A Mother for Matilda/The Boss and Nurse Albright

by Amy Andrews

  Wednesday Claire worked like a fiend to complete her initial herbal supplement survey, and gave the “What to Expect When Nursing” class for René’s pregnant clients in the morning. After, she called the hospital and found out Mrs. Densmore’s procedure had gone well, and she was stable.

  In the afternoon, she facilitated the “Stop Smoking Now” class for Phil’s pulmonary patients. When the memo came across her desk about the staff meeting on Thursday night, Claire worked even faster to finish the survey. Unfortunately for the other doctors, Gina would again be taking the meeting along with them.

  Gina brought her brand-new board book, Find the Puppy, along when Claire picked her up from the sitter’s Thursday evening before the staff meeting. She’d also drawn another picture for Jason. They’d spent no less than five minutes rehearsing how to say his name.

  This time, they arrived early enough for Claire to feed Gina some finger sandwiches and apple slices before the meeting began.

  Jon was the first to arrive, looking as though he’d just completed a mini marathon in a damp T-shirt, warm-up pants and running shoes with huge soles. He’d been known to hit the beachside trail during his lunch hour for a quick run, but today he must have gone after the clinic had closed. It was no secret he was training for the May marathon in Los Angeles and, for a man his age, he looked in tip-top condition.

  Phil swaggered in next, looking ready for a hot date in dark slacks and a thin baby-blue, long-sleeved v-neck cashmere sweater that brought out his dreamy eyes. In comparison to Jon, he smelled great!

  René and Jason arrived together. They spoke casually and laughed like old friends. Claire was surprised by the spike of jealousy that came over her.

  Everyone greeted each other, and Jason’s eyes met Claire’s for a brief moment before he called the meeting to order, causing a quick release of butterflies in her stomach.

  As with the last meeting, each member had their specific area of clinic business to report on. When it was Claire’s turn she was prepared with her spreadsheet and several surprising revelations about their clientele and herb-drug interactions.

  “Though drug-to-drug interactions are usually more serious, many herbs can interfere with or create potential hazards for our patients,” she said. “For example, we know that grapefruit juice can cause abnormally high concentrations of certain drugs in the blood because it inhibits a specific liver enzyme. And did you know that some patients take grapefruit concentrate pills from the health store?”

  She looked around the table and noticed a few raised eyebrows.

  “We know to warn our patients on those specific medications to avoid grapefruit and grapefruit juice, but can we trust they’ll put two and two together about the Pill? And if we don’t know that our patient is taking, let’s say Goldenseal, when we prescribe them erythromycin for an infection, they may experience toxicity.” She glanced around the room, and found everyone, including Jason, to be listening intently. Fortunately, Gina was just as intent drawing yet another picture for her new favorite person—Jason. “And it’s also important to be aware some herbs can greatly reduce the effectiveness of our prescribed medications.”

  To conclude her report, she passed around her list of common herbs and potential drug interactions. “I’d like to make sure that every patient receives this flyer at each medical appointment to remind them to check with their doctor before starting a new herb. And I’d also like to say a word on behalf of the benefits of supplementing medical care with herbs. It has helped tremendously with my battle with Lupus. So herbs aren’t by any means all bad. We just have to stay on top of things where our clinic patients are concerned.”

  “Thanks for this,” Jason said, speaking for the group. “How is the survey coming along?”

  “We’ve got a few stragglers who have yet to send back their information. I’d like permission to work a few extra hours Saturday morning to call each of them and encourage them to fill them out and send them in.”

  All the doctors nodded their approval.

  At some point, during her presentation, Gina had wandered over to Jason and crawled into his lap again. He didn’t seem to mind. When Gina heard the trigger word, Saturday, she parroted Claire’s promise made earlier that evening.

  “We go to park on Saturday.”

  She’d forgotten! Now she’d promised to work Saturday, and Gina would be very disappointed.

  All the other doctors had left, and Claire smiled ruefully at Jason.

