“It’s okay. I deserve whatever you can dish out and more. I thought about calling—”
“I see.” The angry mom look was back. “And you didn’t... Why?”
“That’s a good question.” Dawn wished she could have those words back. But that wasn’t going to happen. “I should have called. It’s just I didn’t want to wake you and—”
“You were with Jon. Everything and everyone else just wasn’t as important as what you were feeling for him at that moment.”
In spite of the conflict ripping her apart, Dawn smiled. “Clearly you’ve experienced the phenomenon, too.”
“I have.” Her mother glanced at Hank. “And was Jon a gentleman?”
“Yes.” Dawn had been right about not having the reserves for this conversation. That was the only explanation for why the next words came out of her mouth. “It got late and I didn’t want him to take me to my car then drive all the way back to the ranch. We decided I would sleep there.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t do much sleeping.” Glory’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Hank didn’t say anything but he looked mad enough to twist Jon’s head off as easily as he did the cap on a beer bottle.
“We’re not teenagers.” Hadn’t she already said that? Right, about herself. “We should have been able to share the bed without—” Her cheeks burned and she felt like the teenager she repeatedly denied being. But, for the rest of her life she would never forget the grinding need in his voice when he’d said he wanted her. Dawn was tired of resisting and had wanted him, too. But she thought he’d meant for more than a one-night stand and the pain of being wrong was profound. “He was going to sleep on the couch. I was the one who stopped him.”
“You must really like that man,” her mother said.
“I do. But he doesn’t feel the same—” The pain of that realization grew bigger until it choked off her words. A sob escaped and she couldn’t hold back the tears. She put her hands over her face and cried.
A pair of strong arms enveloped her, clearly not her mother’s. At that moment the warmth and comfort felt better than the bitterness she’d carried around for her father. She couldn’t bring herself to reject him.
“It’s okay, honey,” Hank said. “There, there. Please don’t cry. If you want, I’ll beat him up for you.”
Dawn laughed and knew she sounded the same as Glory had. Like mother, like daughter. But she had this man’s DNA, too. Maybe her instinct to rescue a situation with humor came from her father. Who knew she would ever find common ground with him?
“I appreciate the thought,” she said.
“I’m not joking. If you want, I’ll take him apart with my bare hands.” There was no mistaking the sincerity in Hank’s voice.
Funny how the threat of physical violence could warm a daughter’s heart. She brushed away the tears on her cheeks and looked up at him, but didn’t move away. “As appealing as that sounds, it’s probably not a good idea. We finally have a pediatrician in Rust Creek Falls and hurting him wouldn’t be good for the kids.”
“She’s right, Hank.” Glory’s eyes were full of motherly concern and just a little bit of teasing. “Think about our granddaughter’s welfare before you do anything rash.”
“Thinking about Sydney would be the rational thing to do but I’m not feeling it right now.” He shrugged. “It’s a guy thing.”
More of a father thing, Dawn thought, grateful for the fact that he was respecting the boundaries she’d put up. But the lines were blurring now and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.
“Thanks for wanting to,” she said. “But no promises were made on either side. There’s nothing to punish him for. You can’t force someone to feel the same way you do.”
Hank nodded, then gave her a gentle hug before reluctantly letting her go. “Okay. But if you change your mind—”
“I’ll be sure and let you know,” she assured him.
Her mother moved in front of Dawn and took her face in her hands, then kissed her forehead. “I love you, sweetie. I was afraid this would happen. But you should know that anyone who hurts you has to deal with me.”
“Thanks, Mom. I’m okay, just tired. This thing with Jon isn’t serious.” She was pretty sure about that, but not completely. “I’ll be fine.”
Glory nodded. “Are you and I fine? Or do you still want to move out?”
“We are fine. And I’m not sure about the moving out part. There are pros and cons.”
“Okay. Table that for now,” her mother said. “Speaking of tables, there will be an extra plate at ours tonight. Hank is having dinner with us. A thank-you for changing the faucet and all the painting and everything—”
“It’s okay, Mom.” She knew Glory expected her to push back, but she wasn’t feeling the hostility anymore. She looked at Hank. “I’m glad you’re staying.”
“I’m glad you’re glad,” he said.
So there was some gladness going around as they worked together to get food on the table. But when Dawn thought about tomorrow, she wasn’t feeling the joy. Tomorrow she would have to go back to her job and pretend that nothing had happened between her and Jon. It was going to take a lot of energy to live that lie in front of everyone.
She had no idea how she was going to pull it off.
Chapter Thirteen
Working with Jon the day after her father offered to beat him up turned out to be just as uncomfortable as Dawn had expected. But she was soldiering on as best she could. And then the day got worse when her sister came into the clinic. It was Sydney’s first sick visit. Dawn could see the worry on Marina’s face. With a redhead’s pale skin, the dark smudges of exhaustion beneath her blue eyes were really noticeable.
She showed them into an exam room and said, “So, what’s going on with our baby girl?”
