by Laura Iding
Thankfully, Josh was excited to see her, diverting her attention from the ridiculous attraction she felt for his father. “Hi, Molly!”
“Hi, Josh. How are you feeling?”
“Good. Are we gonna play some more games today?” he asked. “I have more fun with you.”
She winced at Josh’s blunt statement and glanced over at Dan, noticing his mouth was set in a grim line. She knew he cared deeply about his son, and it couldn’t be easy for him to hear Josh express his feelings.
No wonder Dan had asked her to come along today.
“Sure, we’ll play some more games,” she agreed, covering the awkward silence.
She was relieved that Josh kept up a steady stream of chatter as Dan drove back to their place. When they arrived, she waited patiently for him to pull Josh’s wheelchair out of the trunk of the car, before heading to the elevator. She wasn’t the least bit surprised to see that Dan lived in a luxurious apartment on the top floor, one that no doubt cost twenty times her annual salary. She tried not to feel intimidated as Dan showed her to the playroom.
“Where are you going?” she asked, when he turned to leave. “You have to play with us, right, Josh?”
“Right,” Josh agreed.
She thought Dan’s smile dimmed a bit, although he stayed in the playroom with them. Determined to make the most of the time they had, she ran them through a series of games, which had Josh giggling with enjoyment by the time they were through.
“Enough,” Dan cried, throwing his hands in the air. “I give up!”
“What do you think, Josh?” she asked. “Should we let your dad off the hook?”
“No,” Josh said, shaking his head. “Let’s beat him again!”
She felt bad for ganging up with Josh against his father. “No, that’s not fair. This time I think you and your dad should go against me.”
“Actually, I don’t think we have time,” Dan said gently. “We have to get going, if you want to eat dinner any time soon.”
She glanced guiltily at her watch, realizing they’d played far longer than planned. “All right, then, let’s go.”
Technically, after the time she had just spent with them, there was no need for her to really go to Fun and Games with them. For a moment, it crossed her mind to beg off. She could easily take the subway home.
But she held her tongue as Dan helped Josh put on jeans and a T-shirt. “Look, Molly, we match!” Josh said excitedly, pointing to his green shirt.
“So we do,” she murmured, knowing that she didn’t have the heart to disappoint Josh by backing out of their plans now.
Not even to save herself from more heartache.
* * *
“I’m hungry, Daddy,” Josh complained as he drove to Fun and Games.
He glanced at his son, in the rearview mirror. “I know. We’ll be there soon, okay?”
“Okay,” Josh agreed.
“I’m hungry too, Josh,” Molly said, swiveling in her seat so she could face him. “What are you going to have? Pizza? Or a burger?”
“Pizza!” Josh shouted.
Dan smiled, but kept quiet as Molly chatted with Josh. When he’d first picked her up at her rundown apartment building, he’d almost turned round and left. The fact that Molly didn’t have a lot of money made him wonder, just for a brief moment, if she was looking for a rich husband, the way Suzy had been. But it wasn’t fair to compare her to Suzy, so he thrust the thought aside.
And when she’d come down to the lobby, a bright smile on her face, he’d nearly swallowed his tongue. She was stunning, even wearing simple figure-hugging jeans and a bright green blouse. He appreciated the curves that had previously been hidden by her baggy scrubs. And she’d left her red-gold hair down, gently framing her heart-shaped face, leaving him to wonder if the strands would feel as silky soft as they looked.
Did she have any idea the effect she had on him? How distracted he’d been by her the entire time they’d played therapy games with Josh? He’d hardly been able to tear his gaze off her long enough to catch the ball. He didn’t even care that they’d ganged up on him, not when the sound of their laughter rang through his home.
He couldn’t remember the last time Josh had laughed so much. Too long, he decided. Far too long.
And he had Molly to thank for it.
He pulled into the jammed parking lot, realizing that many other parents must have had the same idea to bring their kids here to play. Normally, he’d avoid these types of places like the plague, yet for some reason, tonight he was looking forward to it.
Something else he could thank Molly for.
He pulled out Josh’s wheelchair, and quickly unfolded it. He’d become an expert over the past few days.
“Wow,” Molly murmured in awe, when they took the ramp into the building. There were games lining all the walls, a bouncy house in the middle of the room and of course plenty of picnic table type seating. “This is amazing!”
“It’s loud, that’s for sure,” Dan mumbled with a sigh. He had to smile at the way Molly glanced around in awe, as if she’d never been inside a place like this.
“What do you want to play first?” she asked Josh.
“I want to hit the gophers!”
He grimaced and led his son and Molly over to the video game where several gophers popped out of holes and the goal was to bop them on the head to push them back in. The player scored a point for every gopher they hit.
Molly giggled as Josh started smacking the gophers. “Get ’em, Josh, get ’em!”
