From Dare to Due Date

by Christy Jeffries

  “Okay, Madison, I’m going to put my hands on your leg and check to see how strong your dancing legs are.” Madison nodded but didn’t make an effort to wipe away the fat teardrops spilling down her rosy cheeks.

  Mia leaned over him and said, “What can I do to help?”

  He pulled his keys out of his pocket and handed them to her. “I have a small bag in the backseat of my truck with some splints and a first aid kit in it. Can you get it for me? Also, we’re going to need an ice pack.” Then, so he wouldn’t alarm his young patient, he said, “Wow, you’ve got some pretty sturdy bones and trust me, I’ve seen a lot of bones. That’s the kind of doctor I am.”

  “Okay, class,” Mia said. “Dr. McCormick is going to take good care of Madison, so let’s call it a wrap and finish early tonight. I’ll see all you butterflies next Monday.”

  Several parents herded their children toward the exit and Garrett was glad Mia was helping to draw their attention away. He didn’t need the other students, who looked to be still shaken up from the injury of one of their own, to make his patient any more anxious.

  “Do you have a skel’ton at your doctor office?” Madison sniffed her nose.

  “I do, but it’s not a real one.”

  “My friend Chelsea had a skel’ton at her Halloween party and I was the only girl who wasn’t afraid to touch it.”

  “You know, that sounds very brave. In fact, I think you’re being pretty brave right now.”

  He gently removed the patent leather shoe from her foot, trying to be mindful of the swelling that had already started.

  “Owie, owie, ow!” Madison yelped, but she didn’t release any more tears. She was a tough one, all right.

  “Mom,” he said, looking at the mother, who was still trembling. “Is her pediatrician close by?”

  “Uh...” Madison’s mother looked lost, as if she couldn’t understand what he was asking. He repeated the question. “Not really. She’s in Boise, but we’ve seen Dr. Suarez before for emergencies.”

  Garrett had met the older town doctor who had one foot out the retirement door and most likely wouldn’t be able to do much more than stabilize the little girl until she could be seen by a specialist anyway.

  Mia returned with his medical bag, which she placed on the floor beside him. “I’ll be right back with an ice pack.”

  “Thanks,” Garrett told her before turning back to the concerned mom. “I’m an orthopedic surgeon, so this is my forte. My office is only about five minutes away from here and with your permission, we can at least take an x-ray so little Madison won’t have to sit around doctors’ waiting rooms for the next few days.”

  The woman ran a plump hand through already frazzled hair. “My husband is out of town for business right now and there is no way I can take off work this week to take her to a bunch of appointments. Do you think it’s bad?”

  “Until we get to my office and do the x-ray, I can’t be one hundred percent sure. Judging from the swelling and what I can feel, it’s most likely a clean break. She’ll need a cast just to help the bones stay in place while they heal, which we can take care of tonight.”

  “Like a real cast?” Madison looked hopeful. Why was it that children thought having their bodies restrained in plaster was an adventure? “One that my friends can sign and stuff?”

  Garrett smiled at her. “Yup. But first, I want to take some pictures of your leg to see if you even need it. And if you do, I’ll make you the most beautiful cast your friends will ever lay eyes on. How does that sound?”

  She nodded enthusiastically and wiped her still-damp face.

  Mia handed him the ice pack before walking toward a group of lingering parents and children who seemed reluctant to leave without ensuring their classmate was in good hands.

  Thank God Mia was there to handle the onlookers so that he could focus on his patient. He spoke with Madison’s mom about driving the girl over to his office as he put a temporary splint on her ankle and then wrapped it to keep it in place.

  When he was done, he lifted the six-year-old and carried her out to her mother’s older minivan and got her strapped in before getting into his own truck to lead the way to his office.

  It wasn’t until he pulled away from the curb that he realized he hadn’t even said goodbye to Mia.

  Chapter Seven

  Mia was worried Garrett’s office would be locked by the time she’d finished her last class of the evening. But when she pulled her Prius into the dark parking lot, she saw his truck and Mrs. Rosellino’s van parked in front of the building and made her way inside.

  She’d sprained her wrist once in junior high and she remembered her own mother fluttering around the gymnastic mats and yelling for someone to call an ambulance. It might have been the first time her mother had actually been more concerned with her daughter’s injury and subsequent pain than the fact that Mia would be missing out on practice. That whole week her mom had babied her, making her grilled cheese sandwiches and buying two gallons of chocolate peanut butter ice cream so they could pig out on the sofa and watch Dirty Dancing, Grease and old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies.

  After that, it was back to celery sticks and rice cakes and two-hours-a-day dance workouts. But for that one week, Mia herself, not her talent or her career or her future, had been Rhonda Palinski’s main concern. She’d seen the same caring transformation with Mrs. Rosellino tonight. So maybe there was something more to these stage moms than she’d been giving them credit for all along.

  She hadn’t even realized that Garrett was still at her studio when little Madison had slipped and done a number on her ankle. It wasn’t until after he’d carried the injured little girl out to her mom’s car that it had dawned on her that he must’ve stayed to watch her class.

