“Will that tell us what it is?” Em asked.
“We’ll know more about what it isn’t,” Rebecca explained. “If it’s not a cyst, we’ll need a biopsy.”
“Surgery?” Em’s heart started to hammer and she met Cal’s eyes over the doctor’s shoulder.
“No.” Rebecca touched her hand. “An ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy. It’s an in-office procedure to extract a small sampling of cells, which we’ll test. I want to stress that there’s absolutely no reason for you to believe the worst. If you’d like, I can recommend a breast specialist. Or I’d be happy to consult with one and coordinate your care.”
Emily glanced at Cal, still holding a peacefully sleeping Annie. Emotion swelled inside her and pressed against her heart. “What do you think?”
“Dr. Hamilton is right. It’s one step at a time. If you’re comfortable, it’s clear that she’s got the situation under control.”
“Here is good.”
The doctor nodded. “Then for now I’ll coordinate everything. I’m going to have Grace set up an appointment at the breast imaging center at Mercy Medical. That’s step one. And you’re not to worry.”
“Right.”
Rebecca put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and said, “It’s going to be okay.”
When they were alone, Cal let out a breath. He looked like he’d worked a double shift in the E.R. during cold and flu season. “How are you?”
“Probably better than you.”
He glanced at the little girl cradled in his arms. “It’s been a rough morning.”
“There’s the understatement of the century.” She met his gaze. “I want to go home.”
He nodded. “I’ll take her in the waiting room so you can get dressed.”
“Thanks, Cal.”
And she didn’t mean for leaving her alone. He’d hung in there with Annie. And with her. Running interference with the medical stuff. Advice. A sounding board. She could have done it on her own, but she was incredibly glad that hadn’t been necessary. Far too glad.
Too glad meant she had lingering feelings rattling around inside her. When she’d made the decision to tell him about his daughter, she’d been so sure that wasn’t possible. Now she knew she was wrong. Leftover feelings were like embers after a forest fire, which could burst into flame with very little encouragement.
Considering he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her, that made it a one-way street. Just like the last time and the scars on her heart were a continuing reminder of how that had turned out.
* * *
Cal now knew that Emily wasn’t lying, at least not about the lump in her breast. He’d thought about little else since leaving the doctor’s office yesterday and still didn’t know what to think or how to feel. That was the only reason he could come up with for stopping by her apartment without calling.
After parking across the street, he knocked on Em’s door and waited. When there was no answer, he tried again and the door beside hers opened.
Redheaded Lucy Gates stood there and somewhere behind her there was a child crying. “What do you want?”
Great. Miss Congeniality. “I stopped by to see Emily. And Annie.”
“Em’s not home.” Distrust rolled off her in waves.
“I see. Do you have any idea when she’ll be back?”
She glanced over her shoulder and called out, “Patty? Did Em say how long she’ll be?” The answer was muffled and she said, “Soon.”
“Patty. Your roommate.”
“Right.” Her hostile look didn’t change, so it was a good guess that there were no points for remembering that. The child was still making unhappy noises.
“Who’s crying?” he asked.
Lucy’s expression asked why he cared, but she answered, “Henry.”
“Who’s Henry?”
“Patty’s little boy. He’s sick,” she volunteered.
“What’s wrong with him?”
She shrugged. “Probably a cold.”
“Fever?” he asked.
“Yeah. A little bit.”
“Do you want me to take a look at him?” Cal asked.
“I thought you didn’t do that stuff. It’s not an emergency—” She glanced over her shoulder when someone behind her spoke. “You’re a doctor, right? A pediatrician?”
“That’s what my diploma says. Does Henry have a pediatrician?”
“Not a regular one. We take the kids to a clinic.” Again, there was a muffled voice before she opened the door wider. “But maybe it wouldn’t hurt for you to have a look at him.”
Cal nodded and stepped inside on the beige carpet. From what he could see, this apartment was a carbon copy of Emily’s floor plan—living room, small kitchen with dinette and a hall with two bedrooms on each side of it. On one wall sat a re-covered sofa, not a professional job, but still a charming floral print. The coffee table looked like a do-it-yourself dark-stained plywood number, but complemented the rest of the decor. The walls were filled with photos of children and kid-friendly prints. Other than toys scattered around, the place was spotless.
A blond girl about Lucy’s age stepped forward with a whimpering, sniffling, towheaded toddler in her arms. “I’m Patty. And this is Henry.”
“Hi.”
“Lucy said you’re a doctor.”
“That’s right.”
“Since you’re here… Would it be okay for you to take a quick look at him?” she asked, worry widening her big blue eyes. She should be at cheerleader practice and fretting about finals, not sharing an apartment with another teen mother.
“Sure.”
Another baby, Oscar, he remembered, was on a quilt beside the sofa with stuffed animals spread out around him. The little guy looked clean and well fed, what with the chubby arms and legs sticking out of his denim overalls.
Cal walked over and said to the under-the-weather boy in her arms, “Hey, buddy. You’re not feeling so good?”
