Josselyn hadn’t bothered telling Dr. Drew Strickland that bit of information. Not when he’d seemed to be dismissing her concern about Dillon as much ado about nothing.
Maybe she doesn’t have a mother. Like me.
The boy’s remark was still haunting Josselyn. Almost as much as the sad shadows she’d spotted in Drew Strickland’s gorgeous brown eyes.
Chapter Four
Monday afternoon, thirty minutes before it was time to pick up Dillon from school, Drew was kindly escorted to the library by a teacher’s aide.
“No need to knock,” the dark-haired woman told him. “Miss Weaver is still here. She never leaves until long after the last bell rings.”
“Thanks.”
The woman went on her way and, taking a deep breath, Drew opened the door and stepped inside the world where his son had been spending an inordinate amount of time. Or so Miss Weaver had said.
Throughout the weekend, he’d thought about her call. The words she’d said and the way she’d said them had stuck in him like thorns of a briar branch. His son wasn’t getting the attention he needed at home. At least, not the right kind. She’d not uttered those exact words, but the tone in her voice had been clear, and that bothered Drew. Bothered the hell right out of him.
At first glance, he spotted a large oak desk situated close to a window. At the moment it was empty, and as he walked slowly toward it, he glanced between the tall shelves jammed with books. The aide had said Miss Weaver was still here, but the long room was as silent as a tomb.
And then he heard faint footsteps moving across the hardwood floor. Pausing, he turned toward the sound and waited for her to appear from the maze of bookshelves. When he did finally catch sight of her, his breath caught in his throat.
Miss Weaver had looked fresh and young and pretty at the picnic. Today she appeared totally different. From the bright red skirt that hugged her hips to the white blouse tucked in at her slender waist, she looked all-woman.
“Oh,” she said, as she looked up to see him standing at the end of the aisle. “I thought I’d heard footsteps. I expected to find one of the students.”
Drew waited for her to walk to him. All the while his gaze was taking in all sorts of little things about her. Like the fuchsia color on her lips, the black high heels on her feet and the way her blond hair curled against her shoulders. No wonder his son was spending so much time in here, Drew thought. Dillon probably saw this woman as some sort of enchanting princess.
“One of the aides escorted me here to the library,” he told her. “I...uh, hope I’m not here at a bad time. I thought I might talk to you for a few minutes before school lets out and I have to pick up Dillon.”
He could tell by the way she was sizing him up that she was surprised to see him. He could’ve told her he was just as surprised to find himself here.
“Of course,” she said. “Would you like to have a seat?”
“I would. Thanks.”
He followed her over to the front of the desk and eased onto one of two heavy wooden chairs angled to one side. He was expecting her to take a seat in the executive chair behind the desk, but instead she sat directly across from him.
Drew tried not to notice as she crossed her long legs and adjusted the hem of her skirt. But he did notice, and the fact irritated him. His job required him to look at the female anatomy all day long. He saw all shapes and sizes of women, ranging in age from the very young to the very old. The only thing that ever caught his attention was when he spotted a health problem. Otherwise, he was totally indifferent. So why was the sight of Josselyn Weaver’s legs making him think about things he thought he’d forgotten years ago?
Clearing his throat, he said, “I’ve been thinking about our phone conversation, and I realize I wasn’t exactly helpful. I’d had a rough morning at the clinic and my mind was, well, a bit distracted.”
“That’s understandable. We all get like that from time to time.”
Not like him, Drew thought. For the past six years, he’d tried to function as a normal person while half of his mind was thinking about Evelyn, missing her and cursing the accident that had taken her away. It hadn’t been easy. It still wasn’t.
“You’re being kind and I don’t deserve that.”
She studied him with an odd look and Drew was glad she didn’t ask him to explain the comment that had slipped out of him as though it had a will of its own.
“Dr. Strickland, I’m sorry if my call alarmed you. That wasn’t my intention. All in all, I’d say Dillon is a bright, intelligent, well-rounded boy. And I enjoy having him in the library immensely. It’s just that he’s going a bit overboard with the books and the time he spends here. Some days he ignores his lunch recess and spends the break time in here with me. He really ought to be out running and playing with the other children. I’ve tried to encourage him to do just that, but he seems to want to talk.”
Dreading what she might possibly say next, Drew invited, “Please call me Drew. And as for Dillon, I had no idea this was going on, Miss Weaver. Uh—what does my son want to talk about?”
The smile on her face could only be described as sunny, and in spite of himself, the sight of it lifted Drew’s spirits.
“Nothing strange. The kind of stuff that little boys are usually interested in. He talks about going fishing with his great-grandfather. And he mentions living on a ranch back in Thunder Canyon and riding horses with his other grandfather. Is that true? Or is that just a child’s wishes?”
“No. All of that is true. We moved here from Thunder Canyon a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was a bit confused. The other day in the park you mentioned your son was new to town, but I just assumed you’d moved here a few months ago, not a few weeks.”
