by Tina Beckett
Including the child’s father? Something about that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, although it was ridiculous. Maybe the man had traveled so much that there’d never been time to leave her with him or with anyone else. Or maybe the mark on her finger was a figment of his imagination.
It was also none of his business.
She gave a quick shake of her head as if reading his thoughts before meeting his gaze again. “Well, it was nice working with you, Dr. Bruen—”
“Call me Zeke. Everyone does.”
“Okay...” She drew the word out like it made her uncomfortable. Did she think he was hitting on her? Damn. Nothing could be further from the truth, despite that quick jerk to his senses after seeing her without her surgical mask for the first time. He hadn’t felt that since... Well, in quite a while.
Time to put her mind at ease, if that were the case.
“We’re pretty informal here at Mid Savannah.”
“I guess I’m not used to that. You can call me Lindy, then.”
“What’s your daughter’s name?” He had no idea why he asked that, and the last thing he should be doing was talking about baby girls with anyone. He never encouraged his colleagues to talk about their children, and most of the old-timers knew why. Maybe it was because of how reticent she’d been to talk to him. About anything.
“Her name is Daisy.”
Daisy. He liked that. His own daughter’s name had been Marina.
A shaft of pain arced through him and then was gone.
“Nice name.”
“Thank you.”
His glance went past her to see Nancy, one of the OR nurses, coming up the corridor, heading for them. She touched Lindy on the shoulder, only to have her give a squeak and nearly jump out of her skin. She whirled to the side, face white, eyes wide. She seemed to go slack when she saw who it was.
Her fellow nurse frowned. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” She held up a phone. “Is this yours? It was left on the desk.”
“Oh! Yes, it is. Thank you.” She suddenly grinned, her nose crinkling on either side. That smile made her face light up in a way that made his gut jerk even harder. He kicked the sensation away, irritated with himself.
“And you didn’t scare me.”
He wasn’t sure he believed her, but he’d already shown far too much interest in her life—and her—than he should have. The last thing he needed was to have the new nurse get any wrong ideas.
Because there weren’t any to have.
And if he was going to get out of here, now was the time to do it without feeling like he’d abandoned her. “Well, I have a few other patients to see, so if you two will excuse me.”
“Of course.” Nancy sent him a smile, while Lindy seemed to take her time looking at him, her phone now in her hand, her expression wary once again.
“I’ll try to do a little less clock watching the next time we work together.” As if she couldn’t help herself, her lips soon turned up at the edges and those tiny lines beside her nose reappeared.
He swallowed. “Not a problem. If you have any questions about the hospital or how we do things, I’m sure Nancy, myself or any of the other staff members can steer you in the right direction.”
“I appreciate that.”
With that he gave the pair a quick wave, before turning around and heading in the opposite direction. Part of him wanted to solve the mystery of the newest staff member and part of him wanted nothing to do with those kinds of guessing games. Especially if it involved someone who’d recently broken up with their spouse or significant other.
Or who had a young daughter.
Better just to do his job and pretend not to notice what Lindy Franklin did or didn’t do. As long as she did her job, he had no complaints.
And even if he did, he was going to keep them to himself.
For his own good. And maybe for hers too.
CHAPTER TWO
LINDY WASN’T TOO sure about bringing her mom and Daisy to the hospital for lunch. Especially not after what had happened with Dr....Zeke. Would he think she was distracted again?
She was off duty, so it was really none of his business.
Besides, she hadn’t been distracted per se. She’d been well aware of what she was doing and what she was supposed to be doing. And none of that involved the hunky surgeon.
Hunky? Really, Lindy? She gave an internal roll of her eyes.
Besides, her mom wanted to see the hospital, and she could think of no good reason to tell her no. And Daisy had seemed excited about eating somewhere other than at her or Mimi’s house.
“It’s hospital food, so don’t get your hopes up.”
Her mom laughed. “I don’t have to cook, so I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“Poor Dad. Is he fending for himself today?”
“No. He’s headed to the lodge to see his buddies. Which leaves me with time to spend with my favorite daughter.”
“I’m your only daughter, Mom.” She flashed a quick smile. “But I’ll take whatever time with you I can get.”
Especially since she hadn’t seen her parents for the duration of her marriage, something that should have sent up a red flag. Luke had supposedly landed a fabulous job across the country almost as soon as the ceremony was over. But, looking back, she wondered if quitting his job in Savannah had been the plan all along. There’d actually been quite a few flags that she’d missed along the way. All because she’d “fallen in love” and hadn’t taken precautions. Then, when she’d realized she was pregnant, she’d been too quick to say yes when he’d asked her to marry him.
But no more. If she ever found herself in a relationship again, she was going to make sure she let her mind do most of the work, rather than putting her heart in charge.
She had no desire to jump into that particular lake again. Maybe she’d wait until Daisy was grown up before dating. When she thought about what could have happened the last night she and Luke had been together...
She swallowed, her hand going to her throat as a phantom ache threatened to interfere with her breathing.
