by Ivy Wonders
Reagan was pushing me like crazy to keep me away from her, and she loved me. What would she do to this guy who she’d slept with but had no feelings for?
Of course she’d push him away. She wouldn’t want to deal with him for the rest of her life. She didn’t want to deal with me for even a few weeks, and we had something nearly perfect.
“Thanks for the talk, Jonas. I’ll see you around.” I got up to leave and then stopped and looked at him. “I’m thinking about coming aboard here at Saint Christopher’s. What do you think my chances are?”
Laughing, he assured me, “I think they’re great. It would be nice to have you on board, Arslan.”
Nodding, I walked away to think about how best to approach the elusive Reagan Storey. If not for her benefit, then for her son’s.
Chapter 12
Reagan
After leaving the hospital to avoid seeing Arrie, I went to my parents’ home to hang out there, not feeling completely safe from a drop-in from Arrie. Mom brought me a cup of hot chocolate as I sat at the kitchen table. “Here ya go, honey.”
Dad and Skye played some game in the den, leaving me free to come clean to my mother. “Mom, I’m ready to tell you about Skye’s father.”
“It’s the doctor they called in to work on your patient, isn’t it?” She smiled, clearly proud that she’d figured it out.
Nodding, I put the cup down, then clasped my hands in my lap. “Mom, I’ve withheld this information from everyone for so long, I don’t know how to come forward with it now. I’m afraid he’s going to hate me.”
“Tell me about your relationship with him.” She put her cup down too and looked at me like she was ready to fix my life.
As if it could be fixed. “We fell in love, though neither of us would say it out loud. We knew it had to end. He was graduating at the end of that year, and I still had to stay for three more. We agreed it would be best to let the other go, so we could each do what we had to without holding the other back.”
Lifting one brow, she nodded. “Very mature of you both. And now I understand all the crying you did when you came back home that first summer of medical school. You were heartbroken, and the man you loved was out of the picture.”
“And I didn’t even know about the pregnancy yet.” Thinking back to that terrible heartache, I had to admit it hurt nearly as bad now. “Mom, he wants me back. He wants us to start off exactly where we left off. He even mentioned moving in together and getting married in the not-too-distant future. And he wants to fill in as Skye’s father, too.”
Looking up, she thought about that a moment before looking back at me. “Reagan, that seems a bit on the fast side. Don’t you think?”
“Of course.” Taking a drink of the hot chocolate, wishing it was something stronger, I just wanted to stop thinking for a while. Maybe that would help. Just stop thinking about anything. Just for a bit.
Mom tapped her long nails on the table next to her as she thought out loud. “Okay, so you two had this previous relationship where you broke things off amicably to go to school for your careers. And then you meet up again after six years. This man knows he wants you in his life and he’s even willing to accept your child. A child which is his, though he has no idea of that just yet.”
“You got it.” I put the cup down and waited for her words of wisdom.
“I think you know what you need to do, Reagan.” She’d come up with a plan. “You’ve got to tell him the truth about Skye, and then see what happens after that.”
That’s not what I wanted to hear!
“Mom. He’s going to hate me. It would destroy me to see him look at me with hate in his eyes. I just can’t.” By her stoic expression, I could tell my words fell on deaf ears.
“All I heard in your statement were things about you. Not about Skye, not about this man whom you claim to have loved once.” Eyeing me with the look that always could dig into my very soul, she asked, “Do you still love this man?”
Twisting my hands in my lap, I nodded. “Mom, he’s the best man in the world. And the fact that I did this to him shames me to my core. I know I keep talking about how things will affect me. But I don’t want to hurt this man. I’m doing everything I can not to hurt him.”
“Let me guess,” she said with a wink. “You’re hurting him anyway by not getting back together with him. And you’re doing that so he never knows about Skye. And you know that is not the right thing to do too. Hence all this worry. Look how you’re twisting your hands, Reagan. You’re tearing yourself apart just to keep a secret that shouldn’t be a secret any longer.”
“I can’t.” I suddenly realized I’d said those two words more in this conversation than I’d ever spoken them in my entire life.
And my mother—never being one to say those words herself—picked up on that as well. “You can’t? Since when? Honey, you put yourself through med school while raising a baby. You might not want to have to swallow your pride and tell this man you’ve kept an important secret from him for six years, but you must do exactly that. You might not want to see the hurt in his eyes—hurt you have caused him—but that’s what has to happen for you to get to the other side of this.”
I hated when Mom was right. “But it’s going to be so hard. I don’t think I can make myself say the words, Mom.”
“Practice saying them, Reagan.” With a twinkle in her eye, she asked, “Do you love your father?”
She knew I did. “Of course.”
“And if I’d done what you’re doing, then you’d never have known him. And how different would your life be now if that had happened?” She smiled. “Might I remind you that your father put the idea of becoming a doctor in your head when you were a small girl? He bought you that doctor’s kit and let you test his reflexes.”
“Dad has always backed me in every way.” He hadn’t pushed me to do anything, merely helped me on whatever journey I had taken an interest in. “And that makes this even harder, Mom. Skye’s father has these great fatherly instincts. I know he’s going to be so mad at me for keeping him away from his son all these years.”
