Claiming the Doctor's Heart

by Renee Ryan

  “Ethan gave me four tickets to the game. He thought you might like to join us.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather have time alone with your girls?”

  He’d definitely like time alone with his girls.

  “I want you to come with us.” He touched her cheek with his knuckle. “Say yes, Olivia.”

  Her eyes clouded over for a beat. Then her smile returned, brighter than before. “Yes.”

  * * *

  The crack of a bat connecting with a slow, dangling slider brought a roar from the crowd. Connor set his soda under his seat just as Olivia lurched to her feet and yelled at the Bobcats’ batter to “Go, go, go.”

  Megan and Molly joined in the chant, jumping up and down, their higher-pitched voices full of excitement.

  Connor jumped up, too, cheering with the rest of the fans already on their feet. “Run,” he shouted, pumping his fist in the air. “Run.”

  Heart pounding, he glanced at the scoreboard, confirmed the tight situation. Bottom of the eighth. The home team was down by three. He turned back to the game. Bases loaded, with only one out.

  The pop fly dropped in the dead zone between two unprepared outfielders. They scrambled over each other to get to the ball.

  The player on third-base headed for home.

  Olivia bounced up and down. “He’s going to make it. Connor, he’s going to score.”

  “Yeah, he is.”

  “Safe.” The umpire confirmed his ruling with a fast, outward sweep of his arms.

  Connor bumped fists with Molly, then Megan.

  The third base coach wound his arm in the air, urging the next player to keep on going. And the next one after that.

  The second player slid home. “Safe!”

  Connor high-fived Olivia. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

  The third runner made his move. But now the opposing team had their bearings back. A split second later the ball whooshed into the catcher’s glove.

  “Out,” yelled the umpire.

  Olivia groaned with the rest of the home crowd, a surprisingly large showing for an afternoon game in the middle of the week.

  She sank back in her seat. Megan followed, as did Connor.

  Molly remained standing, bouncing from foot to foot, eyes squeezed tightly shut. “We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win. We’re gonna win.”

  “You know it.” Olivia clasped her hand and tugged her into the seat beside. “As Yogi Berra always said, it ain’t over—”

  “Till it’s over.” Connor finished the famous line with her.

  She laughed.

  He joined in, feeling light, happy. Relaxed.

  For the first time in months, Connor didn’t think about work, or the endless responsibilities requiring his immediate attention. He didn’t even worry about Samson back home, asleep in his crate. Not much, anyway.

  All he thought about was his girls and the woman in the seat next to him, a woman who loved baseball as much as he did. He had a sudden urge to pull her near. For no other reason than he was glad she’d joined them today.

  A jolt of alarm followed the thought. Things were getting a little too close for comfort between him and Olivia. She’d wiggled past his defenses and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.

  Enjoy yourself, came the whispered thought.

  Not a bad idea.

  “What a beautiful day for a baseball game.” She gestured to the lush green outfield, then arced her hand in the air. “Eighty degrees, clear blue skies and, of course—” she winked at him “—stellar company.”

  He brushed his hand lightly over hers. “Can’t ask for more.”

  “Speak for yourself. I want a win.”

  “Getting greedy, Miss Scott?”

  “Absolutely, Dr. Mitchell.” She tapped him playfully on the chest. “Now stop distracting me. I’m trying to watch a very close game.”

  Molly scooted over to the seat on his other side, wiggled in beside her sister and whispered, “Thanks, Daddy.”

  “For what?”

  She glanced over at Olivia. “For bringing her with us. Today wouldn’t be the same without her.”

  “No, it wouldn’t.”

  “Ha.” She gave him a little-girl grin. “I knew you liked her.”

  The next batter moved into position at the plate, then stepped back when the opposing coach called time and jogged out to the pitcher’s mound.

  Attention riveted on the game, Olivia leaned forward. As she did, her long, silky hair brushed against Connor’s arm.

  His stomach clenched.

  Blinking hard, he focused on the scoreboard, then the outfield, swung his gaze over to the pitcher’s mound. His mind refused to settle, kept spinning back to the woman beside him and how her presence brought a sense of calm to his chaotic home, to his life, maybe even to his very soul.

  Irritation followed, moving through the sensation like yeast through dough.

  Megan moved around her sister and sat on Connor’s lap. “Molly ate all the popcorn. Can we get more?”

  Actually, Megan had eaten her share, too, but Connor welcomed the distraction. “Sure.”

  He set her on her feet and stood. “Anyone want to come with me to the concession stand?”

  “No way.” Megan shook her head adamantly. “I want to stay here with Miss Olivia.”

  Molly ignored the question completely. She was too busy staring down the opposing coach as he left the pitcher’s mound.

  “Olivia? That okay with you?”

  “Go on, Connor. The girls and I will keep the seats warm.” She waved him off with a preoccupied toss of her hand. “Won’t we, girls?”

  “Yep,” Megan said, taking the seat he’d just vacated.

  Molly pointed to home plate. “Batter up.”

