“Close. How about dinner at the Grizzly Bear Diner?” Adam met her gaze. “My treat. It’s the least I can do.”
“And why is that?” she asked wryly. “If anything I owe you for helping out with chores today.”
“Give me a minute. I’ll think of a reason.”
“How about you just like takin’ us to the diner?” C.J. suggested.
“That works for me.” Adam grinned at the boy.
It worked for Jill, too. Way better than she wanted. For the second time that day she didn’t have the will to decline. “Thank you, Adam. That’s really nice of you. But, C.J., it’s a block down Main Street. Do you really think you can walk that far being so hungry?”
“Yeah!” He took off at a run.
“Stop at the light,” she called after him.
“’Kay, Mom!”
Side by side, she and Adam walked at a brisk pace mostly because it was cold. Jill wanted to snuggle into him for warmth and kept fighting the urge. It seemed so natural; he made everything seem so natural. She was getting awfully tired of fighting.
C.J. was already waiting for them up ahead at the red light on Pine Street. “Hurry up, you guys.”
“Your son is pretty fast,” Adam commented. “I wonder if he can catch a ball.”
“He’s not ever playing football. I’m pretty sure a parent has to sign a permission slip or something if a student is under eighteen.”
“Good luck with telling him no.” Adam’s hand brushed hers and when he slid his fingers into the pocket of his jacket, it crossed her mind that he felt the temptation, too. “He struck out on the flashlight tonight, but give him time. He’ll have a few years to perfect his pitch and I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes if he decides to play.”
They finally reached the corner and when the light turned green the three of them crossed the street to where Grizzly Bear Diner took up the corner. Inside it was warm and very crowded.
“Apparently this is the happening place,” she said.
Even if one didn’t know the diner’s name, a theme would be obvious. There were bears everywhere. Wallpaper, menus and logo T-shirts on the employees.
Jill knew the hostess behind the podium displaying the sign Please Wait to be Seated. “Hi, Mrs. Taylor.”
“Hey, Jill.” The older woman gave the man behind her a wide smile. “Hi, Dr. Stone.”
“Hi, Iris.”
Iris?
“It’s nice to see you.” Iris Taylor was under five feet tall and in her late fifties.
“Same here.” Adam met her gaze. “How are you?”
“Doing great. Now,” she added. “That prescription you gave me really helped the pain from my arthritis.”
“Good.” He looked around the crowded waiting room. “Are there always this many people?”
“It’s Saturday. I guess you’re here for dinner.” There was a curious expression in her eyes when she made the connection that Jill and C.J. were with him. “Three of you?”
“How long is the wait?”
“I’m really hungry, Mrs. Taylor,” C.J. said.
“I bet you are. About thirty minutes.” She looked at her list with some of the names highlighted in hot pink. “But for you, Doc, I think I can find a booth pretty quick.”
“Thanks.” He looked down at the boy, who was peeking into the glass case displaying grizzly bear T-shirts, sweatshirts and figurines. “Starvation can set in pretty quick when you’re six.”
“Give me a minute. Can you hang on?” she asked C.J.
“I could if I had one of those bears to play with,” he said to his mother.
Jill rolled her eyes and knew by the sparkle in his that Adam was thinking, Watch out when the kid wants to play football.
Five minutes later Iris led them out of the waiting area and past the counter with swivel chairs. Carl Hayes, the plumber hired by her mother to do the upstairs work when Adam’s apartment was being built, sat there.
“Hi, Mr. Hayes,” she said.
“Howdy, Jill.” The balding man smiled and lifted a hand in greeting. “Hey, Doc. Carl Hayes,” he said.
“I remember,” Adam said. “How are the leg cramps?”
The older man swiveled his counter stool around to look at them. “It was the darnedest thing. Vitamins, Gatorade and water sure did the trick just like you said. I’ve been sleeping like a baby ever since I saw you.”
“Excellent news.” Adam grinned. “Keep it up.”
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to. My wife keeps shoving water and vitamins at me.”
“Good for her.” Adam laughed and shook his hand.
They made it a little farther toward the back before a gray-haired man called out, “Hey, Dr. Stone.”
Adam stopped at the end of a booth. “Mr. Gerard.”
“Call me Alan. This is my wife, Winnie.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said. “How are you feeling, Alan?”
“Stomach pain is gone. More fiber is just what the doctor ordered.” He laughed at his joke.
“That’s good to hear. It’s important. Nice to meet you, Winnie.”
“Same here. I’ve got an appointment at the clinic next week,” she said. “Nothing serious. Just my yearly checkup.”
“I’ll look forward to seeing you.”
“Jill’s a nice girl. And that little guy of hers is a hoot,” the woman told him.
“I know.” Adam waved a goodbye, then turned to her.
Jill felt the warmth in her cheeks. Could the matchmaking be any more obvious? She wished the earth would open and swallow her whole. Agreeing to come here was a mistake on many levels, but mostly she tried not to resent the fact that these people were her friends, supposedly loyal to her. But they were treating “the new doctor” like a rock star. She followed Iris to a booth in the back and slid into it. That’s when she realized Adam and C.J. weren’t behind her.
