Fated Love Read Online Free PDF

Honor slid into the seat that she always occupied at Robin and Linda's.
    Linda cocked her head and studied the serving bowl filled to the brim with steaming vegetables, sauce, and pasta. "You're going to have to take some of this home. There's only so much in the way of leftovers we can handle, I wish you had been able to talk Phyllis into staying for dinner."
    "You know that Monday's her poker night," Honor replied, referring to her mother-in-law's love of gambling. "Nothing in the world would keep her from that."
    Robin heaped a generous portion onto her plate and passed the platter to Honor. "Lindy tells me that you've got a new doc at work."
    Honor paused with the serving fork in the air and cast a wary glance in Linda's direction. She knew without doubt that Robin's remark was completely guileless, but she also knew that the redhead was naive enough to be set up by her less than scrupulous lover. And Linda, who refused to give up her self-appointed duty as Honor's social secretary, looked suspiciously innocent as she cut chunks of garlic bread off a long loaf.
    "That's right." Honor intentionally kept her voice casual.
    "A surgeon, huh?"
    "That's right."
    Linda interjected brightly, "A really talented, good-looking one."
    "Is she gay?"
    "If she's not, then neither am I," Linda stated emphatically.
    "That's good, then, right?" Robin looked questioningly from one woman to the other.
    "Which part?" Honor grumbled. I know
which part Linda thinks is good. If I didn 't also know that she loves me and thinks she's helping, I'd be seriously pissed off at her.
    "Uh..." Robin hesitated, sensing a faint chill in the air. "Did I put my foot in something?"
    Shaking her head, Honor couldn't help but smile. Robin, a computer software consultant who worked from home and cared for the couple's six- and nine-year-olds, was one of the sweetest people she'd ever met. Honor could never remember being angry with her. "No, but your spouse just can't keep from putting her
nose
in everything."
    "Oh." Robin chuckled, tossed her lover a fond look, and went back to her dinner. "So what else is new?"
    "Ha ha," Linda retorted. But she leaned close and kissed Robin's ear, murmuring softly.
    "Jeez, give it a rest, will you?" Honor complained, but her tone was playful. She loved the way they cared for one another, and rather than making her sad over what she didn't have, their happiness made her feel less alone.
    "So are you gonna invite her to the barbecue next week?" Robin asked.
    "No," Honor said immediately.
    "Sure," Linda overrode her.
    "Linda..." Honor's tone was threatening.
    "Oh, come on! She's a new member of the department, and she's new to the city. It's only polite."
    Honor sighed, knowing Linda was right. She didn't even know why she felt uncomfortable with the idea. Quinn Maguire had done absolutely nothing wrong, and she seemed personable enough. It wasn't Quinn's fault that she'd been hired without Honor's input. It wasn't her fault that she was a surgeon, and that Honor had no great love for her generally self-centered, egotistical, and often insensitive medical counterparts. It
certainly
wasn't Quinn Maguire's fault that she had the deepest blue eyes of any woman Honor had ever seen, or that for some reason, Honor couldn't seem to stop seeing the way Quinn's hands moved with such surety and grace.
    "All right. Fine."
    Linda smiled and passed the spaghetti.

    * * * * *
    "Have you seen Dr. Maguire?" Honor asked Tom Finley, one of the registered nurses who worked in the ER. "I've got a guy in six with a mandible fracture I want her to look at."
    "I think she's in ten doing a tendon repair."
    Honor raised an eyebrow. "Down here?"
    Generally, any hand injury more serious than a simple laceration or straightforward fracture was referred to orthopedics or plastic surgery for treatment in the operating room. But Honor had noticed that since Quinn had started working in the ER, more of those problems were being handled on site. It was only