  “I totally forgot about taking Gina to play at the park Saturday.” Before Claire could say another word, Gina broke in.

  She jumped up and down. “Da park! Thwings.” She clapped her chubby hands.

  “Maybe we can go on Sunday, honey,” Claire said, using her calming mother voice to help ward off the inevitable Hurricane Gina.

  The child screwed up her face in preparation for crocodile tears. “Thwings,” she cried.

  Jason tossed Claire an exasperated glance, then got down to Gina’s level and cupped her arms. He gazed into her big blue eyes. Without meaning to, Claire had put him on the spot. “I’ll take you to the park on Saturday so Mommy can work. OK?”

  “Oh, Jason, you don’t have to do that.”

  “You said so yourself, this survey is very important to the clinic, and the sooner we complete it the better,” he said.

  “But what about your weekend off?”

  “I’ve got to see my hospitalized patients in the morning, but I’m free in the afternoon, if squirt here can hold her horses.”

  Gina looked to Claire to help her figure out what that meant. “Dr. Rogers will take you to the park after you eat lunch,” she said.

  “Better yet,” Jason said, “I’ll take you to lunch, too.”

  Gina looked at Claire again, excitement brewing in her eyes. “Yay! Da park.”

  “Yay, the park,” Claire said, as she clapped her hands along with Gina. Now all she had to do was figure out a way to get him to stay for dinner.

  Chapter Six

  CLAIRE brushed her hair and put the finishing touches to her make-up on Saturday afternoon. Though she’d worn her new aqua-blue blouse, she threw on her favorite threadbare jeans to give the impression she hadn’t planned everything, down to the slivered almonds on fresh steamed green beans.

  Not only had Jason agreed to take Gina to the park, but to the zoo, too. The Santa Barbara Zoo was a small and perfect place for a pint-sized person to visit.

  Claire knew the last thing Jason wanted was to be pitied, and she didn’t pity him. She hurt for him; she’d seen the fallout from his misfortune and wanted to offer her friendship. He deserved to salvage his life from the tragedy that had annihilated his family.

  The fact that his mere presence gave her crazy thoughts about kissing and touching was something she’d have to deal with another time. Her emotionally unavailable ex-husband had cured her of ever wanting to get involved with a man who’d withhold his heart, for whatever reason, noble or not. And when a man did that, wasn’t that the first step toward making it easier to walk away when things got tough? No matter how much her body reacted to Jason, she would guard her heart from any more pain.

  The man deserved a friend. And he’d done a very big favor for her today.

  The dinner was a chance to get to know Jason better and to ease him back into the world of the living, hopefully without him even realizing it. She had a big job on her hands, but her famous beef stroganoff and made-from-scratch apple pie should do wonders to break through some of his barriers.

  The way to a man’s heart, as the old saying goes…

  No! Not his heart. She brushed the thought from her mind.

  The doorbell alerted Claire that, even though she didn’t feel quite ready for them, Gina and Jason had arrived home. She took a deep breath, hoping she could pull off her well-planned faux spur-of-the-moment dinner.

  “Dock-to Wah-durs took me to the zooooo!” Gina hugged Claire’s knees and squealed. “I saw Gemina! Her neck is hur
t.” She went into a play-by-play description of the giraffe with the crooked neck who was twenty-one-years old, then talked about all the animals she’d seen and imitated the sounds they made. Jason stood quietly as he closed the door, watching Gina’s delight with a serious expression.

  Claire met his gaze and she could see a hint of sadness. “The zoo was one of Hanna’s favorite places,” he said in a guarded tone.

  Claire’s shoulders slumped and she fought the urge to hug him.

  “Something smells fantastic,” he said, in an obvious attempt to change the subject.

  “Oh, it’s just one of those candles that smell like homemade apple pie,” she said, picking up Gina and delivering a huge kiss to her cheek. “And the other candle just happens to smell like beef stroganoff.”

  He sniffed the air. “Amazing. And you’ve got a fresh baked rolls candle, too?”