“Are you hungry?” Dan asked, once Josh had finished his game. “There’s an empty table right over there.”
Molly nodded, and quickly crossed over to the table. He was impressed at how well Josh managed to finagle his way through the games room with his wheelchair.
“What will you have?” he asked.
“Well, Josh wants pizza, so that would be fine with me,” she admitted.
“No problem. I’ll put in our order.” He felt a little guilty that the only food he’d provided for her so far had been fast food, but when the pizza arrived, she and Josh both dove into the meal with such relish that he suspected she didn’t mind. Besides, there was no point in wishing he could take her to a nice restaurant, where they could enjoy a quiet meal by candlelight.
This evening was for Josh. Not for him.
He discovered Molly was a kid at heart and she threw herself into the games with gusto. She also had a highly competitive streak, getting frustrated when he beat her score on the gopher game. And when she finally topped his score, she jumped up, whooping as loudly as his son.
“I think you’ve lost your voice,” he said, when they made their way back out to the car some hours later.
“I know,” she said hoarsely, with a tired smile. “But it was worth it.”
He gave her credit for thinking that, since his ears were still ringing from the bells and whistles shrieking from the various games.
Josh yawned widely, trying to keep his eyes open. “That was so fun, Molly. I’m glad you came with us.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
Dan watched his son in the rearview mirror, smiling to himself at how hard Josh fought to stay awake on the way home. But they’d only been in the car for fifteen minutes when his head dropped off to the side and he fell asleep.
Now that he was essentially alone with Molly, he found he couldn’t come up with a safe topic of conversation.
“You’re doing a good job with Josh,” she said hoarsely, breaking the silence. “How is it that you’re able to come to all his therapy appointments?”
“I took a leave of absence from work,” he admitted. “And it’s well worth it because he’s responding so well to therapy.”
“Yes. He is.”
He was tempted to reach over to take her small hand in his when suddenly Josh cried out. “Ow, Daddy, it hurts. It hurts!”
“What’s wrong, Josh?” Instantly, Molly twisted in her seat, reaching back for Josh. “What hurts? Tell me what hurts?”
“My legs,” he cried. “Make it stop! They hurt so bad!”
“What’s going on, Molly?” Dan asked, keeping his attention on the road. He’d been about to head for Molly’s apartment to drop her off, but they were closer to his place, which was only five minutes away.
“I think he’s having muscle cramps,” Molly said, with a worried expression on her face. She quickly unbuckled her seat belt and managed to climb into the backseat. “I’ll work on massaging his legs, but it would work better if he was lying down.”
“We’ll be home in less than five minutes,” he told her.
Dan could hear Molly trying to talk soothingly to Josh as she worked on his legs, but his son was still crying out in pain.
“Mommy!” Josh cried, sobbing as he arched his back in the booster seat. “I want my mommy!”
Helpless fury banded Dan’s lungs, making it difficult to breathe. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, listening in agony to his son’s suffering, as he pushed the car as fast as he dared to get Josh home.
CHAPTER SIX
MOLLY DID HER BEST TO massage the cramping from Josh’s legs, knowing that it was her fault the child was in pain. She wouldn’t blame Dan for switching therapists after this. She barely registered the fact that they’d arrived back at Dan’s until he opened the door of the backseat and reached for Josh.
She unsnapped the belt holding Josh in. Wordlessly, his features tense, Dan scooped Josh from the booster seat and into his arms before striding toward the elevator, leaving her to scramble along behind them. Thankfully the elevator arrived quickly and she continued to massage the muscles in Josh’s legs as they rode up to the thirty-second floor.
“His room is this way,” Dan said gruffly, as he swung through the condo to Josh’s bedroom. The boy had ceased screaming for his mother, but he was still crying. Each gulping sob broke her heart.
“I need some lotion,” she said to Dan when he’d gently set Josh down. She climbed up onto Josh’s bed in order to have a better angle that would enable her to use more pressure on his leg muscles. Dan returned quickly with a small tube of hand lotion.
She ignored the fatigue in her own fingers as she worked over Josh’s legs. After about twenty minutes he stopped crying, but she still continued to massage his legs until she only felt the smoothness of relaxed muscles beneath the angry red scars.
She nearly jumped when she felt Dan’s hand on her shoulder. “He’s asleep, Molly. I think you can stop now.”
With a brief nod she awkwardly tried to climb off Josh’s bed, wincing as the muscles in her back cramped painfully from being bent over for so long. When she managed to get back on the floor, she stumbled and would have fallen if not for Dan’s strong arms wrapping around her waist, holding her up.
For a moment she could only lean against him, reveling in the strength of his arms surrounding her as she breathed in his unique musky scent.