  Why would he have done that? Really, why would he have done any of the things he’d done today? Such as, why had he gone with her to her doctor’s appointment and then asked the doctor for his own printed set of ultrasound pictures—which he’d folded carefully and slipped inside his leather wallet with a designer logo on the front. Aside from his fashion sense, the man wasn’t fitting any of the rich-playboy stereotypes she’d had him pegged for. What else would he do to surprise her?

  Even though the front door had been open, the reception area was dark and empty. She saw lights on in the back and made her way toward the exam rooms.

  She tried not to think of the last time she’d been in this hallway or the panic that had gripped her when she’d realized that Garrett was going to find out about the baby. She also didn’t want to think about the way he’d smiled at her when they’d heard that same baby’s heartbeat earlier today. Or the way he’d opened up more about himself during that car ride.

  So much had changed in less than a week... How much more would change over the next seven months?

  “Miss Mia!” Madison squealed when she got to the doorway of the same exam room she’d been standing in when Garrett had made that fateful discovery.

  “Hi, sweetie,” she said to the little girl. “I would have come earlier, but I had to teach my yoga class. I knew you’d be in excellent hands with Dr. McCormick, though.”

  He looked up from the bright pink fiberglass material he was carefully wrapping around Madison’s foot. She could see the surprise in his hazel eyes, but he was probably too professional to comment on her unexpected arrival.

  “Dr. McCormick says that I’m his first patient ever to get to have a pretty pink cast. I can’t wait to show it to my friends at school tomorrow.” Madison’s excitement was short-lived when she frowned and added, “But he says I can’t do any more tap dancing until my leg gets better.”

  “Maybe you can come to class and be in charge of the music? Or help me pass out the props? I’d love to still be able to see you, and I know the other girls will be pretty impressed with that f
ancy pink work of art you’ve got there.”

  Madison turned a pleading gaze to Garrett. “Can I, Doctor?”

  Garrett finished his task, then stood up from his stool and said, “I think being a dance teacher’s assistant would be a perfect job. As long as you promise to always use your crutches and get right back to tapping as soon as the cast comes off.”

  “I promise,” the girl vowed and Mia gave her a high five.

  “I had crutches like these once,” Mia said before helping the little girl off the table.

  As Garrett provided Mrs. Rosellino with a list of instructions, Mia helped Madison practice on the new crutches and tried not to think about the year she’d spent using the blasted things. It had been the most painful and demoralizing time in her life.

  But for a six-year-old with a bright pink cast, it must seem like a wonderful adventure.

  “Thank you so much, Dr. McCormick.” Mrs. Rosellino followed her hopping daughter toward the front door. “We were so lucky you were there when it happened.”

  Please don’t ask what he was doing there in the first place, Mia silently begged the woman, even though a little while ago she’d been wondering the exact same thing.

  But this was Sugar Falls and, of course, any little detail outside the norm was cause for speculation and gossip. She and Garrett were still getting used to this whole co-parenting thing and their new unorthodox relationship. Mia didn’t need the added bonus of unwanted opinions and assumptions to get in the way of their goal.

  Wait. Did they even have a goal, besides raising a healthy, well-adjusted child? They hadn’t really defined their own roles yet and Mia was hoping that once they decided to do so, it wouldn’t be with an audience.

  “Why were you there, anyway?” Mrs. Rosellino asked.

  Ugh! There it was. Mia knew the question was coming, but had hoped for a lucky break—just this once.

  “We had just come from the obstetric...”

  “He was using the bathroom,” Mia interrupted loudly. Maybe too loudly because the woman slowed her pace to turn back and tilt her head, looking side to side at each of them.

  “I know!” Mia tried to make her pleasant surprise sound believable. “It’s pretty, random, huh? I guess we were lucky that Dr. McCormick was in the right place at the right time.”

  Madison’s mom probably didn’t buy that dumb explanation any more than Mrs. Patrelli would have. But instead of asking more questions, she started walking again toward the door.

  Garrett caught Mia’s eye before giving her a wink and adding, “I seem to have a knack for being at the right place at the right time lately.”

  Mia’s feet locked into place and she couldn’t have commanded her body to move if she’d wanted to. Had he seriously just winked at her? Sure, Mrs. Rosellino hadn’t seen him do it, but only a fool wouldn’t have caught the implication in Garrett’s tone.

  Or the reminder that he did seem to have a habit of walking into her life just when she least expected it. And each time he did, the man turned her whole world upside down.

  “I’ll see you next week, Madison.” Garrett touched the girl’s lopsided bun as she maneuvered herself through the door. “Make sure you tell your mom if your leg starts hurting or if you think something is wrong with your cast so she can bring you back sooner.”

  “I will,” the girl said as she hobbled toward the parking lot. “Thanks, Doctor.”

  Mia finally got her shocked muscles moving but had to pause again when she realized that the way Garrett was holding the door blocked her from exiting unless she slid her body against him to pass through.

  Her brain was telling her to follow the Rosellinos to the parking lot—not only to diminish the appearance of suspicious activity, but to prevent her from having to be alone with the man who had a tendency of showing up everywhere she didn’t want him to be. It had been an emotional day—really, it had been an emotional week—and she didn’t think her nerves could afford even the simplest polite conversation.