The kid’s nasal discharge was clear, a positive indicator of no infection. Cal palpated his neck for enlarged lymph nodes or swelling and didn’t find anything abnormal. “He feels warm.”
“I just took his temp,” Patty said. “It’s a hundred.”
Cal nodded. “That’s not too bad. Do you have a flashlight?”
Lucy looked more puzzled than hostile now. “What for?”
“I’d like to look in his throat and I can see what’s going on better with a light.”
“We have one in the kitchen,” Patty said, walking into the room and opening a drawer.
“Set him on the counter for me, and let’s see if we can get him to open wide,” he directed. “How old is he?”
“Eighteen months.”
Patty did as directed and when Cal came close, Henry started to cry, which meant opening his mouth. Attaboy. He aimed the light and saw some mild redness, which was probably a result of postnasal drip. “I don’t have an otoscope—”
“A what?” Lucy asked.
“That’s the thing the doctor at the clinic uses to check their ears,” Patty answered.
“Right,” Cal said. “Has he been pulling at them?”
“No.” Patty held on to Henry’s arm with one hand and smoothed the hair off his forehead with the other. “He had one ear infection when he was six months old and I’ve been watching for that. But he’s just not acting like himself.”
Cal didn’t have a stethoscope on him, either, so he pressed his ear to the boy’s chest and back, listening for any evidence of wheezing or labored breathing but breath sounds were normal.
Patty grabbed the whimpering child when he held out his arms to her. “Is he okay?”
“I think it’s just a cold.”
“That’s what I said,” Lucy reminded him.
“Is there some medicine he should take?” Patty asked, shooting her roommate a stand-down stare.
“A children’s fever reducer will make him more comfortable. At this point an antibiotic won’t help because as far as I can tell
it’s nothing more than a virus.” Which Henry had probably already shared with his pint-size roommate. “Is Oscar showing signs of not feeling well?”
“Not yet,” Lucy said. “But I’m watching him. We’re trying to keep the kids separated as much as possible.”
“That would be best. And be sure to wash your hands often.” Cal nodded. “As far as any other medications, they’re not indicated yet. If he takes unnecessary antibiotics, he’ll build up a tolerance and they won’t work when he really needs them.”
“Okay.” Patty nodded. “Is there anything else I should do?”
“Push fluids. Diluted soda. Juice. Popsicles. Water. Make sure his diapers are wet. That means he’s good and hydrated.”
“I’ve been doing that,” Patty told him.
“And if his fever goes up to a hundred and two, bring him to see me in the E.R. at Mercy Medical Center.”
“As if,” Lucy said.
“What?” he asked.
“We can’t afford to go there,” Patty explained, looking apologetic. “No medical insurance. If either of them needs to go to the E.R. I’m not sure what we’d do.”
“Emily will know,” Lucy said. “She always finds a way.”
“I don’t know what we’d do without her,” Patty agreed.
Both girls spoke about Emily Summers as if she had wings, a halo and walked on water. But he knew better. Angels didn’t lie about having a guy’s baby. Just because she’d told the truth about the lump didn’t mean he could forget about the months of his daughter’s life that she’d stolen from him.
There was a knock on the door and Lucy went to answer it. “Hi, Em.”
“Hey. How’s Henry?”
“The doc says it’s probably just a cold,” the teen explained.
“The doc?” Emily took one step inside holding Annie in her arms. “Cal?”
“Hi.” He watched Annie babble something and squirm to get down, but her mom held her tight. That was a good thing since she shouldn’t get too close to Henry.
“What are you doing here?” she asked him.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he hedged.
“Right.” Her tone clearly indicated she didn’t buy that for a second. Without moving any farther inside, she handed a small, white bag to Lucy. “I got the children’s Tylenol for you.”
“Thanks.”
“I hope Henry feels better soon,” she said, sending a sympathetic glance in his direction.
“Me, too.” Patty handed him a sippy cup and he started drinking.
“I need to get this little girl home,” Emily said, backing out of the apartment.
Cal followed her, then looked back at the teens. “If you have any questions…”
“Thanks, Doctor,” Patty said. “I really appreciate you looking at him.”
“You’re welcome.”
He followed Emily into her apartment next door. As she bent over to pick up a toy, his attention was drawn to her shapely body. In her sleeveless, white-cotton sundress and matching low-heeled sandals, she looked like an angel. Although there was just enough wickedness in her windblown dark hair to speed up his heart. The wispy silky strands around her face reminded him of all the times he’d run his hands through it while loving her. Something tightened low and deep in his gut, and his hands ached to pull her against him, just like old times. Then he got a good look at the expression on her face.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again. “And we both know this neighborhood isn’t your usual stomping grounds.”
“I stopped by to see Annie.” Mostly.
She set their daughter on the floor. “It would have been nice if you’d called first.”
It would have if he’d actually planned ahead for this. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
As if registering her protest was enough, the indignation seemed to drain out of her. “Thanks for taking a look at Henry.”
“No problem.”
