Promise of Forever

by Patt Marr

  “I hate to leave all these beautiful flowers back here. What do you think? Should we share these with our patients in the lobby? Or would Mona’s allergy flare up?”

  “There’s a big vase of red roses there now, and they’re not bothering Mona at all.”

  “Let me guess. They’re from my grandfather.”

  He nodded, grinning at her quick assessment. “I believe the card did say that. Mona read the card and put the flowers on the counter for everyone to see.”

  “Good for her.”

  That comment knocked him out. As hateful as Mona had been, it said a lot that Beth wasn’t nursing a grudge. She was better than he was, to move on that fast. The gossips around here were going to be so disappointed, with nothing to complain about Beth.

  “Bad news,” Mona said as Beth and Noah reached the front office. “Our computers are down.”

  Vanessa looked worried. “I’m sorry, Dr. Beth. I’ve called technical support, but they can’t get here until this afternoon.”

  “I’m sure we’ll survive,” Beth said. Her laptop was loaded with data they needed for the day.

  “Why don’t you call your grandfather,” Mona said. “He could pull rank and get tech support here quicker.”

  If that were true—and it might be—didn’t Mona realize that one call could leave her unemployed? The only thing saving Mona’s job was Beth and her need to show God’s love.

  “Not having the computers won’t be a big inconvenience this morning,” she said pleasantly. “We won’t be seeing patients right away.”

  Mona snorted. “Your first patient is scheduled minutes from now. This office sees patients from nine to five, and it’s almost nine. Too bad we won’t have time for your little tour, Dr. Beth.”

  Beth looked at Noah to check his reaction. His arms were folded, and his steady gaze asked if he should jump in and set Mona straight.

  That he waited, instead of doing it, made Beth like him even more. “Actually, Mona, it was Dr. Crabtree’s suggestion that we take time for staff orientation. Our morning patients have been rescheduled. He was wonderfully cooperative in the transition.”

  Mona sniffed, somewhat mollified. “Dr. Crabtree is the consummate professional.”

  “He certainly is,” Beth agreed, going for a conciliatory tone. “Now, let’s begin by going over the procedures we’ll use as a team.”

  Noah wheeled his office chair around to face her and whipped out a notepad and pen. Vanessa also prepared to take notes. Mona drummed her nails on her desk and glanced nervously at the lobby window as if a patient might show up and catch them unprepared.

  “When I talked to Dr. Crabtree,” Beth began, “he was very happy with the way you three worked together. I see no need to change the procedures you’re familiar with. If we need to make adjustments along the way, we will. For now, I’ll do most of the adjusting.”

  Mona looked surprised. She stared at Beth as if she had to replay the words to make sure she’d heard right.

  “Vanessa, in addition to your regular tasks, I want you to take pictures of each patient.” Beth pulled a camera from her pocket and handed it to the young woman.

  “I have one almost like this! I love to take pictures. This will be so cool, Dr. Beth! Do the pictures go in the patients’ folders or up on a wall?”

  “The folders. It will help all of us put a face to the name if we need to later.”

  “How do you want to handle call-ins during office hours?” Mona asked, as if she hoped to put Beth on the spot.

  It might be Beth’s first day at BMC, but she’d grown up with her family talking shop. She knew her job here.

  “It depends,” she answered, adopting the no-nonsense manner she used when treating seriously ill patients. Maybe that would put Mona at ease. “If Vanessa takes the call, and it’s about more than scheduling, she turns the phone over to you or Noah. The two of you will determine whether I need to get on the phone, return the call or head for the hospital.”

  “In other words, just the way we did with Dr. Crabtree,” Noah said dryly.

  “How are you going to handle your after-hours’ calls?” Mona asked, ignoring him, but again as if she hoped to catch Beth off guard.

  “You three can call me anytime.” She handed them a card, listing her phone numbers. “For the patients, again, it depends on the situation. The service will refer some calls to my group, and page me on others.”

  “Wow, that’s just the way Dr. Crabtree did it, too,” Vanessa teased.

  “We still should verify the procedures,” Mona said defensively.

