"Well yes, I know, but since our marriage was such a spur-of-the-moment thing, they decided to do this anyway and surprise me!" Brenda danced a little with excitement as she kept her arm wrapped around Jax’s waist.

"And…..and they all just *showed up* here?"

"Actually, that’s why Kathleen called last week!" Brenda bubbled. The brunette on the couch smiled broadly and waved at Jax again and he returned a half-grimace, half-smile. "She told me that she and Lea were going to be in town, so I invited them over for a late lunch." She wagged an accusing finger at the woman seated next to Kathleen. "But those two sneaks called everyone else and set it up so that they would all fly in here to surprise me!" She gestured towards the dining room table. "They even brought their own drinks and a cake……" Her entire body shook with delight as her voice headed for the stratosphere. "……and PRESENTS!!!"

Everyone in the room burst into laughter again at Brenda’s well-known pleasure in receiving gifts. "But sweetie," Jax murmured, "we don’t NEED presents!" Brenda’s face froze. "I mean, between the stuff from your condo and my place, we’ve got more towels and dishes and ……and STUFF than we’ll ever need!"

Brenda gave her friends an embarrassed smile and placed her hand flat on Jax’s chest. "But Jax, they’re my FRIENDS," she replied through gritted teeth. "And I’m sure that once your friends at the hospital find out about us, they’ll want to do something like this for you, too!!"

Jasper Jacks, M.D., had survived medical school with an unblemished record. He had never blanched at dissecting small mammals, never backed out of a gruesome trauma, never even broke a sweat at the bloodiest of surgeries. But now – at the thought of all the other doctors and nurses gathered in the ER lounge eating cake, drinking pastel-colored punch, and hanging crepe paper streamers – for the first time in his life, Jasper Jacks felt like throwing up.

His dignity was saved when a woman who was previously standing behind the couch came out and took her place directly in front of him. "I wouldn’t worry about the gifts being duplicates if I were you, Dr. Jacks," she said assuredly. "Most of us already knew that and went the personal route for this shower….." She leaned forward and gave Jax a naughty wink. "…..and I’m sure you’ll enjoy the gifts just as much as Brenda will!" There was more loud laughter and then the woman put out her hand. "My name’s Victoria, by the way! Pleased to meet you!"

Jax still had a dazed look in his eye but he managed to shake Victoria’s hand. "Ohhhh, honey!" Brenda pulled Jax back so that he could view all the women in the room at once. "Where are my manners? I should introduce my friends!" She pointed towards the women on the couch first. "That’s Lea and Kathleen, like I said, and then that’s Ann Marie, and Deb, and Victoria….."

"No – wait a minute….." Jax’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. He pointed to the woman who had introduced herself and was standing off to his right. "I thought THAT was Victoria."

"Well, there’s TWO Victoria’s actually, so we call one of them Victoria L.," Brenda laughed. "And there’s two Deb’s, too, for that matter, although Deb the judge hasn’t written anything for a while….." Jax shook his head to clear the cobwebs as Brenda prattled on at breakneck speed. "….and that’s Cathy, and Janis, and Troi, and Sydney….."

"Sydney!!" Jax’s face suddenly lit up. "I lived there when I was a boy, you know!" He smiled broadly at the beaming woman. "Now THAT’S a face and a name I’ll remember!"

"Gosh, dang!!!" A previously-introduced Victoria pounded her fist on the arm of the chair where she sat. "Why couldn’t he have lived in VICTORIA Falls??!!"

Brenda continued the introductions until Jax had smiled and shaken hands with every woman in the room. He noticed a paper plate with brightly-colored bows stapled to it, trailing ribbons. A stack of boxes with overflowing tissue paper stood poised next to one chair, and several gifts were still piled on a table waiting to be opened. Jax’s heart sank as he realized that he wouldn’t be having his little "heart-to-heart" with Brenda about the truth about their "marriage" anytime soon.