He shrugged. “It would’ve been better for me and Dillon if we could have made the move a bit earlier—so that he would’ve had more time settling into his new surroundings before school started. But it takes lots of situating and planning for a doctor to leave his practice in the care of another physician. The first week of August was the earliest I could manage.”
“Yes, I can see where your job would make a move challenging,” she replied. “So this Thunder Canyon that Dillon speaks of, is it in Montana, too?”
He nodded. “South of Bozeman. My parents own a ranch a few miles out of Thunder Canyon. Dillon stayed with them while I worked at the medical clinic there. Mom and Dad are like his second parents.”
“So he did ride horses and feed cows and all that kind of thing?”
“Yes. As soon as Dillon was old enough, my dad let him tag along to do the chores. He’s taught him a lot about ranching.”
Her smile deepened as she openly studied him. “And what about you? Were you ever a cowboy?”
About a hundred years ago. Or that’s the way it felt to Drew. So much had happened in his life since he’d left the ranch and headed out to get his medical training. “I was born into that life and was raised helping my father work the land and the livestock. I know as much about that vocation as I do doctoring.”
“Hmm. You’ve surprised me.”
“Why?”
“You look like a doctor. Not a cowboy. And I should know. I have two brothers who work on a ranch outside Laramie, Wyoming.”
So she had brothers. What about sisters and parents? More important, what about a special man? Drew was shocked at how much he wanted to ask her about her personal life.
He said, “Well, like the old adage goes, you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Laughing softly, she gestured to the rows of shelves filled with books. “Yes, that I should definitely know.”
As he recalled from their brief meeting in the park, the sound of her laugh was easy and pleasant. Drew realized it would be nice to hear it again. And again. But he was intruding on this woman’s time and the bell was a
bout to ring. Dillon would be waiting at the car.
Drew rose from the chair and Josselyn joined him.
“Well, perhaps Dillon is missing the ranch,” he said, carefully steering the conversation back to his son. “Although he hasn’t indicated that to me.”
“Now that I’ve learned you’ve only been here in Rust Creek Falls a very short time, I understand Dillon’s behavior a bit better. Everything is new to him and his daily routine has changed. He’ll settle in soon.”
Drew wasn’t so sure his son’s behavior had anything to do with their move from Thunder Canyon to Rust Creek Falls. He figured it had everything to do with the boy’s wish to find his father a wife. But Drew wasn’t about to bring up that awkward subject to this woman. Once was more than enough. And thank God, she’d seemed to have forgotten Dillon’s outburst in the park.
“I hope you’re right.” He reached to shake her hand, but the moment she placed her hand in his, his initial intention was instantly forgotten. Instead, he simply held on to her fingers and relished the way their soft warmth wrapped around his. “Thank you, Miss Weaver, for your time and your patience with my son.”
“Please, call me Josselyn.”
Her gaze connected with his and Drew felt a strange jolt to his senses. Peering into her green eyes was like walking into a cool, grassy meadow. “All right, Josselyn. And hopefully this obsession Dillon has with the library will ease soon.”
“Oh, believe me, Drew, I want Dillon to continue to come to the library and for books to be a part of his life. Don’t worry. I have a feeling Dillon is going to find a happy medium.”
Clearing his throat, Drew forced himself to drop his hold on her hand. “That’s my wish, too.”
“Uh, before you go,” she said, “I’d like to invite you to a parents’ reading club meeting for the students. It will be held here in the library at seven this Thursday night. I’ll be talking about ways to get children interested in books and some of the new editions we plan to add to the school library this year. I realize your time is limited, but I hope if you’re free, you’ll think about attending.”
Oh, he’d be thinking about it, all right, Drew thought. Thinking about seeing her again. Damn it.
“I’ll see what I can do.” He glanced at his watch just as the bell rang. “Thanks again. I’d better go catch up with Dillon.”
As he hurried out of the library, he had the uncomfortable feeling that Josselyn was staring after him.
* * *
By a quarter past seven on Thursday night, Josselyn had decided that Drew wasn’t coming to the meeting. Which surprised her somewhat. When he’d shown up unexpectedly in the library to talk to her about Dillon, he’d seemed genuinely interested in making sure his son remained on the right track at school and at home. But maybe she’d read too much into that one exchange with the man. Especially when she’d been having all sorts of problems trying to concentrate on Dillon’s behavior rather than his father’s sexy presence.
The man was a doctor. He could be dealing with a patient tonight. Considering all the pregnant women she’d seen around town, he probably stayed busy delivering babies. Since she’d moved to Rust Creek Falls, she’d been told stories about Homer Gilmore spiking the wedding punch a couple years back, which resulted in the town’s baby boom nine months later. But as far as Josselyn could see, love and babies continued to be a hot commodity in the mountain community. Even without the aid of spiked punch.
Standing near a table set up with coffee, hot chocolate and punch, Josselyn was scanning the crowd when she saw the door to the library swing inward. The moment Drew stepped through the opening, her pulse leaped into a rapid flutter.
She wanted to walk across the crowded space and give him a personal greeting, but quickly decided against giving the locals anything to gossip about. Anyway, he was no different than any other parent here tonight. Maybe if she kept repeating that fact to herself, she’d eventually be convinced.
