddamn bad to reach out and call her, but I couldn't.

She wasn't coming, and I would have to man up and realize that for the first time in my adult life, I'd been stood up.

A smile haunted the side of my mouth when I thought about the balls this woman had. She'd lost the bet, and yet she didn't have the courage to pay up?

It was dinner for shit's sake.

But was it?

I stood and dropped a fifty on the table before walking through the busy dining room. Couples sat around candlelit tables, laughing and leaning in toward one another. The sight of everyone but me enjoying life left a bitter taste in my mouth.

What the fuck was I thinking? I should have taken her to a ball game and grabbed a hot dog. She would have been comfortable there, but she seemed like too much woman for a casual encounter.

I took the long way home and was a little surprised to see Aiden's name pop up on my phone as I walked into the house. I lifted my cell phone to my ear and closed the door.

"Hey, you. What's hanging?"

"Hey, buddy. How is Boston treating you?"

He didn't really want to know. "It's good, man. I've been over to see my dad a few times, which was rough, but I worked some shit out for him. The hospital is beautiful, and your sister is wicked talented."

"Yeah. She seems to like you."

I laughed loudly before dropping down on the couch. "She fucking hates me, but it's alright. I'll do my job and get out of here. This is her turf, and she's not willing to share it in the slightest, nor should she be."

"She's very protective of her career." He let out a soft sigh. "It's all she has, or at least, that's what she believes."

"Why is she still working at Boston Gen, Aiden? Nolan is around her all the fucking time. I can't imagine being around someone I was with for years, and now I'm not. That's just an emotional mind field."

"It's like you said, man, it's her turf. She's not going to walk away from it just because Nolan Reigns runs it. She's tough as hell, and she's there to prove that."

"It's killing her. She's angry as fuck and so mean."

"Yeah. I was worried about that."

"What do you want me to do, Aiden?" I ran my hand down my face. "I've tried to use humor, flirting, cockiness, everything to get her to wake up."

"It's not your job, my man. Someone will come into her life that reminds her it's worth living."

"And if that's me?" I shouldn't have, but I couldn't stop myself.

"Parks. You know as well as I do that you're not the commitment type. Please do me a favor and don't fuck over my sister. She's got enough to deal with. Period."

"Alright. I just have this knight in shining armor shit going around in my head."

He laughed. "Well, stop. That's not the part you usually play."

I left the conversation there. I didn't want to know what part he thought I played. It would have hurt far more than my ego.

It would have damaged my heart - what was left of it.