The Doctor's Accidental Family

by Jacqueline Diamond

  Everyone sighed wearily but happily when they exited in Safe Harbor. Before moving here last month, Nick had driven Caleb on a tour of the town, including a stroll on the quay that bordered the harbor. Now the boy peered out the side window as they left the main boulevard. “Where are the boats?”

  “The ocean’s farther south,” Nick told him. “We’re almost to our house.”

  “Oh.” He sounded disappointed.

  Lucky drove slowly down their block and halted in the driveway. “I nearly clipped that silver sedan. Parked close to the curb, isn’t it?”

  Nick studied the expensive vehicle. “People who drive luxury cars think they own the world.”

  “Whoever it is, he has a doctor’s parking sticker,” Lucky observed.

  The last thing Nick needed in his current mood was to deal with an uninvited visitor, he reflected dourly as he unstrapped Caleb. His shoulders and arms ached, and the tasks of unloading the van and hauling the furniture from the garage remained to be done.

  Was there any chance their unexpected guest would pitch in? That slight hope faded when he opened the door to find Zady curled on the couch, Linda in her lap, while a lanky man lounged beside them, holding a book so they could all see the pictures.

  What a cozy image. It should be Nick there, sharing a happy moment with his family, not his look-alike. What the hell did Marshall think he was doing, horning in on Nick’s territory?

  Chapter Eleven

  Recalling her intention of creating a video log, Zady used her camera to capture Linda’s squeal of joy on meeting her new playmate. Caleb’s initial shyness melted into a grin as the little girl hugged him. Zady also caught the wonder on Marshall’s face as he observed the children’s interaction.

  The only sour note—which she avoided recording—was Nick’s scowl. That might be partly due to the grandparents’ refusal to part with Caleb’s furniture, she supposed after Lucky related the story, but why did Nick greet Marshall with such a curt nod?

  Her boss had been a lifesaver when Linda had awoken crying for her parents, and Zady was unable to reach them by phone. Inspired by her account of the possum, Marshall had brought a children’s book about exploring nature in the backyard, written and illustrated by a nurse at the hospital and her biologist husband. Although darkness was descending, they’d taken Linda on an exploration of the yard, an activity that had short-circuited her tantrum.

  They’d just settled down to read when Nick had arrived, followed minutes later by a pizza delivery. To Zady’s disappointment, Marshall declined to join them, no doubt in response to his cousin’s obvious antagonism.

  “I’m not really a pizza kind of guy,” Marshall said.

  “More the caviar type,” Nick remarked as he paid the Krazy Kids driver.

  Zady had an inappropriate urge to slap him. Mercifully, Lucky broke the awkwardness. “All we got were pepperoni and vegetarian. We tried to order licorice, but they were out.”

  “And strawberries, too,” Caleb said.

  “Have fun.” Marshall started for the door.

  “Don’t go, Dr. Marsh!” That was what Linda had started calling him, to his and Zady’s amusement.

  “If I stay, I’ll be a nuisance,” he said.

  Nick glanced thoughtfully at the little girl, who was hanging on to his cousin’s belt. “We could use another set of arms.”

  Another set of arms? That was how he referred to one of the country’s most gifted reconstructive surgeons? Zady narrowed her eyes at him. Ignoring her, Nick carried the pizza boxes toward the kitchen.

  “We’ll be maneuvering heavy stuff. You shouldn’t risk injuring your hands,” Lucky said.

  “I’m not made of glass,” Marshall replied. “I’d be happy to pitch in. And that pizza smells great.”

  “Sit with me,” Linda commanded.

  “So young and already bossing men around,” Lucky said. “I like this girl.”

  After washing up, they gathered at the table, a tight fit with three tall men, Zady and two wiggly toddlers. But it was fun, she thought.

  Marshall regarded his plate uncertainly. “No silverware?”

  “No nothingware,” Nick responded.

  “The goal of eating pizza,” Lucky said, “is to beat everybody else to the slice with the most good stuff on it, cram it into your mouth and snatch the next-best slice.”

  “Like this?” asked Caleb, and, missing his mouth entirely, smacked himself in the face with a slice.

  “Me, too!” Linda sang out, and plunged her hands into the pizza. Thank goodness Zady had made sure the girl had washed her hands.

  “Kids, try to remember you’re at the dining table, not in a zoo.” Zady’s remark aroused giggles. “Marshall, if you’d like silverware, I’d be happy to fetch it.” She hoped she remembered which drawer it was in. The spacious kitchen around them had several storage areas, including overhead cabinets, drawers and a pantry.

  He shook his head, his cheeks touched with red. “I’m game. In many places in the world, no one uses silverware.”

  “Because they’re starving?” Nick asked.

  “No, because it’s customary. Ever try Ethiopian cuisine?” Marshall asked. “You use a big round slice of flatbread as both your plate and your utensils. You tear off a piece, scoop up the food from the serving dish and do what Caleb’s doing now, preferably without the mess. It’s delicious.”

  “You’ve been to Africa?” Lucky asked, coming up for air.

  “More like Anaheim.” Marshall chose a slice of pepperoni. The rest of them had nearly finished their first serving. “They have a couple of great Ethiopian restaurants.”

  “I’d like to try one of those places,” Lucky said.

  “I’ll send you the addresses.”

  “Thanks.” Lucky regarded Nick. “So, how should we handle unloading and unpacking?”