“And he surely might be mad at you, Reagan. And he’d have every right to be, wouldn’t he?” Mom had never been one to sugarcoat things. “But that is a thing you must deal with. And deal with it, you will. It will only get worse the longer you wait to tell him.”
As much as I’d been focusing on Arrie’s reaction, I knew that wasn’t the only thing holding me back. “Mom, Skye might be mad at me too. If I have to endure both of them being mad at me, I don’t know how I’ll be able to handle it. Other than you and Dad, they’re the only people I love in this whole world. To have half the people I love hate me seems too much to bear.”
With a sigh, she reached across the table and held my hands. “Reagan, your son loves you. He will forgive you. And I don’t think it will take him long at all. If this man loves you—which I assume he does, because who the hell asks someone to marry them within such a short amount of time?—then he will forgive you too. It may take him a bit longer as he’s an adult, but I bet he’ll forgive you. Then you guys can work on making a beautiful family. Does Skye look like him?”
Nodding, I smiled. “He looks almost identical to him.”
“Wow, a handsome doctor, Reagan. Lucky you.” She looked up as Skye ran into the room. Placing her finger to her lips, we silently agreed to say nothing else in front of him. “What are you up to, Skye?”
“I want to play outside, but Grampa said it’s too cold for him.” He jumped on my lap. “Mom, can you take me outside to play?”
The temperature had dropped after a cold front had come in the night before. “I’m afraid you’ll get sick if I take you out in this cold weather.”
“Well, I’m bored.” He climbed up onto the chair beside me, standing up, jumping up and down slightly.
“Oh no, you don’t, Skye Storey!” I grabbed him and sat him back on my lap. “You know better than to jump on furniture.”
His lower l
ip jutted out as he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s why I wanna go outside.”
Mom cocked her head to one side. “You know, it’s going to be very cold for this entire week. Might I recommend something to help Skye pass the winter days, Reagan?”
“What would that be, Mom?” I asked, knowing this would help her out too as she watched him over the week-long holiday break from school he had.
“You could stop off at the store and get him one of those Kindle devices. They’ve got ones for children with a text to speech function. He’ll be able to read stories with that and learn to read a lot better.” She picked up her own Kindle from the table beside her and showed me how hers worked.
Impressed, I asked Skye, “What do you think? Do you want one of those and I can download some children’s books? Would that be fun? Would that entertain you while it’s cold outside?” I tickled him a little, making him laugh.
“Yes, Momma, it would be fun!” He jumped off my lap then stood in front of me. “Can you get me a book about pirates? ’Cause I love pirates. I want to be one when I grow up. I forgot to tell you ’bout that the other day when I decided I want to become pirate. And I’m gonna need a parrot to sit on my shoulder too. And a patch for my eye.”
Laughing, I couldn’t believe how quickly he’d gone from wanting to be a cowboy to a pirate. “So, I don’t need to get you a horse and a cow anymore? Now it’s a parrot and a patch?”
Nodding, he took my hand, trying to pull me up. “Yeah. And a ship. A pirate has to have a ship, or he’s just a weirdo who wears colorful clothes and takes a parrot everywhere he goes.”
“Ah, a ship.” Getting up, I knew he and I needed to get going. “Not a problem at all. I can make that purchase easily. Who cares about those pesky student loans I’ve racked up? My son wants to be a pirate, and that has to come first.”
Skye ran his arms around my leg, hugging me tightly. “I’m glad you’re my mom and you care more about me than pesky student loans.”
I caught my mother looking at us. “Reagan, your son loves you. He always will. And hopefully, the other one does too. Whatever happens, you know what the right thing to do is.”
Running my hand through Skye’s dark waves, I whispered, “I know what the right thing is. I can do the right thing.” I had to pump myself up.
Skye took notice of my words. “Is the right thing to do to go to the store and get me that thingy that Grandma has?”
“It is.” I took his hand. “Let’s get our coats on, and we’ll go get you that Kindle. Then you’ll be reading before anyone else in your class learns half the words you’ll know.”
With his small fist pumping in the air, he shouted, “Yeah! I’m gonna be a genius just like my mom!” Skye’s mind quickly turned to his tummy. “And can we get cheeseburgers on our way home? I been wantin’ one all day.”
He thinks I’m a genius?
I felt so far away from that category, it wasn’t even funny. A genius would’ve already figured out how to deal with my situation by now. And I still didn’t know exactly how I’d go about doing the right thing.
But I would have to do it; I knew that much. And it would need to be sooner rather than later.
His idea for dinner seemed easier than what I’d planned. “Sure, we can grab dinner there after we shop for your Kindle.” It looked like our night was set.
Chapter 13
Arslan
After spending most of my day with Lannie and his parents, I decided to head back to the hotel. My hand on my cell in the pocket of my scrubs, I moved it around and around, wanting to call Reagan to invite her out for dinner.
Of course, I knew I couldn’t do that. But the temptation never went away. And the thought of taking her to eat had me craving something we’d often gotten together back in med school. Greasy cheeseburgers.
