Unexpected

Chapter 30 - Meddling

Julie hadn't hesitated to help with the funeral reception. She liked to be busy. She wasn't too busy to scan the crowd. Her eyes rested on Sara standing with Christine. Julie watching Sara scan the crowd. Sara's eyes stopped on Nick, and just for an instant Nick held her gaze.

After Tim and the others left, she continued refilling serving trays and picking up discarded plates. She chatted with people she hadn't seen in years and some she saw regularly. Slowly the crowd thinned, and Julie started washing dishes in the kitchen. Christine came for a glass of water. Julie said, "Sit. Have you eaten anything?"

"Oh no, I couldn't."

"You need to eat for Daphne, if for no other reason. Have some of this."

Julie filled a plate with a variety from the large food selection.

"It was nice. Wasn't it?" Christine said flatly as she took little bites.

"Yes. It was."

"I wish Sara could have stayed longer, but I understand that she needs to work. I don't know what I would have done these months without her. She's a good friend."

"Yes, I don't really know her, but Tim says she is very good at what she does."

"She and Dr. Burke, Nick, were always visiting. They make quite a pair."

Julie tried to hide her interest. "Pair? Definitely professionally with their equal dedication."

Tim kept insisting that Nick didn't appreciate Sara, but Julie wasn't as sure. He had changed since Melissa died. He was serious and angry, but she hoped things were changing.

"They were friendly when I saw them with Lily. In fact, I thought I noticed something between them."

"I haven't heard anything about that." Which was true, because other than Christine, she was the only other person wondering.

"Maybe I'm wrong. I said something about it to Sara and she denied it, but I thought she looked nervous. Maybe I just wish it were true. They're exactly what the other one needs. Besides, I quite liked the distraction... Oh well."

Tim had agreed to tell Sara about Betty. It wasn't a big thing, especially since Nick had already told Mum.

He walked up the stairs and entered her apartment. It was small, but neat. She told him to help himself to a beer in the fridge, as she disappeared. When she returned, she was wearing sweats and a tee shirt. He drank the cold Shipyard ale. This beer was not his favorite, but his brother loved it.

They sat on the sofa. She tucked her legs under her. She was less than ten years older than his daughters. He was probably just old enough to be her father.

"So spill!"

"Alright, my mother died when I was young. I spent a lot of time at my father's office. He had a nurse who took me under her wing, but my father told me I couldn't call her by her first name, because it would be disrespectful. Calling her nurse was too formal, so I gave her a nickname. obeyed my father, but didn't."

"Was her nickname Betty?"

"Yes, I wasn't allowed to call her Elizabeth. You remind me of her. Well, when she was young."

"Do your brother and sister know this nurse?"

"Most definitely, in fact, she was at the funeral. She took care of me and I fell in love with her, but I wasn't the only one. My father did too."

"Your father?"

"Yes, he married his nurse, and they had Clare and Nick."

"My nickname is after your mother!"

"Yes, Dad agrees about the resemblance."

"Is that why your father was looking at me strange, because I remind him of his wife?" Her phone chimed, and he waited as she responded to a text.

"Yes, but believe me it's a compliment. I love Mum. I always have... even before Dad."

His phone went off. It was from his brother wondering if he had started Betty's car. He responded. Sara had no more questions, so he left half the beer and went home to his wife.

Christine's words nagged at Julie and later that evening she said to Tim, "Is it true that your brother doesn't get along with Sara?"

"I wouldn't say, not get along. I know he doesn't like some of her personal decisions, like where she lives. He's changed. He's much too serious."

"Yes, serious and angry. But how does he act with Sara?"

"Mostly annoyed, but I think she's fun to joke with and the old Nick would have liked that too. What's with all these questions, Jules?"

"I was just thinking of something that Christine said. She thought they got along."

"They would be professional."

"I think she meant more than professional."

"I don't think so. I would have noticed. The only thing they have in common is their work." He thought for a moment. "No way, because he wouldn't be so tense, if he was getting some. Plus, she got a text while we were talking. Remember, Nick saw her with a guy in Portland. A doctor."

Julie thought of the other night, when Nick looked disheveled and smelled of beer. Similar to the way her dear husband came home smelling tonight. It was the night Lily passed. She remembered thinking he smelled like perfume when she hugged him. She assumed he had hugged Christine, but now she was almost certain she was wrong about it being Christine.