by Judy Duarte
A little surprised by it all, Jeremy studied his no-nonsense brother. “Who would have guessed that you had a romantic side?”
“You probably have one, too.” His brother reached across the table and took Deanna’s hand. “All you have to do is find the right woman.”
Jeremy didn’t know about that. He hadn’t thought that he had a romantic bone in his body before, but he found his mind drifting in that direction ever since he ran into Kirsten Allen in the parking lot. Damn, that crazy dream must be making him soft.
As Drew and Deanna shared the details of the actual ceremony, Jeremy found himself drifting off, wondering if he’d prefer a big wedding or a small, intimate one. And that brought his thoughts back to the mystery woman.
He didn’t believe in visions and premonitions, but for some wild reason, he couldn’t quite shake the encounter he’d had with Kirsten or the feeling that he had to see her again.
“Are you listening?” Drew asked.
Jeremy glanced up, a little embarrassed that the couple had caught him gathering romantic wool, when he should have been listening. “I’m sorry. I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
“Dad?” Drew asked.
“Him, too.”
“Is it work-related? Is the medical group pressuring you to come back to Sacramento?”
“In a way, but…”
“Don’t tell me.” Drew leaned forward. “You’ve met a woman in Red Rock.”
“No, not really.” Jeremy glanced at his new sister-in-law, then back at the cocktail napkin he’d been shredding.
About that time, Deanna scooted her chair back and got to her feet. “If you guys will excuse me, I think I’ll powder my nose.”
Drew shot another loving look at his new wife, and something seemed to register between them, some form of silent, two-way communication.
Jeremy had seen his parents do that on occasion.
Would he ever be able to communicate with a woman like that?
“What should I order for you?” Drew asked her. “A glass of wine?”
“That sounds good. Thanks.”
As Deanna headed for the bathroom, Jeremy couldn’t help thinking she’d made an excuse to leave so the brothers could talk in private, which was thoughtful but unnecessary. He really didn’t want to talk to anyone about the wild direction his thoughts had been going.
After Deanna was out of hearing range, Drew said, “Okay, what’s going on?”
Jeremy wasn’t so sure he wanted to confide in his younger brother, but Drew wasn’t a kid anymore. So he found himself revealing the dream he’d had and the woman he’d run into in the parking lot.
“Are you going to try to find her?” Drew asked.
Jeremy didn’t know what to say, what to admit.
“Maybe you ought to give Ross a call. I’ll bet he could make fast work of finding anyone.”
Ross Fortune was their cousin and a private investigator, so the suggestion made sense. But Jeremy wouldn’t go that far in trying to locate the mystery woman.
“I don’t want to come off like some kind of stalker,” he admitted. “Besides, Ross probably should focus his time on finding Dad, which he hasn’t been able to do.”
The truth of that statement echoed between them until Drew said, “I think we need to accept the fact that he’s gone, Jeremy.”
“You might be right, but I’m not able to do that yet.”
“I know.”
A pall fell over the brothers as they each tried to deal with their father’s disappearance in their own way— Drew letting go and Jeremy refusing to give up.
When Deanna returned to the table, the conversation turned more upbeat, but Jeremy found himself sliding back into that blue funk that had been haunting him for months—even before he’d come to Red Rock for the wedding.
The only thing that seemed to help his mood was thinking about Kirsten Allen—if that was even her name.
Who was she?
What was her story?
And why in the world did it even seem to matter? Jeremy had never met a woman who could compete with his patients. He was a driven and dedicated physician, and as a result, he’d never married.
Maybe the dream and his interest in the mystery woman were just signs that his subconscious—and his hormones—were trying to rectify the situation.
Either way, something told him that he was going to have to find Kirsten Allen.
And if it took calling Ross and asking for help, then so be it.
The rain had moved on by morning, leaving a rainbow in the cloudy sky and puddles on the streets and sidewalks.
Over breakfast, Kirsten had admitted to Max that she’d taken the baby to the clinic yesterday. And she’d been right about his reaction; he’d bristled.
“I can’t believe you’d do that without talking to me first,” he’d said. “I don’t want you to take over.”
“I’m not trying to do that. I was just worried about his health, and…well, you’re right. I shouldn’t have gone over your head. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.”
“When is it going to stop, Kirsten? You’ve been mothering me for years, and I’ve always resented it. Now you’re trying to do it with Anthony. The way I see it, if you want a baby, maybe you should have one of your own.”
She’d tensed at his harshness, but what he’d said was true. Even though she hadn’t been around kids, she had always wanted to be a mom, to have a family. But that was not why she’d fought so hard to take good care of Max, to make sure he grew up happy and responsible.
It was not as though she wanted him to stay some kind of pseudo kid forever. Or that she’d needed someone to mother. “You’re the only family I have left, Max. And I feel an obligation to make sure you’re happy and able to support yourself.”
“I’m doing fine on my own. I’ve just had a little setback with the job and all.” He raked a hand through his hair. “You’re my big sister, and I get that. But I’m sick of you constantly trying to tell me what to do, how to feel, what to say. It’s my life. And I want to make my own way—right or wrong.”