As if knowing she was being discussed, the whimpering child burrowed her face into her mother’s neck. “She’s got a fever. And I’ve never seen her so fussy. She keeps crying and pulling at her ear. I was in the glider chair with her all night. That was the only way I could get her to rest.”
“Poor baby. Poor mom.”
Dawn made notes in the chart for Jon to see, then put it in the holder outside the room with a color-coded clip that told Jon to come into this room next. Technically Syd wasn’t an emergency, but it sure felt that way. She loved this baby so much and hated that she wasn’t feeling well.
She braced herself for the coolly polite, hideously awkward experience of being in the same room with the man who was her one-night stand. So far today bracing herself hadn’t worked very well and there was no reason to think that would change just because her family was here.
The rest of the staff knew about her sister and were picking up the slack so that Dawn could stay with her and lend moral support. And when Marina sat down and the baby shrieked, it was clear her sister needed all the support she could get.
“I can’t sit unless it’s to rock her. When that doesn’t work I walk the floor—” Emotions choked off her words.
“Will she come to me?”
“It’s worth a try.”
“Can Auntie Dawn hold you, sweet girl?” She held out her arms and the baby came to her. She cuddled the small, warm body close. Her heart ached because this child she loved so much was miserable.
At that moment the door opened and Jon came in holding the chart. He saw her with the baby and stopped, staring at her with the strangest expression on his face. Then he noticed Marina who stood up and moved beside Dawn.
“Hi. I’m Dr. Clifton—Jon.” He held out his hand.
Marina took it. “I’ve heard a lot about you. All of it good.”
“That’s nice to hear. Tell me what’s going on with Sydney.” He nodded thoughtfully when her sister ticked off the symptoms. After
setting the chart on the counter he said, “Let’s have a look at her.”
Dawn knew that meant putting her on the exam table, but when she tried the baby started crying really hard. “Oh, baby girl, we just want to help you feel better.”
“It’s all right. I can get what I need if you hold her.” With the stethoscope he listened to her back. “Now if you could turn her around, I’ll listen to her chest and look in her ears.”
“Right.” Dawn was able to put the baby’s back to her front without a major meltdown and Marina held one of her tiny hands.
Jon moved close and she could feel the warmth of his body, the masculine scent of his skin. Her heart was going a mile a minute and if he had that stethoscope to her chest, he would know exactly how his nearness affected her. But this was about Sydney and she watched for his reactions as he looked and listened. She knew him now, whether or not he was concerned about something serious.
When he took the otoscope and checked both her ears, he nodded slightly in a way that meant the mystery was solved. He straightened and looked at Marina. “No wonder she’s an unhappy little girl. It’s a bilateral ear infection.”
“What does that mean?” Her sister looked anxious. “I get the infection part, but—”
“Bilateral just means it’s in both ears,” he explained.
She didn’t look any less worried. “What do I do?”
Apparently Jon heard the note of panic in her voice because he smiled his most reassuring smile. Dawn didn’t know if it worked on her sister, but it sure did on her. It made her weak in the knees.
“This is common and very treatable,” he said. “I’ll write a prescription for a liquid antibiotic which will fix her right up. And I’ll check her again in two weeks.”
The worry in Marina’s eyes was a little less intense.
“I’ll make an appointment before I leave,” she assured him.
He nodded. “I’ll leave the prescription with her chart at the front desk. Pick it up when you check out.”
“I will.”
“You have a beautiful little girl,” he said, smiling at the baby who was studying him with wide blue eyes.
“Thank you. I think so, too.”
“It was nice to meet you, Marina.” He shook her hand again, then left the room.
Her sister looked puzzled. “That’s weird.”
“Not really. Ear infections are common in kids.”
“Not that.” The baby started to fuss and Marina took her. “He examined my daughter, who was in your arms, and managed not to look at you even once. What’s that about?”
That was about sex and the fact that they shouldn’t have done it. “Oh, I think your imagination is working overtime.”
“I’ve had practically no sleep. Trust me, nothing in my body is working overtime.” Marina thought for a moment. “Nope, you could cut the tension in this room with a butter knife. Again I ask—what’s up, sis?”
Dawn sighed and leaned back against the exam table. “I don’t know why I thought you wouldn’t pick up on it. People here at work have noticed the change in the air.”
“How do you know?” Marina swayed back and forth as the baby dozed off in her arms.
“Callie and Lorajean said something.”
“Who?”
“Lorajean Quinn, the new nurse. She said the two of us were acting as if we’d unfriended each other on Facebook.”
“What happened? I thought things were fine after you two cleared the air.”
“Have you talked to Mom today?”
Marina shook her head. “Why?”
“Because she gave me the third degree last night. Dad was there and—”
“Since when did you start calling him Dad?” The baby started at the sharp tone and her sister made apologetic shushing sounds. “You said hell would freeze over before that happened.”
“Well, don’t look now, but it’s getting a little cold.” Dawn wouldn’t have thought it possible that her attitude toward Hank would change but he’d kept every promise he made to Glory. And talking to him about Jon had helped.
