Promise of Forever

by Patt Marr

  The door to her relationship with Noah was more like a swinging door. It ought to stay shut because office romances were a bad idea, but if she took the sermon to heart, shouldn’t she surrender to the possibilities?

  Chapter Twelve

  Hot October sun beat down on Noah’s SUV as he waited patiently for Harlene to straggle out of church. She didn’t get to socialize often, so he didn’t mind. Like a good girl, Kendi waited just as patiently in the back seat.

  “Daddy, here’s something for you to read.” She handed him a paper that said the church was having a pre-Thanksgiving celebration in three weeks. A different event was scheduled for each night of the week. Monday through Wednesday were ethnic events; Thursday was a Mother-Daughter Tea and Friday was a Father-Son Game Night.

  “Noah, did Kendra give you the celebration handout?” Harlene asked, opening the door and pulling herself into the front passenger seat. The exertion made her short of breath, and, despite the chilled air pouring from the air conditioner, she fanned herself with a church bulletin.

  “Got it right here,” he answered, waving the paper.

  “Excellent. Kendra, when your teacher told you about all the parties, were they like what we talked about?” Harlene asked as Noah pulled the SUV into traffic.

  “Yep. I’m going to the Mother-Daughter Tea. Only they don’t make you drink tea. They have lemonade.”

  “Did Harlene offer to take you, Kendi, or did you ask her nicely?” Noah hoped she’d remembered her manners.

  In the rearview mirror, he saw Kendi shake her head. “Nope. Harlene isn’t going to take me.”

  “You’re not?” he asked Harlene, frowning.

  “No. Mary Jane, Carole and Jan are taking me to one of the ethnic nights. We haven’t decided which one.”

  “Can’t a person go to more than one event?” He couldn’t believe Harlene would let Kendi down.

  “Yes, but Kendra plans to ask Beth to take her.”

  “You’ve talked about this? We just got the handout.”

  “Oh, I’ve known for a while. After meeting Beth Brennan yesterday, I approve of Kendra’s choice.”

  Who wouldn’t? It was always more fun when she was around, but could a little girl like Kendi understand that Beth was just their friend? How long would she be content with Beth as a stand-in mom, and not the real thing?

  “Kendi, let’s you and me go to the fiesta on Monday night of the celebration week,” he said. “You love tacos.”

  “’Kay.”

  Good. That was settled.

  “But I’m still going to the Mother-Daughter Tea.”

  He should have known he couldn’t change her mind.

  As soon as they got home, Kendi wanted to call Beth, but he reminded her that Beth was having brunch with her uncle and aunt. Kendi didn’t like that one bit, and, truthfully, Noah wasn’t crazy about it either.

  Beth hadn’t said, but he figured Zack Hemmingway would be there, too. Vanessa had reported that the two of them were a hot topic on the BMC grapevine. Dr. Al Brennan was supposedly pushing the romance.

  If Beth was seeing Zack, she didn’t talk about it, though who Beth dated wasn’t any of Noah’s business. His only concern was the little blond girl sitting in her room, drawing pictures of a blond lady while she fretted the minutes away, waiting for her chance to call Beth.

  Until Beth came into their lives, Noah hadn’t noticed how intent Kendi was on connecting with a new mother. He hadn’t reached that stage of readiness, but this Mother-Daughter Tea had him convinced. He ought to get out there and get to know some mommy candidates.

  Women had hinted of their availability. Now, if he could only remember who some of them were.

  Glenda’s sister, Marissa, taught Kendi to swim. She had a teenage son and was a little older than Noah, but not much. Kendi would like a big brother.

  William’s mother was an absolute knockout, but William was an absolute brat, so they wouldn’t go there. Dr. Marsha Clayton’s nurse, Kris Young, was a terrific person who had a lot in common with him, and Kendi liked her a lot.

  Their neighbor, Stephanie, made great cookies and had two kids for Kendi to play with. And then there was Merrilee’s best friend, JoEllyn, who’d been there for them, especially the first few months after the funeral.

