The Doctor and the Single Mom

by Teresa Southwick

  “Okay, kiddo. I’ll do that when I see him.”

  “I love you, Mommy.”

  “Love you, too, baby. Zip up your jacket. It’s freezing outside.”

  “I’m not a baby. I’m almost seven.” He slammed the door.

  Jill smiled as she watched her little man trudge up the sidewalk to where his class lined up, dragging his backpack behind him. It was almost as big as he was, proving that he was still her little man. And he’d grown very attached to Adam, in spite of her efforts to prevent that very thing from happening. C.J. wasn’t the only one.

  She’d grown accustomed to having the handsome doctor around, listening for the sound of him leaving in the morning and coming home at night, staying for dinner. Making love. And now she wanted to kick herself for being such a witch when he brought her flowers. He’d promised to wait until she trusted, but a part of her believed that she was just too much trouble and it was only a matter of time before he stopped waiting and moved on.

  But she didn’t want him to give up on her and she’d tell him so when he got home that night.

  Since the school was halfway between home and town, she continued on to the grocery store. The weather forecast had a storm moving in and a lot of snow and she decided to stock up on food and get everything for C.J.’s birthday dinner now. Lasagna was his favorite and easily served a lot of people who’d been invited to the party.

  After shopping, she drove home and parked the car in the usual spot. A longing swelled inside her to see Adam’s SUV in his usual spot beside it. As soon as possible, she would admit to him that she was an idiot, possibly a tad paranoid, and graciously thank him for bringing her flowers.

  With a happy smile, she carried her groceries inside, put the cold items in the refrigerator, then left the rest on the counter to deal with later. Then she headed for the marina store to check on things. Brew always had the situation under control, but there was a lot to do with winter coming on.

  When she opened the door, the bell over it tinkled. The older man was standing by the cash register and looked up. “Mornin’, Jill.”

  “Hi.” She closed out the freezing air. “It’s really cold outside.”

  “Yeah. Can’t say I’m lookin’ forward to winter. It’s harder as a body gets older.” He counted the bills in the money drawer that were used to make change if necessary. “This time of year Hildie always threatens to move to Las Vegas where it’s warm.”

  Her chest tightened at the words, a reaction from the part of her that feared being left behind. Then she remembered that Hildie said the same thing every year right around now.

  “What did you tell her?”

  “That I’d miss her a lot.” He grinned.

  “You’re bad. And a liar.” But she smiled at him. “You’d be so lost without her.”

  “I know it.” He shook a finger at her. “But that’s just between us. Don’t you ever tell her I said that.”

  “My lips are sealed.” Jill looked around the store’s interior. Shelves were neat and fully stocked. Displays were in order and sale signs clearly posted on summer merchandise that needed to be gotten rid of. “What’s your plan for the day?”

  “Got a fishing party comin’ in at ten. The same four idiots come every year at this time. A last hurrah, they call it.” He shook his head. “I’ll get them outfitted and on the way, and then I thought I’d do some work on Adam’s boat.”

  She glanced through the window and saw it under a tarp. He’d be using it when spring came, and the thought made her insides go all gooey and giddy. “Good idea. But maybe you should bring it into the back room and work there. Out of the cold.”

  “I’ll do that.” He closed the cash drawer. “Speaking of Adam, what’s up with him?”

  “Nothing that I know of.” Except his pattern was off this morning. Suddenly her glass-is-half-empty attitude punched a hole in her happy balloon. “Why?”

  “Hildie had an appointment today at the clinic, but they called to cancel it.”

  Now the feeling got really bad. As C.J. had pointed out, his car was gone. If he wasn’t at the clinic... “Did they say why?”

  “No. And when she asked about rescheduling, the girl said she couldn’t do that until they heard from him.”

  “I saw him last night and he didn’t say a word about going anywhere.” She met the older man’s gaze. “He’s gone.”

  “Sounds like it.” It was a toss-up whether his voice was more grim or more angry.

  Contrary to what he’d promised, he wasn’t willing to wait even twenty-four hours for her trust to heal. Self-fulfilling prophecy. He was going to leave anyway, so she’d driven him away. She’d fallen for him and he left without a word, just like everyone else she’d loved. But she’d been so sure he was committed to the community of Blackwater Lake.

  “Well,” she said, “I guess that’s it.”

  “I know it’s hard, but don’t jump to conclusions,” Brew warned.

  That was a tall order. First his grandmother arrives and all but says she’s not good enough and then he disappears. What conclusion was she supposed to jump to?

  Fear of abandonment was threatening to swamp her like a tsunami. When that first wave rolled back, there was nothing left but a hurt that stole the breath from her lungs. And then something else pressed down on her heart.

  C.J. had fallen for him, too. What was she going to tell her little boy? On top of that there was this stupid storm coming and if it was as bad as predicted, his birthday party would be ruined.

  When things went bad, they all went bad.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Two days later the mouthwatering aroma of lasagna and garlic bread filled the house. A few hardy friends who’d braved the still-falling snow had come in Cabot Dixon’s multi-passenger, all-wheel drive vehicle to bring birthday presents. The Adam rumor, pieced together from Liz at the clinic and Blackwater Lake Lodge night staff, was that he was visiting his family. Jill had jumped to every possible conclusion but settled on the one that made sense. His grandmother had convinced him to go home.

