Chapter Seventy-Eight

Trapper gathered all the work he needed to review, placing everything that would fit in his satchel and carrying the rest under his arm. On his way to his car, Gonzo stopped him in the parking lot. “You sure you don’t want to come over for a drink? It might help your mood.”

Shaking his head, Trapper walked on, but slowed and hung his head. “Let me just put this stuff in my car.”

Once both men were settled in the lounge chairs on the roof of the Titanic with filled wine glasses in their clutches, Gonzo asked, “What happened in the board meeting today?”

Swirling his wine, rather than drinking it, Trapper replied, “It’s time for grants.”

“What’d you ask for?”

“Microvascular surgery, a laser center and two MRI machines.”

“That’s all the newest technology,” said Gonzo, nodding. “We need that stuff. Don’t tell me they voted them down.”

Trapper scowled as he took a sip of wine. “No, they didn’t. But they also approved a second grant application for computer infrastructure.”

“That Leah submitted.”

“Mm hm.”

“So you two will be in competition with each other.”

“Yep. And they thought that was fine. Chances are better now that we won’t get either one, and Leah believes her needs are equally important as ours. She won’t back down.”

Nodding, Gonzo considered what Trapper said and took a bite of a finger sandwich, offering the tray to Trapper who shook his head.

“It gets worse. She has a professional grant writer writing her application.”

“Ouch.”

Trapper downed the rest of his wine. “That’s an understatement. I don’t have the budget for a professional grant writer.”

“She does?”

“No, it’s a friend doing it as a personal favor.”

“Are you submitting one application for all three?” Trapper nodded as Gonzo poured more wine into his glass. “Why don’t you do one application for all four? If she convinced the board that both are equally important, why not? Then this friend of hers can write the whole thing.”

Trapper cut his eyes toward Gonzo, sitting in quiet contemplation. He stood, finishing his wine and setting his glass on the small table between the lounges.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go home and think about it,” he answered, taking a sandwich from the tray on the table and eating it on his way to the ladder. “See you Monday.”

***

Slamming her armload down on the breakfast bar, Leah growled at her reflection in the glass doors of the upper kitchen cabinets. “Why do you let him do that to you?” she said, angrily jabbing her finger at the glass. Taking the cordless phone off the base, she headed toward the bathroom to change clothes. “Angela, this is Leah. I have permission from the board to submit the grant application. When can you start?”

“You wanted to be in Washington in two weeks, right?”

“Yep.”

“Then we needed to get started days ago. Can I call you tomorrow and get the information from you?”

“Yes, of course. Why don’t we say around ten…that’s seven your time?”

“Perfect. Talk to you then.”

As she spoke on the phone she kicked her high-heels into the closet and let her jacket drop off her arms. After hanging her clothes, she picked out a white caftan, but before she slipped into it, she stopped and looked at the bathtub. “A warm bubble bath will do you good, Leah. But get a glass of wine first.” Soon she was sinking into the warm water beneath a thick layer of bubbles.

***

Trapper sat at his dining room table picking at his dinner. Why don’t you just call her and talk to her? “Because she probably won’t even pick up the phone. And even if she does, she’ll likely hang up when she hears my voice.” Then why don’t you go over? Looking at the empty chair at the opposite side of the table, he pushed his lower lip up and nodded at first, but then slightly shook his head. “I don’t want to start a yelling match. Better to let her cool off.” You know, you could stop her yelling very easily. A crooked smile appeared followed by a snort. “I suppose I could, but I don’t want her to feel like she’s been handled…by me, anyway. I’ll go tomorrow morning. She’ll have cooled off by then.” Standing, he picked up his plate and took it to the kitchen, then turned all the downstairs lights off and climbed the stairs to his bedroom.

***

Leah stood at the breakfast bar with her charts and graphs spread out before her, taking notes. When the phone rang, she didn’t look, but rather felt for it. “Hello.”

“Leah, Angela.”

“Hey, I’ve just been making some notes so this will go quicker. Where do we start?”

“Give me the list of what you’re asking for and the cost first. After that, we’ll go over necessity and then savings. Did the board approve your doctor friend’s application?”

“Yes, why?”