  He wrote the names down and called for Kendi to join him in his big recliner. She snuggled in, laying her head on his chest, and would probably go to sleep if his list of mommy candidates didn’t interest her.

  “Kendi, about the Mother-Daughter Tea…if Beth can’t go for some reason, I have a list of very nice ladies who I think would like to take you. I’ll read their names, and you tell me which one is your favorite. Okay?”

  “Beth can go, Daddy. She’ll want to take me.”

  “But you haven’t asked her yet, puddin’. This is a backup plan.”

  She buried her head and wouldn’t look at his list.

  Ignoring the attitude, he named off the choices. “So, who’s the winner, sweetheart? Who would you like to have take you to the Mother-Daughter Tea?”

  Kendi looked at him with serious blue-violet eyes. “Beth. Just Beth.”

  “And if she can’t go….”

  “I don’t wanna go.”

  Beth parked the VW between its pricey neighbors in the BMC physicians’ lot and gathered gift bags and a floral arrangement from the back seat, just as she had two weeks ago. The flowers were in a darling elephant pitcher that Meg had shared from her jungle decor. They would by-pass the lobby and go straight to her office, adding to the Noah’s Ark theme she’d started in there.

  For Vanessa, she had bags of candy to refill the kangaroo dish. For Mona, who definitely loved chocolate, Beth had a half pound of the best chocolate truffles money could buy. For Noah, she’d shopped a little harder for the perfect gift.

  She hadn’t known what to give him until Kendra had called and invited her to the Mother-Daughter Tea. Beth had felt such pleasure, accepting. Then Noah had stolen her joy of the moment, saying she shouldn’t feel obligated to take Kendra to the party, and it was okay to tell Kendra no. He didn’t want to take advantage of Beth’s kindness.

  It sounded to her as if he were backpedaling from their new friendship. Even if he was thinking of how attached she and Kendi were becoming, couldn’t he trust that she wouldn’t hurt a child? If he thought she wouldn’t keep her promise to be a friend whom Kendra could count on, he could go fly a kite.

  He had a brand-new one. She’d found it when they were shopping with Harlene Saturday afternoon. His kite was a beautiful promise-rainbow kite that would look glorious flying high in the sky. She’d bought it with the intention of taking Kendra kite-flying herself.

  Trying to see things from his viewpoint, Beth could understand that Noah might be leery of how fast their friendship had taken off. It did send up a red flag that Kendra would ask her to be a mother substitute after a two-week acquaintance, but kids made up their minds fast. They recognized who was a phoney and who loved them for real.

  Maybe if Beth were extremely busy with children of her own, she wouldn’t have had the time to reach out to Kendra. As it was, Beth thought the Lord had placed her in Kendra’s life when the little girl really needed her and when Beth was lonely for someone to love.

  She entered the office suite from her private office, donned her lab coat and left the gifts on her desk where they could stay until her little thank-you presentation at the end of the day. On her way to the front office, she saw that all three exam rooms were occupied, but she’d admitted a patient to the hospital this morning and was running a little late.

  “Good morning!” Vanessa exclaimed with her usual cheerful smile. “You have one message from the lab, and Dr. Al Brennan’s receptionist called to say you left your sunglasses at his house. Dr. Hemmingway will drop them off this morning.”

  “Good morning, Beth,” Noah said, behind her.

  Even if he hadn’t spoken, she would have known he was there from the faint scen
t he wore. She turned, their eyes met and her knees seemed to buckle. She reached for the counter before she literally fell for the guy.

  “Good morning, Noah.” She sounded normal, not like a woman down for the count. “Which patient is first?”

  “The Logan twins—Mariah and Makenzie—in Room Three.”

  “The Logans…are they the ones you were concerned about cancelling on my second day?”

  His eyes flared with anger. “I called their mother. Teri said they didn’t cancel. Mona told them you had to.”

  A shiver went through Beth. Was Mona behind those other cancellations as well?

  Lord, what do I do about Mona? Am I wrong to think she’ll change if I keep showing her Your love?