  But her tired and taut body was telling her that if she so much as chanced the slightest contact with the hero doctor, she would wind up melting like smooth and creamy peanut butter left out too long in the sun.

  For the thousandth time she asked herself why he had to be so good-looking. And so strong and capable. She had never needed a man before, and she had no intention of becoming susceptible to one now, when her emotions and hormones were spinning in a fast and reckless pirouette—one she knew she could maintain for only so long until she spun out of control.

  “So, thanks again for taking care of Madison,” Mia said, deciding she had no choice but to wait until he moved out of the way enough to let her pass.

  “No problem. I’m glad I found that pink fiberglass wrap in my supply closet.” His face turned toward her, but his body stayed firmly planted in front of the door.

  “So you’re still not unpacked?” She saw a breeze ruffle his brown hair, causing it to stray away from his perfectly combed part.

  Sheesh, wasn’t the man cold? The November night air was coming in through the open door and Mia had been in such a hurry to drive over here after her yoga class, she hadn’t even bothered putting her sweater back on.

  “Nope. I really hadn’t anticipated having many patients these first couple of weeks while I was getting situated.” He looked down at her camisole, and Mia felt her nipples grow tight, but not because of the chilly temperature. “But for some reason, I keep having beautiful dancers show up at my office.”

  Mia wrapped her arms around her torso despite the fact that his gaze had just launched a sudden influx of heat to her bloodstream.

  “Well, technically, the last dancer didn’t show up here.” Because at this exact moment, with the way he was looking at her, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know why he had been at her studio.

  “If we’re going to be technical, I should probably also clarify that the first dancer is the only one whose beauty has completely affected me. In fact, it’s wreaked havoc on my normally sound code of ethics.”

  He let the door close, which brought him close enough to her that she had to lift her face up to his. She watched his eyes trail down her neck and stop at the spot where her collarbone dipped into a small V. Stop this, Mia. Now’s your chance to walk away before this conversation gets dangerous. But she didn’t stop. Instead, she asked, “Why your ethics?”

  He stepped closer, yet her body defied her brain once again and she didn’t step back.

  “Because for the first time in my life, I am deeply tempted to kiss one of my patients.”

  Her breath caught in her throat. “But I thought we established that it would be best if I saw a different surgeon about my knee. So, I’m not really your patient anymore.”

  “Thank God,” he said before lowering his head toward hers.

  She gasped when his lips touched hers, and opened her mouth to draw in air, but instead drew in more of him. Her arms followed an instinct of their own and soon Mia was plastered against him like a hot pink cast, matching each thrust of his tongue.

  It was as if her mind had gone on vacation, leaving no instructions or provisions for her body—a body that had clearly remembered his kiss and was suddenly desperate to make up for lost time.

  * * *

  He never should have kissed her again.

  As part of his rigorous naval training, he’d had to skydive out of a plane traveling at high altitude. All it had taken was one simple jump—more of a step off the cargo door ledge, really—and he’d been spiraling down in a free fall, feeling the air rush out of his lungs. He’d known that kissing Mia again would have that same effect on him. Unfortunately, this time he hadn’t had the foresight to pack a parachute.

  And as much as he liked order and organization, who could plan anything when confronted with this kind of temptation?
One minute she’d been standing there, her skimpy camisole showing off her perfect body, and the next minute he had her wrapped up in his arms, claiming her mouth as if it was his own personal oxygen mask.

  Mia moaned, but Garrett’s brain wasn’t so high up in the clouds that he mistook it for one of pleasure. He pulled back quickly. “Did I hurt you?”

  “Just your height,” she said before leaning down and rubbing her knee. He drew in his brows and she added, “I haven’t been on my tiptoes that long since my last ballet audition several years ago. I guess the pressure was too much for my injury.”

  “Oh,” he said. “I forgot you were wearing heels last time...” He let his voice trail off, not sure it was wise for either of them to be reminded of what had happened the last time they’d shared such a passionate kiss.

  “I should probably be going,” Mia said, her arms doing that wraparound protective-stance thing she tended to do any time he got within a couple of feet of her. Her eye tic was back, as well. Did she honestly think he was going to hurt her?

  “Right. It’s been a pretty emotional day for you. For both of us.”

  “Yes!” She seized upon his lame excuse a little too quickly and he wondered if he would have preferred that she deny it. That she correct him and say she wanted to kiss him because she’d been aching for him these past couple of days—hell, these past couple of months—just as badly as he had been for her.

  But Garrett didn’t do awkward conversations. Not with his family and definitely not with the women he normally dated. Which, he should point out, he and Mia certainly were not doing.

  Still, it would just be more comfortable all around if she left now and they pretended this little lapse in lust had never happened. So he waited until she opened the door—he should’ve been gentleman enough to open it for her, but he couldn’t trust himself to let her walk by him—and allowed the cold breeze that rushed in to cool his emotions and his libido, before he spoke. “Okay, so take care. I guess I’ll see you around town.”