He heard the boys run back down the hall and Patrick’s door slam. Gavin followed them back to the kitchen. Matt and Chad said goodbye and trotted off.
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Patrick said, excitedly waving goodbye.
“OK,” the boys replied, and disappeared down the steps to the front gate.
Gavin followed them to thank their parents for having Patrick over.
What would Patrick think when he saw Bethany at their house so early this morning?
Hey, guess what? Bethany and I went for a run this morning, and I was just making banana oatmeal pancakes while she showers.
Nah, he couldn’t lie to his son. When he returned to the kitchen, Patrick was sitting at the counter, stirring the dry ingredients for the pancake batter.
“Guess who came to visit?” Gavin said.
“Mom?”
Predictable. Why had he baited the boy with such a stupid question? He hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed. “No. Bethany.”
Patrick’s eyes lit up, surprising Gavin. “Where is she?”
Don’t lie. Just don’t tell him everything. He cleared his throat. “She needed to take a shower.”
“Oh.” He continued to stir the flour mixture.
Gavin watched for a glimmer of understanding, but didn’t see a light bulb go off behind Patrick’s innocent nine-year-old gaze. How soon, with puberty just over the horizon, would that change?
“Why didn’t you call me before you came home early?” Gavin asked, measuring out the milk.
“I knew you’d be here, Dad.”
Gavin savored the confidence coming from his son, but what if he’d spent the night at Bethany’s? “What if I’d gotten called in on an emergency?”
“I guess I didn’t think about that.”
“Next time you should call home first.”
“OK.” Patrick made another stir and soon lost interest. “Call me when breakfast is ready,” he said, as he wandered back down the hall.
Beth emerged from Gavin’s bedroom and heard a peculiar spraying sound from behind Patrick’s door. She tipped her head and stood in the hall, listening. He coughed quietly.
The handle on the door twisted and Patrick peeked out.
“What’s going on?” she asked, with concern and a touch of curiosity.
He started, eyes wide, mouth open. “Nothing.”
A distinct disinfectant smell wafted outside. “What are you spraying in there?”
He coughed again. “Just some air freshener.”
“Are you cleaning your room?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me see what a good job you’ve done.”
As if it were possible, his eyes got wider. He froze.
Even more curious, Beth pushed on the door and, looking very unhappy, Patrick stepped back.
His room was a typical little-boy mess, with piles of dirty clothes left right where they’d come off, toys strewn across the floor, bed unmade. The air freshener sat on his bedside table—Spring Garden Scent. She couldn’t help but tease him. “Yeah, I can see how hard you’ve been working.”
She noticed his closet door was ajar and walked toward it. Patrick rushed ahead of her and shut it.
Her antennae went up. “You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”
“No.” He leaned against the door.
“You’re acting awfully suspicious for someone who isn’t hiding anything.”
He folded his arms and jutted out his chin. She tried another tack. “I just thought I heard something in your room. With it kind of messy like this, you don’t have rats do you?” Her attempt to tease fell flat. Patrick looked mortified. “I don’t mean to say you’ve got rats roaming around in your room, Patrick. It’s just that I thought I heard a strange squeaky-wheel kind of sound. It’s hard to explain, but it seems to be coming from…” She pointed to his closet. Hoping to coax him into confiding in her, she continued, “Have you got any idea what it could be?”
He stared at his toes for a few seconds. “Will you promise not to tell my dad?”
CHAPTER EIGHT
PATRICK opened the closet door, switched on the light, and showed Beth two makeshift cages at the back of the walk-in wardrobe. They were complete with spinning wheels, food dispensers and water troughs. Two round fur balls stirred from their separate ceramic sleeping caves and began wiggling their noses and whiskers as they padded through the shredded cedar to check things out.
Beth tried not to smile. “Honey, I can’t keep secrets from your dad, and you shouldn’t either. But I will promise to help you out.”
He sighed and twisted up his mouth. “Dad won’t let me keep Muffy and Puff if he finds out.”
