by Mary Leo
“Perfect,” Blake told her. “Did you thank her?”
Scout instantly went to Maggie, who was taking her seat at the table. “Thank you, Maggie. Can you come by every morning to fix my hair?”
“Scout, I—” Blake tried to intercede, but Maggie answered before he could finish his sentence.
“If you’d like me to, sure, but I can only do it on the days I come in to work for your dad. Will that be okay?”
“That’s perfect, Maggie. My hair will need a rest by then, anyway.”
Dodge approached the table carrying a high stack of flapjacks on a plate. “Well, don’t that beat all. Scout, you look pretty ’nough to be on a magazine cover in a grocery store.”
Scout scooted back up onto her chair. “Maggie did it, and she’s going to fix my hair every morning, except on the days she doesn’t work in Daddy’s office. Isn’t she nice, Grandpa?”
“Too nice,” Blake said. He watched Maggie add cream to her coffee from the white cow pitcher on the table, along with a couple of teaspoons of raw sugar from the sugar bowl Dodge normally kept hidden in the pantry.
“May I have one more?” Scout asked her grandpa. “You should have one, Maggie. I can’t get enough of ’em.”
Maggie nodded and forked two onto her plate, then smeared on butter, drenched them in maple syrup, and took a monster bite. One thing was true about this woman, she could eat more food than most men he knew and still fit into those tight jeans of hers. He wondered how that was even possible. His ex hardly ate, and when she did, it was usually only a few bites and she’d claim she was full.
But not Maggie.
“These pancakes are amazing!” she said after she swallowed an enormous bite.
Dodge pulled up a chair and sat down right next to her, while Blake sat at the opposite side of the table.
“’Round here we call ’em flapjacks, and I been makin’ ’em ever since my daddy taught me how on a cattle drive in Montana when I was no bigger than a frog in a pond,” Dodge said.
He liked to brag about his flapjacks, saying he had a secret ingredient that made them taste better than most. Dodge swore he wouldn’t tell anybody what that ingredient was even if a person was on their deathbed, begging. The man took his cooking seriously.
“Well, your flapjacks are amazing, and the blueberries are as sweet as honey.”
Dodge was hooked. Blake could see it on his face. All anybody had to do was tell Dodge that they liked his cooking and he was their friend for life. Maggie had gone beyond just liking it, she had crossed into metaphor, which in Dodge’s mind was the ultimate compliment.
Yep, he was hooked, lined and sunk.
“How’s Kitty?” Blake asked, wanting to bring Maggie’s attention back to him.
“According to her doctor, she’s doing really well and should be able to come home tomorrow. Mrs. Abernathy has everything under control at the house, so I’m not worried. But I’d like to thank you for being there last night. You helped keep me from having a complete meltdown.”
“Anytime.”
And there it was. That look Maggie had, the one that showed off her down-home goodness, and would have brought him to his knees and had him pleading for a kiss if his daughter and father weren’t in the room. He didn’t know if it was the dimple, or the way the light caught in her eyes, or the sweetness of her lips, but whatever it was, he wanted to see more of that look on a daily basis.
“Well,” Blake said as Maggie shoved the last of her flapjacks into her mouth. “We better get into the office so you can get settled before our first patient arrives.”
Maggie nodded, drank the last of her coffee, grabbed her purse and stood.
“Don’t you go lettin’ him boss you around, sweetheart,” Dodge said. “You just remember what I’m sayin’, that boy’s all hat and no cattle.”
“Thanks, Dad, nice to know whose side you’re on.”
Dodge poured himself a cup of coffee. “It ain’t a matter of sides, son. I’m just sayin’ what is.”
Maggie chuckled and followed Blake through the living room and out a side door. Blake couldn’t wait to get her alone.
* * *
AS SOON AS MAGGIE walked into Blake’s dental office, she had the distinct feeling something wasn’t quite right. She put her purse down on the desk at the check-in counter where he indicated she’d be sitting, and took the room in.
For one thing, the waiting room had far too many kids’ toys scattered around the floor, and far too few magazines.
Then she thought perhaps this room doubled as a playroom for Scout and those cousins she’d mentioned.
When Blake flipped on the lights, she became even more aware of a problem. A plastic, coin-operated, miniature pony ride sat in the corner of the room next to a flat-screen TV that was mounted on the wall, far too low for adult viewing.
That’s when she realized what Amanda from Holey Rollers had said: You’re going to come a lot closer than that working for Doc Blake, that’s for sure. Now Maggie realized exactly what she had meant.
Kids!
How could she possibly have missed the connection?
She suddenly felt sick to her stomach.
Blake stood at her side, wearing that same look he’d given her the previous night—all sexy cute.
“Maggie, I—”
But Maggie was in no mood for flirting. “Tell me you’re not a pediatric dentist, and that this is space for Scout to play in, and not your waiting room.”
