Nurse to Forever Mom

by Susan Carlisle

  “Sounds good. That’ll give me time for something to drink and a granola bar.”

  The striding assistant called over his shoulder, “The dinner of champions.”

  Cody looked at her. “Come join me?”

  Stacey followed him to a small break room a few doors down containing a couple of vending machines.

  “May I offer you dinner?” Cody waved his hand toward the machines. She couldn’t help but smile at his levity. “I suggest you have something. It’ll be a long night.” He pulled some bills out of his pocket and looked at them.

  Stacey had left the island without even thinking about getting her purse. She was at his mercy in more ways than one. “My, Doctor, you do know how to turn a girl’s head with a meal.” She tried for her best nineteen-forties seductive-movie-star voice.

  He looked over his shoulder and gave her a dry smile. “I’ll try to do better in the future.”

  “In that case, for now I’ll have a protein bar and a bottle of water, please.”

  Cody nodded. “Good choice. I’ll have the same.” He fed money into the slot.

  With their food in hand, they sat at a small table with only two chairs.

  “Are you sure this meager fare will be enough to get you through surgery?” She didn’t hide her concern. When had she taken on worrying about him? Surely it was just one human being feeling concern about another and not something more.

  Chewing, he studied her a moment. “I’ve gone on far less.”

  “I’m sure that isn’t healthy.”

  “Maybe not, but necessary sometimes.” He took a long draw on his water. She watched his throat as it went down. A day’s worth of beard growth gave him a sexy edgy look. A little less buttoned up and more uninhibited. She liked it. He needed to let go somewhat.

  “Is something wrong?” He stared her back to reality.

  “Uh...nothing. Just thinking.” To her dismay, her cheeks grew warm.

  “About what?” Cody watched her much too closely.

  Yeah, like she would admit she’d been thinking about how sexy he was. Her eyes didn’t meet his as she spoke. “I was just wondering about who’s watching the girls.” That was such a lie.

  Cody gave her a suspicious look as if he suspected she hadn’t spoken the truth. “When Alex and I set up the clinic we knew we would have to occasionally be away for emergencies, so we set up an after-hours plan through the day care. Someone who works there is always on call. That person will come to my home and make sure the girls are taken care of. Even see they get to school. Because the girls are familiar with the person, they don’t usually mind.”

  Stacey pursed her lips in thought, seriously impressed with such planning. “Nice thinking. Maple Island Clinic is really special.”

  “Thanks. We tried to think of everything.” He shrugged. “If we didn’t, we’ve figured it out as we’ve gone along.” Cody stood. “I’ve got to head to surgery.”

  She needed to check in with James’s parents.

  “Just ask the unit clerk for anything you need. Give me half an hour to assess what I’ll have to do, then you can come and get a report.”

  “Will do.”

  He gave her a wry smile and went out the door.

  * * *

  Cody was in the process of resecting the damaged skin when one of the surgical nurses said, “Doctor, I’m not feeling well.” She ran for the door.

  “Get some help in here!” He already had his hands full with the mangled leg and now he was short a nurse.

  Another nurse in the room said, “At this time of night we’ll have to call someone in.”

  “I need those hands now.” The case was tough enough without this issue.

  The ill nurse hadn’t been gone a minute when the phone rang. No one could stop long enough to answer it. A few minutes later, with a mask over her mouth, Stacey stuck her head in the door.

  “Dr. Brennan—”

  “Scrub in. I need you in here,” he barked, not even taking the time to look at her.

  The door closed and a short time later Stacey entered. “Where do you want me?”

  “Stand beside me. I need you to resect and clean the blood away so I can see.” He had no more time to give directions. If any more tissue was lost then the boy would require skin grafts.

  “Little to the left, Stacey. That’s right.”

  As they worked he noted that he had to give her fewer instructions. Stacey anticipated his next move. “All right, let’s get these bone splinters out of here.”

  His surgical nurse held a metal bowl as he picked bone pieces from the muscle.

