"Pro...mise?"

"Promise."

Pearce waited until Tammy's breathing grew quiet and her grip on Pearce's fingers loosened. Then she carefully rose and settled on the far end of the couch. Wondering how she had ever been satisfied with these frantic couplings and hasty affairs, she leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and willed sleep to come.


CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"Ronnie, honey, don't put that in Winston's hair," Wynter said as she diverted her daughter's spoon. "Here, you two drop these berries in the batter and then you can both stir."

Winston and Ronnie, both still in pajamas, stood on adjoining chairs with a huge bowl of batter between them. As usual, Winston took the task extremely seriously, carefully stirring in the fruit, while Ronnie preferred to use the food ingredients as missiles. Both had red and yellow striped dishtowels loosely tied around their necks as makeshift bibs. Ken and Mina's seven-year-old daughter Janie sat on the opposite side of the table, out of Ronnie's range, playing with a Game Boy.

From the doorway, Mina, in her favorite pink chenille robe and slippers, laughed. "Oh, I can see that reinforcements are needed here."

Wynter smiled gratefully. "Good morning. You're just in time."

"I'm not so sure about that. I can see from the looks of the floor just how well things have been going." Mina skirted around the droplets of batter and crushed blueberries on her way to the stove. "You supervise the rest of the prep, and I'll cook. Just give me plenty of room."

"You sure? We were going to bring you a tray in bed."

"I'm not going to lie in bed when everyone else is having so much fun. Besides, it looks like you made enough batter for three families.

We'll have pancakes for days." She pursed her lips. "Why don't you call Pearce and ask her to come over. We might as well be neighborly, now that we know she lives so close. Besides, it's the least we can do with her getting all banged up helping with the move yesterday."

Wynter felt her face flush. She'd just been thinking that she'd walk over to Pearce's as soon as breakfast was over and she'd cleaned up.

She was looking forward to seeing her away from the hospital. When Pearce wasn't working, she was easy to be around--far more relaxed and surprisingly tender. "I don't have her home phone number."

Mina put her hand on her hip and regarded Wynter skeptically.

"Now I know you can call the page operator and they'll put you through.

All you have to do is say you're one of the residents. Ken does it all the time."

"She's probably busy."

"At seven thirty?"

"Sleeping, then."

"A surgery resident? You all get up early."

Wynter indicated her baggy Yale sweatpants and mismatched T shirt. "Besides, I'm not dressed."

"We're talking breakfast, not..." Mina narrowed her eyes even further. "Go call her, and then take a quick shower. I'll watch this crew."

"Mina," Wynter said with a sigh.

"Go."

"All right." Admitting defeat and not really minding, Wynter headed for the wall phone by the kitchen door. It took her several minutes to reach the hospital page operator, but once she explained that she was a doctor and wanted to be put through to Dr. Pearce Rifkin, carefully emphasizing the Pearce, she was immediately connected. The phone was answered on the first ring.

"Rifkin."

"Pearce? It's Wynter."

"Hey," Pearce replied, obviously surprised.

"I hope I didn't wake you."

"No."

"I know it's short notice, but we're making breakfast over here, and I thought...we thought...Mina and I thought..." Wynter caught Mina staring at her out of the corner of her eye and added hastily, "Why don't you come over? We've got lots. And good coffee."

There was a long silence before Pearce replied, her voice pitched low.

"Thanks. I'd like to, but I--"

Wynter heard someone call Pearce's name. A female someone.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...look, I'm sorry. I'll talk to you--"

"Would fifteen minutes be too late?" Pearce said quickly.

"Uh, no. It would be fine. Are you sure?"

"I'll be there."

Wynter hung up the phone and stood with her hand on the receiver, trying to sort out the awkward conversation. Obviously, Pearce had had someone there. Some woman. Some woman who had spent the night.

"She must have them taking numbers."

"Them who?" Mina asked.

"Oh," Wynter said, giving a little jump. "What? Nothing. I'm going to run and take a shower. Will you be okay for ten minutes?"

"Go. Go." Mina made shooing motions. "I think I can manage."

v "You don't have to hold her, you know," Wynter said, snatching up Pearce's coffee cup just before Ronnie, who was sitting on Pearce's lap, careened her Batmobile into it.