“The girls are barely getting by on welfare, food stamps and small subsidies from a children’s foundation. Without Helping Hands, they’d probably be in a women’s shelter. If they were lucky. The street is the only other option.” A dark look slid into her eyes. “So you can see that private medical insurance isn’t in the budget.”
“They told me.”
“And there’s not enough money to pay for an office visit.”
“Where are the kids’ fathers?” Cal asked.
“Lucy hasn’t seen Oscar’s dad since telling him about the pregnancy. Her parents kicked her out when she broke the news to them.” The disapproval on her face and contempt in her voice said loud and clear what she thought about that. “Henry’s dad, Jonas Blackford, is making minimum wage working for one of the local hotels and he’s taking college classes. An education is the only way to get ahead and make a better life for his son. Financially he does what he can and stops by to see the boy every day. They’re not married, but doing their best to raise Henry together. You have to respect that.”
Did he? When you made a mistake, you tried to do the right thing. That’s the way his parents had raised him. Annie was watching him while she chewed on the yellow plastic key that was hooked to a red, blue and green one. She took it out of her mouth and banged it several times, blinking as if she’d surprised herself. Then she threw them down and crawled over to where he and Em were talking, the first time she’d voluntarily come this close to him. Although from what he’d seen she had no problem with the teens next door. The baby put a hand on her mother’s dress and pulled herself to a standing position while staring up at him.
“So,” he said, “Annie seems pretty comfortable with Lucy.”
“Patty, too. She’s over there all the time. They watch her for me if I have to run to the store, or I get an unexpected call to work and haven’t lined up child care.”
“I could help with that.”
“You have to work, too,” she pointed out. “But I appreciate the offer.”
He smiled at Annie who was blinking up at him and out of the blue, she returned his smile. A big, warm feeling swelled inside him, followed by a free fall into never-ending tenderness. And a sensation of wanting to keep her safe from anything and everything that could hurt her.
“You know Henry’s probably contagious,” he said.
“Poor baby.” She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“Annie should keep her distance.”
“Of course. But it’s hard.” She reached a hand down to steady the little girl, then eased her to a sitting position. “She loves those little boys. The three of them are like siblings.”
And like a lot of what was going on lately he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. An instant later words came out of his mouth before he could think them through or stop them.
“You and Annie should move in with me.”
Chapter Four
Emily stared at Cal for several moments. “I must be more tired than I realized. You’ll never guess what I thought you just said.”
“You heard right. It’s a good idea for you and Annie to move into my house.”
Once upon a time she’d have given anything to hear those words, but now they just gave her a bad feeling. “Why?”
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“Which is?” she asked.
He looked down at their daughter, clinging to her skirt. “That this is just because of Annie.”
“That’s not even close,” she told him. “But now that you mention it…”
“It’s a big house.”
She picked Annie up and balanced her on a hip, then went to the kitchen to get her some water. After settling her on the floor with an assortment of toys, she moved closer to Cal and looked up.
“I remember exactly how big your place is. I’ve been there. Maybe you forgot.”
“Hardly.” Heat flashed through his eyes for just a moment, a sign that he hadn’t forgotten the way they’d burned up the sheets. “But you told me once that it’s a pretty big
place for one person.”
She remembered. That was during her brain-hiccup phase when she thought they might have had a chance at happiness. “I stand by that.”
“And I agree with you.” He grinned the grin that brought women to their knees. “It’s also in a great neighborhood.”
Emily’s knees threatened, but she refused to buckle. Especially when she understood the subtext of his remark—by comparison to his big house and great neighborhood where she lived was lacking. She folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t think it’s paranoia leaping to the conclusion that you think Annie’s current neighborhood isn’t up to Spanish Trail’s standards.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then let me put a finer point on your meaning. You don’t want Annie hanging out with anyone who doesn’t meet your personal standards.” A long time ago when she’d been impossibly young and pregnant, she’d been the girl no parent wanted their daughter to hang out with. Part of that lonely, humiliated girl still lived inside her.
“I meant that it would be easier to control her surroundings. When you go to work or the store, she wouldn’t have to stay in a germ-filled environment.”
“Oh, please. The world is full of germs. There’s no way to protect her from that, Cal. You’re a doctor. Isn’t that taught in Microbiology 101, or something?”
“Or something.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “But right now she’s unnecessarily exposed to stuff. For your information, that’s a professional opinion. As you pointed out, I am a doctor.”
She really wanted to be bitchy and mad at him, but two things stopped her. Dressed in a black T-shirt tucked into worn jeans gave him serious points for cute. And thing number two had a lot to do with how darned endearing he was being in trying to protect his child. He had great instincts. With a little training, he’d be an outstanding dad who’d take really good care of their child, if the need should arise.
And if she could be personally objective, his invitation would merit some thought. But she’d never been able to be impartial about Cal Westen. He was an all-or-nothing-at-all kind of guy.
“I’m running the Helping Hands program. I mentor the teens and part of my responsibility is being accessible to them.”
Committed to the Baby: Claiming King's BabyThe Doctor's Secret Baby Page 18