  “That looks like all of it.” Now he could start trying to repair the jumbled mess.

  “Doctor, I think I saw one more.” Stacey pointed to a spot and dabbed it with gauze.

  “Where?” He searched the area. “Ah, got it. Nice catch, Stacey.”

  She cleared the area again while he used the tweezers to remove the sliver before blood covered it again. “Excellent. Now, let’s get this boy’s leg pieced together.”

  Everyone worked patiently and efficiently over the next few hours arranging veins, ligaments and putting screws into bones as they put the human puzzle back together.

  It was almost morning when he, Stacey and the other staff walked out of the OR. Cody pulled his surgical gown and hat off, dropping them into the cloth bin beside the door. He was acquainted with tough surgery but this one had definitely been in the top three he’d ever done. The boy had damaged his leg almost to the point of no return. He would have additional surgeries ahead of him, painful rehabilitation and a limp.

  “Job well done, all.” He turned to Stacey. “Nice work in there. How much surgical training have you had?”

  “Very little.”

  She sounded exhausted but there had been no complaints from her. She’d done what needed doing without question. He couldn’t have been prouder of the work they’d accomplished.

  Stacey stripped off her surgical clothes in record time and was headed out the door. “I need to speak to the parents. They must be crazy with worry since I just disappeared on them.”

  Cody hadn’t thought of that. “Please tell them I’ll be right out.”

  * * *

  Hours later he and Stacey were standing at the ferry port, watching the vessel dock.

  “I’m sorry the helicopter couldn’t come get us. It’s out, bringing one of Rafael’s patients in.” Cody watched the water froth as the ferry, its massive engines rumbling, eased beside the dock.

  Stacey shrugged. “Part of the price of living on an island is living by the ferry schedule. It’s better than swimming.”

  Cody chortled deep in his chest. “That I can agree with. Especially since the water isn’t all that warm here. And it’s too early and too far for a morning swim.”

  “I like the beach but I’m too darned tired to enjoy it today. All I want is my bed.” She stepped onto the ferry.

  “I couldn’t agree more.” He was by her side once more. “You were good in the OR and with the senator as well. What’s a nurse with those skills doing traipsing around the world?” As a general rule he didn’t ask women personal questions, but for some reason he wanted to know more about this one, who was such an enigma. The need to learn what made her tick was beyond his control.

  “Much the same thing as here, nursing.”

  Something in her tone, or lack of it, made him believe there was more to it than that. “But why the traveling part?”

  Her slight frown suggested she was reluctant to answer yet she lifted a shoulder nonchalantly. “With a mother who has been married three times and is currently working on her fourth, I never really lived in one place very long. Being a traveling nurse was just an extension of that. It also gives me a chance to do all types of nursing in innumerable types of circumstances.”

/>   She was about going from one place to another, whereas he was about staying put. He wanted stability and calm in his life. He already knew what it was like to live daily with the anxiety of uncertainty. He pressed his lips together. Was Stacey’s reluctance to settle down generated by fear as well?

  They made their way inside to one of the bench seats. The engines rumbled as the ferry pulled away from the port. The sky was an orange pink over Maple Island, making it appear on fire. The best thing he’d ever done had been to move to the island. “So on-the-job training gave you those surgical skills.”

  She yawned behind the back of her hand. “Yes, even in developing countries a general practitioner will do major surgery if it’s in the right place at the right time.” She gave him a pensive look. “I know the clinic is great and all, but to move all the way from California seems a little extreme.”

  She’d deliberately changed the subject. Did she not want to talk about herself? He sure didn’t. “Yeah, but it was a necessary one.”

  “How’s that?”

  Now he was the one hesitant to answer. But she’d responded to his difficult question so it was only fair that he do the same. “I’d gone through an ugly divorce and the girls and I needed to start over. Have a change.” He leaned back, trying to get as comfortable as possible on the hard bench.

