Wall faced Shelly. "So you're a great doctor and a hopeless
romantic. Is that about right?”
“Don’t get sarcastic with me,” Shelly said with a smile. “Just remember, I’m here to help sick kids, not to get set up with some guy. So, Doris, he’s all yours." She smirked and walked down the hall.
*****
“You know, Doris,” Wall said. “I love her like a daughter. That’s why I can’t see her with Nick Harris. I’ve heard too much about him.”
“I don’t think you’re giving him enough credit,” she said. “I think he’s a good guy.”
“I doubt it.”
*****
The pre-function area leading to the ballroom was spectacular, with turn-of-the-twentieth-century chandeliers dangling from the thirty-foot, fresco-adorned rotunda ceiling. Shelly and Wall stood by the entrance, greeting guests as they arrived for the fundraiser. The Kristen Foundation logo glowed from the nearest wall.
Shelly spied a dark-haired man about five feet ten, in his mid- thirties, with a smile on his face, shaking hands with other guests as they came in. He stood next to Jerry Lamont from AdWorks, who had been doing some pro bono work for the Foundation. She wondered if the handsome sidekick was Jerry’s co-worker, the infamous Nick Harris. Both men relocated to a quiet corner to survey the crowd.
*****
“Looks like the whole town turned out for this one,” Nick said to Jerry. “There's Don from UPS. And here comes Marie Mellon.” Adjusting their postures to the form their moms had taught them, they both met the eyes of St. Theresa’s executive director. Marie was the face of St. Theresa’s and known as the queen of the hospital. She had seen Nick grow up, as his mom had served on the Board