“I guess I’ll see you at the office tomorrow,” she said instead.
“Right. I guess so.”
With other friends, she might have hugged them or even given a kiss on the cheek before sending them on their way. With all these emotions churning through her, she didn’t dare do anything but give Eli an awkward little wave.
He looked as if he wanted to say something else, but he finally nodded and waved, gripped Max’s leash and headed back down the beach.
She did her best not to watch after him, though it took every ounce of self-control she had.
* * *
“I am so ready to have this baby, if only to be done with stirrups and paper gowns.”
Melissa smiled at Julia Garrett, currently settled onto the exam table in said paper gown. “It looks so lovely on you. Are you sure you don’t want a few more children?”
Julia made a face. “No. This is it. Our house is bursting at the seams and Will says he can’t build on again and I can’t bear to move. So we have to be done.”
“At least until Maddie and Simon go off to college next year. Then you’ll have plenty of room for more babies.”
She gave a rough laugh. “I hope you hear how ridiculous that sounds. We’ll never be empty nesters at this rate.”
This was Julia’s fifth child. She and her husband, Will, had her teenage twin boy and girl from her previous marriage as well as an eight-year-old and a four-year-old. Melissa could only imagine the chaos at their house, but Julia always seemed calm and composed. Oh, how she envied her and wished some of that serenity would rub off on her.
Julia had once lived in Brambleberry House with her twins, when she was a single widow with twins, before she married Will. She had a soft spot for the house and the gardens and the stunning beauty of the place.
When Melissa came back to town, the two of them had bonded over that right after they met, a bond that had deepened and strengthened into real friendship in the months since.
“This is the last one, for sure.”
She touched her abdomen protectively and Melissa felt a sharp little ache in her own womb.
She had wanted more children but hadn’t been willing to bring more children into the uncertainty of a shaky marriage.
The little twinge of regret annoyed her. She had an amazing daughter. She refused to waste the wonderful life she had, wishing she had made different choices.
“Dr. Sanderson should be here soon.”
“When you say that, I keep picturing sweet Dr. Sanderson, then remember you’re talking about someone else entirely. How is it, working for Wendell’s son? He’s quite gorgeous, isn’t he?”
Oh, yes. Entirely too gorgeous. She had to brace herself against her instinctive reaction to him every time she came into the office. It had been three weeks since he came back to town, two since the day he had come with her and Skye to fly kites, and she was more tangled up than ever.
“Just like his father, Eli is an excellent doctor,” she said. “I promise you’ll be in great hands.”
“Oh, I know. He was great when I came in for my checkup last week and the week before. Wendell has nothing but praise for him. Will remembers him, though Eli is a few years younger. Will said he was freaky smart in school.”
Julia hadn’t grown up in Cannon Beach but had spent summers here during her childhood. Will had been her first love, which Melissa found utterly charming.
“He was,” she answered, wondering how they’d gotten on the subject of Eli. She had been doing her best not to think about him...which was particularly tough when they worked together each day. The only way she had survived the last few weeks was by staying busy with her classes and Skye and trying not to think about him leaving.
“How soon before his dad is back?”
“We’re still not sure. His own doctors want him to take it easy, but you know Wendell. He is determined to come in next week for at least a few hours a day. Who knows, he might be back before you have the baby. When are you due again?”
“Three more weeks.”
“Your chances are good, then.”
She was aware with every passing day that Eli’s time in Cannon Beach was drawing to a close. The prospect of him leaving filled her with a curious mix of dread and relief. She dreaded knowing he would be gone and she would be left to worry about him possibly being in harm’s way. But she couldn’t deny there would be a certain relief that she wouldn’t have to pretend any more that she wasn’t crazy in love with the man.
She had done her best to keep things polite and professional between them. She helped him in exams, she did triage assessment, she answered phone calls and forwarded prescriptions to him. And every time she was with him, she was aware of her feelings growing stronger by the moment.
He was an excellent doctor, compassionate and kind, as well as a devoted, loving son. She was head over heels and already aching at the idea that he wouldn’t be in her life every day.
She pushed away the worry to focus on their patient. “Do you want Eli to wait a few minutes before doing your checkup, until Will can get here?”
“Better not. He wasn’t sure if he would make it back to town in time. He’s on a job up in Seaside, doing a bathroom remodel for a lady.”
Her husband was a master carpenter who had done some amazing work at Brambleberry House and other places around town.
“I’ll let Eli know you’re ready, then.”
When she opened the door, she found him pulling the chart out of the polished wood holder beside the door, which, she remembered now, Will Garrett had built right around the time she started working for Wendell Sanderson.
“Julia is ready when you are.”
“Thanks.” He gave her the same kind of careful smile they had both become experts at over the last few weeks. She had a feeling he felt as awkward and uncertain around her as she did around him.
He entered the exam room and she followed behind as he shook Julia’s hand with a warm, comforting smile that made Melissa’s ovaries tingle. Darn them.