  “Their mother didn’t care that you took them so far away?” She watched him with disconcerting intensity.

  He shrugged, trying to appear as uncaring as possible. “It didn’t matter. She’s no longer in their lives.”

  Stacey covered another yawn. “I see.”

  Cody doubted that she did, but he wasn’t going into it any further.

  “I don’t want to be rude but I’ve got to close my eyes for a few minutes.”

  He stretched his legs out and crossed them at the ankles. “Not rude at all. It was a long night.”

  The ferry gently rocked. In minutes Stacey’s breathing turned even. When her head tipped forward Cody put his arm around her shoulder and brought her to him. Her head rested on his chest. It had been a long time since he’d held a sleeping woman. Unable to resist, he brushed his cheek against her hair. It was as soft as it looked and smelled faintly of the peaches he remembered.

  She murmured, shifted toward him then settled.

  Cody closed his eyes. It seemed only seconds later the push of hands on his chest woke him.

  Stacey’s eyes were wide and her hair wild as she stared at him in alarm. She had such expressive eyes. Cody couldn’t imagine her telling a convincing lie.

  “I’m sorry I went to sleep on you. I hope I didn’t drool on you.” She brushed at his chest, the tips of her fingers leaving hot spots through the fabric of his shirt.

  He grinned. “I didn’t mind. Your head was bobbing, and I felt sorry for you. Especially after I’d already woke you once today...uh...yesterday. I didn’t want to do it again.”

  “I wasn’t asleep on the deck. I was thinking. Enjoying the sunshine.” She stretched, showing a hint of skin at her waist before she tugged at her clothes, adjusting them.

  His body reacted in ways that had been dormant for far too long. This was his nurse. He had no business ogling her. He couldn’t help himself, though. Something about Stacey made his blood warm. He grinned. “Looked like sleeping on the job to me.”

  She stood over him, her hands on her hips. “I do not sleep on the job. Ever.”

  He winked at her. Even after a long night Stacey looked amazing. She had a knack for making him smile. There was a brightness to her that somehow made life look sunnier. He wanted to capture that. Hold it close. He reached for her but stopped himself, letting his hand fall to his thigh. “I was just kidding.”

  Kidding. He wasn’t a kidder. What was she doing to him?

  CHAPTER THREE

  STACEY CONTINUED DOWN the path leading to the harbor. The day was beautiful. The sun shone brightly, seagulls swooped and squawked. Sailboats and small fishing craft bobbed in the sparkling water. Had she found paradise?

  She’d slept well past noon the day before, exhausted from her all-nighter with Cody. To her horror she had actually fallen asleep on him. Yet she had to admit it had been nice to wake up in a man’s strong arms. Especially his.

  Cody was far better natured, more tender-hearted, than she’d assumed, given her initial assessment of his character. Just thinking about being so close to him raised goose-bumps on her arms. She liked him too much. What would it be like to have a few weeks of fun with him?

  No, she couldn’t act on that idea, even if he wanted to. Cody and his daughters didn’t need someone flitting into their personal lives, disrupting them and then leaving. More than that, he was her boss. Mixing business and pleasure often didn’t turn out well.

  He didn’t strike her as a fling kind of guy. He had two little girls he adored, and was incredibly protective of them. All Stacey knew about relationships was that when the going got difficult then people left and never looked back. Even her ex-fiancé had followed that philosophy. At least she’d found out about his affair before they had married. Now she did all the leaving. She didn’t wait around for it to happen to her.

  Long ago Stacey had concluded it was easier not to even attempt marriage and parenthood. Stay loose and laid-back. Enjoy what came, but not get too involved. She was happier that way. While everything about Cody screamed commitment. That alone should make her keep her distance. She needed to focus on enjoying her time on Maple Island and not go anywhere near Cody Brennan outside the clinic.

  From the harbor she made her way into town. Though she’d only been on the island for a week, she could tell the population was increasing. The tourist crowd had started creeping in as the spring weather warmed up quickly. She took a seat on an empty bench in front of the library so she could people-watch for a few minutes.

