by Laura Iding
His gentle caring toward both her and Ben had been very sweet. Nice. Yet she imagined he was the same way with all his patients. She and Ben hadn’t been anything special. Besides, he’d never even hinted that he was still interested in going out with her, the way he had when they’d first met.
The ache in her chest intensified. Ridiculous to feel hurt. Seth wasn’t the first man to avoid her after finding out about Ben.
And she doubted he’d be the last.
Which was exactly what she wanted, right? Right.
Finally it was time to tuck Ben into bed. His eyes were practically sliding closed, yet he still talked about Dr. Seth.
“Mom? Do you think Dr. Seth would be willing to come over to play football with me and Joey?”
She reached over to smooth his hair away from the dressing covering the sutures above his left eye. “Have you forgotten your broken arm?” she asked dryly. “You won’t be catching footballs for a while. Once your cast comes off I’ll play with you.”
“But you’re a girl,” Ben protested.
A difficult point to argue. And, really, what did she know about football? Not much. “What about Joey’s dad? Doesn’t he play football with you boys?”
“Sometimes. But Joey’s dad goes on a lot of business trips. That’s why I was hoping Dr. Seth would play with us.” His earnestly hopeful face tugged at her heart.
“I don’t know, Ben,” she said, trying to let him down gently. “He’s a very busy doctor at the hospital.”
Ben scrunched up his face. “Doesn’t he ever get a day off?”
“I’m sure he does. But you have to wait a few weeks for your cast to come off anyway, so let’s not worry about that now. How about closing your eyes and getting some sleep? You’ll need to go to day care tomorrow. I bet the kids will be excited to sign your cast.”
Ben managed to smile, even as his heavy eyelids were already sliding closed. “G’night, Mom.”
“Good night, Ben.”
Two hours later she envied Ben’s ability to sleep. She was still tossing and turning. Even a cup of her favorite tea didn’t help. All she could think of was how much Ben must be missing having a father. Why else would he have become fixated on Seth so quickly?
She knew, better than her son, how much misplaced trust could hurt. Hadn’t Tristan left her when she’d needed him the most? Seth was a nice guy, but that didn’t mean he’d be a good choice to even consider starting a relationship with.
She needed to keep Seth at a safe distance.
For Ben’s sake and her own.
CHAPTER FOUR
SETH had picked up an extra night shift for Simon Carter, who’d caught some sort of flu bug. He didn’t mind giving up his Saturday—the ED staff possessed a strong culture of teamwork. The night had been steadily busy, but not crazy, giving him too much time to think about Kylie. Her image would pop into his mind at odd moments, making him wonder how she and Ben were doing.
Not his problem to worry about her son, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from thinking about Kylie anyway. He’d even run into Cheri, the new nurse from the second floor, in the cafeteria during his night shift, but although she’d been openly friendly with him, indicating she was interested, he hadn’t asked her out as he’d originally planned.
Kylie Germaine was messing with his head, big-time.
He slept in on Sunday, and then prowled around his condo, searching for something to do to keep his mind off Kylie. Belatedly remembering his mother’s box of family photos, which he and his siblings had found after her death, he hauled it into the living room and sat down to sift through them. The pictures of his smiling, happy parents, along with him and his older siblings at various birthday parties and holidays, made him feel sadly nostalgic.
And the sad memories only reinforced the very real reason why he avoided relationships.
They’d lost their father too young. After all these years he still missed him. Missed both his parents. The loss made his chest ache as he looked back over the happy moments captured on film. Even the family camping trips, with all the problems they’d tended to bring, had been fun.
Nothing could bring them back.
Sorting the photos into three stacks, trying to be fair as he divided up the pictures for himself and his siblings, wasn’t easy. When he reached the bottom, however, he realized there was a piece of cardboard that didn’t match the interior of the box covering something underneath. Using his pocket knife, he gently pried up the cardboard, revealing some fragile letters on pale blue paper, a marriage license, and a grainy black-and-white photograph.
The photograph was of his mother, wearing a knee-length white wedding dress, standing next to a strange guy in military uniform. With a deep frown he stared at the picture, trying to see if the man might be a younger version of his father. But the dark hair—his father had been a redhead—and the very different facial structure convinced him they weren’t the same guy. He picked up the marriage license, shocked to discover his mother had gotten married to a man named Shane Andre the year before his oldest brother had been born.
What? How could that be? His father’s name had been Gregory Taylor, not Shane Andre. Angry and confused, he sifted through the papers and found a death certificate for Shane Andre, issued by the United States Air Force. There was also a medal of honor, given posthumously in Shane Andre’s name, for his bravery in attempting to save US hostages in Iran.
Stunned, he stared at the date of Shane Andre’s death for a long time. The truth was staggering. He’d been born mere weeks before Shane’s death. He, Tess and Caleb were all just one year apart in age. His mother had been married to Shane Andre for four years.
Which meant their biological father must have been Shane, not Gregory Taylor, as they’d believed all their lives.
Why on earth would their mother have lied to them? Why wouldn’t she have told them the truth? With an angry swipe, he shoved the paperwork and photos aside and rose with an agitated lurch to his feet.
