“OK.” The two immediately began emptying their folders of artwork while Lori reheated a meat patty and filled Mac’s plate with several dollops of potato salad and a handful of carrot sticks. She placed a bowl of grapes in the center of the table for dessert.
Mac joined her five minutes later. “It’s nothing fancy,” she said as she placed his meal in front of him. A man who could afford a live-in housekeeper probably ate gourmet meals on china instead of simple fare on chipped dinnerware, but she’d chosen her best. His table was probably solid oak or something similar while hers had come from a secondhand store when she’d first gotten married. Fortunately, her apple-patterned tablecloth hid all of the blemishes.
“I’m not choosy. Corey mentioned how the three of you ate outdoors.”
Lori grinned. “Only because the weather co-operated.” She chose a chair beside his. “OK, kids. Let’s get back to our game.”
The old maid card slowly made its way from Lori to Ronnie and on to Corey. With each move, the room resounded with groans of dismay and chortles of delight. Lori stole a glance in Mac’s direction, and to her surprise found him wearing an amused—and at times amazed—expression as he ate.
Her concentration disappeared. As his lips closed around the tines of his fork, she wondered what his kiss would be like. As his long fingers casually held his carrot sticks, she imagined how his touch would feel. As he smiled, she wanted it directed at her.
Heaven help her if he filled in for Ronnie at school. She’d really have trouble focusing on her job if, when she looked at him, she saw a handsome single man instead of an extremely competent physician.
With her thoughts traveling down this troublesome trail, she absent-mindedly chose a card from Corey’s hand. Instantly, Corey guffawed and Lori saw she’d chosen the old maid card. Mac’s wide smile, of proportions she hadn’t seen before, caught her off guard. What a truly handsome man.
Not only had the lines of his face softened, but his eyes sparkled with warmth as well. What a shame that he didn’t unbend more often.
“I got you,” Corey crowed, as Ronnie laughed aloud and wriggled on her chair.
“Not for long,” Lori vowed as she turned to Ronnie. Positioning her remaining two cards, she waited for her daughter to choose.
With the tip of her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth, Ronnie narrowed her eyes as she studied her choices without moving a muscle. Quicker than a blink, she pulled one from Lori’s hand and held it on display. “Mom lost—again!”
While Ronnie and Corey gave each other high fives, Lori shook her head. “I’m going to have to find a different game to play with you two.”
“Mom lost three times,” Ronnie announced with the enthusiasm of someone reporting a new record. “She always ends up being the old maid.”
Being referred to as an old maid, even though it was all in fun, suddenly made Lori feel ill at ease. Why point out the obvious, especially to an eligible bachelor who’d have women flocking over him if he’d send out the slightest of encouraging signals?
She forced a light note into her voice. “I guess I’m not very lucky.” Then, before he could read her double meaning, she handed her cards to Ronnie. If she was going to ask the all-important question, she’d rather do so without an audience.
“Would you two, please, put your toys away while I talk to Dr Grant?”
The two rushed off to obey. Mac leaned back in his chair, his plate now empty. “I don’t mind if you call me Mac,” he said offhandedly. “I’ve always called you by your first name.”
“Sure. OK.” She felt as awkward as a teenage wall-flower standing next to the captain of the football team at a school dance.
“Thanks for the meal.”
“You’re welcome. As I said, it was nothing fancy.”
“The simple things in life are usually the best.”
Hearing Corey’s and Ronnie’s laughter coming from the other room, she agreed.
A slight frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I’ve never seen him as animated as he is now.”
“It took him a while to warm up, but I think he had a good time. We’ve enjoyed having him visit.” She hesitated. “He told us about your housekeeper and how you’re looking for someone to take her place.”
“I hope we find someone soon,” he confessed. “I don’t like Corey being a latch-key child.”
His admission encouraged her to stick with her plan, for Ronnie’s sake. “I know. I’m lucky to have Rob’s daughter, Susannah, to watch Ronnie before school. I’m also fortunate that my shift usually ends so I can pick her up at three-thirty every afternoon.” She traced the outlines of several apples on the tablecloth with her fingernail.
“Am I making you nervous?” he asked.
His gaze, though piercing as usual, seemed warmer, his tone amused. Lori didn’t see any point in denying the truth. A calm, collected woman wouldn’t trace tablecloth designs.
Lori placed her hands on her lap. “It’s not you. I mean, we work together all the time and I don’t jump out of my skin when you’re nearby.” She managed a smile. “It’s just that it’s not easy for me to ask people I don’t know very well for a favor.”
“I understand, but if it will make you feel better, I’ll warn you that I don’t bite. At least, not away from the hospital.” The corners of his mouth twitched and his voice held a light-hearted quality that she usually didn’t hear.
Unbidden, she pictured his lips against her neck, showering her skin with little love bites. Immediately, she forced away the image.
“I know. If it weren’t for Ronnie, I wouldn’t ask at all,” she hastened to add. “I talked to Rob and he can’t help me.”
Mac raised one eyebrow, as she’d seen many times before, but on this occasion it reflected interest rather than cynicism.
“You see, the school is having a father-daughter breakfast in a few days.”
