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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run
Chapter 214 Date Review
Tara's chance meeting with the redheaded guy at the hospital had led to brunch the next day at Grandma's. It was a cozy, romantic restaurant that served classic American food with a French twist.
Over Belgian waffles, he told her that he'd returned to Charming about six months ago to take care of his aunt, his only living relative. He cared for her as long as he was able, but as her health continued to decline, she needed a higher level of care than he could provide.
She had spent the last couple of months of her life living in an assisted living facility that the hospital ran. He'd visited her almost everyday and gotten to know all the residents. He still dropped in from time to time to visit the residents, play cards and listen to their stories. He told Tara it helped keep his aunt's memory alive.
She had left him everything including her house. He was still weighing a decision to sell the place or stay in Charming. As a writer and illustrator of children's books, he had the luxury of being able to live anywhere.
Tara discovered being a neonatal surgeon had some surprisingly bad points. She'd been out with a couple of guys who needed to make themselves feel superior to her by belittling her appearance, what she said and just about everything else about her. It took her a couple of dates before she realized the guys were insecure losers. At least that experience had given her the experience to screen this type of guy out before it got to the date stage.
Eric seemed genuinely interested and impressed with her work. He didn't seem like the type who felt threatened by her success. That was one thing about Jax; he had always been proud of her intelligence. No more thinking about Jax, she scolded herself.
There was another thing about Eric that she found endearing; he was shy. He had been visiting some of his aunt's friends at the long term care facility and had impulsively decided to grab a bite to eat at the hospital cafeteria. When he saw her sitting alone, he acted again on impulse and asked to sit with her.
It was such a pleasant change to see a man who was shy and not always perfectly self-confident like all male surgeons and Jax. Damn, she'd done it again and thought about Jax.
Tara reminded herself to expect less. She'd never believed in the whole love at first sight myth. Looks might provide an initial attraction but love required more than just liking how someone looked.
She needed to just calm down and give her friendship with Eric a chance to evolve without putting crippling pressure on herself to fall in love with him. Relax, get to know him and enjoy. She repeated the words over and over again.
Most of all don't compare Eric to Jax.