There was no reason he could think of to hide the truth. Why on earth would his mother keep such a big secret?
The angry pressure was building in his chest so he began to pace, taking slow, deep breaths.
There had to be a reason. His mother hadn’t been a vengeful woman. The anger slowly eased, turning into a bewildered resentment. Had she kept the secret because it had been too painful to talk about her first husband?
He wished he knew. The marriage might have been brief but there had been three children born to the couple. He stopped and stared down at the grainy photograph, trying to comprehend what his mother’s life had been like. She’d been a widow at a young age, with three small children to care for. He imagined the Air Force had provided some income for her, but when had she met their father, Gregory Taylor? It must have been shortly after their biological father’s death.
He wanted to know the details. How exactly his parents had fallen in love. All he’d ever been told was that they’d met at a party given by mutual friends.
But he hadn’t known his mother had been a widow at the time.
All his life he’d believed Gregory Taylor was his dad. But really his biological father was Shane Andre. A young pilot killed in the line of duty.
Damn. He scrubbed his hands over his face, knowing he needed to call Caleb and Tess, to tell them the news. He even reached for the phone, but then he stopped.
He couldn’t do this now. Not yet. Not when he was still feeling so resentful. Not when he hadn’t even really accepted the truth for himself.
Besides, Caleb and Tess were both busy with their respective families. Why make them miserable, too? His gaze rested on the small pack of pale blue letters. From the address on the top one he could see it was correspondence between his mother and Shane Andre.
He couldn’t read them. Not now. Heck, maybe not ever. For some reason he couldn’t quite accept that his mother hadn’t been honest.
Had she planned to tell them at all?
&
nbsp; Maybe. Her death had been sudden, the aneurysm in her brain bursting without warning. It wasn’t as if she’d been sick for a while, knowing the end was near.
Yet on the other hand she’d had years to tell them the truth and hadn’t.
He wished he could talk to Kylie. As an outsider, not part of the family, she might have a different perspective. Especially since she was a young single mother herself.
No. What was he thinking? Kylie wasn’t like his mother. Kylie couldn’t know why she’d kept the truth a secret. He was just using that as an excuse to talk to her. Despite his decision to stay away from her and Ben, he found he was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow at their meeting.
Strange to realize he had more in common with Kylie’s son Ben than he’d originally thought.
Neither one of them knew the man who’d sired them.
Kylie swiped her damp palms on the sides of her pants, feeling unaccountably nervous about her scheduled meeting with Seth Taylor. She’d purposely worn her dark blue paramedic’s uniform, since she’d been sorely tempted to wear something nice and feminine. Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she grabbed the hypothermia protocol she’d created, using the ones she’d researched as a template, and quickly headed out to her car. She drove the short distance to Cedar Bluff Hospital, nestled off the highway, just on the outskirts of the town.
The building didn’t look much like a hospital, if you asked her. Most of the hospitals she’d been in had been huge white buildings. Not Cedar Bluff. This hospital was built on a hill, against the backdrop of a gently wooded area, the hospital’s brown frame blending nicely with the landscape.
Peaceful. The first time she’d seen the hospital and the town she’d sensed she’d found a home. A great place to raise her son.
Ben was back in day care today, and the stitches over his eye seemed to be healing nicely. She’d made an appointment for Tuesday with the ophthalmologist, as Seth had suggested. Ben’s school started in ten days, and she still had so much to do.
She parked in the ED parking lot and walked inside. Hoping Seth wouldn’t be forced to cancel their meeting, she swept a glance through the trauma room, noting with relief the place didn’t appear too busy. She stood for a minute in the center of the ED area, seeking a familiar face before she spotted him.
Her heart squeezed with an unfamiliar flash of jealousy when she saw him smiling down at one of the nurses, looking handsome, as always, with that stubborn lock of dark hair falling rakishly over his brow.
What on earth was wrong with her? What did she care who Seth Taylor smiled at?
Unfortunately she was still staring directly at him when he glanced in her direction, catching her eye. His smile deepened and he murmured something to the nurse without breaking eye contact, then headed straight toward her.
“Hi, Kylie,” he greeted her cheerfully. “How are you?”
“I’m good, thanks.” She inwardly cursed her heart for racing when he approached. She strove for a light tone. “I hope this is still a good time for us to meet?”
“You managed to arrive during a momentary lull,” he said dryly. Lightly clasping her arm, he drew her toward his office, where they’d met before. “But I really hope you don’t mind that I had lunch delivered. If you’ve already eaten, maybe you’ll forgive my rudeness if I munch while we talk?”
His attitude was so matter-of-fact, how could she mind? The poor guy had to eat sometime. Maybe she’d overreacted to his asking her to meet over a meal. Doctors were much like paramedics—they had to grab food whenever the opportunity presented itself.
“How is Ben feeling?” Seth asked, as he opened the office door for her.
“He’s fine.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
His tone was sincere, and it was nice of him to ask about Ben. Although Seth being a nice guy only made ignoring her physical reaction to him that much harder.
Keep it professional, she reminded herself.