There was silence on the phone for a moment before Angela spoke. “It’s rare that two grants are awarded to the same institution. One of you will automatically be knocked out of the competition. It will just depend on who gets reviewed first…if either one of you gets approved.”

“So if he wins, I lose, and if I win, he loses. There’s no way around that?”

“Only one. Combine your applications.”

Leah stopped writing and dropped her pencil just as she heard a buzzing sound behind her. “What? Hang on a minute. Someone’s at the gate.” Turning to look at the security monitor, she swore and hit the button. “Not today, Trapper. I’m working.” She released the button before he had a chance to respond and turned back around to her paperwork. “Would you please explain that last remark?” she said into the phone, but turned around quickly when she heard the signal that the security code had been entered and the gate had opened.

“You heard me, Leah. You’ll have a better chance if you combine your applications. It will be looked at as complimentary instead opposing work.”

Trapper appeared outside the sliding glass door with his copy of her keys dangling from his hand.

“Angela, I need to put the phone down for a minute. There’s someone at the door.”

When she opened it, she started to object, but he stepped in, backing her up. Before she could say anything, he moved his hands to either side of her face and kissed her open mouth despite her sputtering. She tried to push away, but he moved his arms around her, holding her tightly against him as he continued a deep, long kiss. She slowly stopped protesting and relaxed, allowing Trapper to finish the kiss slowly and tenderly. Before he let her go, he remained nose to nose with her, his eyes closed, his lips so close to hers she could feel their touch as he spoke. “Disagreements about work need to stay at the hospital,” he said softly, looking into her eyes and holding her gaze until she released a deep, surrendering breath.

Bowing her head, she patted his chest, and then backed away, eventually turning and going back to the phone. “Angela, I’m going to put you on speakerphone. Dr. McIntyre is here.” After she pushed the speaker button and set the cordless phone on the base, she asked, “Would you repeat that last part again so he can hear it?”

“You’ll both have a better chance if you combine your applications into one. They’ll complement each other.”

“How do you want to do this?” Leah asked.

“Let’s finish yours, and then I’ll get the same type of information from Dr. McIntyre.”

For the next two hours, the three discussed the content of the grant application, finally getting down to very specific reasons why the requested computer enhancements would be necessary to support the new medical technology.

Near the end of the conference call, Leah asked, “Angela, do you have room for two? I don’t know enough about the medical technology to sell it, so Trapper will have to come with me and do some lobbying.”

“I don’t know if I’ll have the time to take off. It’ll depend on my patients,” protested Trapper.

“Dr. McIntyre, may I call you Trapper?”

“I wish you would.”

“You have virtually no chance of getting this grant if you’re not willing to lobby for it. Every one of the other grant applicants will be in Washington selling their requests. You need to be there.”

He took a deep breath. “Alright. I’ll go.”

“Good. And I have plenty of room for you both. I assume you’ll still only need one bedroom?”

“I…uh…”

Smiling, Leah interrupted Trapper’s speechlessness. “It’s alright, Trapper. She knows all about you.”

“I see,” he said, clearing his throat.

“Alright. I need to get to work on these. I’ll call you in a few days and let you know my progress.”

“Thanks, Angela.” Leah hit the speaker button. Turning to Trapper with her hands on her hips, she bit, “Just what do you mean letting yourself in when I told you ‘no?’”

“Nice caftan. I can almost see right through it,” he said, smiling and moving his hands towards her hips.

She puckered her mouth and furrowed her brow, crossing her arms over her breasts and turning her upper body.

Arching an eyebrow, he said, “I can still see the golden triangle.”

Her jaw dropped as she put a hand on his chest and pushed. “You’re fresh.”

“Enough of this,” he said, laughing, moving his arms around her and holding her until she gave in. “Now, pack some clothes. We’re staying at my house this weekend.”

“But I have things to do,” she objected.

“You are not working anymore this weekend. There’s a sidewalk art and antique fair downtown today and tomorrow. We’re going. Now, go get dressed and pack a bag,” he said, gently pushing her toward her bathroom and smacking her backside.

She jumped and yelped, looking back at him with an exasperated look as she continued on to her bathroom, rubbing the offended cheek.