"Soooo….." One of the Victoria’s handed him a plate with a slice of cake and then went back to get more to serve. "These are all of your writer friends, huh?" Jax asked. The sight of the thick, buttery frosting on the cake slightly eased his disappointment at the change in plans.

Brenda swallowed a piece of cake hurriedly and gestured with her fork. "Well, not *all* of them. Jen’s not back from her honeymoon yet."

"Geeeeez, that was a *gorgeous* wedding!" Troi exclaimed. "Jen looked like an absolute princess in that wedding dress of hers!"

"And that reception!!" Tyra patted her chest, feigning palpitations. "I mean, I know I’m a California girl and I should be used to it, but I don’t think I’ve EVER seen that many celebrities in one place before!"

"Yeah, but isn’t she related to some movie star?" Maize asked. She came over and got a stack of napkins, which she passed to her fellow authors on returning to her spot behind the couch.

"If you ask me, her *new hubby’s* the one who should be the movie star!" Troi shot back. "Just think……" she sighed. "Two weeks on a honeymoon in Hawaii alone……with him!!" She pointed her fork for emphasis. "That man could *easily* be the inspiration for the hero in my next book!"

Just as the talk turned to Jen’s new husband’s physical attributes, Jax’s beeper went off. He checked the display, swore softly, and then set his cake down on a table. "Well, ladies, unfortunately I won’t be able to hear any more about Jen’s new husband’s posterior since my presence is required in the operating room again."

"Again?" Brenda’s face drooped. "But honey, you just LEFT the hospital! And I thought you’d be able to hang around and get to know some of my friends a little better!"

Jax placed a hurried kiss on Brenda’s lips, stopping momentarily to lick the icing off the corner of her mouth. "I’m sorry, sweetie, but we’re a little short-staffed right now." He rubbed the offending spot on her lips with the pad of his thumb sexily. "I’ll try to be back as quick as I can, but don’t hold dinner for me."

Brenda’s lower lip protruded as Jax waved a farewell to the assembled group in his living room. "That’s OK, Brenda," Deb called as she went to pour more punch for everyone in her corner of the room. "Maybe it’s better that he’s gone." She handed the pitcher to Cathy and rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Now we can hear all the good stuff about YOUR honeymoon!"

Brenda blushed a little and went to take her place in the "seat of honor" again. "There’s not much to tell, really – Jax didn’t have any time off coming from the hospital so we only spent the one night in Las Vegas."

Ribald jokes and teasing followed her comment but then Lea sat back on the couch with a sigh. "Well, all I can say is …….poooooooor Jen. And now pooooooooor Brenda."

Maize frowned and then leaned over to stare into the contents of Lea’s paper cup. "Does your punch have something in it that mine doesn’t?" Everyone laughed as she sat back. "Why should I feel sorry for Jen, and now for Brenda, when they’ve probably married the last two single hunks left on the face of the planet?"

"But that’s just IT! Don’t you see?" Lea asked. "They’re both MARRIED now……"

"Uh-oh…….here it comes," Kathleen quipped. "Lea’s personal theory on the relationship between marital status and one’s ability to write love scenes."

There was scattered laughter but Sydney looked confused. "I don’t’ get it. I mean, if a woman writes better love scenes after she’s married, then why should we feel sorry for Jen and Brenda?"

"No, no!" Lea sat forward and set her cake down on the coffee table as Kathleen gave everyone a "you-asked-for-it-and-now-here-it-comes" look. "That’s just my point! Being married is a DRAWBACK when it comes to writing love scenes! And the longer you’re married, the worse the love scenes are!!"

"I still don’t think I understand this." Brenda rose and started gathering used paper plates. "I mean, won’t I write BETTER love scenes now?" She blushed a little and winked at Lea. "After all, my new hubby IS pretty inspiring, if I do say so myself!"

"Right. He’s inspiring now. But just give it five years or so." Brenda still had a doubting look on her face. So, Lea clasped her hands, wiggled her fingers, and then proceeded to gesture as she explained. "Give me a romance novel – don’t tell me who wrote it – and I can read a love scene and tell you right away if the author is married or not." A few negative comments greeted her statement but Lea held up her hands to ask for silence. "It’s a dead giveaway! A single writer always puts more passion in her love scenes, because a married writer knows it just ain’t SO!!"

