by Leanne Banks
* * *
It was midmorning the next day when Kaitlyn walked into an exam room and found Marissa with Jordan. The little boy giggled when he saw her and raised his arms.
Being a friend, as well as the little boy’s doctor, was an advantage. He was here for a well-baby checkup and it should be a breeze, since he wasn’t afraid of her. So many children came to the doctor afraid, and she had to put them at ease.
As she gave Jordan a hug, she smiled at Marissa. “Thanks for coming to the interview taping. We haven’t really talked, though, since the bachelor auction. How did we do?”
“We did great! Thirty thousand dollars to put in The Mommy Club fund. I wish I knew who receives it when I send it to that P.O. Box address in San Jose.”
“I guess that’s part of the mystique of The Mommy Club. No one knows all there is to know.”
“Speaking of the bachelor auction, how did it go while you babysat for Adam and he had a date?”
Kaitlyn took her stethoscope with its cartoon-character cover and let Jordan hold it. “Erica’s a good baby. She slept most of the time.”
“I wasn’t talking about Erica.”
“Adam wasn’t out real late.”
“You knew about Sherry Conniff, didn’t you?”
“Adam told me.” She took the stethoscope from Jordan’s hand, tickled his tummy and put the ends of it in her ears.
“I’m going to lift your shirt up,” she told him. “We’re going to play a little game of ‘Listen to Your Heart.’ I’ll let you listen, too, okay?”
All was quiet while she did just that, and he actually sat still for her. But then he got fidgety and she tapped the appliquéd dog on his pants.
“Woof, woof,” she said, making it as realistic as she could.
“Woof,” he repeated as best he could.
As Kaitlyn let Jordan listen to his heart, his eyes became wide and he grinned at her.
“Adam seemed supportive at the interview,” Marissa prompted.
Last evening after their kiss, they’d ordered pizza and pretended to be just friends. Adam had left without kissing her good-night.
But they weren’t just friends.
Kaitlyn could be honest with Marissa. “I don’t know why, but that interview opened up wounds I thought were healed.”
“Maybe that’s because you don’t think about them or talk about them.”
Kaitlyn’s gaze met Marissa’s.
“You don’t talk about your history, either. You’ve been through a lot, too. Having a baby alone is no picnic.”
“At first I felt as if my world crashed in. One night leads to a pregnancy. I didn’t even know about it when he left.”
“Will you ever tell him?”
“I doubt it. There’s simply no reason for me to contact him because he doesn’t want to be a father.”
“What if he ever comes back?”
“He won’t. He wants the life he has, and the last thing I’d ever want to do is trap someone into staying with me...or caring for a child.”
Marissa studied Kaitlyn. “But this conversation is supposed to be about you and Adam. He’s leaving in a few weeks, isn’t he?”
“That’s what he plans to do.”
“What about Erica?”
“I don’t think he’s faced that decision yet, especially since Tina called him. He’s hopeful she’ll come back. And he might be right.”
“But Adam will be back. He returns to Fawn Grove between assignments.”
“Yes, he does. But what kind of relationship would that be?”
“I suppose it depends on what kind of relationship you want. Have you fallen for him?”
Yes, she had. She might as well admit that to herself. She was in love with Adam Preston and she didn’t know what she was going to do about it.
Chapter Ten
Kaitlyn didn’t know if she was doing the right thing or not, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Adam and everything they’d shared in the short time she’d known him. Maybe time didn’t make any difference at all. Maybe for a change she should follow her heart instead of her head. But did she even know how?
Her interview would be airing tonight. She and Marissa and Sara were going to watch it together at Raintree. She was excited about it yet still a little nervous. She wanted to be a good representative for The Mommy Club. She wanted to inspire other towns to open chapters of the organization.
But that wasn’t why she was standing in her office, staring at her phone, considering what she was going to do about Adam. She still had notes to make on charts before joining Marissa and Sara at Raintree. She wasn’t worried about getting those done before she left, but she was worried about this phone call. Was it the right thing to do?
Was there really a right thing or a wrong thing in this situation?
She picked up the phone and dialed. He might not even pick up if he was feeding Erica or getting himself supper—
But he did pick up. “Hi, Kaitlyn. Did you call to remind me to watch tonight?”
She had to smile. “Obviously you remembered so I don’t have to.”
He laughed. “True. Besides, what else do I have to do once Erica’s asleep for the night, or asleep for four hours, which is her routine now.”
“I’m sure if you wanted to find a babysitter and do something else, you could.”
“Yes, I could, but I’m not. I do have an appointment tomorrow with that private eye I told you about. Mary’s going to watch Erica again.”
“Is he in Fawn Grove?”
“No, he’s in Sacramento.” There was a pause until he asked, “Is there another reason you called?”
She inhaled a very deep breath. “Actually there is. After rounds, tomorrow’s my day off. I’m going to go grocery shopping. So I was wondering if you and Erica would like to come over for dinner.”