The lady at the help desk wasn’t busy, so I stopped to ask, “Do you know if there’s a good place around here to get a deliciously greasy cheeseburger?”
Pointing to the exit, she said, “Up one block, then take a left. You’ll go three more blocks, and you’ll see a burger joint called Tall Tales. It almost looks like a bookstore, but it’s not.”
“Odd name for a burger joint.” I nodded. “Thank you very much.”
The brisk air hit me as I left the hospital, and I pulled my jacket tighter around me. Glad I’d taken the time to change out of the scrubs and into jeans and a sweater, I hurried to the parking garage and to my rental car.
If I decided to stay, I’d need to buy a car. And I’d have to decide what to do with my home in Rochester, too. The more I thought about it, the more I knew I belonged here.
The Mayo Clinic might be the best hospital for neurosurgery in the United States, but neurosurgeons were needed all over. Including Seattle’s newest hospital. Saint Christopher’s didn’t have one on staff. I didn’t care what the pay was; we made a perfect fit.
I also had the feeling Reagan would come around eventually. She and I had it, the thing it takes to make a relationship work. She just had to get over some things. Like her fear of commitment. That had to be the real reason behind her objection to allowing me to even meet her son. I could be patient, though.
Keeping Henry on would be wise, too. He could drive her son to school for us and pick him up. That would take some of the babysitting load off her parents. I bet they’d like that.
Driving to the burger place, I found there wasn’t any parking, so I went around the block, parking behind some dumpsters. I highly doubted any trash trucks were running at six p.m. on a Friday night anyway.
I headed back to the burger place and walked in, the door dinging as I went through. There were only a few people dining inside the long, narrow building.
An older woman came out from behind a wall, wearing a grease-splattered black apron. “Welcome to Tall Tales. What can I get ya?”
The menu was written on a chalkboard hanging on the wall above her head, and it caught my attention. “Hi there. I’d like that double cheeseburger. With mustard and mayonnaise, please.”
“May I suggest our onion rings as a side?” she asked. “We make them homemade.”
“Sounds great.” I loved a good homemade onion ring. “And I see you make shakes too. How about a strawberry one?”
“Large?” she asked.
“Medium, please.” I didn’t want to splurge too much. The meal was already calorie-packed and full of fat—I would have to work out twice as hard before going to bed.
It wasn’t often I indulged this way. But that craving wouldn’t go away until satisfied. “You got it. $15.35,” she said.
I handed her a twenty. “Keep the change.”
“Oh my!” She seemed surprised. “Thank you. Go sit anywhere you like. I’ll bring it out to you when it’s done.”
As I went to take a seat, I looked at the empty bookshelves that lined each of the walls on either side of the restaurant. “No books, huh?”
She dinged a small bell to turn in my order. “No, we don’t have any books. We took this place over when the bookstore owner moved to Los Angeles. She took her books with her.”
Walking all the way to the back of the narrow establishment, I took a seat. It was darker in the back and I liked the anonymity. I settled in to look at the empty shelves, thinking how nice it would be to see them filled with books. Maybe not to sell, but to be available for patrons to pick up and read if they wanted.
Lost in the idea of filling those shelves, I didn’t realize the old woman was at my table. “Here’s your order.”
“Thanks. Hey, if someone donated books, would you have an aversion to putting them on these empty shelves?” I couldn’t stop the idea from coming out of my mouth.
“Who would do that?” she asked.
“Me.” I smiled at her. “Those shelves look like they should be filled. I think people would come to eat and read a bit. I’ll take care of the whole thing if you’ll let me.”
“Well, that’s a lovely
thought. Are you new to town? I haven’t seen you around,” she asked.
“I’m Dr. Dawson.” I reached out to shake her hand. “As a neurologist, I know the brain needs lots of exercise and stimulation.”
Crossing her arms in front of her, she rocked back on her heels. “Are you a doctor at that new hospital?”
“I’m there right now, but temporarily at the moment. Only seeing to one patient.” I saw a spark in her dark eyes that told me she might consider my offer. “But I’m going to see if I can become permanent. It would be my honor to help the community. I could start with the donation and upkeep of the books and the shelves. I’d hire someone to come in each day and take care of any messes and dust the shelves and things like that. You wouldn’t be out a dime or any of your employees’ time.”
Her lips pulled up to one side. “I like this idea of yours, Dr. Dawson.” She put her wrinkled hand on my shoulder. “If you do become a permanent part of that hospital and our community, I would love for you to do what you’re suggesting. Once you know if you’re staying or not, let me know, and we can kick it off.”
“Great!” Having a project always made me happy. Having one that would stimulate people’s brains made it even better. “Who knows, it might even increase your business.”
“Like I’d mind that.” She pointed to the wall behind my back. “We’ve got a lot of square footage behind there that we’re paying for but don’t have a use for. If our business increases, we could open this wall up and add on more seating. That wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all.”
Always one to promote good health, I had to add, “And if you’d put at least a few heart-healthy choices on your menu, you might increase the lifespan of your patrons, too.”
With a smile on her face, she let me know what she thought about that. “One step at a time, Doc. My grandson works the grill and weighs three hundred pounds. Heart-healthy isn’t even in his vocabulary.”