  In the office of Dr. J. T. Brennan, Sr., Noah sat on the edge of a leather couch, dreading the moment Beth would walk in and see him with her grandfather. Since Mona’s shenanigans hadn’t pushed Beth’s buttons, he hoped Beth wouldn’t be mad at him…but anyone else would be.

  Her grandfather sat in a high-backed chair, his white hair a stark contrast to the dark upholstery. His age-worn face was grim, but determined. Noah understood. He was as fiercely protective of Kendi as the chief was of Beth.

  Beth joined them and did a double-take when she saw he was here, but her smile seemed even brighter.

  That was a good sign.

  “Noah, what are you doing here?” she asked pleasantly, greeting her grandfather with a hug.

  “I invited him,” her grandfather said. His voice, unsteady with age, still held authority. Before he’d founded Brennan Medical Clinic, he’d been chief of staff at Cedar Hills Hospital. That was before Noah’s time there, but J. T. Brennan was a legend. “Thank you both for giving up your lunch time. In a few minutes, we’ll raid my refrigerator and have something here.”

  “Wait ’til you see what Grandpa squirrels away in his fridge,” Beth said, sitting beside Noah on the couch. “It’s better than the clinic cafeteria.”

  The chief cleared his throat, signaling that the pleasantries were over. “Beth, when you were in New York, I promised that you could run your office any way you liked, and I’ve done that, haven’t I?”

  “You have! You’ve been amazing, Grandpa.”

  “Thank you, darling. I have complete confidence in your ability to do a great job—as Keith did when he chose you as his replacement. After you agreed to come back, a problem arose that concerned us deeply. You may take exception to the way we decided to solve that problem, but, keep in mind, we did what we thought we had to do.”

  Beth’s smile faded, and her eyes narrowed. It wasn’t a look Noah had seen before.

  “The reason Noah is here is because he’s been my eyes and ears in your office since—”

  “Your what?” She stood to her feet, instantly angry.

  Noah felt a jolt of adrenaline. He hadn’t expected her to get that mad that fast.

  “You had Noah reporting to you?” She looked at the two of them in shocked disgust.

  “He didn’t want to, and I hated to ask him, but someone had to watch Mona.”

  “I could have watched Mona. I’ve been watching Mona.”

  “Listen to reason, darling. You weren’t here when Keith knocked the pins from beneath the woman’s feet. She thought he was going on a fishing trip, not leaving forever. You weren’t here when we offered her a retirement package, and she not only refused it, she threatened to sue us for age discrimination if we let her go. You didn’t hear the wild accusations she made to anyone who would listen. Keith said we’d better take her wild fury seriously.”

  “You could have told me,” Beth argued, her voice cold.

  “If you’ll recall, I did say you should let Mona go. I didn’t give you all the pertinent facts, but I told you she was impossible to handle. You were determined to win her over. I had to let you try.”

  “Let me?” she repeated.

  Ooh, bad choice of words. Noah’s heart went out to the chief.

  “I wanted you to have the opportunity to do things your way—about everything,” the chief rephrased smoothly, making a great comeback. “Now that we have the evidence to let Mona go, she must be fired.”

  “Evidence?” Beth repeated, her lip curled in disgust.

  “Yes, evidence—proof of wrongdoing. We have it, and I’m going to let Mona go today.”

  “Not unless you want me to go, too,” Beth said, digging in her heels.

  “What?” The chief’s white brows drew together.

  Noah felt sick to his stomach. He’d hoped Beth wouldn’t react this way.

  “You can’t keep me out of the loop and expect me to go along with your plans. It’s either my office, or it’s not. If it is my office, then I have a say in who goes and who stays.”

  “But, darling, Mona has deliberately sabotaged your credibility, day after day. Everyone knows it. Think of the clinic’s reputation if you won’t think of your own.”

  “Beth, Mona isn’t going to stop until she’s gotten rid of you.” Noah jumped in to help the chief make his case.

  “Would you care to share how you know that?” she asked, sarcasm dripping from each word. “Or would the two of you prefer to continue treating me like a child?”

  “Nobody’s doing that, Beth!” her grandfather protested.

