"Hey, are you almost ready to leave?" Ariel asked Ethan as she joined him at the nurse's station. She didn't realize that the older man standing next to Ethan was waiting for him until Ethan looked pointedly in the man's direction. "Sorry," she muttered. "I didn't mean to interrupt."

Slinging an arm around Ariel's shoulders, Ethan said, "It's okay. This is my dad, Colonel Martin Willis."

"Hi, I'm Ariel Braeden," Ariel introduced herself while shaking Martin's hand.

"How do you know my son?"

"Um," stammered Ariel. "I'm Leanne's foster daughter."

"Leanne?"

"Leanne Rorish. She's a doctor here," Ethan answered.

Ariel rolled her eyes and, with a level of sass only achievable by a teenage girl, announced, "She's also your girlfriend."

"So, you do have a girlfriend."

"I never said I didn't. You wanted to know if Rox was my girlfriend and she isn't."

Martin narrowed his eyes at Ethan's explanation, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he asked, "Do I get to meet Leanne?"

"Ethan's taking us out to dinner tonight. You should totally come with us."

"I'd love to," Martin said, accepting Ariel's invitation before Ethan could object. "When do we leave?"

"Leanne's shift is over in a few minutes."

Ariel grimaced. "Actually, I was supposed to tell you that she's with a patient. She said we should go ahead without her and she'll be there as soon as she's done."

"Okay," Ethan sighed. "Let's go."

*** CB ***

Leanne managed to get to the restaurant before their food was served. Thanks to a text from Ariel, she wasn't surprised by Martin's presence. However, she was caught off guard by the tension that hung over the table. She looked at Ariel and raised one eyebrow to ask what was wrong with the two men, but Ariel only shrugged.

They were halfway through dinner when Leanne finally had enough of the awkward silence. She put down her fork and cleared her throat. Ethan and Martin looked up at her expectedly, but Ariel suddenly became very interested in her food. Once she had the men's attention, Leanne asked Martin, "So, what did you do today?"

"Ethan arranged for me to have some tests done at Angels."

"I hope it wasn't for anything serious."

"Just a physical. Ethan worries too much."

"Ethan takes care of the people he loves," Leanne corrected Martin. She smiled at Ethan as Martin grunted and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. When Martin didn't say anything, Leanne said, "I'm glad it wasn't anything serious. Who did you see?"

"Dr. Dixon."

"Dr. Dixon?" Leanne repeated in a tone that made it clear that she wasn't happy with Ethan's choice of doctor.

"I supervised," Ethan assured her.

"Really?"

"The boy doesn't need anybody looking over his shoulder," Martin grumbled. "He's a fine doctor. He just needed a little help with his confidence."

Desperate to get back on Leanne's good side, Ethan pointed out, "You saw Elliot with Toya. Whatever my dad did, it worked."

Leanne chuckled. "I should have known that you and Jesse weren't responsible for the change."

"We were working on it."

"I don't know Jesse, but Ethan was probably coddling Dr. Dixon. He didn't need coddling. He needed discipline."

"Well, whatever you did, it worked. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

With the discussion about Elliot effectively over, the conversation turned to the weather and sports. The small talk was marginally better than the silence they had endured during the first half of the meal, but, by the time the waiter brought the check, everybody was ready for the night to be over. They barely took the time to say goodbye before going their separate ways.