"So you’re saying that the single writers are living in a romantic dream world?" Victoria asked. She shrugged her shoulders and smiled blissfully. "I think I’m glad I’m single!"

"I’m sayin’," Lea responded sassily, putting her hands on her hips, "that you can spot a single author every time! You know, they’re the ones whose heroines have at least three orgasms before the hero even sticks….." Giggles circulated around the room. "……well, before he even……"

Janis leaned forward with a smirk. "You mean before the hero and heroine "join together in a sensual symphony of passion"?"

The room exploded into raucous laughter but Lea just nodded grimly. "You got it, girlfriend." She shook her head when the noise quieted down. "Now a *married* writer – SHE knows the TRUTH, which is that most of the time in that "sensual symphony", the hero is flatter than a fluegel horn before the heroine hits her first crescendo! AND……" Lea waited for quiet again. "….you can bet your bottom dollar that a single writer’s hero will be "up and at ‘em" again in less than fifteen minutes, while us married writers know that it ain’t no express elevator, baby!!"

"You know, I like what Janis said earlier, though!" Kathleen exclaimed when the laughter died down again. "Sensual symphony of passion……" She tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully. "I’ll have to remember that one for my next book!"

"Oh, yeah – right!" Deb shouted, pointing a finger at Kathleen amidst the loud giggling. "You’re gonna start tiptoeing around the censors now, little Miss "Telephone-Sex" chapter!"

"Now, I would think you could tell from these raccoon eyes of mine that I haven’t been writing any love scenes lately!" Kathleen retorted.

"Oh, no! Not another book with sad parts!" Ann Marie echoed the sentiments of many of the other authors as everyone started picking up the discarded plates and cups. "I was going to call everyone and tell them to buy stock in Kleenex when you wrote that one where the heroine had a miscarriage!"

"You don’t have to worry, hon -- I don’t think I’ll EVER do that again!" Kathleen laughed softly. "When I was writing the aftermath of Glenda’s miscarriage, I had the worst case of PMS ever!" She shook her head. "I was crying so hard I couldn’t even see the computer screen!"

Lea stood up and stretched. "Well – after all that sugar, I think I need a long walk to clear my head." She looked towards Brenda. "Any chance we can take a walk on that public beach down the road?"

"And do some people watching at the same time?" Brenda marched over to the door and opened it grandly. "Last one out is a rotten egg!"

A small group of women trooped out towards the beach while the others volunteered to stay behind and clean up the mess. Brenda led them down some wooden steps to a sandy beach. With the late afternoon California sunshine, it provided the perfect backdrop to a warm gathering of close friends. The beach was fairly empty but the silence was soon broken when the authors passed two women sitting in lounge chairs reading.

"That was MY book! She was reading one of MY books!" Maize giggled. Then she turned back towards the women and frowned. "But I think her friend is reading a science fiction novel. How weird is that??!!"

"Gosh, I remember the first time I saw somebody reading one of MY books," Brenda sighed. "I thought I died and went to heaven."

"The first time I saw someone reading one of my books, I got so thrilled I went home and decided to write three more!" Cathy laughed.

"Or the time I was in an airport and I heard two women talking about one of MY books." Sydney smiled in awe. "I couldn’t believe that anyone would spend part of their hectic day just discussing MY characters!"

"But don’t you see?" Tyra stopped the small group and pointed towards a woman farther up the beach, out of earshot. "That woman over there probably has a husband who refuses to take out the trash, and two kids with book reports due who would rather watch Spiderman." The group started walking again. "Now if you had a choice, would you rather think about a dashing, continental hero, or the reality back home?"

Brenda nodded her agreement. "Everyone needs an escape sometimes. I had to explain that to Jax when I first met him." She grimaced. "He wasn’t exactly too fond of the idea that I wrote "trashy bodice-rippers.""