  She hadn’t said as much to C.J., just gave him the facts as she knew them. Dr. Adam canceled his clinic appointments and they weren’t scheduling any more until hearing from him. So far no one had heard from him. Her son had taken the news well, reminding her that the doctor had promised to be here. But for the last two nights when she’d tucked him in he’d asked about Dr. Adam.

  Baking the birthday cake and getting food on the table for a buffet-style meal had kept Jill busy and she was grateful. At least for a little while there was something to distract her from the pain she knew would only get worse.

  She moved to the kitchen doorway and said to the small gathering, “It’s on the table. Come get it while it’s hot.”

  “I love lasagna,” C.J. yelled at the top of his lungs. With Tyler Dixon behind him he came running down the hall from his bedroom, then navigated a path through the adults who were standing around talking.

  Cabot Dixon was in deep conversation with Brady O’Keefe. He was there because Maggie hadn’t wanted to take the baby out in the storm. Jill completely understood the need to protect your child. Hildie and Brew sat on the sofa chatting with Ginny Irwin, the nurse at Mercy Medical Clinic. The people C.J. cared about most were in this room. All except Adam Stone.

  Jill stood aside while her friends filed past the food arranged on the table. The two boys took their plates, then sat on the living room floor in front of the fireplace and started eating. She was last in line behind Mayor Loretta Goodson. After getting food, they stood together by the front door as all the seating in the small room was already taken.

  Loretta took a bite of the layered pasta, meat sauce and cheese. “Mmm. Really good, Jill. I think it’s the best one ever.”

  “Thanks.” That was a relief. S
he wasn’t at her best when she’d thrown this together. When your heart was broken, cooking could be risky.

  “So,” her friend said, mixing dressing into the salad on her plate, “nothing from Adam?”

  “No.”

  “That’s just weird.”

  “Not in my world.”

  That was a pitiful attempt to make light of what happened and fell way short of the mark. Jill couldn’t believe it had happened to her again and that this time was so much worse. Her heart ached in places she hadn’t even known were there. His leaving had left a big hole in her life. And she was so tired from waking at night and feeling the emptiness chase sleep away for good as reality set in.

  “I know you’ve had a string of bad luck,” Loretta said sympathetically, “but I really thought he was one of the good guys.”

  “Me, too.” Ginny Irwin moved closer to join them. “Took me a while to warm up to him, but he finally won me over. I’m usually a good judge of character and I was convinced he was here for the long haul.”

  “I wish I could say it was some comfort not to be the only one fooled.” Jill shrugged. “But it’s not.”

  “You talking about Adam?” Brady O’Keefe moved closer.

  “What was your first clue?” Ginny’s voice was teasing.

  “Besides the fact that you three are looking awfully serious?” Brady’s brown eyes tracked from one woman to the next. “It stands to reason you’re talking about the guy who isn’t here. And for what it’s worth, I think there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.”

  “For disappearing?” Ginny sniffed. “I’d like to hear it. The connection was bad when he called to say he wouldn’t be in and we expected more information would be forthcoming. It hasn’t been.”

  Brady grinned. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t know what the reason is, just said there probably is one.”

  “He’s right,” Mayor Goodson said. “Adam has a home here. A medical practice. Neighbors and patients he worked damn hard to become friends with.”

  Jill listened to them debate the issue. She didn’t have the emotional reserves to be on the pro or con side. From her perspective hope only prolonged the pain until she crawled into the acceptance stage where numbness was a welcome relief.

  By the time the adults had finally finished eating, she noticed that the boys were horsing around and getting restless. “C.J., why don’t you and Tyler put your plates in the kitchen?”

  “Okay, Mom.” When the errand was finished, he came back into the room and stood beside her.

  She put her hand on his shoulder. “I think it’s time to open presents and have cake.”

  He shook his head. “I wanna wait for Dr. Adam.”

  Jill’s stomach knotted and she was afraid she’d lose the little bit of dinner she’d been able to choke down. “Sweetie, I don’t think we can wait any longer.”

  “I know everyone thinks he just left, but he’ll be here.” The young voice was filled with the will to make it so. “He promised.”

  “I don’t think he’s coming,” she said quietly. But gentling a blow like that by softening your voice simply wasn’t possible.

  “You’re wrong.” The quickness to anger wasn’t like C.J. “Dr. Adam said nothing could keep him away from my party.”

  Jill saw tears gather in his eyes and wanted to cry, too. The hope on her son’s little face just made her heart hurt more. She’d wanted so much for his birthday to be perfect and simply couldn’t pull that miracle off. It made her unspeakably sad that betrayal would always be the reason C.J. remembered the birthday he turned seven.

  She’d remember it, too, because of how hard she’d worked to keep from falling for Adam only to realize it was the forever-after kind of love. But, darn it all, grieving was for tomorrow because neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of night, nor snow was going to keep her son from having the best birthday she could give him.