After a long moment she forced herself to break away, standing up on her own two feet. She avoided Dan’s gaze as she made her way back to the main living area. She dropped onto the sofa and mentally braced herself as she slowly raised her gaze to meet his, fully expecting to feel the scathing edge of his tongue.
“Thank you,” he murmured. He sat down heavily beside her, scrubbing his hand over his jaw. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there.”
She blinked in surprise at his gratitude. “It’s my fault, Dan,” she said, unable to take credit for helping Josh through the crisis when it had been her fault from the beginning. “I shouldn’t have allowed him to overdo things this afternoon. I should have realized that he’d be moving around a lot with all the games.”
“Josh was enjoying himself,” he pointed out with a tired sigh. “If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
She shook her head, knowing he was shouldering blame that wasn’t his. She was glad Josh had fallen asleep and prayed that the muscle cramps wouldn’t return.
When Dan didn’t say anything for several long seconds she remembered how Josh had called out for his mother. She had to assume that Dan had joint custody of his son, but surely the boy needed his mother at times like this? “Are you planning to call Josh’s mother?”
Instantly, his expression turned grim. “No.”
She was shocked at his blunt refusal. How could he turn his back on his son like that? “Why not?” she pressed, refusing to listen to the tiny voice in the back of her mind telling her to mind her own business. “Josh was calling for her. He obviously needs his mother.”
Dan muttered something that sounded like a curse under this breath as he rose to his feet. “Despite what you heard, Josh hasn’t seen his mother in six years.”
She sucked in a harsh breath, wondering if she’d heard him correctly. He’d raised Josh since he was a one-year-old? “Six years? Really?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Besides, my ex wouldn’t come, even if I did call her,” he finally admitted. “Not unless I offered her money. And I refuse to pay her another dime to be a mother to her son.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it again, unable to think of anything to say in response. She found it impossible to imagine what had caused Dan’s ex to turn her back on her husband and her son. “Her loss,” she finally managed.
Dan’s tense facial features relaxed. “I think so, too,” he agreed softly. Then he cleared his throat and glanced toward his son’s room. “Look, Molly, it’s late and I know you probably want to get home, but I would rather you stayed here in case Josh’s muscle cramps return.”
His request caught her completely off guard. “Here?” she squeaked.
“In the guest room,” he hastily clarified, ramming his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “It’s the room right next to Josh’s.”
She didn’t have any of her things, not even a toothbrush or a comb, but the thought of Josh’s muscle cramps returning was enough that she couldn’t bring herself to refuse. Staying to ease the child’s pain was the least she could do. “Of course I’ll stay.”
Relief flooded his features. “Thank you. I have spare toiletries and will leave them in the bathroom you’ll share with Josh.”
She wanted to smile at the way he’d made a point of letting her know she wouldn’t have to worry about stumbling across him in the middle of the night. She assumed that his master suite had its own bathroom. Not that she should even imagine him in his master suite. She quickly pulled her thoughts away from the image that bloomed in her mind. “Um, great! Sounds good.”
“This way,” he said, gesturing to the doorway of the spare bedroom with one hand.
She rose to her feet and followed him across the living room to the guest room. He paused next to her, so close she could feel the heat radiating off his skin.
“Thanks again, Molly,” he murmured, staring down at her intently.
For a moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but instead he simply took her hand and squeezed it gently. She was glad it was dark, so he wouldn’t see how she blushed. “You’re welcome,” she murmured, forcing herself to tug her hand gently from his when all she really wanted to do was to throw herself into his arms.
When he finally left, she leaned against the door and took several deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart.
She needed to remember that he’d only asked her to stay for his son’s sake, not because he wanted to be alone with her or anything. If she hadn’t been able to hold on to James, there was really no way in the world she had a chance with someone like Dan. He was way, way out of her league.
She brushed her teeth and vowed to take the subway home first thing in the morning, putting their relationship back on a professional level.
Where it belonged.
* * *
Dan didn’t sleep very well, and while he’d have liked to blame his son’s leg cramps, he knew the real reason was because Molly was just down the hall in the guest room.
So close.
Too close.
He finally crawled out of his bed at five-thirty, knowing that trying to sleep any longer was useless. And there was a tiny part of him that looked forward to seeing Molly this morning.
After a quick shower, he padded softly to the kitchen and peered inside the fridge. He wanted to make a nice big breakfast as a way to thank Molly for helping Josh through his crisis and staying last night.
He hadn’t heard Josh wake up at all, and since he’d been awake half the night, he could only assume his son had slept peacefully.
After brewing a pot of coffee, he began pulling out the ingredients for French toast, Josh’s favorite. He prepared the egg mixture so that he’d have things ready to go when Molly and Josh woke up. His stomach rumbled with hunger so he decided to cook thick slabs of bacon, as well.
“Do your patients know you eat like that?”