  “Yes, we should,” Beth agreed, partly because it was true, but also in an effort to get on Mona’s good side, if there was one. “If we’re all on the same page, our patients can receive the highest standard of care.”

  “Once they get past the lobby,” Mona sniped.

  Enough was enough. Lord, help me get this right.

  “Mona, you don’t like the lobby. We’ve heard that, and we don’t need to hear it again. The lobby stays like it is. Let’s move on.”

  Mona’s nostrils flared, and she looked about as angry as a person could be, but she seemed to get the message and didn’t respond.

  Good. That had gone well. “Now, are we ready for our tour?”

  Chapter Four

  When Beth opened the door to Exam Room One, the group’s reaction was as expected. Vanessa just adored the monkeys. Mona was just appalled. Noah folded his arms and seemed to enjoy the show.

  After they’d visited Rooms Two and Three, Vanessa couldn’t stop smiling, Mona’s mouth had that now-familiar lemon-sucking pucker and Noah leaned against the examining table, looking great in his blue scrubs.

  Worried and disapproving, Mona said, “Some of our patients are very ill, Beth. How do you expect to handle them in this environment?”

  “It doesn’t hurt a child to smile.” Beth wondered when Mona had last attended a continuing-education class. “Laughter is good for everyone. Our patients are kids, even the older ones. The sicker they are, the more they need a pleasant distraction.” To drive home her point, she opened the hat cabinet.

  Mona gasped, and Vanessa laughed out loud.

  “Try one on,” Beth said, modeling her red satin beret topped with the coiled-wire toy. Vanessa reached for the feathered tiara. Noah chose a cowboy hat with a miniature horse on top.

  Mona looked at them as if they’d lost their minds. “I am not wearing anything that ridiculous,” she said firmly, glaring at the hats as if they were snakes.

  “This may be your one and only chance,” Beth teased. “The hats are for me to wear, not you…well, unless it’s your birthday or you’ve brought treats for the office.”

  Mona threw up her hands. “The parents will think you’re ridiculous, Beth Brennan!”

  “Well, let’s hope so!” Beth had occasionally worn her silly hats around patients since her residency and never encountered anyone who thought they kept her from doing her job. “Playing the clown isn’t for everyone, Mona, but I like it. Well, I do as long as I don’t have to wear one of those round red noses. They’re just not comfortable.”

  Noah and Vanessa laughed as she intended, but Mona rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

  Vanessa stopped her. “Mona, take a picture of us.”

  “I don’t know how.”

  “It’s easy. You can do it.” Vanessa showed her and positioned Beth and herself on either side of Noah.

  Posing for the picture, Beth’s smile came easily. This was a beginning. Antiseptic, impersonal care was out and gentle, loving fun was in.

  “I don’t know if I did it right,” Mona complained, shoving the camera back at Vanessa. “Taking pictures is not my job.” She fairly flew out of the room.

  “Well, it is my job,” Vanessa said, “and I need the practice. Let me get a picture of the two of you.”

  Standing this close to Noah, Beth caught the faint scent of his soap or aftershave, a fragrance she liked very much. She looke
d up at him and realized he was looking at her as if he really liked what he saw.

  Maybe it was the hat.

  “Got it,” Vanessa said, taking the picture. “That was great! Now one more. Dr. Beth, you pretend to be the doctor.”

  “‘Pretend?’” Beth teased.

  Giggling, Vanessa said, “You be the doctor and, Noah, you be the patient. Dr. Beth, listen to Noah’s heart with your stethoscope. That will make a cute picture.”

  “I vote for a tongue depressor,” Noah said, grabbing one from a jar on the counter behind him. “Doctor Beth can check my tonsils.” He wasn’t about to let her listen to his racing heart. Standing there beside her, he’d felt like a kid with a crush on the pretty girl at school.

  Vanessa agreed and moved them into the pose she wanted.

  Noah went along, opening his mouth wide and saying Ah. Could he have felt any sillier?

  “Good job,” Beth said, completing her exam, giving him one of her knockout smiles and a pat on his shoulder, as if he were one of her patients.