  She blurted a laugh, then grew serious. “Actually, I was hoping I could repay you with a home-cooked meal for bringing me food and fixing me breakfast when I was sick, and especially for helping me out today.”

  “I’d have to be nuts not to take you up on that,” he said, his mouth creasing into a pleased smile.

  She mentally blew out a breath, since it was highly likely that Jason could have been insulted about being bamboozled into dinner. Or he could have made plans for his Saturday night, and all of her cooking efforts would have been for naught. Even hermits had some friends.

  Claire poured and handed Jason a glass of merlot while she put the finishing touches on the meal. After setting up Gina at the table in her booster seat, they all sat in the small dining room adjacent to the living room. She could count on one hand the number of times she’d used this dining set. She’d bought it when married to Charles, but since the divorce and moving into the bungalow, she’d hardly ever had guests.

  Jason ate with gusto and paid numerous compliments about her cooking skills. It made her want to snap her fingers and dance in her chair. He also had a second glass of wine, and this time she joined him with her first. Surprisingly, he offered to do the dishes while she bathed Gina. All set for bed in her blanket sleeper, Gina hugged her new best friend goodnight. Though he’d been attentive enough to Gina during dinner, Claire saw Jason stiffen with the hug. And when Gina kissed his cheek, he flinched ever so slightly. Claire read Gina’s favorite story in the bedroom to give Jason some time to himself, and the child fell immediately to sleep.

  Claire stopped off in the bathroom to fluff her hair and put a bit more lip gloss on. Jason was a colleague. A friend, she reminded herself, but she thought about the goodlooking, suntanned man sitting in her living room and a shiver ran through her. Who was she kidding?

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I started a fire,” he said, putting a second log in the fireplace when she returned.

  Claire had only lived here for six months, and had rarely used the rugged rock fireplace. The golden glow and crackling fire made her already-small living room feel even cozier. He sat on the couch, and it occurred to her that it would be odd to sit in the chair all the way across the room, so she sat next to him. Then jumped back up.

  “Oh, I should put on some decaf or tea to have with our pie.”

  He clasped her wrist and tugged her back down. “I need more time to digest that fantastic dinner first.”

  She landed a bit closer to him than she’d intended, but didn’t move. The fire made her want to snuggle with someone. With Jason. Crazy thoughts. She’d blame the merlot.

  Claire suspected Jason’s gesture with the fire was a signal. Maybe he was reaching out to her. She protected herself with professionalism and went off on a safe and chatty tangent about all of the lame excuses their clinic patients had come up with for not returning their surveys. And if laughing proved he enjoyed listening to her, he must have. Good. They’d slipped back into a familiar level of comfort.

  Jason told her about all of Gina’s reactions to the animals at the zoo, though she sensed it was out of obligation. And he mentioned how she’d kept wishing her mommy were there. Claire had the urge to wake her daughter up and kiss her back to sleep. Jason must have noticed the depth of her love for her daughter, because when she ventured to look into his eyes they were steady and full of kindness, and they set off a warm implosion in her chest. She wasn’t prepared for the reaction and pulled inward.

  She noticed something else, too. His gaze had clouded over with nostalgia, and it occurred to Claire how hard it must have been for him today, and she quickly regretted putting him through it.

  “I think some coffee and pie are in order,” Jason said, obviously sensing her shift in mood.

  Hair had slipped across his forehead again, and the fire had warmed up the room enough for him to take off his sport jacket. She’d remembered his well-developed arms from the first day she’d met him, but tonight they looked particularly strong, and her resistance was suddenly weak. He followed her into the kitchen.

  She’d made a huge mistake forcing him to spend the evening with her. He’d relaxed and she’d coiled tighter than a tangled Slinky. Her fumbling fingers proved he’d taken her out of her comfort zone. He seemed to watch her every move, and her cheeks heated up at the thought. Could she be anymore clumsy?

  “I make a galley-chowder that will knock your socks off,” he said with a broad smile. “That is if you like clams.”

