Twins Under His Tree Read Online Free PDF Page B

childhood? No. Actually, at first I thought I might become a stockbroker or an investment banker.”
    Lily couldn’t help but smile. She couldn’t imagine Mitch as either of those. She didn’t know why. She just couldn’t. “So why aren’t you working on Wall Street?”
    â€œI was good at sports…basketball. I won a scholarship to college. But during my sophomore year my mother got sick and didn’t tell me. She didn’t have insurance so she didn’t go to the doctor. She developed pneumonia and died.”
    â€œOh, Mitch. I’m sorry. That had to be awful for you.”
    Again he looked uncomfortable revealing this part of his past. “She’d been my motivator. After she died, I took a nosedive. I’d been a good student, but my grades tanked. Then one day, after a few months of drinkinginto the night and sleeping too late to get up for class, I looked out the dorm window and knew that campus wasn’t real life. Guys hooking up with girls, frat parties, learning to play teachers for better grades. I thought about my mom’s life, how hard it had been and how it ended, and I decided to make a difference. I wanted to help patients who didn’t have much of a chance. I wanted to give life when it was hardly there any longer. So I juggled two jobs, got my B.S., and went on to med school. I decided on trauma surgery. In my last year of residency, September 11th happened.”
    Lily thought of Raina and her first husband, a fire-fighter, who had lost his life that day. Her knowledge of Mitch’s character and her intuition where he was concerned urged her to ask, “And that’s when you signed up for the Army National Guard?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œWhen did you go to Iraq?”
    â€œTwo years later.”
    They were both quiet for a few moments.
    Mitch flexed his hand and moved his fingers as she often saw him do, and she knew he was remembering something he never talked about…something that caused those deep fatigue lines around his eyes some mornings.
    To break the heavy silence, she asked, “Are you happy being part of our fertility practice?” She and two other doctors had been in unanimous agreement, voting him into their partnership.
    â€œYou mean would I rather be performing surgery? Sure. But I like what I do. You and me, Jon and Hillary…we give the seeds of life a chance, as well as at-risk pregnancies. That’s rewarding. What I miss is notbeing part of the Guard, no longer having that unique camaraderie and sense of spirit. Before deployment, it was tough trying to be a doctor as well as a guardsman. But it was what I wanted to be doing.”
    Abruptly he stood, his body language telling her that this conversation was over. He already knew Lily was the type who wanted to know more, who would ask questions until she got her answers. He was cutting that off before it could go any further. To her surprise, she already missed his presence at the end of the sofa.
    â€œI checked your refrigerator and you have a couple of choices,” he said with a forced smile. “Scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs with asparagus and bacon on the side, or… I think I saw sausage in there that I could turn into sausage and pasta of some kind, maybe with canned tomatoes.”
    â€œAre you kidding me?” Her eyes were open wide and she was staring at him as if she really didn’t know him.
    â€œI told you my mom taught me the basics. But in college I had an apartment with two other guys. I couldn’t stomach pizza every night, so I cooked. I borrowed a cookbook or two from the library and they kept me going for the year.”
    â€œYou’re just full of surprises,” Lily said, laying her head back against the arm of the sofa, suddenly tired and feeling weak.
    â€œIs the adrenaline finally giving out?” he asked her.
    â€œIf you mean do I feel like a wet noodle, yes. Are you happy now?”
    The