He’d been stopped yet again and was chatting with someone she didn’t know. His hand was on C.J.’s shoulder in a friendly, familiar way that tugged at her heart. The little boy had lifted his chin, pointing to the place where Adam had stitched it up, and people were admiring a job well done.
Adam looked comfortable, as if he’d known everyone for years instead of just months. He fit right in and she hadn’t done much to help except being seen with him here in the diner that one time. He had gained town confidence all on his own.
She was happy for him. Really. It was just that now her already complex feelings grew even more complicated. The last doctor she’d dated hadn’t stayed past the first snow, which made him a wimp and an outsider as far as this town was concerned. When another single, good-looking doctor showed up, everyone circled the wagons around her and she felt safe, protected. Now Adam was no longer an outsider. Blackwater Lake embraced him as one of their own and he had their loyalty. Like her. It was a level playing field.
And she’d seen tonight that her friends and neighbors were putting them together as a couple, a family, which made the potential for pain shoot way up. When things with Adam didn’t work out, and she refused to let herself believe that they could, she would let down the whole town.
Just like when C.J.’s father had walked out.
Chapter Twelve
All the way home from the diner C.J. kept up a nonstop monologue and Jill wasn’t exactly sure when he took a breath, but the words kept on coming.
“When can we go to the hardware store again?”
“Next time we need hardware. Aren’t you tired?” she asked.
“No.”
“My ears are tired.”
“You’re funny, Mom. How can ears get tired? Are yours tired, too, Dr. Adam?”
“I think my ears are more used to it because I
listen to patients all day.” He was the soul of diplomacy.
“My ears aren’t sleepy at all,” C.J. said. “And next time we go to the hardware store, I hope we can go to the Grizzly Bear Diner, too. It was fun.”
“And now it’s late,” Jill said. “I need to get those batteries in the smoke detectors.”
“I’ll do it.” Adam turned the SUV into the drive, then came to a stop beside her car and turned off the ignition.
“Can I help?” C.J. piped up from the backseat.
“It’s time for bed.” Jill wanted desperately to be by herself, distance herself from Adam.
“But, Mom, it’s too early to go to sleep.”
“Don’t forget about your shower.” She released her seat belt and opened the front passenger door.
“But Dr. Adam needs me to help him put the new batteries in. Right, Dr. Adam?” C.J. opened the right rear door and jumped out.
“I’m Switzerland.” The interior light illuminated Adam’s wry expression as he met her gaze.
“Huh?” C.J. looked up for an explanation.
Jill couldn’t help smiling. “That means he’s not taking sides, kiddo.”
“But, Mom, I hafta watch. How else am I gonna learn?”
Why couldn’t she be Switzerland, too? Jill wondered. And why couldn’t it be a country without guilt? A place where a mother could give her son a man in his life who wouldn’t leave, a man he could count on. Right now she lived in the land of reality and a decision had to be made.
“Maybe just this once, since it’s Saturday.”
“Yay!” C.J. ran toward the front steps and called over his shoulder, “Hurry up, Dr. Adam. I don’t have all night.”
“Right behind you, champ.” Adam laughed as he fell into step beside her. “If only I had that much energy.”
“Yeah.”
And if only Adam’s arm didn’t brush hers. The touch made her yearn for the right to snuggle closer to his lean strength. But that was part of a relationship, and all she had with Adam was sex, followed by a verbal agreement not to let it happen again.
While Adam took her son upstairs to replace his smoke detector batteries and bring down the ladder, Jill unlocked her front door and went inside. She turned on lights and set her purse and the bag with the new flashlight on her desk. The quiet surrounded her and that wasn’t about C.J. not being here. It was a sign that she was getting used to Adam being around. How did one go about growing unaccustomed to a charming man who wasn’t hard on the eyes and had a great sense of humor?
Ten minutes later the front door burst open and C.J. came in. “Mom? We’re here and Dr. Adam brought the ladder.”
And made it look incredibly easy because he was stronger than her. “I can see that.”
“He let me climb up it.”
“Not by himself,” Adam assured her.
“Dr. Adam had to do the battery ’cuz I can’t reach it yet. But I watched really good.”
“It would have been a lot harder without his help. I needed the extra weight to steady the ladder so I could connect the battery.”
C.J.’s freckled face beamed with pleasure. “Let’s do the rest!”
Jill watched her son race out of the room, and his enthusiasm nearly broke her heart. It was all about having a man to do guy stuff with. In the kitchen, C.J. climbed the ladder and Adam was right there to make sure he didn’t fall. Each time they went through the process, she marveled at his protectiveness and patience considering the chore took five times longer because a little boy wanted to help.
If there was a way to resist this doctor, she’d give almost anything to know the secret because falling in love wasn’t something she ever wanted to do again.
“Okay, C.J., your reprieve is over. Now you really do have to get ready for bed.”