"She's okay." After Pearce had gotten over the shock of having the child climb into her lap and settle in for the duration of breakfast, she was glad to have the warm, sweet-smelling bundle of babbling energy to keep her mind off how good Wynter looked in a pair of tight-fitting blue jeans and a mint green crew-neck sweater. Surgical scrubs had a way of making everyone look asexual, but this outfit left no doubt as to what a great body Wynter had. Pearce tried not to stare, but as long as her heart was beating it would be difficult not to look now and then.

"Did you get enough to eat?" Mina asked.

"I'm stuffed," Pearce said. "It was great. Thanks."

Mina looked from Pearce to Wynter, then pushed up from the table. "I'll make a deal with you two. You walk down to the store and get me a gallon of Rocky Road, and I'll clear the kitchen. Oh, and take little Ms. Tornado with you."

"I'll get your ice cream," Wynter said quickly. "I'm sure Pearce has things to d--"

"Not really," Pearce said quickly. "I've got my beeper, and if I get called, well--I get called. Otherwise, I'm free."

Wynter wondered about whoever was in Pearce's apartment, if she was still there. Maybe she was snuggled in, taking a nap after a long night of...activity. Pearce certainly didn't look as if she'd slept.

She looked like she did after being up all night in the OR. The same shadows and slightly haunted look. Wynter tried not to stare at the pale expanse of skin above the collar of Pearce's blue button-down shirt, but she couldn't resist looking for bite marks. Nor could she deny her relief when she didn't see any. Of course, it could be that this one just wasn't a biter. Or maybe she liked to bite somewhere else. Maybe just above the top of those low-slung black jeans. Wynter shook her head, knowing that she was on the verge of making herself crazy with ridiculous thoughts.

"Something wrong?" Pearce said quietly.

"No. Nothing."

"Would you rather it be just you and..." She nodded her head toward Ronnie.

Wynter smiled. "No. Let's go. It'll be fun to take a walk. I just need a few minutes to get her ready."

"Okay. I'll give Mina a hand."

"You don't have to. You can wait in the living room. Read the newspaper."

Pearce stood, swinging Ronnie up under her good arm as she did so, making her squeal. When she set her down, Ronnie tried to drive the Batmobile up her leg. "Whoa!" Pearce diverted the car before it scored a direct hit. "Go ahead. Mina and I will be fine."

"Five minutes," Wynter said, corralling Ronnie and whisking her away.

Grinning after them, Pearce turned to find Mina staring at her speculatively. She waited, but when Mina said nothing, she asked, "What can I do?"

"Bring me those plates and I'll get the dishwasher loaded."

"Got it."

"Wynter tells me you're her senior resident."

"Technically," Pearce said as she handed off the first stack of dishes. "We're actually the same year, but...well, I guess you know Wynter got a bit behind because of...that business at Yale."

"Mmm-hmm," Mina said noncommittally. "Ken thought about surgery--for about two days."

"Then he saw the light?"

"Then I informed him that he had a choice--more children or surgery."

Pearce glanced at Mina's prominent belly and laughed. "Easy choice."

"Not everyone thinks so." She turned away from the sink and regarded Pearce with a friendly smile. "How about you? Are children in your future?"

"I'm not married."

"That's not a prerequisite."

"I'm also gay."

"That's not a disqualification."

"Ever considered becoming a lawyer?"

Mina chuckled. "I've given it some thought, when the kids are big enough to stay in school all day. And there's no law against not wanting kids, you know."

Pearce stacked another armload of dishes next to the sink. "I didn't say that. Being a surgery resident makes it pretty much impossible."

"It sure makes it difficult, I agree. More so than for most residents."

"Wynter obviously does a good job of it."

"I do a good job of what?" Wynter said, leading Ronnie by the hand. In her red snowsuit, Ronnie looked like a fireplug with feet.

"Everything," Mina said fondly and turned back to the sink.

Pleased to be rescued from the odd conversation, Pearce grabbed her bomber jacket off the coat tree by the back door. "All set?"

"We're ready."

Outside, they walked side by side with Ronnie between them. She immediately took each of their hands and alternated between running until their arms were outstretched and then picking her feet up and swinging back.

"She'll do this until you're worn out," Wynter warned.