Her pulse was suddenly beating a lot faster, and she was actually holding her breath waiting for his answer. One second passed...then two.
Finally, he responded, “I certainly won’t turn down the opportunity for a home-cooked meal. My sunny-side-up eggs for dinner don’t exactly qualify.”
So he was coming for the food? If so, she might as well ask, “So what’s your favorite dinner?”
“I’m not picky. I usually have to catch something on the run, and when I’m in a foreign country, I never know what will turn up on my plate.”
She could go all out. She could make his mouth water. For more than food? Possibly. But they’d start with that.
“How about beef tenderloin, baby asparagus, garlic smashed potatoes? And for dessert, apple dumplings. My mom taught me how to make really good ones.”
“Are you sure you want to go to all that trouble?”
She was sure. But she was going to have to play it by ear, keep her head and use the dinner conversation to figure out where Adam stood in their relationship, if they even had a relationship. Maybe that’s what she wanted to figure out most. Maybe she was just infatuated with him. Maybe she didn’t really love him.
One dinner wouldn’t give her all the answers, but it might give her a few.
“I’m sure I want to make you dinner. I appreciated you coming to the interview.”
“So this is payback?”
Now she’d gotten boxed into a corner. “Not exactly. Maybe we can talk about that.”
“Talk about payback?”
“Adam—”
“I’ll bring along Erica’s swing and her portable crib. Hopefully she won’t have a fussy spell that lasts three hours.”
“If she does, we’ll deal with it.”
“That’s the great thing about dating a pediatrician. This is a date, isn’t it?”
His husky question touched her hea
rt, and she couldn’t play games with him. “I’d like to think of it that way.”
“What time do you want me there?”
“How about seven?”
“Seven, it is. You are recording the interview, aren’t you? We can always play back the best parts.”
This time she laughed. “I think we can find better things to do than that.”
“I’m sure we can.” That sounded like a husky promise.
* * *
When Adam walked into Kaitlyn’s town house with Erica the following evening, he was struck by so many things at once. The good smells of cooking filled the rooms. Besides that, she’d set a fresh bouquet of flowers on the marble-topped table in the small foyer. Toys Erica could play with, with a little help, lay on the coffee table—a rattle, a teething key and a stuffed turtle.
All of it together made him feel as if...as if he had a hole in his heart. He couldn’t remember much about his childhood home, maybe because after his mother died, everything had turned to black and white. His dad had sold the house and moved into an apartment so someone else would do the cleaning and gardening and handle the upkeep. That was the case until his father had married Jade. Then they’d all moved into a house together until Jade and his dad had divorced. The house had seemed empty after Tina and her mother had moved out. After Adam went off to college, his dad had again moved into an apartment.
Oddly, Kaitlyn’s place felt like a home. The feeling unsettled him. Was it the place? Or was it Kaitlyn?
Because there she stood with an apron tied over her green sweater and slacks. She looked delicious, and he wanted to run his hands through her hair and take her into his arms.
However, Erica wasn’t happy the car had stopped moving and that he’d carried her inside. She was wiggling around and screwing up her little face and turning red. Crying would come next.
“Uh-oh,” Kaitlyn said. “Did she wake up when the car stopped?”
“Almost. She’s waking up now.”
Kaitlyn unbuckled the harness in the car seat and scooped Erica into her arms. “Oh, no, you don’t, baby. There’s no need to fuss. Sooner than you can wave that little hand in the air, Uncle Adam is going to have your swing set up.”
He laughed. “I’m good, but I don’t know if I’m that fast. Do you have to keep your eye on dinner or can you walk her a little?”
“I can walk her. I’ll take her out on the patio.”
As he put the swing together, Adam watched Kaitlyn with Erica. This time, that hole in his heart seemed to grow even deeper. What was wrong with him tonight?
Kaitlyn was standing on the patio holding the baby in her arms and staring up at the mountains in the distance as Adam went outside. There was something so elementally right about the tableau. He wondered if he looked right when he was holding Erica, if being a dad to her wasn’t so far-fetched. He couldn’t let anything happen to her. He had to watch over her.
When the back door closed, Kaitlyn didn’t turn around.
He crossed to her and stood close beside her. “She settled down?”
“She likes the view.”
“I think you like the view.”
Kaitlyn nodded. “I’d love to have a house near Raintree Winery, sort of in the foothills of the mountains. The peace and quiet would be wonderful after a day at the office or at the hospital.”
“And you plan to make that happen.” He could hear the determination in her voice.
“Someday.” She looked up at him then. “How did your meeting go?”
“I like the P.I. He made sense in a lot of ways. He says if Tina’s still using her actual phone to call me, and it seemed that she was, that’s a good indication she wants to be found, or that she’s coming back. But he said he’ll do some investigating for me and let me know what he finds out. He has a reputation for being discreet so I’m not concerned about that.”
“What are you concerned about?”
“That when she finds out I put a P.I. on her trail, she’ll think I don’t trust her.”
“Do you trust her?”