  “Then, talk to me about the evidence. I’d like to think you’re not ending Mona’s employment based on rumors and gossip.”

  “Of course we’re not! But I’d think you would care about the rumors and gossip that come from Mona. They’re about you and your family!” The chief pounded the arm of his chair in frustration.

  “I don’t feel as if I’ve suffered from anything that’s been said. People have been unbelievably nice.”

  “It’s not all about you, Beth. Tell her, Noah.”

  He really didn’t want to do this, but she had to know. “I’ve tracked down lab reports that didn’t show up—more than once. I’ve corrected false documentation that Mona recorded. I’ve double-checked written med dosages and kept a constant vigil. Vanessa has watched Mona like a hawk. We know what she’s like, Beth. These cancellations are only the tip of the iceberg.”

  “You did all that without telling me?” she asked, frustration in her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, but what were we to think? On your second day here, Mona deliberately misled you so you would be late, and you just blew it off. You knew about Mona telling Stacee Drezek that Dr. Crabtree was coming back! How crazy was that? And what did you do? You said you were going to pray about it.”

  “I believe in the power of prayer.”

  “I told you we had strange cancellations, but you didn’t question them. I tracked down the reason and discovered Mona had been cancelling your patients! If I had come to you with every suspicion, or let you know how hard Vanessa and I worked to keep a serious mistake from happening, I would have looked as negative and hard to get along with as Mona. And would you have done anything about it but pray?”

  Stoically, she’d listened, her arms folded. When he finished, she began pacing the room.

  The chief sent him a look that said to be patient.

  Noah hadn’t planned on anything else.

  When she stopped in front of him, he could see that she’d made a decision and knew what she wanted. He only hoped it wasn’t his resignation.

  “First, let me apologize, Noah.” Her clipped professional cadence was so unlike the tender, happy lilt their patients knew. “I’m embarrassed that you and Vanessa had to work under conditions like that.”

  He took a deep breath. So far, so good.

  “Second, I wish I’d given you reason to share your concerns with me, not my grandfather.”

  “He was following my orders, Beth,” her grandfather said quietly. “I insisted upon it.”

  Fleeting expressions crossed her face. Rage and regret, Noah recognized, but there were others.

  “Is Noah still under your orders?”

  The chief’s lips thinned. She
had him in a corner, and Noah felt sorry for the man. When a father—or a grandfather—spent a lifetime loving and protecting his family, it wasn’t easy to back off.

  “Are you saying you know how you want to take care of this situation?” the chief asked, his eyes steady on hers.

  “I am. From now on, Noah brings my office problems to me, not you. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.” Even though he was in the hot seat, a faint smile hovered on the chief’s lips.

  It looked like respect and pride to Noah. A man would feel that when his adult child insisted on standing on her own two feet.

  “I want you both to know that I get it,” she said, glancing from the chief to himself. “I understand that we have a problem, and it can’t go unchecked. I do believe in the power of prayer—”

  That shot was directed at him.

  “But you have my promise that I won’t put my patients or any of you in jeopardy. Mona does not go today, but if there’s another incident, I’ll clear out her desk myself.”

  For all her fierce determination, Beth looked as if she were hurting inside. This had been a humbling experience for her, and he ached to do something that would make her feel better.

  “Beth,” he said, putting aside his own doubt, “how do you know that your prayers weren’t answered?”

  She gave him a quizzical look.

  “Well, you prayed, and your grandfather asked me to help. Maybe God directed that. I found out what Mona was up to, and you’re in a better position to effect change than you were. Maybe this is God’s answer to your prayer.”

  Beth didn’t stick around to have lunch with her grandfather. She’d just wanted to get in her car, drive with the top down, let the wind blow through her hair and forget about feeling like a failure.

  She’d let her grandfather down. She’d let Noah and Vanessa down. And for what? Just so she could follow her single-minded idealism? She did believe in the power of prayer, but it took time to help someone as deeply damaged as Mona. Kindness and love was the way to bring people to Christ, but in focusing on Mona, she’d left Vanessa and Noah out of the equation.