Before she could respond, he added, “I’ve been on my own for two years—paying my rent, being a man. And you have no idea how it grates on me to have to live with my sister again, to accept your handouts. Believe me, all I want to do is land a new job and get out of here.”
In her heart of hearts, she knew that when Max moved out, it would be the best for her, too. She needed to let go of him and focus on creating a place for herself in Red Rock.
“I’m sorry,” she’d said, repeating the apology she’d made earlier. “I only meant to be helpful. And you’re right. Anthony is your son, your responsibility. I’ll do my best to back off.”
The fight had seemed to fizzle out of him at her acquiescence, so she’d gone on to say, “I’m trying, Max. Really, I am. You’re not a kid anymore. And I need to trust you to make the right decisions for yourself and now for your son. But you’ll have to be a little patient with me. Old habits are hard to break.”
“I still can’t believe that you took him to the clinic without my permission. What did you tell them? That you were his mother?”
“I wouldn’t have lied. But truthfully, I hadn’t really thought that far.”
He’d scoffed, and she realized just how impulsive she’d been.
“I can make a hundred excuses for what I did,” she’d admitted, “but I’m not going to do that. You’re Anthony’s father. And you’re right. I overstepped my bounds. From now on, I’m going to step back and let you live your own life—right, wrong or indifferent. Those decisions are yours to make—not mine.”
Max kept quiet all through breakfast, and about the time she’d decided that he wasn’t going to let her go to the clinic with him, he relented.
“Okay, Kirsten. I need you more than I’m comfortable admitting. Maybe that’s why I’m fighting you so hard.” He blew out a sigh. “I’d really like you to go with me—as a second pair of ears—but not as my spokesper
son.”
A part of her wanted to back off completely and let him handle it all on his own, but after Courtney had arrived with the baby a couple days ago and announced that Max was the father, they’d both been caught off guard. And together they’d scrambled to buy diapers, formula, bottles and a little bed for him to sleep in.
It had been almost overwhelming, yet at the same time, there had been moments where she and Max had actually been a team for the first time in ages. And that had given her hope that the troubles they’d had in the past would soon be behind them. That they were on their way to becoming the family they’d been before their father had abandoned them, before their mother had died.
Through trial and error, frustration and smiles, she and Max had been learning how to take care of Anthony.
So the baby’s arrival had turned out to be a good thing, forcing the two of them to work together for a change.
“All right,” Kirsten had agreed. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
An hour later, they found themselves back at the clinic, checking in with a matronly receptionist whose badge announced that her name was Millie.
“Just take a seat,” Millie said. “It shouldn’t be too long. You arrived here early today, which is good. We always get backed up in the late afternoon.”
Max shot Kirsten a glance, but she bit her tongue. She’d apologized for bringing Anthony yesterday, but she certainly wasn’t going to grovel. What was done was done.
When they took seats in the waiting room, Max held the baby, so Kirsten picked up a magazine and thumbed through it. She feared that she was enabling Max again by being here, by babysitting Anthony and by offering them both a place to stay. But she couldn’t very well throw out him and the baby.
She’d meant what she’d said about boundaries, though.
So how did she go about encouraging Max to find a job and to help out around the house, when he’d probably see that encouragement as interference?
She stole a glance at her brother, who held little Anthony with stiff arms and a tender expression. Anyone looking at him could tell he had feelings for the baby, even though he’d only known about him for a short time. It was obvious that he wanted to do right by his son. That, she decided, counted for a great deal.
As the door swung open, and a nurse called an elderly woman for her appointment, Kirsten found herself scanning the back room of the clinic, trying to spot the handsome orthopedic surgeon she’d met yesterday.
But what if she did see him? What then?
A man like that was probably only interested in sophisticated, stylish women with high-profile careers and social connections.
Still, each time the door to the exam rooms opened, each time someone in a lab coat walked by, Kirsten couldn’t help searching for the doctor with sun-streaked hair and intensive blue eyes who had consumed her thoughts.
Jeremy was looking over an X-ray of a fractured scaphoid bone in a teenage boy’s hand, a break that had actually occurred years earlier.
Last night, the kid had fallen during a basketball game and twisted his wrist. And since he was still complaining of pain this morning, his mother had brought him into the clinic, suspecting that he might have a serious sprain or a break. But the fall had only aggravated an old injury. And it was a good thing that it had brought him in today. If the original break had continued to go untreated, the teenager might have eventually lost the full use of his hand.
As it was, he would need surgery and a bone graft to correct it.
“Dr. Fortune?”
Jeremy turned to see Millie, the receptionist, standing in the doorway.
“I’m sorry to bother you, Doctor, but Kirsten Allen is here again. You know, the woman you were asking me about yesterday?”
Jeremy’s pulse rate spiked at the news, but he maintained an unaffected facial expression. “Thanks, Millie. Where is she?”
“In the waiting room.”
As much as Jeremy would like to go out and talk to her, he had to discuss his findings with the teenage patient and his mother who were waiting for the results of the X-ray.