"But he understands now, so that’s all that matters, right?" Lea put her arm around Brenda’s shoulders and the group continued their walk in silence for a few minutes. But when they approached the next group of women relaxing on the beach, Lea’s voice became distinctly chilly. "Oh, geez……they’re reading some of HER books….."

Maize squinted at the women’s reading material. "No – not all of them. One of those is definitely historical, and she just writes contemporary."

"No, I heard she’s branching out," Sydney growled. "She’s doing historical *and* contemporary now."

"So then, she’ll be writing – what? Twelve novels at one time?" Cathy asked incredulously. "How does she keep them all straight?"

Tyra put a hand out and drew the group together into a small huddle. "I heard that she’s like REALLY OLD…….."

"And she’s been married practically like FOREVER!" Maize added.

Brenda suddenly rubbed the sides of her arms briskly. "You know, guys, it’s getting kind of chilly out here on the beach. Why don’t we go back to the house and I’ll make some coffee?"

"YOU just want to go back to the house so you can open the rest of those presents!" Lea accused with a laugh. The entire group joined in the teasing, wondering how many more bows Brenda would break (signifying how many children she would have). But although Brenda smiled and nodded, she couldn’t get Lea’s comments about married life out of her mind.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jax didn’t return till almost midnight that night, long after the shower was over and the mess cleaned up. Brenda was already asleep when he slid beneath the covers next to her, and he was up and gone when her alarm went off the next morning. She found a note from Jax in the kitchen explaining that an organ transplant team had flown in from London and he would be tied up at the hospital in seminars for the next day and a half.

After dutifully writing her thank you notes to her fellow authors, Brenda decided to put a positive spin on her husband’s absence. She told herself that she would have a nice, long block of uninterrupted writing time. Some time to catch up on the chapters that Lucy was already leaving messages on her machine about. Some time to make the outline for the next novel that had ideas spinning in her head.

But when she sat down at the PC, the cursor blinked at her from an empty screen for over an hour. Try as she might, she couldn’t put three sentences together to save her life. She went out for a walk on the beach; she popped her favorite movie in the VCR and cried her eyes out when Ingrid Bergman left Humphrey Bogart at the airport; she ate an artery-clogging bologna sandwich and washed it down with some YooHoo chocolate soda pop for lunch. But she was still uninspired.

By the time Jax got home late that night, Brenda was getting frantic. She had had writer’s block before, but it seemed worse this time. He had missed dinner once again and it was already close to midnight by the time he emerged from the bathroom and trundled wearily towards the bed.

As soon as she felt the mattress sag with his weight, Brenda rolled over towards him. She had worn one of her "shower" gifts – an ecru silk negligee with a lace bodice that was nearly transparent. Her full breasts strained against the lace, her nipples clearly visible and inflamed. She had tied the string-straps that held up the gown in loose bows at her shoulders, and now toyed with one as she smiled sexily at Jax. "Hiya, big boy," she purred. "Long time, no see."

Jax didn’t even open his eyes. He lay on his back in the bed, his hands folded on his chest. "Hi, sweetie," he drawled sleepily. "I missed you, too….."

Brenda froze for a minute. She had never seen him like this before, but then again he hadn’t really seen her negligee since she was already in bed when he got home. Deciding to give it another try, she slipped one hand beneath the sheet. "Well, maybe I should find out just how MUCH you missed me……"

Jax grabbed for Brenda’s wrist before her heat-seeking fingers reached their target. "Ohhhh, Brenda, any other night I would really enjoy showing you how much I missed you, but it’s been a really tough day….."

Brenda chewed on her lower lip. "Really?"

Jax nodded. His eyes remained closed. "Really. I sat in on those transplant seminars, assisted in two bowel resections this afternoon, and then had to lend a hand in the ER tonight when an entire Girl Scout troop got food poisoning at some kind of camping jamboree."

"Poor baby…." Brenda fought it, but Lea’s words kept running through her mind. She strengthened her resolve. If she could just get him to look at her, she *knew* his basic instincts would take over. "Why don’t you let me try to make you feel better…."