  Shaking his head, Connor left for the concession stand on his own. All three of his girls barely noticed his departure. They clasped hands and leaned forward, eyes glued to the game.

  With half his mind on the game, he let the other half wander. Before Olivia had returned to Village Green, Connor had been navigating through life just fine, maintaining the status quo. Though there were times when he collapsed in the bed at night, exhausted, he’d been fairly satisfied.

  He had the twins. A rewarding career.

  And a carefully balanced, ruthlessly ordered life.

  Now, thanks to her influence, Connor was aware of an underlying restlessness that had begun to tug at him. The sensation had always been there, he realized, ever since Sheila’s illness. Maybe even before?

  A traitorous thought.

  Yes, he and Sheila had hit a rocky patch before she’d gotten ill. So she’d threatened to leave him if he didn’t stop working thirteen-hour days. Connor had rearranged his priorities, taken on Ethan as his partner. He’d even gone to counseling with her, and had prayed for direction. He’d done everything right, remained faithful, putting his hope in the Lord.

  To what end? Sheila had died anyway.

  Connor took a sip of the soda he’d brought with him, then stared into the cup as if the meaning of life swirled deep inside the dark liquid.

  The anger was there, he admitted, riding him hard, urging him to shake his fist at the Lord. But Connor controlled the emotion. Every day, he controlled it, shoved it down, pretended all was well. For his daughters’ sake. For Sheila’s, too, and the promise he’d made before she died. He would raise the girls in the church, would ensure that they learned the way they should go.

  No one needed to know what was really in his heart.

  Except...

  Connor knew.

  And the more time passed, the more he wanted freedom from the anger and pain he kept buried deep inside. He wanted a peace that had eluded him for years.

/>   At the front of the line, Connor ordered the popcorn and returned to his seats.

  He sat in Megan’s empty chair and handed over the bag. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” He concentrated on the game, only the game.

  Still two outs, but the bases were loaded once again.

  The ball whizzed in the air toward home plate. The batter swung and...smack.

  Olivia and the girls were back on her feet, screaming at the ball flying through the air. “Get up. Get up, you stupid ball. Up, up, up!”

  This time, Connor didn’t rise to his feet. He sat back and watched Olivia and the girls cheer on the team.

  Their enthusiasm charmed him.

  Olivia was a good influence on his daughters. She was so full of life, so uninhibited in her excitement, so throat-cloggingly beautiful. And she loved baseball. If Connor found out she was also a football fan, he’d be in trouble.

  You’re already there.

  Yeah, he was. He was also a guy. So he did what guys did in emotionally charged situations. He ignored the sensation and belatedly rose to his feet just as the ball sailed over the outfield wall.

  Home run.

  The crowd went wild.

  In that moment, Connor stopped thinking about the past, stopped feeling guilty, stopped wondering what came next.

  He exchanged a look with Olivia. A thousand words passed between them. And everything in him settled.

  He knew the peace flowing through him wouldn’t last. But for now, in this brief instant, he let a sense of calm fill him.

  The Bobcats eventually claimed the win seven runs to three. Megan and Molly jumped up and down with the other fans. Olivia and Connor stayed seated, smiling at each other.

  Despite the crowd rising, gathering their things, moving around them, Connor didn’t want to leave just yet.

  He wanted to soak in the moment.

  “There.” Olivia pointed to the scoreboard. “That’s what I call a perfect ending to a wonderful day at the ball field.”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Laughing, Connor pulled his daughters close, continued smiling at Olivia.

  He started to speak again, but whatever had been in his mind slipped away. Replaced by another, more disturbing revelation.

  He didn’t just like Olivia, didn’t just value the way she took care of his daughters. He admired her. Respected her. Wanted to get to know her better.

  He might even be on the verge of falling for her.

  On some level, he realized, he might already be halfway there.

  Chapter Ten

  Both girls were sound asleep by the time Connor turned his SUV onto the gravel drive leading to his home. Olivia watched him out of the corner of her eye, an uneasy sensation making her shoulders bunch. Ever since leaving the game, she and Connor had fallen into a friendly camaraderie, emphasis on friendly.

  At least on the surface.

  Under the surface bubbled all sorts of tension, strain and discomfort, a virtual hat trick of complicated emotions.

  Something had changed between them, at least on Connor’s end. Despite his outward attempt to keep the atmosphere light and friendly in the car, he was more distant than ever before.

  Olivia wished she knew what had caused his need to put up a metaphorical wall between them. She thought they’d had a good day. But she’d caught Connor watching her several times, his brows knit together, as if he couldn’t quite reconcile her presence in his car, maybe even in his life.

  During those uncomfortable moments, hoping to alleviate the awkwardness, she would smile at him. He would smile back. They would have a moment. Similar to the one they’d shared in the upstairs room with all the murals. Then he would turn back to look out the windshield and strike up a benign conversation with one of the girls.

  Now, with both Molly and Megan sleeping soundly, he navigated the drive in silence, pulling his SUV in next to her BMW.

  He cut the engine and sat back but didn’t make a move to get out. She touched his arm, nothing more than a slide of her fingertips along his sleeve, but his muscles tensed.