  “Okay, kiddo. I have an idea. Maybe we can—” Standing by the door, she heard the sound of an engine, but not a car engine. She listened for a few seconds. “Is that a motorcycle? What kind of idiot would ride something like that in weather like this?”

  Brady moved to the window beside her. “It’s not a motorcycle. That looks like Carl Hayes on a snowmobile. And there’s someone on the back.”

  “Dr. Adam!”

  Jill was right behind C.J. when he yanked open the front door. She grabbed his shoulder to keep him from running out into the snow. It looked as though the flurry was letting up, but she didn’t want him getting wet and cold. His hopes were already in the stratosphere, but she’d be there to catch him when he dropped to earth. Life wasn’t a Hollywood movie where the hero swooped in at the last minute on the back of a snowmobile. Except...

  A man swung his leg over the back of the machine. He said something to the driver, who nodded, waved and gunned the motor before moving away. There was something familiar about the bundled-up figure walking up the path. If that wasn’t Adam’s winter jacket, this guy had one exactly like it.

  All his life, Adam hadn’t known how lonely loneliness could be until he saw Jill and C.J. silhouetted in the doorway. It was snowy and dark; he was cold and wet. In fact, he’d never been colder or wetter, but the sight of them made it all go away and filled up the big empty place inside that he’d carried around for years.

  By the time he got to the porch where they were standing, he couldn’t feel his feet. But the smile on C.J.’s face made everything he’d been through to get here worth it.

  “Dr. Adam, you came!”

  Adam dropped to one knee as the boy moved close and launched into his arms. “I told you nothing would keep me away, champ.”

  “I missed you so much.”

  “I missed you, too.” And your mom. He met Jill’s gaze, and the bruised look in her eyes told him she had not believed he would be here.

  He had some explaining to do, but before a word passed his lips, she turned and pushed past the people gathered in the doorway. One of those people was Brewster Smith and Adam guessed this wasn’t the time to ask the man how his boat was coming along. The scowl was a big clue.

  “I thought this was a party.” Adam stood, but kept his hand on C.J.’s shoulder. “You don’t look happy.”

  If anything Brew scowled harder. “I told you the first time we met that this is the face you’d get if you hurt my girl.”

  “I didn’t mean—” The tugging on his jacket made him look down.

  “Dr. Adam? Did you get me a present?” There was nothing but eager anticipation in C.J.’s expression.

  It was nice that at least one person wasn’t staring at him as if they’d like to lynch him from the nearest tree. “I didn’t have a chance to shop, C.J. But I will. In the meantime I found this for you at DFW.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Dallas/Fort Worth Airport.” He unzipped his jacket and pulled out a small bag.

  The boy opened it and a wide smile split his face. “Oh, boy!” He put the Texas Rangers World Series 2011 baseball hat on his head. “Awesome. Thanks, Dr. Adam.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “That was quite an entrance, Doc.” Virginia Irwin was on the porch.

  “Yeah.” He shrugged. “What can I say?”

  “You can start explaining. Your only message was to cancel your clinic patients because you were going to Dallas.” She folded her arms over her chest.

  “Urgent family matter.” He was starting to shiver badly.

  “And about that entrance you just made? A snowmobile? Carl Hayes?”

  “My car got stuck about a mile from his house and I walked there. Carl offered to give me a lift when I told him that I had a very important date.” He glanced down at the birthday boy proudly showing off his new hat. “I can explain, Virginia—”


  “Call me Ginny,” she said. “That was good enough for me. Now, I’m no doctor, but you should probably get out of those wet things and take a hot shower before you catch your death.”

  “You don’t get sick from being cold. Viruses are transmitted in other ways—”

  “Spare me the medical lecture.”

  “I have to talk to Jill first,” he insisted.

  “I’ll let her know. Now march.” She pointed at the stairway leading up to his place.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Because I’m feeling charitable toward you, I’m going to pretend you didn’t just call me ma’am.”

  “Understood.”

  His legs felt stiff and heavy as he walked up the stairs and his hands were shaking badly as he fitted his key into the lock. Inside, he dropped his jacket over a kitchen chair and then went to the bathroom and stripped off his cold, wet clothes. He tried to move faster and was only more frustrated when he couldn’t. He was desperate to talk to Jill, to explain what had happened and hope she’d understand. The devastated look on her face was tearing him apart.

  When the shower water was hot, he stepped into it. Every instinct urged him to hurry, but he forced himself to stand under the warm spray until the pins and needles feeling in his extremities let up. After that, he quickly washed away the grime from the airport and a long tense day on the road. Ten minutes later he was dried off and his hair was neatly combed. He was warmly dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and a pullover sweater.

  “Hopefully she’ll give me bonus points for appearance,” he said to his reflection.

  It was time to make her understand and he hoped her past wouldn’t make her not want to listen.

  Adam jogged downstairs and let himself into the house. Everyone stopped talking and stared at him. He raised a hand in acknowledgment. “Hi.”

  A chorus of greetings followed and he scanned the room for the one person in the world he most wanted to see. She wasn’t there and by process of elimination and skilled deductive reasoning, he narrowed down her whereabouts. Without another word to anyone, he went in the kitchen.