“So do I,” she said quietly, as Steve threw the ball to Mary Ellen and she squealed with pleasure. As cautious as the children had been around Meredith, they seemed to have no trouble opening up to her husband. But she had never been very comfortable around children, and they sensed that.

It was an easy afternoon for them, and Steve and Cal and Meredith got into long, interesting discussions that night, mostly about politics and their effect on business. Steve had his own pet peeves in what related to medicine, and they exchanged points of view for hours, and when they left, Cal wished him luck the next day at his interview, and told Merrie he'd see her in the morning.

She was in Cal's office with him when Steve called at noon, and he sounded exhilarated.

“What's up?” she asked, sounding distracted. They'd been going over some projections for the next quarter.

“I thought you might like some news.”

“What's that?” she asked, smiling, as Cal watched her intently.

“I have a job. And so do you, I suspect. They want me on January first. The head of trauma here is leaving, and if my references check out, which they should, if they call Lucas, I'll be their new head of trauma. How does that sound?”

“Wow!” Her eyes met Cal's as she said it. “Congratulations, sweetheart!” She was nearly speechless. It was all falling into place with so little effort. It was as though it was meant to be. It was obviously kismet.

“The same to you. Are you going to tell Cal you'll take it?”

“What do you think?” she asked cryptically. She wanted to be sure it was really all right with him if she did it. But now they both had great new jobs to come to, and it lifted a ten-ton weight off her shoulders. She was free now to take the job Cal was offering her and that she wanted so badly.

“I think if you don't tell him you'll take it, I will. Go for it, sweetheart. You deserve it.”

“Thank you, Steve,” she said, feeling grateful and happy and relieved all at once. She was still smiling when she hung up the phone a few minutes later. And Cal was watching her with a worried expression.

“That sounded hopeful.”

“Better than that.” She beamed at him. “He got the job.” Cal's face broke into a broad smile, he was as relieved as she was.

“Where does that leave us, Merrie?”

“Where would you like it to leave us?” she asked directly, her eyes never leaving his for an instant. It was like dancing with Fred Astaire again, they were perfectly synchronized, their minds always working together.

“I'd like it to leave you as the new CFO of Dow Tech. Will you do it?”

She nodded slowly. She was sure now. It was almost like getting married, a huge step, and an important commitment. “Yes, I will, if that's what you want.”

“You know I do, Meredith.” He held out his hand then and shook hers. “Is it a deal?”

“It is. I can't believe this has happened.” And it had all happened so quickly. Two weeks before, they'd been on a road show together, and now she was his employee and moving to California.

“Neither can I.” He went to the small wet bar in the anteroom to his office and took out a bottle of champagne and two glasses. And when he came back, he was smiling from ear to ear. “Let's celebrate. This is the best news I've had in years. Maybe ever.”

They toasted each other, and sat drinking champagne and talking for a while, and then they started talking about the details.

“How soon do you want me, Cal?” She knew that Charlie McIntosh had given him two weeks, but she assumed that he'd be willing to stay on for a while, particularly knowing now that she'd be coming out and would need a little time to tie things up at her end. Two weeks, if he'd stuck to it, would have meant the eighth of October, and there was no way she could do that. If nothing else, she had to give her firm a decent notice. She was thinking about a month, and she had to sell their New York apartment. And Steve had said they wanted him in the East Bay on the first of January. That sounded about right to her.

“No later than October fifteenth,” Cal answered calmly. And she laughed, thinking he was joking.

“Very funny. I'm serious. Steve has to be out here on January first. Maybe December fifteenth, or just after Christmas?”

“No way, Meredith.” The shrewd businessman she had seen in operation before had risen to the fore. He had to think of his own needs now, and Dow Tech's. He wasn't going to wait three months for her to come to California. “Charlie has already told me that he won't stay a single extra day, which is lousy of him, but that's Charlie. He can't wait to get out of here. He and his wife have already planned a two-month tour of Asia.’’

“Cal, there's no way I can be here in three weeks. That's crazy.” She was more than a little startled, and she didn't want to be out two and a half months before Steve, that wouldn't be fair to either one of them. But she also had to think of Dow Tech and Callan's needs.

“I can't function without a CFO. I'd really like you here two weeks from now when Charlie leaves. I could manage for a week without a CFO, but no longer. You've got to come out sooner. Steve can commute on weekends, or you can. I'm sorry, Merrie, I hate doing this to you. But I need you.” She liked that part of it, but she hated to tell Steve they'd have a bicoastal marriage till the end of the year. But Cal didn't seem to be willing to give her an inch on it. “I want to give you a signing bonus, of course. I assume you know that. I thought two hundred and fifty thousand dollars might soften the blow.” And how was she going to argue with that? Callan Dow knew what he was doing. “I'm going to give you an apartment here in Palo Alto for three months, at our expense of course, longer if you need it. That'll give you time to decide where you want to live, and to find a house you like.” He was doing more than she could possibly have asked for.

“It's all very generous, Cal. I'm just a little stunned that you want me out here so soon. I wasn't expecting that.” She still sounded worried about it, in spite of the on-signing bonus, which was more than generous, it was outstanding.

“I wasn't expecting Charlie to give me two weeks’ notice. I'm sorry to put pressure on you, Meredith, but the heat is on all of us. Shall we say the fifteenth?”