“But, Mom—”
“No buts.” She pointed in the direction of his room. “March. Or there won’t be time for a story.”
“Can Dr. Adam read it to me?”
“That’s your call,” the doctor in question said.
“You’ve already done too much.”
“I was happy to help out.”
She shook her head. “We’ve monopolized your day off.”
“I didn’t feel monopolized. It was fun hanging with you guys.”
“And we appreciate everything you did, but you probably want some time to yourself.”
“Solitary isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
It sounded an awful lot like he was saying he’d really wanted to be there, but that was the very hardest thing for her to believe.
“C’mon, Mom. Just tell him it’s okay.”
She looked at her son and the heartbreaking hope so visible in his eyes. How could you say no to that? “Okay.”
“Awesome.” Without another word he turned and ran toward his bedroom. Several moments later she heard the sound of the shower.
“I’ll put the ladder away,” Adam offered.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
C.J. was finished showering when Adam came back. With wet hair slicked down, teeth freshly brushed and wearing Superman pajamas, he looked up at the tall man. “I’m ready for my story now.”
“Good, because I’m ready to read.”
They all trooped down the hall with the redheaded child in the lead. Jill folded the bedspread down and pulled back the covers while he chose a book from his shelf.
“I want the baby animal book,” he told Adam before climbing into bed.
“Looks like a good one.” Adam waited until he was all tucked in before sitting beside him.
Jill stood nearby, listening to the sound of his deep voice as he read the child’s story. She fell further under his spell with every word. When he read “The End,” she wasn’t ready for it to be over any more than C.J. was.
“Dr. Adam?”
“Yeah, champ?”
“Where do babies come from?” A question clearly designed to stall just a little longer and who could blame him? Certainly not Jill.
Adam looked at her. “Have you discussed this?”
“A little,” she said.
“Mommy told me that the man has a seed and the woman has the egg and when they love each other a baby happens.” C.J. yawned.
Adam looked relieved. “Your mom is exactly right. I have nothing to add.”
C.J. yawned again before saying, “Dr. Adam, did you have a dog when you were six, almost seven?”
“Yes.”
“I knew I was old enough for a puppy.”
“I didn’t say that.” Adam pulled the covers more snugly over the small chest. “I had an older brother and a sister to help with the responsibility.”
“Dr. Adam, is it—”
“Enough,” Jill interrupted. “Lights out, kiddo.”
“O-okay.” He rolled onto his side.
“Good night, C.J.” Adam gently brushed the hair off the child’s forehead, then stood and backed away from the bed.
“I love you.” Jill moved forward and kissed her son’s cheek. “Sweet dreams. See you in the morning.”
“Love you, Mommy.” His eyes drifted closed and he said sleepily, “See you tomorrow, Dr. Adam.”
Please don’t count so much on tomorrow, she wanted to tell him. Just because Adam was doing all the right things to put down roots in Blackwater Lake didn’t mean he would be part of their lives. She’d gone down that path and been fooled before.
She followed Adam out of the room and pulled the door nearly closed. Then she led the way into the living room to see Adam out.
“Free at last.” She tried to make her voice light and breezy but didn’t quite pull it off.
“What’s wrong, Jill?”
“How do you know anything is?”
“Your mouth is tight. Your tone is tense. And your forehead has frown lines.” He gently touched his fingertip to a spot just above her eyebrow.
If he hadn’t done that, saying good-night would have been almost easy, but he had to go and lay a finger on her.
“You’re way too observant. I thought I was hiding it pretty well.” Resentment tinged her words as she met his gaze and the stubborn set of his jaw. “You’re the toast of Blackwater Lake. At the Grizzly Bear tonight it was clear that you’ve bonded with the people of this town. You’re everyone’s new best friend.”
“And you were hoping I wouldn’t be?”
“It’s not that. Not exactly.”
“Then what?” He nudged her chin up when she tried to look away. “You haven’t done a great job of hiding the fact that you’re holding back, refusing to get attached. Tell me why. And before you start, I know it’s not about the last doctor.”
“You’re right.” She slid her fingertips into the pockets of her jeans and sighed. The words came with surprising ease. “My father left my mother and me when I was about C.J.’s age.”
“So you were abandoned.”
“I had my mom. And friends here. But, like so many other people, I have abandonment issues.” It was a weak attempt at humor, but she couldn’t manage a smile and didn’t want his pity.
“Not having a father leaves a hole in a kid’s life.” He wasn’t asking a question.
“Yeah.” She nodded. “It hurt. And more than anything I wanted my child to have a traditional family. There was a time when I thought it would happen, too.”
“But it didn’t.”
“Right in one.” Her heart hurt for C.J. “I fell in love with Buddy Henderson when we were juniors in high school and thought we’d be together forever. Everyone in town expected us to get married the spring after graduation. Then the spring after that.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“He never proposed. But Blackwater Lake expected a wedding. Especially after I got pregnant.”
“He still didn’t ask you to marry him?” His blue eyes darkened with anger.
“It’s hard to propose when you’re not around.”
The Doctor and the Single Mom Page 15