“Ah, yes,” he said, nodding. “‘Donuts for Dads’.”
At least he was attuned to the events at the school, which meant he wasn’t totally oblivious to his son’s life. “Anyway,” she continued, “Ronnie would like to go, but she needs a dad and Rob will be out of town. Would…would you be willing to take her father’s place?”
CHAPTER THREE
MAC had come to a point in his life where he believed that nothing would surprise him. Between the horrors of medicine, losing his wife and watching the nightly news, he thought he was immune to the unusual.
Apparently, not so.
Lori’s request had caught him offguard for several seconds, but he’d learned to think on his feet when the unexpected occurred. As he considered his own problems with single parenting and her comment about picking up her daughter after school, a potentially workable idea began to form.
“If you can’t,” she hastened to say, “that’s all right. I just thought we could, if you were willing, that is, help each other out. Corey’s mother-son breakfast is coming up and if he needed someone to accompany him, I thought it might be a fair trade if I went as your wi—, er, his guest.”
“I see,” he said, stalling for time as he ran through the aspects of his own plan.
“If I went in your wife’s place, or you went in my husband’s, it wouldn’t mean we had a romantic interest,” she hastened to say. “Someone just coined a few catchy jingles. The idea is for kids to learn what different jobs and careers are available to them and for parents to become involved at school.” Her laugh sounded forced. “But, then, you went through this last year, so why am I explaining it to you?”
As she rubbed the back of her neck, the curly strands of her hair fell over one shoulder. Mac idly wondered what it would feel like to run his hands through her long, soft tresses.
“If you have someone else in mind,” she rambled on, “then forget I said anything. I just had a wild idea and…and…you won’t have to do anything at the breakfast except sit with Ronnie, eat donuts and drink coffee.”
“And talk about my
job,” he reminded her.
“You wouldn’t need a formal speech or anything. A few words will do.”
The nurse who usually appeared calm and collected in any sort of emergency was babbling and Mac found it intensely amusing to see her at such a loss. He understood why she’d been so anxious.
She thought he’d refuse.
For a man who wasn’t doing a bang-up job with parenting his own son, he should give her an unequivocal and resounding “no”, but he was in a bind as well. Her mention of a fair trade encouraged him to accept.
“If Ronnie is agreeable then, yes, I’ll go in her father’s place.”
“If your schedule won’t allow it,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “I’ll understand.”
“I’ll go.”
Lori rubbed a spot on the tablecloth and avoided his gaze. “Ronnie doesn’t know that I’ve asked you, so don’t worry about disappointing her if—”
Mac leaned across the table and covered one of her hands with his, becoming instantly aware of silky skin and fine bones. “I said yes.”
She blinked in amazement and Mac realized how expressive her dark eyes were. “Yes?” she echoed.
He nodded.
Her shoulders slumped in obvious relief before she stiffened again. “It’s Friday morning, at seven a.m.,” she warned him.
“I’ll be here.” He usually didn’t go to the hospital until nine.
“What about Corey? You can’t leave him at home alone.”
Reluctantly, he released her hand and leaned back in his chair. “Rob’s daughter comes here every morning, right?” At her nod, he continued. “I’ll bring Corey with me and we’ll swap children. He can stay with Susannah and she can deliver him to school, provided you don’t object.”
She flashed the soft smile she used on her patients, stunning him by its effect on his pulse rate. “Oh, no. That would be fine.”
Mac forced himself to focus on their arrangement rather than his response to her smile. He’d definitely been alone far too long if a grin of gratitude and an innocent touch created an ache that begged for release. Then again, he added a full measure of blame to her hair hanging past her shoulders in casual disarray.
“As for helping Corey,” she continued, “if I’m not off duty on the day of his breakfast, I’ll try to swap my early shift for a later one.”
“Fair enough. That brings me to my favor,” he said as he tried to phrase his request so that she couldn’t possibly refuse. “I’d like to propose a trade, and I hope you’ll think it’s fair.”
“What did you have in mind?”
The difficulty of the situation he was about to suggest suddenly occurred to him. If Lori agreed to his plan, he’d encounter her on a daily basis, without the barrier of their profession between them. He’d see her as she was now—relaxed, gorgeous and wearing clothes that were far too sexy for a man who’d lived a celibate life for eight years. He must have masochistic tendencies to put himself in a position of constant temptation, but what choice did he have? For his son, he’d manage. Somehow.
It suddenly struck him as odd that he was even tempted to be disloyal to Elsa’s memory. He’d encountered plenty of beautiful women since his wife’s death, but none had stirred his interest. What was it about Lori that had caught his eye? And why now?
He drew a bracing breath and concentrated on the conversation at hand instead of his unanswered questions. “You pick up Ronnie every day.”
“Most of the time, yes.”
“Could Corey stay with you after school? I’d collect him between five and six, although there might be times when I’m late.”
“Like tonight.”
Mac shrugged as he nodded. “Our arrangement would only be temporary, but I’d be willing to pay you. Including the cost of any meals you provide.”
“Your idea of a trade is paying me to look after Corey.”
“Yes.” After seeing her home’s well-worn furnishings and the ten-year-old Pontiac in the driveway, he thought the idea of compensation would cement the deal.