“How? Why?”
As much as she didn’t want to talk about this, she knew her sister wouldn’t drop the subject until a satisfactory response was provided. She was a teacher and a stubborn redhead. So here it was. “I slept with Jon and Dad offered to beat him up for me.”
Marina blinked, then shook her head. “For sure I’m sleep deprived and not firing on all cylinders, but I fail to see why Hank would offer to beat up the doctor for you. Did Jon not do it right?”
“No, he was fairly awesome.” She felt heat creeping up her neck and into her cheeks. “It’s about what happened after.”
With the baby sound asleep in her arms, Marina wearily lowered herself into the chair. “I’m not following.”
“The clinic was crazy and I didn’t eat lunch. He insisted on feeding me.”
“Well, that explains everything. By all means let’s string him up by his thumbs.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Not for lack of trying. More details would help. You sound like the one who’s been up all night.”
That wasn’t far from the truth, Dawn thought. Jon had been on her mind, making sleep difficult to come by. And when she finally managed to nod off, dreams with him as the star were not very restful.
“Okay. From the top,” she said. “After he kissed me we came to an agreement.”
“And that was?”
“We decided it would be best if we just stayed friends.”
“Even though the attraction is mutual?” Marina asked.
“Yes.”
“You’re my sister and you know I love you, right? But I think maybe you need therapy.” Marina rubbed the baby’s back. “He’s a doctor so probably brighter than the average guy. He’s nice. Likes kids, obviously. And—I just met him so I can verify this information personally—he’s gorgeous. What is wrong with this picture?”
“He’s a coworker. We work closely together and if things got weird—” Dawn lifted one shoulder in a shrug.
“Don’t look now, but things are weird. You’ve got nothing to lose now by exploring a relationship.”
Dawn took a breath. “He’s leaving in a year.”
“That’s a long time. A lot can happen.”
A lot had happened in the last couple of weeks and she’d ended up in his bed after swearing she wouldn’t. Maybe they could ride out the weirdness, although judging by today a year might not be long enough.
“The thing is,” she said, “we talked about it after.”
“Oh, no. The dreaded postsex conversation. That’s never good.”
“Wish I could be the exception to that, but sadly I’m not.” Dawn folded her arms across her waist. “I told him not to be concerned. That I knew it didn’t mean anything.”
“Please tell me he said you were wrong,” Marina begged.
She shook her head. “So, I said we should just go back to the way things were.”
“Oh, sweetie, that would be like trying to get glue back into the bottle.”
“Tell me about it. You saw for yourself how strained things are.”
“Give it time,” her sister advised. “Things were uncomfortable between you in the beginning, too, and you worked through it. Follow your heart.”
Her heart wanted him, so doing that could send her straight back into his arms. “I’m not going to chase him. I can’t.”
A move like that would only lead to rejection and another one from Jon could destroy not just her heart but her career.
* * *
Jon gathered plates and helped clear the table in Will’s kitchen. “Dinner was really good, Jordyn Leigh.”
She was a pretty blue-eyed b
londe and completely unaware of her looks which was a big part of her charm. “Thank you, Jon. I appreciate that you want to help clean up, but please just sit and enjoy hanging out with your brothers.”
Craig and Rob were visiting from Thunder Canyon and their sister-in-law had cooked for all of them. Jon realized he hadn’t had a meal cooked by someone besides himself since the night he’d brought Dawn her cell phone and ended up invited to dinner with her parents. The memory made him acutely miss her playful teasing, the way she used to smile at him. The way it was before they slept together.
“Earth to Jon.” That was Will’s voice.
“Hmm?”
“Hey, Professor, you have a weird look on your face.” Craig was studying him.
“I do?” Of course he did. Because it felt as if his life was screwed up. And by that he meant work, since he had no personal life. There was a brief glimpse of one with Dawn but now...not so much.
“There’s that look again. What’s up?” asked Rob, the youngest.
“You guys are full of it.” Jon had to stop thinking about Dawn. These guys knew him too well. He glared around the table and gave each one a look that said back off.
“Does this brooding have anything to do with Dawn Laramie spending the night?” Will asked.
“What?” Jordyn Leigh stopped scrubbing the roasting pan and half turned toward them. “Dawn was here overnight?”
Jon squirmed. “Well, she—”
“Not you. That question was actually for my husband.” She sounded a little put out. “You knew about this and didn’t say anything to me? Your loving and supportive wife?”
Now Will was squirming. “Sweetheart—”
“Don’t sweetheart me. I didn’t think we kept secrets from each other.”
“We don’t,” Will agreed. “But this wasn’t my secret to share. It was Jon’s.”
“You’re absolutely right.” Jordyn Leigh smiled. “Okay, now you can call me sweetheart.”
“And I’ll be calling you butthead.” Jon glared at her husband. “What the heck? You keep my private information to yourself, then drop it in casual conversation with Craig and Rob?”
Her Maverick M.D. Page 16