Brenda didn’t realize that her wriggling fingers only tickled Jax more than inflaming him with lust. Jax’s eyes flew open but he didn’t seem phased by the nightwear when he looked at Brenda. "Brenda? Are you having one of those woman things? Like PMS or your period or something?"

Huge tears filled her eyes. "Jax…..you don’t love me anymore, do you?" She sniffed loudly. "Is that it?"

Jax’s eyes rolled back in his head. "Ohhhhhh, geeeeeez……." He massaged his temples with his fingertips. "It IS one of those woman things……"

She suddenly reached out and slapped his arm away from his face. "It is NOT one of those "woman things," so stop saying that, alright?" Brenda sat up straight in bed, leaning her back against the headboard for support as she crossed her arms angrily. "It’s just that……well, I just can’t imagine why you don’t want to make love with me."

Jax sighed and pulled himself up to a sitting position in the bed next to her. He took her shoulders and turned her gently towards him. "Brenda, it’s not that I don’t WANT to make love with you tonight." His eyes fluttered shut involuntarily. "It’s just that I’m totally EXHAUSTED! It’s been one of those days and I’ve got to be up again and back at Cedars in……" He glanced around her at the clock and groaned. "…..in less than seven hours."

"Awwww……." Brenda cupped the side of his face and her eyes brightened. "I’m sorry, honey." Jax smiled weakly at her understanding and slid back down to a prone position in the bed. "I didn’t realize that it was just that you were too tired, you know." Brenda chatted on, totally oblivious to her husband’s soft snoring. "I mean, I thought that maybe you were getting tired of me and that you couldn’t…….well, I mean that I didn’t turn you on anymore …….."

"You’ll always turn me on, Brenda," Jax snored quietly. His eyes remained closed and he abruptly fumbled with the covers and flipped to his side, facing away from Brenda. "Just don’t go telling anyone about this or we’ll be on the front page of some tabloid."

Brenda’s eyes widened. "Tabloid?" She chewed on her lower lip with silent guilt. "Whatever makes you say that?"

"Except this time," Jax chuckled sleepily, "they’ll probably claim I’ve invented the newest alternative to Viagra."

Brenda’s laugh sounded as hollow as it was. "And headlines like that would be a bad thing?"

Jax was suddenly, totally, seriously awake. He rolled over and sat up in one motion. "Brenda – did you *know* about those tabloid articles?"

"My agent called me the other day….." She fiddled nervously with her cuticles. "It really wasn’t that big of a deal, you know……."

"Not that big a deal??!!" Jax ran his fingers through his already disheveled hair. "And just when were you planning to tell me about them?"

"Jax, those kind of things happen to people in my profession all the time!" Brenda reached out a hand towards him but he pulled away from her. "Nobody really takes any of that garbage seriously."

"My COLLEAGUES take that "garbage," as you put it, seriously," Jax railed. He saw the hurt look in her eyes and tried to gentle his voice. "Brenda, I have a professional reputation in the community to maintain, and I can’t do that if I’m splashed across the front page of every gossip sheet in the supermarket!" He sighed and sank back down, turning his back on her and assuming a sleeping position again. "You have to remember, Brenda, that *I* have an *important* job……"

Rage filled Brenda’s eyes. "YOU have an important job? YOU have a professional reputation to maintain??!!" she sputtered. "What about me? What about MY reputation?" She crossed her arms and stared off into the distance as Jax groaned and rolled to face her again. "Oh, that’s right – I forgot. I just write those silly little bodice-rippers that only sex-starved housewives and old maids read."

Jax sighed loudly and buried his face in his hands. "Ohh, God…….I was right the first time. This IS some female PMS thing you’ve got going on, isn’t it?"

Brenda started to tremble all over. "No, you’re NOT right! *I* was right!" She threw back the covers, swung her legs out of the bed, and then dropped to all fours searching for her slippers.

"You were right about what?"