Over the rim of her coffee cup, she watched him make his way through the group of people. A few spoke to him in passing, while one woman actually grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside. Judging by the impatient frown on his face, Josselyn decided the middle-aged woman was probably using the impromptu meeting to get free medical advice.
Deciding it wouldn’t hurt to help him make a quick escape, Josselyn tossed her cup in a trash basket and made her way over to him.
“Hello, Dr. Strickland,” she greeted. “I’m happy to see you could make it tonight.”
He excused himself from the woman and turned to Josselyn with a smile of relief. “Hello, Miss Weaver. I apologize for being a little late. Things were hectic at the boardinghouse and for a while I wasn’t sure my grandparents were going to be able to watch Dillon. Thankfully things quieted down.”
“Well, after all the trouble you’ve gone to to get here, I hope you’re not too bored with the meeting. Anyone who wishes to express his or her views or ask questions is encouraged to do so. I’m not much of a speaker, but I am passionate about coming up with ways to get children to read. So I’m hoping this meeting will generate some helpful ideas.”
For the first time since she’d met the man, a faint smile crossed his face.
“I think your passion has rubbed off on Dillon. When I left the boardinghouse, he was actually reading a book to his great-grandfather. And it wasn’t the same fishing story.”
“That’s encouraging news,” she told him, then, realizing a few of the people in the crowd were looking in her direction, she glanced at the clock on the wall. “I’d better get things rolling before the guests get restless.”
* * *
Drew couldn’t believe he was using these few precious hours away from work to sit through a meeting about books and kids. The day had been especially stressful, with one patient developing toxemia, another suffering an early miscarriage and a third threatening to go into premature labor. He’d been forced to send the first two patients to the hospital in Kalispell, while the third he’d put on medication and bed rest. That had only been a portion of the morning. The rest of the day had been jammed with patients and endless interruptions.
To say he needed some quiet time was an understatement. But ever since Drew had talked to Josselyn Weaver three days ago, she’d been traipsing through the back of his mind, reminding him that he was not only a father, but also a red-blooded male. If he really wanted to be honest with himself, he’d admit that he was sitting here on a plastic chair in the middle of a crowd of strangers simply because he’d wanted to see Josselyn again.
And it was definitely worth it, he thought, as he watched her move away from an easel displaying a montage of colorful book jackets. She was wearing a pale pink sweater dress that clung to her slender curves, while her thick blond hair was pulled into a braided chignon at the back of her head. A single strand of pearls circled the base of her throat and matched the simple pearl drops hanging from her ears. She looked elegant and sexy at the same time, and Drew wondered why now, after all this time, this particular woman was pricking his interest. It wasn’t like he was searching for a wife, or even a lover. In fact, he seriously doubted he’d ever be capable of loving another woman in his lifetime.
So why was Drew wasting his time in a school library when he could be home with his feet up?
“Thank you all for coming tonight. And please feel free to contact me with any ideas or questions you might have about the library, or your child’s reading habits.”
Josselyn’s closing words penetrated his wandering thoughts and he looked around to see most of the crowd had left their seats and were migrating toward the exit. Drew waited until the last stragglers had spoken to Josselyn and departed the library before he left his seat and walked to where she was busy clearing her desk.
“Nice meeting, Josselyn.”
Glancing around, she smiled at him. “Thanks. At least I didn’t s
ee anyone sleeping. Just a few yawns now and then,” she added jokingly.
He gestured to the books she’d stacked to one side of the desk. “May I help you with those? Or putting away the chairs?”
She straightened away from the desk and Drew found himself looking directly into her face. Had she really looked this pretty the last time he’d seen her? That day in the park he’d felt like he’d been gawking at her, but apparently he’d barely skimmed her features. Otherwise, he would have noticed how her skin had an iridescent glow and her eyes sparkled with life.
“Thanks, but I’ll deal with the books in the morning,” she told him. “And the janitors will take care of the refreshment table and chairs.”
“Then you’re finished for the evening?” he asked, surprising her and himself with the question.
“All finished,” she replied. “Was there something else you needed to discuss with me?”
Drew felt like a complete idiot as a wave of heat swept over his face. “Nothing specific. I—uh—wondered if you might want to join me for a cup of coffee. Daisy’s Donut Shop is keeping later hours these days. It might still be open.”
She considered his invitation only for a moment. “It would be nice to unwind for a few minutes before I head home,” she said, then smiled. “Thanks for asking, Drew.”
A ridiculous spurt of joy shot through him. “The pleasure is all mine,” he murmured. “My car is parked right outside. I’ll drive you back here when we’re finished.”
“Sounds good. Let me get my handbag and jacket and I’ll be ready to go.”
* * *
Short minutes later, at a small table in one corner of the only bakery in town, Josselyn sliced her fork into a piece of pecan pie and lifted it to her lips.
The Little Maverick Matchmaker (Montana Mavericks: The Lonelyhearts Ranch Book 3) Page 5