Read Online Nerds on Fire by D.R. Grady - Free Book Online

wasn’t acting, because she had
meant to ask and then didn’t.
    “ I also forgot to ask
her.”
    “ Nina has a son?” her
father asked.
    It took a lot of willpower, but Trixi
didn’t look over at Katy. She frowned. “You know Nina?”
    “ Yes, she’s a receptionist
on the surgical unit, right?”
    “ She is, but how do you
know her?” Katy asked, oh-so-subtle.
    “ I handed Trixi’s lunch off
to her this morning.”
    “ Oh, right,” Trixi
responded. Her dad was good. He didn’t give anything
away.
    “ She has a son in the
military and he’s finishing his tour overseas.”
    “ How old would he be?” Her
dad’s air of nonchalance might be genuine.
    “ I think he’s close to our
age.” She glanced at Katy who nodded. “He’s in some really
dangerous country over there and Nina has been a wreck the entire
time,” Trixi said.
    Katy paused in devouring her slice of
bread. “How long have you known her?”
    “ Years. I was first
introduced to her after I filled in for some surgical nurses right
after college.”
    “ She’s a neat lady,” Katy
stated, and since it was nothing short of true, Trixi nodded. Katy
had met Nina during some of her rotations so she also knew her
fairly well.
    Her father still wasn’t giving
anything away. He appeared deep in thought as he stirred his tea.
“Do you like this Nina better than Chrissy?”
    Now there was a loaded question.
Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Trixi shot a glance at
Katy.
    “ Answer the question
truthfully, please,” he added.
    With a casual shrug, Trixi decided to
go for it. “Absolutely.”
    “ Do you like Chrissy at
all?”
    “ Not for you.” It was all
Trixi could think to say without causing contention.
    “ Why not for
me?”
    “ Because the woman is a
nasty little opportunist.” Katy, probably tired of Trixi’s hedging,
answered for her. She loved Rylan as much as Trixi did, and didn’t
want to see him hurt.
    “ Tell me how you really
feel, Kates.” His voice was dry. He focused on Trixi. “Do you feel
the same way as this barbarian here?”
    “ Yes, I do, Daddy. And so
do Gran and Miriam.”
    “ You don’t like Chrissy at
all?”
    “ No.” Katy’s candor had
stiffened Trixi’s backbone. “If you were to date anyone, we’d
prefer it be someone like Nina.”
    “ Surely Nina is already
dating someone else?”
    “ She was dating Dr.
Calhoun, did you know that?” Trixi directed her question to
Katy.
    “ No, I didn’t. They’d make
a great pair.” Katy frowned. “He’s gorgeous, but then so is
she.”
    “ I know, they both are.”
Trixi bit her lip because she forgot all about Nina already dating
Calhoun, until now.
    “ I’m still engaged to
Chrissy, so I’m not in any hurry to start this process all over
again.”
    “ Daddy, we didn’t hurt your
feelings, did we?”
    “ I asked, Trix. So I wanted
to know your true feelings.”
    Katy’s brow furrowed. “We don’t want
to see you hurt. If you love this woman—”
    “ We’ll love her too,” Trixi
finished Katy’s sentence.
    “ I don’t love her.” His
statement came with easy assurance. “The last little while it’s
like I’ve seen something lurking under the surface of Chrissy’s
glorious facade and it’s not pretty.”
    “ That would be her true
nature.” Katy licked the last of her casserole off her fork. “She
isn’t the type of woman you want to spend the rest of your life
with. She’d make you sorry you were born.”
    “ I have slowly come to that
same conclusion.”
    “ Really? You were having
doubts?” Relief washed through Trixi, sweeping a lot of her worry
with it.
    “ Yes. I’ve caught glimpses
of someone I don’t like. Her insistence on either moving in here,
which I’ve repeatedly told her is not an option, or buying another
house, is getting old.”
    “ She needs a huge house to
impress all her friends. Chrissy is the type who needs to have a
bigger, fancier estate than all of them.”
    He nodded slowly. “I’ve begun