“How long have you had hamsters?”
“I’ve had Muffy ever since I moved in with Dad.”
“And what about Puff?”
“I snuck her home that time from my friend Bobby’s when I went for the weekend in Irvine. His mom didn’t know he had one either, it was our secret, but he got scared and asked me to take Puff home.”
“How did you do that?”
“In my backpack. They’re real quiet.”
How could a nine-year-old boy manage to keep such a secret from his father for almost two months? Surely the housekeeper knew about the secret pets?
“Why haven’t you told your father, Patrick?”
“He’s allergic to cats because they have fur, and my hamsters have fur.” Tears welled in his eyes, and his chin quivered. “Bobby is my best friend. He gave Muffy to me. It was our best-friend secret. I couldn’t tell.”
“Your asthma has been worse since you moved in with your dad. You tested borderline positive for cats. Maybe you’re allergic to hamsters.”
“No. I can’t be. I love them.” He picked them up, one in each hand, and rubbed them against his cheeks. He giggled when one got loose and crawled across his shoulders and on top of his head. He produced a clear plastic sphere the size of a basketball. “Bobby gave this to me, too.” He opened it and dropped the other hamster inside then sealed it back up. “That’s how I brought Puff home in my backpack. See? It even has air holes. They can roll around my room and see everything from in there.”
Beth shook her head and smiled. Her heart ached for the boy who’d had his world disrupted first by his parents’ divorce then by his mother leaving for England on a sudden whim. The boy who’d lost a cat because his father might have been allergic to it and his mother hadn’t wanted to keep it. Could she blame Patrick for hiding his favorite pets?
It made sense he’d want to keep something special from his best friend if he’d had to move away. But the burden of keeping such a secret must have weighed heavily on him for the past two months. Was Gavin so distracted with
The hamster rolled around the room, bumping into piles of clothes and furniture, looking curious and as cute as could be. Beth couldn’t help but grin. Patrick put the other hamster, a much smaller one, into his baggy cargo shorts pocket. “I’m not allergic. I never wheeze when I’m around them.”
“But you were coughing before you opened the door. And I’ve noticed lots of times that when you first come out of your room you cough. And yesterday you were wheezing.”
“The air freshener tickles my throat. That’s all.”
As an allergy nurse, Beth knew there were both allergies and irritants in the world. Cigarette smoke and perfume were irritants. Pollens and dander were allergens. Each could set off wheezing. And aerosol spray with a sharp fragrance could definitely irritate someone’s lungs, even if they didn’t have asthma. Though she hadn’t tested Patrick for a hamster allergy, it would be simple enough, if it meant easing his mind. She could test Gavin, too.
“If the air freshener bothers your asthma, why use it?”
“’Cos Dad’s allergic to it. I want to clean the air.”
Little-boy logic touched her softest spot. She bent down on her knees and looked into Patrick’s gray eyes. “Oh, honey, that’s so sweet.” She didn’t
have the heart to explain to him that if his dad was allergic to hamsters, all the air freshener in the world wouldn’t help. “May I hold him?”
Patrick took the second hamster from his pocket and placed him in her cupped hands. All fur, he hardly weighed anything. She giggled at the feel of his tiny paws on her palms. There had to be a way to work things out so Patrick could keep his special pets. Needing time to think things
“Breakfast!” Gavin’s rich baritone nearly shook the walls.
Patrick tossed Bethany a questioning look. How the heck was she supposed to handle this? She wanted to develop trust with Patrick, but she didn’t want to betray Gavin. The best thing to do was to let them work out their own problems. “Promise me you’ll tell your dad.”
The look of relief on the boy’s face made her smile. “I promise.”
“Soon,” she reinforced.
“The pancakes are getting cold, you guys,” Gavin called from the kitchen.
“OK,” Patrick agreed.
They carefully closed the door and washed their hands, then rushed down the hall to the kitchen to eat.