  But he liked that pat and wouldn’t have minded another. The cowboy hat must have rolled back the years.

  “On your way out, cowboy, you can choose between a sticker or a lollipop,” Beth said.

  “Stickers? Oh, that’s new!” Vanessa exclaimed. “We haven’t had anything but the lollipops before.”

  Noah smiled at her enthusiasm and wondered if the combined goodwill of the three of them could help Mona with her outlook on life.

  “You know,” Vanessa said, looking at the pictures on the digital camera, “you two look great together. Are you seeing anyone, Dr. Beth? Noah isn’t.”

  “Vanessa!” both of them said as a duet.

  “Okay, okay! It was just a suggestion.” She grinned, shelved her tiara and scooted out of the room.

  Noah put his hat away. Beth put hers away. Talk about an awkward moment.

  Doctor-nurse romances were as old as medicine itself, but Noah had never been part of that and wouldn’t be now, despite this edgy anticipation he felt around Beth. Had he ever felt this aware of Merrilee when they’d first met? Had he noticed things like how pretty Merrilee’s smile was or that her eyes were the shade of dark honey?

  Blue! Merrilee’s eyes were blue. He waited for guilt to punch him in the gut, but he only felt guilty that it didn’t. “Vanessa kids around a lot,” he said to reassure Beth that he hadn’t taken their young receptionist seriously.

  Beth nodded and spoke with her crisp professional tone. “We might as well acknowledge that two single people working in the same office are going to be teased until people realize we’re just friends.”

  He was surprised she had the guts to say it, but it was true. People had been trying to set him up almost from the day Merrilee died. Beth Brennan was the hot topic of gossip right now, and he would be mentioned in the same breath that she was…for a while.

  “Even if we ignore it, they probably won’t stop until one of us starts to see someone,” Beth said ruefully.

  “It’ll have to be you,” he said dryly. “My daughter is the only woman in my life.”

  Beth sighed very unprofessionally. “I hate to date.”

  She looked so genuinely disgusted that a chuckle escaped. Even disgusted, she looked adorable. His new boss would have no trouble finding someone to date.

  “Hey!” She frowned at his laughter. “That’s going to cost you. Until I find Mr. Right, I might just act as if I don’t mind the teasing. What do you think of that?” she challenged, mischief in her eyes.

  She didn’t mind if they were linked together? If he couldn’t laugh at that, he had no sense of humor at all.

  Beth walked toward the front desk, wondering if she’d handled that right. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so candid about such a sensitive issue. It didn’t seem as if Noah had taken the teasing as lightly as she’d pretended to. Maybe that was his way. Grandpa had called him a serious guy.

  For herself, it was all smoke screen. She might try to deny she was attracted to him, but her body told the truth. Around Noah, she felt the symptoms of attraction: shortness of breath, clammy palms, butterflies in her stomach, weak knees—all of it.

  She hadn’t been this attracted to a man since she was an intern. Sometimes the body got way ahead of the mind. Until it registered the right message, a person just had to deal with it.

  Had Noah noticed that her hand actually trembled as she held that tongue depressor in his mouth? Maybe he would think it was first-day nerves. Or low blood sugar.

  That was it! She grabbed a lollipop from the treat drawer and stuck it in her mouth.

  “Hey, I thought I was the one who earned the lollipop,” he said, coming up behind her.

  She handed him one. “I forgot to eat breakfast,” she said inarticulately with the lollipop stuck in her jaw. In truth, she had. Maybe that was why her hand had shaken.

  “You have a visitor,” Mona said primly, nodding toward the lobby.

  Beth looked through the window. Her brother Trey stood with his fists on his hips, his long lab coat tucked behind him. He shook his head as he looked at the new lobby decor.

  In the best-case scenario, he’d come to take Mona away. The two of them were made for each other, both uptight and easily riled.

  “Good morning, Trey,” she said, joining him and licking her lollipop with the sophistication of a four-year-old, a move guaranteed to annoy.

  “I can’t believe this!” Repulsed, he gestured to her terrific new decor.