“How are you feeling? Things are probably getting tight in there.”
“Any tighter and I’m afraid I’m going to bust through the seams.”
“Let’s just take a look at things.”
He listened to the baby’s heartbeat first, then did a quick exam with brisk professionalism.
“Looks like you’re only dilated to a one, so I think it’s safe to say we still have a few weeks to go.”
Melissa adjusted the sheet over her and then helped her sit up.
“The twins were a week early,” Julia said, “but Tess was born the day before her due date and her brother was born the day after his.”
Eli said. “You’re the expert after five of these. I’m sure you can tell me a thousand ways every pregnancy is different, but it’s good to know the pattern.”
“No offense, Dr. Sanderson, but I was telling Melissa I would love it if your dad was back in action by the time I deliver. You’ve been great, but he delivered Will as well as my younger two kids and he’s become kind of part of the family.”
“None taken,” Eli assured her. “I wish I had an answer for you. He’s coming in for a few hours a day next week, though his surgeon and physical therapist want him to take it easy. Maybe he’ll be back just in time to deliver your little girl.”
“I hope so. He’s home, right?”
“Yes. He came home a few weeks ago.”
The day after they had flown kites and walked with Max along the beach, in fact, after rebounding quickly from the temporary setback of his tumble. Melissa had been by to see him twice on her lunch hour and once with Skye after school. All three times she had managed to miss Eli.
“How is he doing?” Julia asked.
“Bored out of his mind,” Eli said with a smile. “My dad is the kind of guy who likes
to be on the go. I knew the toughest part of his recovery would be the monotony of being sidelined. But his knees are already stronger than they’ve been in years, so the surgery was a good thing, for him and for his patients here in Cannon Beach.”
He wrapped up the appointment a few moments later with another handshake and a warm smile.
After he left, Julia shook her head at Melissa. “I love Dr. Sanderson Sr., I’m not going to lie, but that son of his. Yum. Honestly, even though I’m extremely pregnant and extremely happily married, I don’t know how you keep from constantly melting into a pile of hormones with that slow smile of his.”
Melissa couldn’t tell her friend she did exactly that. “He’s my boss,” she reminded Julia. “I have to keep my hormones—and everything else—to myself where he’s concerned.”
“Good luck with that,” Julia said with a laugh.
Melissa forced a smile. She needed far more than luck where Eli was concerned.
* * *
Eli wasn’t sure what had happened, but somehow over the last few weeks, since the Sunday afternoon when he had gone with her and Skye to fly the girl’s kite, Melissa had withdrawn from him, treating him with a polite reserve that was far different from the friendship that had been growing between them.
She wasn’t rude. In fact, she was respectful and professional, but as distant as if he were just some scrub who had stepped in to help out at his dad’s practice in Wendell’s absence.
He was glad, he told himself. He had crossed too many lines he shouldn’t have with her.
Still, he missed her easy smiles and her funny sense of humor and the warmth that seemed to envelop him around her.
“You all know my dad wants to come in next week,” he said to her, Carmen and Tiffany as the three women prepared to leave for the day on Friday.
“I hope he doesn’t overdo,” Carmen said with her characteristic frown. “My sister had knee replacement surgery and had to have the whole thing done all over again six months later.”
“We’ll all have to make sure he takes it easy. It’s going to have to be a team effort. But the truth is, he’s going crazy at home after three weeks away and thinks his patients need him. He won’t be up for much patient care, but he should be fine handling consultations or refilling prescriptions, if he could do that from his desk. We’ll all have to watch out for him.”
“We can make sure he behaves,” Tiffany said. “I’m glad he’s coming in. I was hoping he’d be back before I leave.”
The CNA had put in her notice the week before and had been talking nonstop about her plans to move to Los Angeles, where they already had a manager and a few gigs lined up.
“It will be good to have him back,” Melissa said. “I’ve missed him.”
“I’ll add a few appointments into his schedule,” Carmen said. “Nothing too drastic. Just consultations, like you said.”
“He wants to jump back into things with both of his artificial knees, but I worry about him overdoing.”
“Sounds good, especially since you’re going to be leaving us soon,” Carmen said.
Against his will, he glanced at Melissa. Had she stiffened at that?
“Yes. I’ll be here until the end of next week, and then I have to report to duty again. I’ve already talked to the medical temp agency in Portland about sending a replacement until my dad is back up to speed.”
“We’ll miss you,” Carmen said gruffly.
“Especially the female patients,” Tiffany said with a teasing grin.
Eli could feel his face flush and he forced himself not to look at Melissa, who hadn’t said a word.
“If that’s everything, can I go?” Tiffany asked. “We’re playing down in Manzanita tonight, at least until the power goes out from the big storm on the way.”
“They’re not canceling your gig?” Melissa finally asked.
Tiffany shook her head. “Not that I’ve heard. The storm’s not supposed to be here until nine or so. We’ll play until we can’t play anymore.”
