The Ex by Freida McFadden(48)

“Bensonhurst.”

He groans. “Okay, give me thirty minutes.”

I give Dean directions to the apartment and hang up the phone. Nonna is still watching me, but she doesn’t say anything until I hang up.

“Who was that?” she finally asks.

“A friend of mine.”

“A friend who’s a doctor?”

I hesitate. “Yes.”

Nonna considers this. “Is he handsome?”

This time I don’t have to hesitate. “Yes.”

“Well, he’d better be.” She shakes her head. “Or else I’m hitting him on the head with a frying pan.”

Thirty-one minutes later, there’s a knock at the door. I’ve been so worried about Nonna that it didn’t even occur to me to doll myself up for the handsome doctor showing up at my door. And honestly, I don’t care. I called him here because I don’t want my grandmother to have a heart attack and die. Not to flirt with him.

But on the other hand, I wish I weren’t wearing sweatpants and a tank top.

Dean’s face lights up in a grin when he sees me, in spite of my attire. Or maybe because of it. “Miss Loren,” he says. “A pleasure, as always.”

“Come in,” I mumble, barely able to look him in the eyes.

“Where’s Nonna?”

I jerk my head in the direction of the living room. “She’s in there. She looks okay, but she keeps rubbing her chest. I’m really worried.”

“Let Dr. Pourakis take a look.”

Dean strides past me into the living room, where Nonna is still in her chair. She hasn’t keeled over yet, and she took the time to get a frying pan from the kitchen. It’s lying next to her on the chair. She raises her eyes when Dean approaches her, and in spite of everything, a smile spreads across her face. “Okay,” she says. “I won’t hit you on the head.”

Dean cocks his head, confused. “Mrs. Mascolo?”

“That’s right.”

“I’m Dean.” He sits down on the sofa next to her. “Your granddaughter asked me to come by because she’s a little worried about you.”

“She worries too much.”

“Maybe. But she’s right to worry when it comes to chest pain.”

Nonna’s shrewd eyes look Dean head-to-toe. “You Italian?”

“Greek.”

She smiles. “Does your family call you Dino?”

He laughs at that. “Not too often. Sometimes. But you can call me Dino if you want. If you’ll tell me how your chest is feeling.”

“Burning. Just a little heartburn. Like I said, nothing to worry about.”

He asks her a few more questions, which she answers with surprising cooperation. She must think he’s really handsome. I watch Dean’s face, trying to figure out how worried he is. He finally reaches into the black bag he brought with him and pulls out a stethoscope.

“Can I have a listen to your chest?” he asks.

She looks between the two of us. “You can listen if you ask my granddaughter on a date for tomorrow night.”

Dean laughs while I avert my eyes. “I’ve been asking her, Mrs. Mascolo! She won’t go out with me.”

“Well, she will if she wants you to listen to my chest.”

Both Dean and Nonna are staring at me now. I feel like my face is on fire, but I quickly nod my head. I’ll do anything for Nonna to go along with this exam.

Dean listens to Nonna’s chest for what feels like forever. When he pulls the stethoscope off his ears, he’s smiling. “Mrs. Mascolo, you’ll outlive us all.”

She snorts. “Who wants that?”

“Good point.” He puts the stethoscope back in his bag. “Listen, the pain in your chest might be heartburn, but I can’t be sure without doing some tests.”

“No tests.”

“Mrs. Mascolo…”

“No tests, Dr. Dino.”

“Okay,” he sighs. “How about this. Come to my office Monday morning. Let me hook you up to our EKG machine and that’s all we’ll do. It’s like a snapshot of your heart. It won’t hurt and it will take less than five minutes. What do you say?”

Nonna lifts her eyes to look at me. “And you’ll go out with him on a date?”

“Yes!” I wrap my arms around my chest. “I will! Nonna, please just go!”

“Fine.” She nods. “I’ll see you Monday morning, Dr. Dino.”

They iron out a few more details and then shake on their agreement to meet on Monday. It sounds like he’s going to come in early just to see her. I don’t know why he’s being so nice to some old woman he just met, but he’s charming as hell around her. If I don’t agree to go out with him, I’m pretty sure she will.

I walk Dean out of the apartment and over to the stairwell after he’s done. I’ve given up on being embarrassed about my sweatpants and the fuzzy slippers I put on. It is what it is.

“So…” Dean says when we get to the stairwell. The dimple on his cheek pops as he offers a crooked smile. “I think she’s right. Probably just heartburn. But we have to check it out.”

“Thank you so much for rushing over,” I say. “I mean it. I can’t thank you enough. I was terrified.”