“Do me a favor,” Jeremy said. “Can you have Kirsten called into an exam room? And then let me know where I can find her?”
Millie’s brow twitched, as if she found the request a little unusual, but she didn’t ask his reason for it. Instead, she nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Jeremy didn’t usually ask for favors, like moving people up in line. But Kirsten had left yesterday without waiting to be seen, and he didn’t want that to happen again. Not before he had a chance to see her and talk to her again.
While Millie went to do as she was asked, Jeremy returned to the exam room to tell the teenager and his mother about the fracture and explain the surgery and healing process.
Ten minutes later, he made his way to room four, which had been assigned to Anthony Allen, Kirsten’s infant son.
He knocked lightly, then opened the door, eager to see the attractive woman again, to get a chance to talk to her. But when he spotted a man in the room with her, his heart slammed against his chest.
Damn. She was married—or at least involved with someone.
Well, of course she was. What made him even think that she might not be?
A striking resemblance to the dream woman, that was what. And an overactive imagination for another. See what happened when a man read too much into a random dream and followed a hunch?
Trying not to stammer or to reveal his surprise, Jeremy reached out his hand to introduce himself to the baby’s father. “Hello, I’m Dr. Fortune.”
“Max Allen. Are you here to examine Anthony?”
“No, I…” Jeremy glanced at Kirsten, wondering if she had any idea why he was actually here.
Hell, how could she? He was still struggling to make sense of the thoughtless blunder himself.
He returned his focus on her husband and tried to make light of it all. “Actually, I met Mrs. Allen in the parking lot yesterday. She’d spent a lot of time in the waiting room and hadn’t been seen, so I wanted to make sure she got in quickly today.”
Max stiffened. “Yeah, well, she shouldn’t have done that.”
Done what? Left without seeing a pediatrician? Talked to a man in the parking lot?
“Excuse me?” Jeremy pressed, picking up some negative vibes and hoping he hadn’t gotten her in trouble.
“Kirsten brought Anthony here yesterday without my permission.” Max tossed a frown her way.
Now it was Jeremy’s turn to tense and give out some negative vibes. What kind of man controlled his wife like that?
“Maybe I’d better explain,” Kirsten said. “First of all, I’m Max’s sister. And I was babysitting his son yesterday.” She turned to the young man beside her. “I shouldn’t have taken it upon myself to bring the baby for a checkup without getting Max’s okay.”
Jeremy was still struggling to understand what Max’s problem was, but that didn’t stop him from realizing that Kirsten wasn’t married to Max and being relieved at the news.
Just then, the door opened, and Jim Kragen, a pediatrician, stepped into the now crowded room. “Sorry. I was told to come to exam room four.”
“You’re in the right place,” Jeremy told his colleague. “I just stopped in here for a minute. I’ll leave you to your patient.”
As Dr. Kragen stepped inside, Jeremy made his way to the door.
“Excuse me a minute,” Kirsten said to her brother and to the pediatrician. “I’ll be right back.”
Was she following Jeremy out?
Apparently so. And he couldn’t help feeling a rush of pleasure. That was, until he glanced at Max, who seemed to be annoyed at her departure.
If Jeremy didn’t know better, he’d think that Max was sizing him up and finding him lacking. But maybe that was only his imagination.
When Kirsten and Jeremy left the small room and shut the door behind them, she said, “Thank you for coming to check
on us.”
“No problem. I knew you were worried about the baby, so I wanted to make sure you finally got to see a doctor.”
“Actually, I kind of panicked yesterday, thinking Max wouldn’t get around to making an appointment for the baby himself. But Anthony is really sweet, and he’s eating well. So Dr. Kragen will probably say he’s doing fine.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, revealing a small diamond stud. “You probably think I’m a worrywart, but I’ve never really been around small children before. And up until a few days ago, Max didn’t even know he was a father. His ex-girlfriend just dumped the baby on him—well, on us, actually. Max is living with me for the time being. So we’ve had a crash course on child care and still have a lot to learn.”
“How long will your brother have Anthony?”
“Permanently, I guess.” Kirsten blew out a soft sigh. “And I’m sure that’s for the best. His girlfriend isn’t very maternal.”
Was Kirsten maternal? Was she the kind of woman who’d make a good partner for a man like him?
It was hard to say without knowing more about her.
“If I’d done more babysitting as a teenager,” she added, “I might not feel so out of my league. But I’m…well…my brother and I are both novices.”
“I’m sure you’re doing fine.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She flashed him a pretty smile. “You should have seen us shopping that first day. We had to buy just about everything other than a car seat, and we didn’t have a clue what we were going to need. It must have been comical to anyone watching us.”
“You’re a good sister,” he said.
Her smile faded some. “I try to be.”
Something told him that Max didn’t always make it easy for her, but that was only a hunch. And Jeremy rarely went with his gut feelings, even though that was exactly what he’d done when he had first spotted Kirsten in the parking lot.
They stood like that for a moment, studying each other in the narrow hallway.
She gave a little nod toward the closed door of the exam room. “I guess I’d better get back in there and make sure I don’t miss anything important.”