  She looked across the street to see Lizzy coming her way with her hair pulled back at the nape of her neck. The child wore a sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers.

  “Hey, Stacey,” the little girl called out.

  So much for staying out of Cody’s life outside the clinic. “Well, hey, there.”

  Lizzy plopped down. “What you doing?”

  Stacey searched the area. “Does your father know where you are?” Surely she wasn’t by herself. It wouldn’t be like Cody to let Lizzy run around the island unsupervised. He was a better parent than Stacey’s had ever been. She spied Cody and Jean coming out of a store. Her heart skipped a beat.

  Cody’s dark looks and air of authority made him a fine-looking man. Dressed in a button-down plaid shirt with a navy zippered fleece vest over it and jeans, he couldn’t have been more island casual or handsome. Tall, with those broad shoulders she knew well, he drew responses from all the women passing him. He captivated her for sure. Somehow she needed to get beyond this infatuation with him.

  She regarded the charming cherub next to her. “I was just out for a walk.”

  “Hey, Daddy. I’m over here.” Lizzy waved.

  His tight look of worry eased into one of relief. He started across the cobbled street in their direction with Jean beside him. As soon as he was within hearing distance he spoke sharply to Lizzy. “I told you to wait outside the store.”

  “I saw Stacey and I wanted to say hello.” Lizzy seemed to miss how concerned her father was.

  Cody stepped closer and leaned down, gaining the girl’s attention. “Next time you ask me before you go somewhere. I need to know where you are.”

  “Yes, Daddy,” she said meekly.

  Stacey tried to lighten the mood. She smiled. “Hey, Jean, Cody.”

  “Hi.” Cody stepped back and looked at her. His voice hadn’t lightened much.

  Jean just watched her, not saying anything but obviously curious.

  “Well, we need to be going.” Cody looked at Lizzy and offered his hand. “E
njoy your day, Stacey.”

  Lizzy took hold of it and jumped to his side. She smiled at Stacey. “We’re going to catch lobster and eat it and build a fire on the beach.”

  “That sounds like fun.” And it did.

  “It is, so much fun. The best.” Lizzy almost hummed with excitement.

  “Come on, let’s not bother Stacey anymore.” Cody tugged on Lizzy’s hand.

  “Daddy, can Stacey come lobster hunting with us?” Lizzy craned her neck to see her father’s face.

  Cody looked unsure as his eyes cut to Stacey. “Lizzy, I don’t think Stacey—”

  Lizzy yanked on his hand. “Daddy, we can show her how to set the trap, and row the boat, everything.”

  Getting more involved with Cody and his girls was the last thing Stacey planned to do. “Thanks for asking but I really should go home.” She stood, intending to step away.

  “Don’t you want to catch lobster with us?” Lizzy asked, giving Stacey a serious frown.

  “It’s so much fun.” She turned to Cody. “Tell her, Daddy.”

  It took a moment before he asked, “Have you ever put out a lobster pot?”

  Stacey considered him, then Jean, then Lizzy. “No.”

  He placed his hand on Jean’s shoulder. “Everyone should have the experience at least once.”

  “You need to come.” Jean offered her first words since she and Cody had walked up. “It’s my favorite thing to do too.” Lizzy grinned at her. Cody’s gaze met Stacey’s. She watched his chest expand then he released a breath as if he had made a huge decision. “You should definitely join us.”

  Going with them wasn’t a wise move, but it would only be for an evening and it wouldn’t be just Cody and her—his daughters would be with them. Against her better judgment and because she couldn’t resist their urging she said, “Okay.”

  Decision made, she planned to enjoy herself.

  She joined Cody and the girls on their walk to his house. It turned out that he lived in a home not very far from Paradise Cottage. It was built in the saltbox style that was so common in that area. Yellow with a red door, it implied everyone was welcome. She loved it immediately.