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.”“Ma, it isn’t like that.I was—” She glanced over to find Mac watching her with amusement.Great, and she’d been lecturing him about how professional she was.Katie stopped the treadmill and walked around the corner.She wanted to keep an eye on the professor, since it was her job, but he didn’t need to hear this particular conversation.“Mom, you have to understand that when I’m working like this, I won’t always have access to the phone.How did you find me here?”“Why are you so out of breath? Were you chasing someone?” Her mother ignored the question.Knowing her family, they’d probably called the office when they couldn’t get in touch with her.They were persistent if nothing else.“No, I’m in the gym.” As soon as she said it, she knew she’d made a mistake.She hit herself on the forehead with the phone, still able to hear her mother’s rant.“Oh, you have time to work out, but you can’t let me know your plane didn’t crash or that you hadn’t been mugged.”“Mom, I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.And honestly, the day a mugger gets the best of me—well, hell, he deserves my money.”Her mother sighed loudly on the other end.“Uncle Walter is sick again.Danny’s taking him down to see that new young Dr.Ross.I want you to meet him when you come visit us.”The tongue-lashing was over and they’d moved on.She’d have to hear about everyone in the neighborhood.That part she really didn’t mind so much.She missed her friends, the bar and, yes, even her family.Sometimes.This was not one of those times.Every conversation she had with her mother these days began with a complaint about Katie leaving the family, and then it moved on to the young men she needed to meet.And it always finished with a good dose of if-you-never-meet-a-man-I’ll-never-have-grandchildren guilt.Her mother was a good old-fashioned Italian woman and had it in her head that if Katie could meet a nice young man in the Bronx, she’d want to come home.Her dad, who had given her the Irish surname McClure, supported her decision to follow her career.There was no way her mother would ever understand.Being the only girl in the McClure family came with the burden of procreation.Her brothers could run around and date as many women as they liked without getting serious and no on ever said a word.Katie didn’t like the double standard.Peeking around the corner, she checked on Mac, who was continuing his run.Hell, she had met a man.One who turned her inside out and made her body ache with need for him.She’d certainly never met anyone like Mac in the Bronx.Katie loved the place, but she had no desire to return.Her life in Texas was far from perfect, but it was her own.Well, except for these daily phone calls, which even a dead phone couldn’t keep away.“If you work all the time, you’re never going to meet a nice boy—Katie, are you listening to me?”“Yes, Mom.”“Now, like I was telling you…”The professor had finished his workout on the treadmill and moved to the weights.She watched as he lifted the weights over his head, the muscles so strong.Tensing, taut and powerful.Her mother had paused, and Katie realized she hadn’t been listening.“Uh-huh,” she said, hoping that would suffice.Her mother’s prattling went on, but at the mention of the pub she paid attention again.“Your GJ threatened to sell the pub if your dad didn’t start taking care of himself.”“Wait, what? What happened to Pops?” She and her father didn’t always see eye to eye on the choices Katie made in her life, but they loved each other.There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for the man.She’d been Daddy’s little girl, until she turned sixteen and decided she had a mind of her own.“That’s what I was telling you.He had a small episode and the doctors are worried about his heart.That’s how we met that cute young Italian doctor I want you to meet.That man will have beautiful children, I tell you.”Katie rolled her eyes.“Mom, focus.What did they say about Pops’s heart? Why didn’t you say that in the beginning?”“Angina.Said he has to cut the fat out of his diet.The doctor gave me a list of the foods he can eat, and I’m trying to figure out how to make his favorites healthier.It’s not easy, mind you.Using lean turkey instead of sausage and beef to make lasagna is unnatural, but I’m doing my best.”Her dad was sick [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]