During breakfast, Gavin said, “I’ve been thinking. What we need is more one-on-one time, Patrick. You know, just us guys.”
“Yeah!” Beth almost laughed at the transition in Patrick’s mood from secretive to exuberant.
“Don’t you have a free week coming up at school? Why don’t the two of us go to Mammoth in a couple of weeks for the opening of the trout season?”
Patrick cheered. “Cool!”
Beth felt like a voyeur watching a happy family scene play out. Where did she belong in the picture? With all of the making up for lost time needed between father and son, maybe there wasn’t room for her in Gavin’s life right now. She’d promised to be honest with herself this time
Gavin’s pleased gaze lingered. He gave Beth a serene smile, reached across the table and squeezed her arm. A special softness colored his eyes with a hint of something else. Passion? Lust? Caution?
She’d given herself completely to him last night. Couldn’t he feel it? And if he did, had it made any difference to him at all? She’d chastised Patrick for keeping secrets from Gavin, but right now she was harboring a huge revelation of her own. She’d fallen for Gavin in a big way.
On Monday morning Gavin showed up bright and early in the allergy department to start his shots. Beth marveled over the giddy reaction he always managed to pull out of her. After test-dosing him for grass, trees, and weed mix, plus cat, two on each arm, and surreptitiously throwing in a skin test for hamster, he rolled down his sleeves.
They smiled at each other, and his smile quickly escalated to steamy. With his sensual full lips and the cleft in his chin, how could it not? The fire in his eyes made her cheeks flame. He leaned in and said under his breath, “I missed you last night.”
Heat pulsed through her against her will. She blinked and cleared her throat to gather her composure. Her entire head felt as if it was glowing hot. She was at work—she couldn’t let the other patients in the waiting room see that she and Gavin were more than friends. Or, worse, see her melt into a puddle at his feet. “We should probably talk
Gavin rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled. A million thoughts seemed to be running through his mind, but he didn’t utter another sound. She’d added a huge load to his existing burdens by being pregnant.
Finally, he spoke. “We’ll have to be more careful next time.”
At least he was talking about a next time. She kept her profound relief under wraps. Snapping back into professional mode, she said, “I’ve got more shots to give. Take a seat and I’ll call you in thirty minutes to check your arms for reactions.”
“I love it when you get bossy,” he said, before he strolled away.
Beth put extra effort into concentrating on her patient lineup instead of how gorgeous Gavin looked in his tailored gray slacks and buttercream-yellow shirt. He seemed intent on reading the business section of the newspaper, but occasionally she caught him watching her from the corner of his eye as she worked. Whenever their gazes met, heat waves rolled across her skin.
Grateful for a week busy with extra jobs and assorted other plans with Jillian and her mother—like finally telling her about her pregnancy—she’d do her best to keep him out of her mind.
Finally, his thirty minutes were up and though she was relieved to see he wasn’t allergic to hamsters, she was surprised at how much the weed shot festered on his arm. “We should dilute the serum and start you at an even lower dose when you get your next injections.”
“Whatever you say. You’re the allergy guru.”
She folded her arms. “And I won’t give you your shots next time if you don’t show me your EpiPen,” she said with firm resolve.
“You know how that turns me on, right?”
He pushed away from the podium, stopped in his tracks, then turned and gave her his special smile, showing charm enough to knock the stethoscope right off her shoulders. So much for resolve.
Not thinking about Gavin Riordan for the rest of the day would take every last bit of her rapidly depleting energy.
Between Beth’s busy schedule and Gavin’s weekend emergency department demands, they didn’t have a chance to spend any time together the rest of the week. He’d been grateful when she’d offered to take Patrick to the latest animated movie on Sunday afternoon, and that evening they agreed to meet up for dinner. Seeing her less than one week later, Gavin could have sworn Bethany’s breasts had gotten even bigger than he’d remembered.
She wore a loose tunic-style top, but nothing could hide the increased size of her chest. She radiated beauty and it took all of his strength to resist pulling her into his arms and telling her exactly what was on his mind.