“That’s the spirit,” Carmen said.
“Could be nobody else will show up, then we can all go home. So can I take off?”
“Yes. That’s all,” Eli said. “I just wanted to talk for a moment about the plan next week for my dad’s return. Good luck with your show.”
She flashed him a grin as she grabbed her backpack and hurried out the door, humming some of the lyrics he recognized from the night he and Melissa had gone to see her.
“I’m off, too,” Carmen said. “I have to head to the grocery store. Every time the wind blows around here, the grocery stores run out of milk.”
She hurried off after Tiffany. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he and Melissa were alone.
She jumped up from her desk and grabbed her sweater and her purse. “I need to go, too,” Melissa said.
No, he wasn’t imagining things. She was doing her utmost to avoid his company. He knew it was for the best so they didn’t cross any more lines, but he missed her with a fierce ache.
“Big weekend plans?”
She made a face. “Cody’s coming to pick Skye up again tonight. He wants to have her the whole weekend until Sunday this time, so I need to help her pack. He wants to get out of town before the storm hits. I tried to convince him it wasn’t a good weekend for his visitation, but he insisted since he’s going to be busy next weekend. Also, his sister is in town and she hasn’t seen Skye in about a year.”
“Go take care of what you need to at home. Don’t worry about things here. I’ll lock up.”
“Thank you.”
She gave him a stiff nod, gathered her purse from under her desk and hurried for the door.
That was the most personal conversation they had shared in days. He felt an ache, missing the warm, funny woman he had come to know since returning to Cannon Beach.
It was better this way, that she had put up these walls between them, but he felt an ache.
How had she reacted when he’d said he would only be there another week? He hadn’t been able to read her. Had she been relieved? Or would she miss him as deeply as he knew he would miss her?
He rubbed at that ache in his chest. Somehow Melissa had worked her way inside his own careful walls. She was there, lodged against his heart, and he didn’t know how he was going to push her out again.
Chapter Ten
The storm hit about four hours after Cody left for Portland with Skye in his impractical sports car.
Melissa sat in the window seat in the sunroom she loved, watching the waves grow higher as the sky darkened with rolling clouds.
Storms always made her blood hum. One good thing about formerly being married to a professional surfer—they had always lived next to an ocean. Whether it was Mexico or Hawaii or Australia, no matter what coastal area she and Cody and Skye had been living, she had always loved watching storms hit land, as long as she could observe the drama from somewhere safe.
She wasn’t as crazy about being in the middle of them. She had been, a few times. Once she had been working at a hospital in Maui in the midst of a Category 3 hurricane and had worked for thirty-six hours straight when her coworkers couldn’t make it to the hospital because of the storm.
Skye loved storms. She would have loved this one. Her daughter would have found it a great adventure to cuddle together and tell stories by candlelight. She missed her with a deep ache, which she knew was perfectly ridiculous. Somehow Melissa had to get used to these weekends without her child. She wanted her daughter to have a relationship with her father, and Skye and Cody couldn’t truly have that through only occasional phone calls and video chats.
Melissa had lost her father when she was fourteen and still felt the emptiness of that. She didn’t want Skye to grow up being resentful or angry that Cody wasn’t in her life. Somehow she had to come to terms with bei
ng without her and fill the void with friends and hobbies.
The power went out two hours later, as she expected. Through the window, she could see only darkness, which told her Brambleberry House wasn’t the only structure hit. It appeared power was out up and down the coast.
Fortunately, her e-reader was fully charged and would last for hours, and she had already gathered all the emergency supplies she might need during a storm.
She wasn’t looking forward to a long night alone in the dark, but she tried to make her situation as comfortable as possible, lighting candles she had gathered earlier and carrying pillows and blankets to the window seat.
If the winds increased in intensity, she would probably feel safer away from the windows and the possibility of shattering glass from flying tree limbs or other debris, but for now she didn’t feel in harm’s way.
She was just settling in with her book when she heard a knock at the door.
“It’s Rosa,” she heard from outside. “And Fiona.”
Melissa hurried to the door and found her friend standing in the entry holding two lit candles, her Irish setter at her side.
“This is some kind of storm, no?”
“It’s crazy out there.”
“Did I see our Skye go off with her father earlier tonight? Did they make it all right?”
She nodded, warmed by Rosa’s use of the possessive pronoun when it came to her daughter. She loved having friends who cared. This was the reason she had come back to Cannon Beach, to forge this kind of powerful connection.
“He texted me that they were safely back in Portland and it wasn’t even raining there.”
“That’s a relief.” Rosa looked inside the apartment, where Melissa had lit a couple of emergency candles to push away the darkness. “I came down to check on you and make sure you had some kind of flashlight or candle, but it looks like you are all set.”
This wasn’t her first spring storm along the coast. Sometimes the big ones could wipe out power in the region for days.
A Soldier's Return ; The Daddy Makeover Page 14