“I guess we have to. I'll just have to fly back to New York on weekends, when Steve's not working. He can come out midweek when he's off. We'll work it out,” but she was concerned about what Steve would say about it. She was meeting him at the hotel at four o'clock, and they were flying back to New York on a six o'clock flight.

Cal gave her a big hug when she left, and told her to call him if there was anything he could do to help, and she told him to call her if he needed any input from her before she got there, and he laughed at that.

“Are you kidding? I'll be following you around every ten minutes for the next three weeks, Meredith. I hope everything goes smoothly at your end.” He knew her partners were going to be upset, but as far as he was concerned, they deserved it. The one she was really worried about was her husband. It was going to be a tough two and a half months not living with each other, she wasn't looking forward to it, and she knew he wouldn't either.

But as usual, he surprised her. “If that's what it takes sweetheart, then so be it. You have to go for it now, it won't wait, and I'll be there before you know it.” Once again, she told him he was amazing.

They talked about it again on the plane, and Steve said he could take care of selling the apartment, and he reassured her that he was willing to fly out to San Francisco to see her whenever he had a few days’ break from the trauma unit.

“You know,” Steve confessed to her somewhere over the Rocky Mountains, with a glass of wine in his hand, “I liked Cal a lot more than I thought I would. From what you said,” he confessed, looking a little sheepish, “before that, I was a little jealous of him. But I think his motives are pure. I think he has enormous respect for you, but he's only interested in his business.” Meredith was happy to hear it, and she had always had the same impression. They had gotten very close to each other on the trip, but not in any way she had ever really worried about. They were good friends and devoted colleagues. “I like his kids too. They're nice. Too bad about their mother.” Meredith nodded, glancing out the window, and then she saw that Steve was looking at her with a gentle smile, and she suspected what was coming.

“Speaking of which, what do you think if, after you've been there for a while, a few months maybe, maybe six … we start thinking about a baby.” She'd be thirty-eight by then, and there was no denying that it was getting to be time, if that was what they decided they wanted. She had always said that if they had children, she wanted them before she was forty. And if they started pursuing a pregnancy in the next six months, she'd be thirty-nine when the baby came. Medically, Steve had always been uneasy about her starting their family any later.

“Why don't we see how things are going then?” she said vaguely. It was an old refrain he knew only too well. And he was disappointed by her answer.

“If we keep waiting to ‘see,’ I'll be ninety and we'll still be talking about it. Meredith, one of these days, you're going to have to bite the bullet.” He thought she was physically afraid of pregnancy and delivery and he wasn't entirely wrong, but she was far more afraid of the commitment a baby would require of her.

“Why do I have to bite the bullet?” she said, looking disturbed. She knew she owed him a lot after what he was willing to give up in New York, but she wasn't sure she wanted to make a baby part of the deal. In fact, she knew she didn't, and she didn't want to make false promises to him. All she wanted now was to help Cal expand his business. To her, that was a lot more exciting than having children.

“Cal seems to be able to manage a family on his own, and to run a business. I think you could do it too, Merrie. I'll help you.”

“I know you would,” she said, looking upset. “I just don't know what I want yet.”

“Maybe you never will until you just do it.”

“And then what? What if I hate it? What if it's just too much for me, if it screws up my career, or we decide we can't handle it with both our jobs? You can't send it back if you don't like it.”

“I can't imagine you not loving a baby,” he said gently.

“Kids scare me,” she said honestly. “I'm not like you. You're some kind of pied piper with them. They always look at me like the witch in Sleeping Beauty.” He laughed at the comparison and leaned over and kissed her.

“No kid of mine is going to think you're a witch. I promise.”

“We'll talk about it again when we get settled.” She dismissed the idea as summarily as she always had, for the past fourteen years, and turned her mind to other things. It always made her feel anxious to talk about having babies. ‘‘ When are you going to give them notice at the hospital?” She asked him the question as much to distract him from an awkward topic as because she wanted to know the answer.

“As soon as we get back, I guess. I want to give them three months’ notice. This way, I can be out West with you by Christmas.” It sounded perfect, except for the time they'd be commuting before that, but Steve had assured her it would go quickly, and she would certainly be busy. “What about you?” he asked.

“I'm going to tell them tomorrow.” She had stayed away an extra day, and she was beginning to wonder if they suspected something. “They're not going to like it.”

“Cal is right on that score. They deserve it. They don't appreciate you.”

But apparently, they appreciated her more than he or Cal thought they did. They were devastated when she told her partners the next morning. They couldn't believe it. Particularly when she told them she was leaving in three weeks for California. But after the initial shock, they were gracious about it, and gave her a very pleasant dinner the week before she left. It was hard to believe that a twelve-year-long chapter in her career was ending.

And as she sat in their apartment with Steve the night before she left, with open suitcases all around, she looked at her husband in amazement.

“It's like going off to college or something, isn't it? I still can't believe it.”

“Neither can I,” he admitted with a grin, “but I love it.” He had told the hospital he would be leaving and they were shocked, but happy for him. Lucas was particularly sorry about it, because he knew it meant that it would be at least another year before he could leave trauma for research. But they were already looking for someone to take Steve's place, although they had no prospects yet. And if they found someone soon enough, Steve had promised to train them. The one thing he had promised them was that he wouldn't leave until they had a replacement. And the hospital in California had agreed to go along with it, even if it delayed him slightly. They had been entirely reasonable about it.