Brenda’s head popped back up in sight. "About what a mistake it would be for us to get married!" Jax groaned in exasperation as Brenda stumbled to her feet, tripping over her long nightgown in the process. "About you being a stick-in-the-mud, Pooh-bear conservative at heart and how we would never be able to get along together!"

When Brenda stormed towards the bathroom, Jax swung his legs out of his side of the bed. "I am NOT being an old Pooh-bear about this, Brenda!"

The door slammed and she re-emerged in some old sweatpants and a t-shirt. "That’s right, you’re NOT! You’re being more like Eeyore than Pooh at the minute!"

Jax rose to his feet and put his hands on his hips. "Are you calling me a jack@ss, Brenda?"

"No, I’m calling ME a jackass for ever believing in happily ever afters and proposing to you in the first place!" Brenda shoved her arms into a hooded sweatshirt and stomped off towards the living room with Jax hot on her heels.

"Where do you think you’re going at this time of night?"

She yanked the front door open. "I’m going OUT to get some fresh air, Jax!" Brenda shouted. "Frankly, it’s getting a little *stuffy* in here, if you know what I mean, Mr. Stuffed Shirt right-wing conservative!"

Jax opened his mouth to reply but the slamming of the front door drowned out his words. He paced back and forth furiously in the living room for a few minutes as he heard the roar when Brenda started the engine of her car and sped out of the parking lot. {Where does she think she’s going? THIS is her home now……where else could she go? She’s not the type to go to some singles bar, and I seriously doubt she’s desperate enough to show up on her mother’s doorstep.} Jax flopped down into a recliner and closed his eyes for a few minutes, trying to slow his racing heartbeat. {Her old condo. That has to be where she’s going. It hasn’t been sold yet, and she’s still got the key. There’s no furniture there, but at least she could pace and fume and scream at the walls if she wanted to in peace…..}

Satisfied that Brenda would at least be safe, Jax opened his eyes again. He glanced up at the clock on the mantle and moaned again when he calculated how many hours of sleep he had remaining before he was due back at the hospital. Padding silently on bare feet, he went to the kitchen and got a jug of orange juice out of the refrigerator. After draining at least half of it, he scrubbed his hair vigorously with his fingertips and sighed.

{It’s these d*mn long hours at the hospital. This is the first time she’s ever been around me when I’ve been this tired. It wasn’t her fault…..} Jax swore softly under his breath and looked towards the telephone. {She’s probably just about there. You could call her on her cell phone and apologize right now. You could……}

The shrill ringing of the telephone made Jax jump. Thinking that perhaps it was Brenda calling to make her own apologies, he got it on the second ring. "Jax here."

"I’m so sorry to disturb you again, Jax." He groaned silently and closed his eyes at the sound of Andrea’s voice. "Some wacko was high on PCP and started shooting up a high-school reunion ……"

Jax’s professional instincts immediately kicked into high gear. "How bad is it?"

"About a dozen critical patients; two casualties so far." Andrea’s voice was grim. "And we’ve got a lot of minor cuts and bruises that need to be stitched up and since we’re still short-handed…."

"I’ll be there in ten minutes, Andrea." Jax chewed on his lower lip and then his face lightened. "But in the meantime, could you do a favor for me?"

"For you? Do you really need to ask?" The teasing tone in Andrea’s voice made Jax smile wearily.

"I’m going to give you Brenda’s cell phone number. We had a little – discussion – about something earlier and ……. Well……."

"You had a fight and you want me to call her and apologize for you."

"Sometimes you’re too smart for your own good, Nurse Ransley," Jax quipped. "Just call her and tell her…….tell her I’m sorry and I love her, OK?"

"Got it." Jax rattled off the number and hung up the phone, tossing his orange juice container in the trash can. As he sprinted towards the bedroom, he made some resolutions. He would get Brenda back no matter how much groveling it took; he would tell her the entire truth about their marriage; and he would take her on a REAL honeymoon where his crazy work schedule wouldn’t interfere with them making love.

That is – if she ever spoke to him again.

To be continued…….