  Grateful he’d tried to lighten the mood, she nodded. “Love chowder,” she said, slicing the pie while the coffeemaker trickled steaming brown liquid into the glass pot.

  “I’ll have to invite you aboard sometime.”

  She almost cut a jagged line. Could she consider the invitation a date? Nah. Friends hung out on boats together. She handed him both pieces of pie, and followed behind with the mugs of coffee. They settled in front of the fireplace and sipped and ate and Jason made appreciative noises over the deliciousness of the apple pie. All of her efforts had paid off.

  “This is the best crust I’ve ever had,” he said. When he noticed she’d left a portion of hers on the plate he lifted his brows and reached for it. “You mind?” Without waiting for her answer, he popped it into his mouth.

  It occurred to Claire that she’d never seen Jason act more naturally. He’d spent an afternoon with her daughter and survived. Now he seemed playful and content, probably from the carbohydrate overload, but still, it was progress.

  She fell back into the cushions and put her feet up on the coffee table. “I’m so full I could pop.” He watched her with amusement.

  “I like that blouse,” he said, totally taking her by surprise. “It suits you.”

  With cheeks on fire, as if she was a schoolgirl, she glanced at him, then at her hands. “Thanks.”

  Perhaps it was her sudden discomfort, but Jason touched her hand and stood. “I should probably be going,” he said.

  Her uneasiness had rubbed off on him. She regretted it. “Pipsqueak wore you out, eh?” she said, wanting to keep things light, and wishing she could rewind the moments that had changed his mood.

  “Gina’s a pistol. I get a real kick out of her,” he said. “I’m kind of glad things worked out the way they did.” He stopped mid-stride and looked deeply into her eyes. “There’s something special about seeing the world through a kid’s eyes. I’ve missed that.”

  Jason’s nearness confused her. She hadn’t expected to turn into a shrinking violet under his scrutiny. Empathy had driven her to ask him to dinner. She’d accomplished her goal on that count, and he’d come out of his cave a little more tonight—an added benefit. She could pat herself on the back for making progress with him. But his penetrating gray eyes sent her straight back to last Friday night in his car. How many times had she relived those kisses this week?

  Swept up by the moment, she reacted on impulse and kissed him goodnight. It was only a light peck on the lips, but more than a friend would give.

  Jason seemed surprised at first, but he kissed her back, even put his hands on her waist to pull he
r closer. He tasted like nutmeg and sweetened apples. She wrapped her arms around his neck and soon they picked up where they’d left off before. There was no telling with Jason how long before he’d come to his senses and back out. So far so good. He’d found her tongue again and this time the sound effects were coming from his throat. She had to be delusional if she really thought she could keep theirs a friendship.

  His hand discovered the skin beneath her blouse, and his warm touch sent tingles up her back. She kissed him frantically, afraid he’d change his mind again, and greed to touch him made her squeeze the muscles across his shoulders and arms. She traced light breathy kisses along his jaw and his grip tightened on her hip, the other hand edging closer to her bra.

  He walked her backwards, and they managed to find the couch without breaking another of his deep kisses. He eased her against the sofa cushions with feathery lips down her neck. Her pulse flittered in her throat.

  Jason pulled back to look at her, and she worried he would stop like he had before, but she saw the fire in his eyes. She hadn’t imagined their mutual attraction after all. They’d been tugging and pulling on each other’s libido since their first meeting, the day they’d yelled at each other. Maybe they could make this work. He was turned on and gorgeous and she made a snap decision to make love with him if he wanted her. From the hungry look in his eyes, he definitely wanted her. Now.

  The fire crackled in the background and cast a bedroom glow over his face. His long fingers worked quickly to unbutton her blouse. He stopped briefly to look with obvious admiration at her lacy bra. Before she realized it, he’d undone the front clasp and released her. His hands caressed her breasts with near worshipful tenderness. His eyes briefly closed as his thumbs lightly swept across her nipples, and he swallowed before kissing the pebbled tips of first one and then the other. He wouldn’t dare turn back now.