“I don’t know her that well anymore. That’s the crux of it. But that’s more to do with me than with her.”
After a few moments, she said, “I called Tina. I hope my message helps.”
They stood together, shoulders brushing, staring at the beautiful view.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
Now he made eye contact and responded, “Very hungry.”
“Then I’d better get those potatoes smashed and steam the asparagus.”
If he bent to her now and kissed her, the whole night might take a different course. But she was holding Erica and now didn’t seem the time to let his desire catch fire. “I set up her swing in the kitchen. I’ll see if I can get her settled in it.”
“By the time you do that, the meat will be ready to carve. Do you want to give it a try?”
Adam remembered the pretense of Thanksgivings with a housekeeper bringing the turkey to the table. His dad had botched carving every way he could. Tina and Adam hadn’t cared because they were all together as a family. But then there was the Thanksgiving before the split up, and then the Thanksgiving after the split up. Then there was no turkey to carve, no family to ask over. They were separate families with separate fears.
Kaitlyn must have been a mind reader because she asked, “What kind of celebration are you going to have for Thanksgiving this year? It’s not far off.”
“That all depends on where I’ve been, or where I still am. Thanksgiving won’t mean much if I’m in the middle of a desert, or if Tina’s not home.”
“Adam, what happens if Tina doesn’t come home? What happens with Erica, I mean?”
“I guess I’ll become her dad,” he said with a certainty he hadn’t felt before.
“And your work?”
“I would have to figure that out somehow. When I left Tina a message yesterday about Erica, I told her the date I have to leave for Thailand. I’m hoping that will bring her to her senses.”
Kaitlyn gave him a long look and then a little nod. He wondered if she thought he could be a dad. He wondered the same thing.
Erica happily cooed and gooed in her swing as they ate dinner and didn’t talk about anything serious. He found there was always so much to talk about with Kaitlyn, even though her life was filled with her practice and medical journals. The Mommy Club kept her informed about so many other issues. They both seemed to be enjoying their conversation, as if it were a prelude to something else, as if maybe Kaitlyn would give in to desire and pleasure and the moment.
Their hands touched as they reached for a serving dish at the same time. When their gazes met, Adam felt that little rock in his world that always surprised him. Kaitlyn looked a bit startled, too. Their shoulders easily bumped with their close proximity.
She had a tiny smear of butter on her upper lip. He leaned in and kissed it away. He didn’t do more than that. When he leaned back, she looked as if she wanted more. Good. Later there would be more.
Recovering her composure, Kaitlyn dished out the dessert. The apple dumpling was everything an apple dumpling should be—cinnamon, sugar, walnuts and a flaky dough that just fell apart...or melted in your mouth.
“You should sell these. You’d make a fortune,” Adam joked.
“I could never make them in quantity. I guess a little bit of love goes into each one as I remember my mom.”
They gazed deeply into each other’s eyes.
“Thank you for this dinner,” he said. He was going to say more. He was going to do more, like maybe kiss her again...when the doorbell rang twice in succession.
“Are you expecting anyone?” he asked.
She looked puzzled. “No.” Pushing her chair back, she stood. “It could be Marissa or Sara. I’ll see
.”
Not that Adam didn’t respect or admire Kaitlyn’s friendships, but he was hoping it was a pizza guy trying to deliver a pizza to the wrong address.
However, when he heard a raised male voice, he had the suspicion it wasn’t the pizza guy.
Checking on Erica and seeing that she looked content, Adam pushed his chair back, stood and went to the doorway where he could overhear what was happening in the living room.
“I talked about you as little as possible in the interview,” Kaitlyn maintained.
“You talked about our marriage. Everybody knows I was married to you. You made me sound like a jerk.”
So this was Tom, Adam surmised.
“I spoke about my miscarriage. The interviewer asked if that led to our divorce. I told her it was part of it. I can’t help what conclusions she drew.”
“You were just being honest,” Tom said sarcastically.
“Yes. As honest as you were being when you asked for a divorce because you blamed me for the death of our baby.”
Adam almost took a step forward, concerned old wounds were going to cause more than an argument.
“And you resent me for it. That’s why you did the interview,” her ex-husband tossed back.
Now Adam did step forward. Kaitlyn didn’t have to take abuse from her ex.
“Watch your tone,” he said with a threat in his voice. Adam stood by Kaitlyn’s shoulder and could see the apparent surprise on her ex-husband’s face.
Suddenly from the kitchen, Erica began crying. A baby’s world wasn’t much different from an adult’s. One moment content, the next in an upheaval.
Tom looked into the kitchen, saw the swing with Erica and a shadow crossed his face. “I thought you’d be...alone,” he muttered. “We’ll talk sometime when you don’t have company. But don’t give any more interviews without alerting me first.”
As Adam turned to see to Erica, he heard Kaitlyn say, “I don’t have to alert you, Tom, not when I’m just telling the truth. But out of courtesy, if I ever do another interview, I will.”