Blake’s demeanor instantly changed and his forehead wrinkled. “She plays in here occasionally, but only when I’m working, and of course I’m a pediatric dentist. That’s what I do. I work on kids’ teeth.”
Maggie frowned at the whole concept. The mere idea she would be working with children freaked her out. Kitty had not prepared her for this. She took a step back. “You can’t be serious.”
“Look around you. Do you really think I cater to adults? An adult wouldn’t even fit in one of my dental chairs.”
“You lied to me. And what’s worse, my own sister lied.”
She took another step backward, heading for the door they’d come in from. No way was she spending one hour in this office, let alone two or three months.
“I never lied to you, Maggie. And if I know Kitty, she doesn’t know how to tell a tall one, at least not with a straight face. I’m thinking it was an oversight.”
“She knows how children react to me, and how I react to children. It wasn’t an oversight. It was a deliberate attempt to avoid the truth until it was too late for me to bail. And to think I was so upset for her at what had happened last night, and all along she was purposely lying to me.”
Maggie crossed her arms over her chest and kept retreating toward the door. Blake kept moving closer, almost as if he would grab her if she tried to leave. Maggie was beginning to feel trapped, like the room was too small, as if the air was being sucked from her lungs. A feeling she hadn’t experienced since she was a teen.
“I can’t imagine Kitty purposely lying to you. Did she ever tell you this was an adult office?”
Maggie thought about it. “No, but she never told me it wasn’t.”
He took another step forward. “Then technically she never lied, she just omitted the details.”
“The important details.” Maggie’s chest was beginning to tighten. “The details that made a difference.”
Truth be told, Maggie hadn’t spent much time around children, and the little time she had, some
thing always seemed to go wrong. Her very first attempt at babysitting ended in a near tragedy when the neighbor’s four-year-old son almost died from eating a hot dog. Maggie had just turned thirteen and was anxious to make her own money. After weeks of nagging, she’d finally convinced Mrs. Turner she was old enough to watch little Matthew. The night started off great until Matthew insisted she prepare hot dogs for his dinner. Not two bites into the dog and he couldn’t breathe. Maggie had absolutely no idea what to do, so she picked him up, turned him upside down and shook him. When that didn’t work she made him bend over and she patted his back, hard, and the huge bite of hot dog flew out of his mouth.
It was a total accident the child had lived, and when it was over, he kicked her in the shins for allowing him to eat a hot dog when his mother never did.
She didn’t babysit little Matthew, or any other child, ever again. Instead, she always kept her distance from them, for their safety, and ultimately, hers.
“Are you all right?” Blake asked just as Maggie faltered.
For some odd reason her right knee seemed to be made out of jelly, and she had to grab the back of a chair, albeit a miniature bright pink plastic one, for balance. She felt as if the entire world had suddenly shrunk to miniature levels and she and Doc Blake were the giants.
“No, I’m not all right. I’m very not all right. Matter of fact, if I don’t get some air I’m going to faint on your toddler sofa and it won’t be pretty.”
“This way,” he said, sliding his arm around her waist and escorting her out the front door. The top quarter of the door was made out of glass and, as they approached she could see something or someone peering in at them from the other side.
“There’s something out there,” she said, and stopped walking. The room seemed to be spinning, so she leaned into Blake to regain her balance.
“It’s not real,” Blake said.
“Don’t tell me it’s something stuffed, ’cause if it is, I can’t go out there.”
“I promise you, it’s not stuffed. Trust me.”
She turned and looked at him. Her chest felt as if it were in a vise. “Are you…kidding?” she wheezed.
“Let’s get you outside.”
Maggie had no choice but to trust him, so she closed her eyes and walked out onto the side porch.
Chapter Six
When Maggie had finally taken several big gulps of cool air the tightness in her chest began to ease, and that feeling of being trapped subsided, especially as she moved away from Blake.
The front door to the office was located on the left side of the ranch house, opposite to the main road, but with the same wraparound porch. The monster that had peered in at her through the glass was an intricately carved wooden black bear cub about two feet tall that appeared to be climbing up the center of the door.
Only in Idaho, she thought.
Just then a new bright red pickup came racing around the corner of the house. The female driver parked the vehicle, then jumped out, a wide smile on her round face. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, wore a white, unbuttoned smock over a gray swirly dress and midcalf gray cowboy boots. “Morning, everybody,” she said as she approached. “What y’all standing out here for? We got our first appointment in fifteen minutes.”
“Liza, this is Maggie, Kitty’s sister and her replacement for the next few months.”
Liza smiled and held out her hand. Maggie took it and Liza gave her a firm but friendly handshake. “Pleased, but those Nezbeth boys’ll be here any minute and they’re a handful. You good with kids, Maggie?”
Maggie didn’t respond and Liza went on without her. “They’re enough to test a saint. Best get your patience on with those boys, not that I wanna scare you off or anything, but it’s good to know what you’re up against before you move in closer.”
She smiled, then stepped past them, opened the bear door and disappeared into the office.