  “Connor.” She kept her voice low, not wanting to wake the girls. “Is everything okay?”

  He nodded, then slipped out of the car and opened the door behind him. Olivia followed suit, opening the door on her side of the car, as well. She nudged Megan awake, while Connor did the same with Molly.

  Megan awakened slowly, blinking up at her. “Are we home?”

  “We are.”

  Yawning loudly, Molly leaned over the center console to speak to Olivia. “Will you read to us tonight?”

  The question sent alarm washing through her. There was something all-too-intimate about reading bedtime stories to a child. It was so...parental. “Aren’t you too tired?”

  “Please, Miss Olivia?”

  The plea in the girl’s eyes nearly did her in. How was she supposed to say no to that? She glanced across the top of the car, locked gazes with Connor. “If your father says it’s okay.”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Maybe a page or two, but I doubt they’ll last much longer than that.”

  Olivia wondered if reading to the girls also meant she would get to say prayers with them, too. She figured they would explain their routine once they were upstairs.

  The four of them trooped into the house to the accompanying sound of Samson’s crazed yips.

  Connor instantly changed direction. “I’ll take care of the puppy.”

  “Then I’ll head up with the girls.”

  A quick nod on his part, a soft sigh on hers and they went their separate ways.

  By the time the twins were tucked in their bed, their faces washed, teeth brushed and prayers said, Olivia’s heart had taken another couple of hits. The twins were genuinely happy to have her part of their evening routine and had said as much at least three times each. Even their prayers had included heartfelt thanks to the Lord for bringing her into their lives.

  Eyes wet, her heart shattered into pieces, Olivia accepted the truth. She loved Molly and Megan as if they were her own. It had happened so fast. Not that she’d put up much of a fight.

  Sighing, she sat in a chair between their two beds, opened the book in her lap and set aside the bookmark Connor had left on page 37. “Ready?”

  Instead of answering her question, two pair of amber-colored eyes stared back at her. They had something on their minds.

  “Okay, what’s up?”

  They looked at each other, exchanged one of their silent twin messages and then turned back to study Olivia with identical expressions of interest.

  She waited.

  “Did you know our mom?” Molly finally asked her.

  The question struck Olivia in the heart like a well-aimed arrow from a master marksman. She’d assumed the twins would eventually ask her this, for the simple reason she’d grown up in Village Green, but Olivia hadn’t seen it coming tonight.

  Throat tight, she shut the book and took a steadying breath. “I knew her a little. But she was friendlier with my brothers, especially Ethan.”

  “Because she was Daddy’s girlfriend and Dr. Ethan is Daddy’s very best friend in the whole world?” Megan suggested.

  Smiling at Megan’s choice of words, Olivia nodded. “That’s partly the reason. But also because she was in the same grade as Ethan. She was five grades ahead of me, so I never actually attended school with her.”

  “Oh.” Molly considered this a moment. “Do you remember if she was pretty?”

  Olivia’s breath caught at the vulnerable look in the young girl’s eyes, but she recovered quickly and answered the question truthfully. “Your mother was one of the most beautiful girls in town. All the boys thought your father was the luckiest guy on the planet.”

  Molly sig
hed wistfully. “Daddy says we look like her.”

  “You do.” Olivia moved to sit on the bed beside Molly, took the girl’s hand. She reached out and took Megan’s, as well. “You two are already as beautiful as she was. The men who win your hearts will be the luckiest guys on the planet, too.”

  Both girls smiled.

  Olivia squeezed their hands gently, praying the gesture offered comfort.

  “Daddy shows us pictures of her sometimes.” Molly’s lower lip quivered. “But I don’t really remember her.”

  “Me, either,” Megan said, very softly. “I think it makes Daddy sad when we can’t remember her.” Tears filled the young girl’s eyes.

  Olivia swallowed back her own tears. “I’m sure he understands, sweetie. He probably shows you the pictures so you can remember her always.”

  Both girls nodded.

  Megan whispered her name.

  “Yes?”

  “Do you—” she blinked up at Olivia “—do you like our daddy?”

  A keen ache pierced the center of her soul. “Of course I like him. Our families have been friends forever and ever.”

  “Yeah.” Molly sighed heavily. “That’s what he said when we asked him the same question.”

  Oh, boy.

  “But then he said he couldn’t ask you out on a date because you’re our nanny.”

  “That’s true,” she rasped, wishing she had a clue how to navigate this conversation better. She was in way over her head. “It’s best if we keep our relationship strictly professional.”

  The girls exchanged another look, their little lips pursed in identical looks of frustration and resolve.

  Olivia knew better than to ask what was on their minds. Releasing their hands, she picked up the book and moved back to the chair between their beds.

  Both girls leaned back against their pillows and closed their eyes.

  Olivia watched them another moment, then lowered her head and started reading at the top of the page.

  * * *

  Connor stood outside the twins’ bedroom, listening as Olivia’s sweet, lilting voice picked up the story of Samantha and her friend Nellie where he’d left off.