They worked in the kitchen, side by side, preparing Patrick’s favorite meal, spaghetti. Even Patrick got in on the act, thanks to Bethany’s quick thinking.
“Wash your hands then tear this lettuce into this bowl. When you’re done, I’ll help you chop cucumber and tomato.”
Gavin smiled, seeing his son’s face brighten when he asked, “Can I hold the knife?”
“We can hold it together at first, then, when you’ve got the hang of it, I’ll watch and see how you do.”
“Cool!”
Gavin stood close enough to Beth to notice her faint perfume. He wanted to do so much more than that, like nuzzle her neck and inhale the scent of her hair. He wanted to taste her lips and caress her soft skin, too, but that would have to wait for another time.
Bright-eyed Patrick appeared to be just as infatuated, which posed a special problem if things didn’t work out. In a certain way Patrick was dating Bethany, too. And Gavin couldn’t bear to be responsible for Patrick getting his heart broken. His mother had hurt him enough by taking off for four months out of the blue. Did Patrick really need another woman to win him over, get his hopes up, then potentially let him down?
Gavin scratched his chin. Even the simple act of dating got complicated when kids were involved. Not to mention the baby on the way.
Even if things didn’t work out between him and Beth, he’d make sure Patrick knew and got involved with his half-sibling. Both children deserved nothing less.
A nagging reminder that he’d short-changed his son on so many levels was the only thing holding Gavin back where Beth was concerned. Every time he wanted to move forward with her, guilt—like a slip knot—pulled him back. He’d purposely stayed away all week. How could he juggle his new relationship with his son and bring Bethany into his life at the same time?
Watching them chop the vegetables made him long for the possibility of much more. Dared he dream that
Beth made her own garlic butter concoction for the bread, and she let Patrick spread it on before popping the bread into the oven to brown it. Being around her pulled on his heart more and more, awakening a whole new set of feelings he’d kept packed away since his divorce. Thoughts about being in love again, sharing his life with a par
tner, possibly being a blended family, kept pushing their way into his mind. With his new-found love of parenting and another child on the way, a kick of anxiety kept him edgy and worried he wouldn’t be able to pull any of it off. And one divorce per lifetime was more than enough.
After he’d poured the boiling water and cooked noodles into the colander, Bethany ladled on the sauce and they each carried their own bowl to the table. Gavin couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a family dinner in his home, but he liked the way it felt. By the look on Patrick’s face, he did, too. Gavin had hated being an only child being raised by his grandmother, having quiet, sedate meals. Patrick would probably love to have a brother or sister.
Bethany ate with gusto, which was a change from a few weeks earlier. Patrick tried to impress her with his ear-twisting, noodle-sucking trick. She laughed and gave it a try, getting spaghetti sauce all over her cheeks. Gavin wanted to clean her up with kisses. Instead, he gave his
But what about Beth? How could he give her what she needed—no, deserved—while being true to his promise to his son to be there for him, no matter what? Would Patrick feel cheated if he pursued a relationship with Beth? The questions blurred his concentration and made his head throb and, worse yet, made him lose his appetite. What should have been an enjoyable meal wound up churning in his stomach.
Later, after a heated game of Scrabble, he kissed Beth goodnight on the doorstep and fought an immediate desire for more.
They grinned at each other and he saw the flare of passion in her eyes. God, he wanted to pull her back inside, but every thought he’d been turning over in his mind crowded out the invitation.
Knowing it was cowardly, but needing some time and space to figure things out, he decided not to see Bethany again until her next obstetrics appointment when Karen Scott would do an ultrasound. And that decision proved to keep him awake and lonely most of the night.
A flight of butterflies fluttered in Gavin’s stomach at the thought of seeing what was going on in Beth’s womb. There was nothing like a black and white picture to make it real. He fondly remembered seeing Patrick at his first ultrasound ten years ago, the size of a mere lima bean. The
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