Lori visibly bristled and the smile on her face disappeared. “I don’t expect payment from my daughter’s friends. And I can certainly afford to feed another mouth or two without taking out a bank loan.”
Clearly, he’d touched on the sore spot of her finances. She might have her pride, but so did he. “I’m sorry if I offended you because that wasn’t my intent. Corey has visited classmates and vice versa, but this isn’t the same. I’m asking for Corey to stay here five afternoons a week, not once in a while.”
Two pink spots appeared on her cheekbones. “I apologize for reacting so strongly, but if I choose to help you with Corey, I won’t accept your money.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“Because it would change things between us,” she said a trifle crossly. “Especially at the hospital.”
He was momentarily taken aback. “How?”
Lori met his gaze. “At St Anne’s, we’re colleagues of sorts. Professionals. If you pay me for this, then I become your employee.”
“If I don’t pay you, you’re giving me something for nothing,” he pointed out. Although he had an instant idea of what he’d like to offer her, he didn’t think she’d accept an intimate evening for two with no strings attached as a fair exchange.
“I don’t want Corey to think that I’m doing this for any reason other than he’s a good kid and I’m willing to be his friend.”
“I appreciate the gesture but, contrary to what you think, I get something out of this, too. Knowing I can count on someone is worth a great deal to me. There are a lot of people who aren’t reliable unless they receive something in return.”
“Then you don’t know the right people,” she retorted.
“Apparently not.” Mac hesitated. “I find it just as difficult to ask for favors as you do. The fact remains, I need a place for Corey. Would you be willing to provide that place or should I look for someone else?”
She hesitated and Mac braced himself for rejection. None of the women he’d interviewed so far wanted to assume responsibility for a little boy. He’d hoped that Lori would be different.
Her glance drifted past his shoulder and her eyes seemed to melt as she smiled. Without looking, he assumed she’d seen one or both kids in the background and her maternal instincts had surfaced. Clearly, she had a soft spot for children. Although he didn’t care to exploit people’s weaknesses, in this case he would because he was desperate.
“I’d be happy to look after Corey,” she said simply.
Mac twisted his body to see Corey and Ronnie standing side by side in the doorway. Corey’s wide grin and the pure excitement shining in his dark eyes made Mac feel as if he’d finally done something to earn his son’s approval.
He turned back to face Lori. “Tomorrow is my afternoon off, so shall we start on Thursday?”
“That’s fine with me. I should warn you though. There are times when I’m late, too, and Ronnie has to walk home.”
“As long as Corey has a place to go to where he won’t be alone, I don’t mind.”
“Then it’s settled. And you won’t forget the school breakfast is at seven on Friday?”
“I’ll be here at six forty-five. Sharp.”
Later, after they’d returned home and Corey was engrossed in a television program, Mac reflected on the wide grin that hadn’t left Corey’s face. It was unusual to see his son so taken with a woman he’d just met and rather humbling to realize how Corey had appeared more comfortable with a stranger than with his own father. Yet, it was only understandable. From the moment of Corey’s birth and Elsa’s death, Corey had been a vivid reminder of Mac’s loss and he’d distanced himself from the pain by letting his sister, and later Martha, assume responsibility for the boy’s emotional needs.
For a long time he’d resented this little bundle of humanity, but eventually his bitterness had faded. Wiping away tears,
hugging a tiny body goodnight and accepting slobbery kisses had chipped away at that destructive emotion until it had disappeared. Yet one fact remained. With Martha to rely upon, he’d allowed the demands of his career to gobble up more and more of his attention. He hadn’t realized until recently just how much he’d lost in the process.
Maybe Lori could show him how to build a closer relationship with his son. While he didn’t see how they’d function without a housekeeper to handle the details of daily living, he’d like to form the same bond with Corey that she’d clearly formed with her daughter.
He smiled, wondering what his sister would think if she knew what direction his thoughts had taken. While she’d breathe a sigh of relief and tell him it was about time he came to his senses, she’d also assume that he was ready to give up his lonely existence and seek out female companionship.
Mac didn’t think he was ready for that step. Lori Ames was the most promising candidate to date, but cultivating a relationship with one more person would require more time than he simply had available. Juggling his job and Corey’s needs were all he could handle at this point, and it still wasn’t clear if he could do those two things well. As for those instances when he missed being the other half of a couple, he’d have to continue missing it. He simply wasn’t ready to fill Elsa’s place.
“This is Alice Fisher,” Blythe informed Lori on Friday morning as she wheeled the patient into the PACU. “She sailed through her hysterectomy but I don’t think she’ll agree with me.”
Lori smiled down at fifty-two-year-old Alice, who’d managed a slight grin in spite of being groggy. “I’m Lori and I’ll be watching you for the next few hours. If you need anything, I’m only a whisper away.”
Alice nodded as her eyelids drifted closed. Lori let her rest quietly while she listened to Blythe’s low-pitched recitation.
“Abdominal hysterectomy. No apparent reactions to the propofol or morphine. No underlying diseases or allergies. Because she was already anemic, we gave her two units of packed red cells so we’ll repeat her H and H in a few hours.”
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