Stop it, Lindy. Daisy is fine. You’re fine.
Leading the way through the door to the cafeteria, she frowned when she spied the doctor she’d thought of as “hunky” just a few minutes ago. Great. Just what she needed.
She hadn’t had to work with him for the last several days, thank God. But she hadn’t really expected to see him here either.
Why not? The man had to eat, just like everyone else.
Just as she was ready to shepherd her mom and daughter back the way they’d come with a manufactured excuse, Zeke’s eyes met hers, narrowing slightly before moving from her to her mom and then to Daisy.
Then he frowned, deep furrows giving his face an ominous look that made her shiver.
Her chin went up. She wasn’t cowering ever again. She had as much of a right to be in here as anyone. She changed her mind about leaving and ushered her mom and Daisy over to the line and got behind them, swinging Daisy up into her arms. “What do you want to eat, honey?”
“Sheeshburger.”
“A cheeseburger? How many of those have you had recently?”
Her mom shook her head. “Hey, don’t look at me. We had plenty of fruits and vegetables to go with yesterday’s burger.”
Lindy’s dad loved to cook out on the grill, and his meals were always delicious. “I was teasing.”
Against her volition, her gaze slid back to Zeke, who she found was still watching her from the coffee bar. The frown was gone, and in its place... Another shiver went through her, this time for a completely different reason. When he snapped the lid onto whatever he’d just poured in his cup, he didn’t move away from them like she’d hoped. Instead, he headed their way.
The shivery awareness died a quick death. She had no desire f
or her daughter to meet any of her male colleagues. Especially not Zeke.
She wanted her daughter to have a good long stretch of stability to hopefully counteract anything she might have seen sensed or heard during her mother’s disastrous marriage.
Then Zeke was in line with them. “Hi. You must be off today.”
This time it was her brows that came together, until she realized she wasn’t dressed in scrubs. Although there were people who did bring their street clothes to work and changed into them after their shift. “I am. I thought I’d show my mom and Daisy around.”
“Good idea.”
There was an awkward pause, which her mom was quick to fill. “I’m Rachel Anderson. I take it you and my daughter know each other?” She shot Lindy a glance filled with curiosity.
Oh, no, Mom. Not you too.
“He’s one of the pediatric surgeons here at the hospital.” The words came out a little gruffer than she’d meant for them to.
Zeke held out his hand and introduced himself, making her realize that she should have at least told her mom his name. But the momentary awareness she’d felt a few minutes ago had left her flustered, and Lindy didn’t like it. She’d been flustered by Luke as well and look how that had turned out.
“Why don’t you join us?” her mom said as Lindy just stood there, staring at him. Damn. Soon Zeke was going to think he’d been right when he’d said she seemed distracted. She was. And this time it wasn’t by thoughts of her daughter.
It was by the surgeon himself.
“That’s up to Lindy.”
What? Why was it up to her? She did not want to cast the deciding vote. “It’s fine with me.” She shifted Daisy a little higher on her hip, keeping her close. But thankfully Zeke hadn’t shown much interest in her daughter. And Lindy would rather keep it that way.
They somehow made it through the line, although she no longer felt like eating. And it wasn’t due to the quality of the food on offer in front of them. She tried to take one of the two trays her mom was wrestling with, only to have Zeke take it instead. “I’m not eating much, so I’ll put mine on your tray, if that’s okay.”
Great. She guessed it didn’t matter since she’d already said he could join them. “It’s fine. No surgeries this afternoon?”
“I had one in the middle of the night and ended up staying. As soon as I eat, I’m heading home to crash.”
A surgery in the middle of the night was never a good thing. “Was it bad?”
He nodded, a muscle in his jaw tight. “Very bad. A teenager hung herself.”
“Oh, God.” Her mom was thankfully ahead of them, since her lungs had suddenly seized as remembered sensations washed over her. The cramping of muscles starved of oxygen. The blackening of her vision. The realization that if she passed out, it was all over.
Somehow she got hold of herself and swallowed several times to rid herself of the memories. She cleared her throat, somehow needing to ask the question. “Did she make it?”
“Yes. Her trachea suffered a partial separation, and we had to do a tracheotomy and then go in and repair the damage. But she’ll be fine physically. And hopefully she’ll get the emotional help for whatever caused her to do this.”
“How terrible.” Lindy had been fortunate that there’d been no permanent damage to her throat. Nothing to repair. Except her heart. And she was still dealing with some of the fallout from that. Like when Nancy had tapped her on the shoulder. Even after two years of freedom, she was sometimes easily startled. And she tended to walk on eggshells around people, afraid of making someone angry, even though she knew that fear was irrational. But, like her therapist had said, it would take time.
Lindy picked out an egg salad sandwich and a small cup of fruit, while her mom put Daisy’s picks on her own tray. And, yes, there was a cheeseburger. That made her smile.
She still had her daughter. There’d been no custody battles. No lengthy court cases. There’d been no need for anything, other than a coffin, in the end. Daisy would never know her father. But she couldn’t help but think that was for the best.