  “Don’t be jealous, Trey. I’ll redecorate your office when I have time.”

  “Why didn’t you ask Isabel for help?” Trey thought everything he had was better than others, including his wife, who had been an interior decorator before their marriage.

  “Actually, I did,” Beth reported with glee. “Give your wife some credit, Trey. She was the designer on this job.”

  Disapproval cleared from his face like mist in the sun.

  “Your son already loves it, especially the fishies. Isabel’s bringing him in for his shots next week.”

  “You’re not going to be J.T.’s pediatrician.”

  “I’m not?” Keith Crabtree had been the baby’s pediatrician, and J.T. was still on the schedule.

  “My son will have the best care possible,” Trey said, looking down his nose at her and her lollipop.

  Did it give Trey some special joy to be as mean as their mother? “And my office can’t provide the best care?”

  “It could when Keith was here.”

  Her brother might as well have slapped her across the face. Hard. She practically reeled from the blow. But she was tougher than he might think. Pivoting, she headed for the inner office. “Let us know where to send his records,” she said over her shoulder.

  Noah wasn’t normally a snoop, but he watched Beth and her brother through the window to the lobby. Trey Brennan had just delivered a crushing blow to his boss, and Noah didn’t like it. Family or not, he was going out there to back her up if nothing else.

  But he met her coming through the door. Her eyes were dark with rage.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked softly so Mona and Vanessa wouldn’t hear.

  “Nothing,” she said, spitting the words. “I’m fine, or I will be.”

  “How can I help?” It was more of a reflex than a hope she’d let him do anything. Beth seemed like a woman who fought her own battles.

  “You could take the knife out of my back. Trey says he’s switching his baby to another pediatrician. I’m not good enough for his son.”

  Noah could only imagine how that would hurt, but he shrugged. “Well, it’s not like you’re going to use him for neurological consults.”

  The pinched look on her face dissolved into a grin. “That’s right. I’m not.”

  “If it’s any comfort, your brother is not the most popular doctor in the building.”

  “He’s never been popular anywhere!” She shook her head. “Sometimes I wonder how he lives with himself.”


  “How do you feel about your uncle Al?”

  She looked up with wary eyes. “Why?”

  “He called. He’s on his way.”

  Behind them, Mona zipped across the office to open the door to the lobby. “Good morning, Dr. Brennan,” she said, professional to the core.

  Al Brennan ignored her and greeted Beth with a big hug. “Welcome to the club, Bethie. I see you’re all ready for the kiddies.” He nodded toward the lobby. “Very cute.”

  “I’m glad you approve. Some people don’t.” She glanced Mona’s way.

  Mona had the good sense to busy herself with a file. Noah moved to his desk, knowing the great doctor would ignore him as well.

  “Well, I think the look is perfect for a pediatrician’s office. Crabtree, the old penny-pincher, wouldn’t spend a cent on the place.”

  Noah glanced at Mona to get her reaction. Her lips disappeared in a thin line of anger.

  “Thank you for taking the time to stop by,” Beth said, smiling up at her uncle.

  “I thought I ought to personally invite you to lunch tomorrow. Now that we’re colleagues, you’re more than my favorite niece.”

  “I’m your only niece, Uncle Al.”

  Vanessa’s glance at Noah said she thought their new boss was a hoot. Noah returned the nod, in full agreement. He sure hadn’t expected to like Beth so much or so fast.

  They went their separate ways for lunch, but when their first patient arrived, they were ready. Vanessa went into action, taking the baby’s picture without being prompted. Noah ushered mother and child into Exam Room One. Mona returned a call to the lab. Beth leaned against the front counter, giving Noah a few minutes to do the intake.

  Considering the negatives she’d faced, it was amazing how relaxed she felt. Coming home had been the right thing to do. With God’s help, this office would be a sanctuary—a place of peace and healing.

  Lord, may all who come here be safe in our care.

  It was just a little prayer, but it wasn’t the length of the prayers that mattered. Constant connection between herself and the Lord, that was what He asked for. That’s what she hoped to learn.