As You Wish Read Online Free PDF Page B

for her.
    She reached around the crystal vase to grab the file.
    “Oooo, who got roses?” Rita gushed, hurrying to the desk from the other direction. She fished through the flowers for a card while talking to Patricia. “Hi, Trisha. Sorry I skipped out on you yesterday.”
    Patricia flashed back to yesterday afternoon in the potting shed. Rita had done her the biggest favor imaginable. Even bigger than helping her survive bio chem. Patricia opened her mouth to thank Rita for leaving early.
    Betsy, one of the day nurses, spoke up from behind the desk. “They’re Dr. Whitmer’s.” She looked up. “Oh, Dr. Whitmer. I didn’t see you come up. So who are the flowers from?”
    Patricia blushed. If she had thanked Rita for leaving early, Rita would have demanded an explanation, and she’d have wanted more details than Patricia could make up in a spur of the moment lie. The truth was too much for even a best friend’s ears.
    “Trish, you dog. You had a date last night, didn’t you? That’s why you were teasing me with the gardener. You needed to get rid of me.” Rita pulled the card out of its tiny cream envelope and held it out. “Must have been a good one. Bruce didn’t send me flowers. Read it. What does it say?”
    Patricia took the card. She couldn’t imagine Ryan sending flowers. Besides, he’d promised not to mention anything outside of their meetings. “You’re the boss and I’m the gardener,” he’d said. “Your secret submission fantasies are safe with me.” She opened the card, hoping she could come up with a convincing lie.
    “‘Dearest Patricia,’” she read aloud. “‘I haven’t seen you in over three weeks, and my heart is breaking. Will you consent to have dinner with me Friday evening? Please call me. David.’”
    “David? David Hoess?” Rita’s lip curled. “He’s so scaly. And, I ask you, how can a weasel be so scaly?”
    “But cute,” Betsy put in.
    “Cute but scaly. Don’t go out with him, Trish.” Rita slouched against the desk. “There’s what? A million people in this city and surrounding area? If half of them are women and you eliminate all the married men, you still have a couple hundred-thousand better catches than David Hoess. Hell, there’s a few thousand women who are better catches and are willing if you are.”
    Patricia read the card again. David Hoess was the scion of another of the upper-crust families in town. He was two years older than her, and when they were children their parents had joked about how nice it would be if they married. Now he was a high-profile lawyer in Columbus. Twice, he’d driven two hours each way to have dinner with her since she’d come home. She felt no sparks from their encounters, but he must have. And her parents would have been pleased if something developed.
    She hoped Ryan wouldn’t want her Friday night. David would want to know why she was canceling. Still, it wouldn’t be polite to tell David no in the hopes Ryan would want her, even if she preferred to spend the evening crawling for Ryan than being worshipped by David.
    She tucked the card into her lab coat pocket. “I’ll have to call him.”
    “Nothing says you have to go out with him just because he sent flowers,” Rita warned. “Friday and red roses. He’s looking to make a weekend of you.”
    Patricia checked her watch as an excuse to avoid looking at Rita. At the moment, she couldn’t think of anything less interesting than being made a weekend of by David Hoess. Even before yesterday with Ryan, she hadn’t been attracted to David, but her parents had liked him, and he was an appropriate choice as a mate. Ambitious, involved, good-looking. David Hoess was a better Whitmer than she was. “I have to see a patient. I’ll see you later.”
    Before ducking into the lounge to call, Patricia checked on her patient. The phone rang three times before the sultry-voiced receptionist picked it up. She sounded put out when Patricia gave her name but put the