His desk had been cleared to make room for two place settings and a plate of sandwiches in the middle. As an impromptu meal, everything looked very good. Her stomach rumbled, since she hadn’t eaten anything except some cold cereal with Ben earlier that morning.
“What would you like to drink? Water? Or a soft drink?”
“Water is fine.” Why did this suddenly feel like a date? She set the hypothermia protocol on the desk, as a tangible reminder that this was a business meeting.
“Here you go.” Seth set a bottle of water in front of her and then sat down on the other side of the desk. He helped himself to a sandwich, taking a big bite, as if he were famished.
“Thanks.” She took the water and took a quick sip to wet her suddenly dry throat. She handed him the papers she’d brought. “Here’s a draft of a hypothermia protocol that I put together after researching what other institutions have been using. It might not be exactly what you’re looking for, but I thought it would be a good starting point. I’m happy to make whatever changes you recommend.”
“Excellent,” Seth said with frank approval. He took another bite of his sandwich as he scanned her work. “This is great. We can probably use this protocol just as you’ve written it.”
“Really?” Ridiculously pleased by his comment, she relaxed enough to help herself to a sandwich.
“Absolutely. From a medical perspective you have everything covered.” He set the protocol aside and pulled out some paperwork of his own. “I’ve been working on the equipment side of things. I know the paramedic budget is tight, but I found a device the company will allow us to use for free if we buy their supplies.” He handed her a picture of the hypothermia machine. “What do you think?”
The portable device was small enough to fit on the foot of a gurney, with a hypothermia blanket covering the patient from chin to toe. “Impressive,” she murmured. “We’d need one for every unit, though.”
“I have it covered,” Seth assured her. His smile was dazzling, and she had to look away, reminding herself not to read too much into it. “All you need to do is to help me distribute the equipment to the paramedic units.”
“I can do that,” she agreed, without hesitation. “Once I get everyone trained on the device, that is.”
“How long do you think that will take?” Seth asked, his dark brows pulling together in a slight frown.
She understood his frustration at the potential delay. She was just as eager to start with the new protocol as he was. “Our next quarterly educational update is in two weeks.”
“Are you sure that’s enough time?” He raised a skeptical brow. “You have to learn how to use the device yourself first, don’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes, but I don’t want to have to wait another three months, either. I’ll contact this company today, to schedule the initial training. Do you think we can get a rush on the equipment delivery?”
“I’ll do my best,” Seth drawled. His gaze landed on her empty plate. “Please, help yourself to another sandwich.”
She did as he suggested, figuring it was too late to protest now, after she’d already eaten one sandwich. They were delicious, and she wondered if he’d ordered them from the hospital cafeteria. If so, Cedar Bluff Hospital had better food than they’d offered at Chicago General.
Cedar Bluff was better than Chicago in more ways than one.
Amusement crinkled the corners of his eyes as he watched her eat. She felt her cheeks blush, and cursed her fair skin. “Thanks. I guess I was hungrier than I realized.”
“You’re welcome.”
She was grateful he was enough of a gentleman not to remind her how much she’d protested against sharing a meal with him. When she’d finished her sandwich, she began gathering her things together.
“Kylie?”
She glanced at him. “Yes?”
“Have you made an appointment for Ben to see the ophthalmologist?”
She was a little disconcerted by the change in subject. “Yes, in fact we go in to see Dr. Greenle
y tomorrow.”
“Will you let me know what Greenley says?”
“Sure.” She didn’t quite understand why Seth cared what the eye doctor had to say about Ben’s vision. Maybe he was just being nice, making conversation about her son. They obviously didn’t have anything else in common outside of work. “Actually, Ben has become quite obsessed about football ever since you put that orange-and-blue cast on his arm.”
“I bet he’d love to play the game himself—once the cast comes off, that is.”
She nodded. “Absolutely. I tried to find a football team for him to join, but I found out the peewee leagues have already started, and they’ll be over before he gets his cast taken off.” Ben had been very disappointed at the news. “But there’s always next year. Especially now that I know how early they start. Ben will get over it, I’m sure.”
“It’s going to be hard keeping him entertained while he has that cast on,” he said. “If you’re not busy this weekend, there’s a hospital employee baseball game on Saturday afternoon, at Cedar Bluff Park. The RNs challenge the MDs, and the game starts at one in the afternoon if you’re interested in coming by to watch.”
“That might be fun,” she said, noncommittally. “Are you playing?”
“Yeah, I am.”
She raised a skeptical brow. “If the doctors and nurses are playing, who’s staffing the hospital?”
“We take turns—unless someone volunteers to work. Heck, some of our patients even come to watch us play.” Seth flashed another of his lethal grins. “Did you think we’d close the hospital down for a baseball game?”
She flushed again and rose to her feet. “No, of course not.”
Seth stood also, and then circled the desk to open the office door for her. He was so close she could smell the musky scent of his aftershave. The smell pleased her far more than it should.
“So you’ll stop by? We could use some help in the cheering section. For some reason the nurses tend to get all the support around here.”
His gaze was addictive, his nearness making her pulse leap again. For a moment she almost forgot what he was saying. Then she pulled herself together with an effort.
