Her mother laughed.
"What are you getting at?"
When her mother stopped laughing, she said "We're going to pay your tuition until you graduate."
Linda was so happy she started jumping up and down, causing some plates on the counter to rattle. "Oh, that's wonderful!"
"Yeah, sweet pea," her father said. "You just concentrate on learning and becoming the best nurse you can."
She resolved to drive home that weekend, to show them how much she loved them and appreciated their help. Seconds after she placed the telephone in the cradle, it rang again. When she answered it, she heard a familiar, gruffly sexy voice from her past. "Hey, pretty lady! How's my favorite little angel of mercy."
"Seth! How are you?" It seemed like the perfect reward for all of her hard work: the affection of a very handsome, very appealing man.
"Hey, I miss you. When are you ever going to come up this way again?"
It still amazed Linda that Seth liked her so much, when there were probably pretty ladies in Cincinnati throwing themselves at him left and right. "Seth, that was a once in a blue moon kind of thing."
"Well, then, make it a twice in a blue moon kind of thing. I want to see you!"
Really? She wondered if the poor guy was blind or just desperate. Sighing, she said "My classes this summer are very difficult. I want to be able to pass my boards by next April. Plus I work part time on top of that."
"Well then you need a break," Seth replied. "You can fit me in for a few hours over a weekend, can't you?"
"What are you saying?"
He laughed. "Duh! That I can come there. For a weekend."
Linda felt the fluttering of a school of butterflies in her stomach. The Glienke's would never allow him over to the cottage, even for just a few minutes, to say hello. "Where would you stay?"
Seth laughed. "Well, they've got these really neat buildings, you see. You go up to an office, pay some money, and they let you sleep in one of the rooms in them. They're called motels. You've got those there, don't you?"
"Yes," she replied. As much as the prospect thrilled her, she wondered if she was ready to spend so much time with this roguish guy. Things might happen, things she wasn't sure she was ready for.