“Liza is my dental assistant,” Blake said. “And if you didn’t catch the caustic resemblance, she’s Mrs. Abernathy’s granddaughter.”
Maggie wanted to smile but she held it in check. Her racing pulse and her inability to truly breathe were still her immediate concerns, especially after hearing about “the Nezbeth boys.”
She wanted to lay into Doc Blake for tricking her into this crazy job, even though he technically hadn’t tricked her. There was no denying she had a great need for a massive anger vent just as a black SUV pulled up. Nurse Cori stepped out, along with four boys ranging in size from really short to just below Cori’s chin.
Maggie suspected these were the dreaded “Nezbeth boys,” Nurse Cori’s “Nezbeth boys,” and one of them must have the wisdom teeth scheduled for extraction. Doc Blake’s first appointment. Maggie inched back and pressed her body up against the wall. She needed all the support she could get.
As her gaze rambled past the boys and Nurse Cori, she wondered just how far away those Teton mountains were, and if she started running full-out, how long it would take her to reach them. A person could hide in those mountains and never be found again.
The thought was somehow comforting.
Blake whispered, “Try to be calm for the boys’ sake. The oldest can get as jumpy as popcorn on a hot stove, and his brothers tend to follow his lead. So take a deep breath. Relax.”
“I’m leaving,” she whispered back.
Doc didn’t blink. He showed no emotion. He merely said, “Take all the time you need. Liza can fill in for you for a few hours.”
Apparently, he didn’t get it. “I’m resigning.”
He turned to her, grinning. “You’re feeling cold-footed. It happens, but I know you can do this, and once you find your backbone you’re gonna do just fine.” Then he strolled up to the tallest boy and escorted him into the office while the others charged up the porch stairs, almost knocking Maggie over.
She couldn’t believe Doc Blake had basically challenged her and calmly walked away.
Who was this man?
“Hey,” Cori yelled. “You boys be good. If I hear you were acting up I won’t bring you back here, ever.” Nurse Cori looked over at Maggie, who was desperately trying to remain calm. “They love coming here. The doc always gives them plenty of trinkets to take home. They’re usually pretty good, but don’t let them get away with anything or you won’t be able to control them. Kitty pretty much lets them do whatever they want as long as they don’t kill each other.
“I’ll be sitting in my truck reading a book, parked on the other side of the house, if you need me. I don’t react well around my boys when they’re getting work done on their teeth. Seems I make them even more unruly than they all ready are, so I usually wait outside. They think I’m running errands. Makes them act better if I’m not around. If they get under your feet, don’t be afraid to threaten them with a time-out or a good whacking. Just tell them their mom will get out the strap when they get home. Not that I would ever whack my boys. Don’t believe in inflicting pain on kids. The threat seems to work, so I roll with it.
“By the way, Kitty’s doing great, and I’ll be at the hospital again tonight, so don’t you worry about a thing. Mamma and babies are going to be a-okay. I promise. See y’all later.”
And with that bit of information, or blackmail, depending on how Maggie chose to look at it, Cori pivoted on her boot heel and headed for her black SUV, which she drove around to the other side of the house, leaving Maggie in a pickle, a word she’d come to appreciate.
&nbs
p; Maggie took a deep breath, then walked back to the door, and she and the wooden bear peeked inside the waiting room through the glassed-in door. Scout was there, kneeling in front of a bright green table with the smallest boy. The other two boys were busy digging through what looked like saddlebags. Not that Maggie knew the first thing about saddlebags, but she’d seen enough Westerns to recognize them.
Scout suddenly turned toward the door, grinned and motioned for Maggie to come on inside. Her first instinct was still to run screaming toward the Tetons, but that was clearly unrealistic. Then she thought she could simply get in her car and drive away, but she really couldn’t do that either. After all, her sister was counting on her to run the office, and Kitty certainly didn’t need the added stress of Maggie flaking out on her.
Then there was Nurse Cori, who expected her to handle her boys for the next hour or so. How could she possibly blow that off?
But the biggest hitch was pain-in-the-butt Doc Blake with his “once you find your backbone.” Like she didn’t have one.
Okay, perhaps he had a point. There was a slight possibility that she’d been lacking a backbone for quite some time. She used to have one. A solid backbone made of steel. Nothing fazed her, she was fearless. Well, maybe not fearless in the strict meaning of the word. More like brave in the face of minor fires, but still.
Scout continued to motion for her to come on inside. Maggie knew she had little choice in the matter without looking like a complete coward, and Maggie Daniels was not spineless. Cautious, perhaps—but definitely not spineless.
Besides, her purse was still sitting up on the counter. She couldn’t leave without her purse.
She decided that if one kid threw something at her, screamed for his mother, kicked her in the shins—or worse, bit her—she’d grab her purse and walk. Physical aggression certainly qualified as justification to quit, right?
She’d just have to find her backbone in San Francisco where she belonged.