A minute or two later they were seated at one of the small tables. Zeke yawned and downed a healthy portion of his coffee.
“Sorry. I’ll try not to fall asleep on you.”
A pang of compassion went through her. Anyone who saw medicine as a glamorous profession hadn’t seen the toll it took on those in the field. Zeke had probably been uprooted from his bed to come in and do the surgery. And then he’d probably gone on rounds this morning and dealt with his own caseload of patients. “Were you scheduled for today?”
“Yes. But I wasn’t slated to come in until seven.”
“And your surgery was when?”
“Two.”
“You have to be exhausted. Are you off tomorrow?” She wasn’t sure why she cared. Plenty of healthcare professionals went through the same thing on a daily basis. But she could see the tired lines bracketing his mouth and eyes. Maybe that’s what had made his earlier frown seem so fierce.
“Yes.”
Her mom laid Daisy’s food out on a napkin and put a straw in her cup of juice. “I remember the days when you pulled those kinds of hours before you got...” Her voice faded away.
Thankful her mother had caught herself. Lindy nodded and forced herself to smile. “I’m sure you pulled your share of all-nighters when I was a kid.”
“Of course. But that’s different from what you and Dr. Bruen do. And you were a pretty healthy child.”
As was Daisy, thank goodness.
“Call me Zeke, please.”
Lindy’s brows went up. So it wasn’t just the staff who were allowed to call him by his given name. That privilege evidently extended to their immediate relatives.
He took another gulp of his coffee, bloodshot eyes glancing at her for a second before moving over to Daisy. Then they closed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose as if suddenly sporting a massive headache.
“You don’t have to stay here and keep us company. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep?” This time her smile wasn’t as difficult to find. “Besides, if you drink too much of that stuff you won’t be able to do anything but stare at the ceiling.”
“Said as if you’ve done exactly that.”
“I have. And it wasn’t fun.” It also wasn’t for the reasons he thought. It had been when her marriage had been at its lowest point, and she’d been worrying about Daisy’s future and the hard decision ahead of her. That choice had been taken out of her hands a day later.
At least Daisy would never have to decide whether or not she wanted to see her father in the future.
Zeke pushed his cup away. “I’ll take your word for it. And sleep sounds like heaven right now.” He stood. “I think I’ll try to do just that. Thanks for letting me join you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Daisy lifted her cheeseburger and waved it at him. “Bye-bye.”
He looked like he wasn’t sure what to do for a second, then he gave a half-smile. “Goodbye to you too. And nice meeting you, Mrs. Anderson.”
“Call me Rachel, since I’m calling you Zeke.”
“Okay. It was nice meeting you... Rachel.”
“You as well.”
Once he was gone, her mother looked at her. “The doctors here are a lot cuter than at your last hospital.”
“Mom!” It wasn’t like she hadn’t noticed how good looking Zeke was. The word hunk—of all things—wasn’t something she threw around every day. But the last thing she needed was to fantasize about the man.
Oh, Lord, no. You are not having fantasies. About anyone!
“Don’t you ‘Mom’ me. You can’t let one bad experience turn you off love forever.”
“It was a little more than a bad experience, don’t you think?” She worded it carefully. Even though Daisy didn’t know e
xactly what had happened, she might be able to understand more than Lindy thought.
“I know, but not all men are like Luke. Take your father, for example.”
“I know, but I’m not ready to date. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever want to again.” Even Mr. Hunk himself would have a hard time moving her off that mark. Even if he wanted to. Which he didn’t.
Her mom reached over to squeeze her hand. “I understand. Really, I do. When the time is right, you’ll change your mind.”
This time Lindy let it go. There was no use arguing over her decisions about dating. And as much as her mom said she understood, how could she possibly know what it had been like to live with someone like Luke? A good chunk of his life insurance policy had gone to pay off credit cards he had taken out in her name. Her discovery of those cards had been what had set him off that last time. It was no wonder she was now leery of relationships. And Daisy had to come first at this point in her life.
“If I change my mind, you’ll be one of the first to know.”
Rachel gave her daughter’s hand one last squeeze and then withdrew. “That’s my cue to change the subject. Are you getting used to living on your own?”
Lindy’s quaint little cottage wasn’t all that far from the hospital. It was within walking distance, which was nice. And it overlooked a nearby park, which was even nicer. She and Daisy had strolled through it on more than one occasion already. “I am. Thank you so much for helping me find the house. We’re making it a home, little by little, aren’t we, Daisy? She loves the princess stickers you got for her wall. We’ve already put them up.”
“Princess!” Daisy said the word in a loud voice.
“I saw them. She is my little princess, aren’t you?” Her mom tweaked Daisy’s nose.
The tyke repeated the word like a battle cry, stretching her arms out as if showing her grandmother just how much of a princess she was.
They laughed and suddenly Lindy was fiercely glad she’d decided to return to Savannah when she had. She was back among familiar landmarks and people she loved. It made the odd little pangs in her chest bearable.