  While the men sorted out their plans, Zady supervised the kids. A little spillage didn’t bother her, but when it migrated beyond their bibs, it threatened to stain their clothes.

  She tuned back to the conversation when Marshall said, “I’m not sure if you know, Caleb, but you’re named after our grandfather.”

  “Your grandfather?” Caleb asked.

  “Marshall and I are cousins, so we have the same grandfather,” Nick explained. “He’d be your great-grandfather if he were alive.”

  “You must have fond memories of him,” Zady said. “I presume that’s why you chose the name.”

  “He was a smart guy, if a little rigid.” He polished off his third slice. “Who’s ready for action?”

  The men pushed back their chairs and left. While they worked, Zady and the kids opened Caleb’s boxes to retrieve his pajamas. To her annoyance, Elaine had piled games and an old scrapbook on top of his clothing, and if there was a toothbrush, it had disappeared into the depths.

  “Never mind. I have an extra one,” she told him.

  To background noises of scraping and thumping, she helped the children brush their teeth and change. On the couch, with Linda on her lap and Caleb beside her, she read to them from the book Marshall had brought.

  Afterward, in her bedroom, the three of them sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” and Caleb helped her tuck in Linda with her favorite doll.

  In the front room, Zady remembered that she hadn’t heard from Alice and Bill. A check of her phone showed no messages or missed calls. Well, they’d been driving all day and must be exhausted.

  “Can I stay up late?” Caleb asked.

  “Just till the guys get your room ready.”

  She was debating what to do with him next, when Nick came in to announce they’d finished. Lucky and Marshall both took their leave.

  “See you in the morning,” her doctor said to her, flexing his shoulders. “Fortun
ately, I don’t have surgery. I might be a little stiff.”

  “Thanks, both of you.” Nick met his cousin’s gaze straight on. “You and Lucky have been troopers.”

  “Glad to help.” Approaching the couch, Marshall reached down to shake Caleb’s hand. “I enjoyed meeting you. You remind me of Grandpa, in the best way.”

  “Me, too,” the boy said, then looked confused when the grown-ups chuckled.

  After the guests left, he went to bed without protest. As Zady watched Nick say a prayer with him, she was pleased by how neatly the men had arranged his furniture, with a few stuffed animals on the bureau. While much remained to unpack, they’d done the hard part.

  The room was smaller than Caleb’s former one, and the sounds, including the occasional murmur of a passing car, reminded her that he’d lived until now in a rural setting. But tonight, regular breathing signaled that he’d fallen asleep almost instantly.

  “Having Linda here is good for him,” Nick observed when they were alone in the living room. Lint and dust flecked his brown hair and his usual clean, spicy scent was laced with honest sweat.

  “And Caleb’s a morale booster for her.” Zady perched on the arm of the sofa. “How will you handle his schedule tomorrow?”

  “Even though I have Mondays off, I plan to let him ride in the preschool van to help him get accustomed to the routine,” Nick said. “I’ll follow in my car.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Zady acknowledged. “What about at noon?”

  “They’ll send him to the hospital at lunchtime. Around one, I’ll stop by the day care center to reassure him that everything’s okay and make sure he eats lunch as planned.”

  “You’re a great dad.” Zady intended to pop in to visit Linda during her breaks, too.

  Still on his feet, Nick regarded her warmly. “I can’t imagine how I’d have handled this without you. Elaine was right. You’re essential.”

  “I don’t understand why she sings my praises.” Zady had barely met the woman, after all. “And some of her behavior is weird.” She described how the boxes had been packed.

  “Lucky and I both think she’s passive-aggressive. I guess I’m not devious enough to get ahead of her.”

  “She’s expressing hostility indirectly?” Zady hated sneaky people who smiled to her face while stabbing her in the back. Dwayne’s older daughter, Randi, had developed that unfortunate tendency when she’d reached her teen years, creating trouble by telling her father and mother lies about Zady after each visit.

  Zady wished she could have established a friendship with the girl. As a nurse, she’d taken the lead in explaining the facts of life to the children when their parents had neglected to do it. But Zady had been troubled to see Randi acting out as a young teen, getting involved with a boyfriend several years older. The girl had resented Zady’s concern, and Dwayne had dismissed her suggestion that he and his ex-wife seek counseling with their daughter.

  “That would explain why she jerks me around,” Nick reflected.

  Oh, right, they were discussing Elaine being passive-aggressive. “That’s too bad. I’m still not sure how I fit into the picture, though.”

  “Let’s hope this will all die down now that Caleb lives here. Especially since she and Bennie are moving into assisted living.” Nick strolled to a position behind Zady. “You did a lot of hauling today, too. Aching muscles?”

  “You bet.”

  He reached down, his fingers probing her neck muscles. Slowly, he kneaded them until the knots eased, then progressed to her spine. It was heavenly.

  The tension in Zady’s body yielded to a tingling awareness of how much she enjoyed Nick’s touch. His strength and his gentleness.

  She rested her head against his chest. Just let the warmth flow through you. It seeped into the lonely spaces of her heart, releasing old hurts, rejections, failures. The warmth cocooned her, Nick’s warmth.

  Her breasts tightened and a melting sensation spread through her. A longing to yield, to trust.

  But Nick wasn’t a fantasy guy. They were only beginning to get to know each other, and the challenges of sharing a house and child care meant having to be realistic. And on your guard.

  “Your muscles just tightened.” Nick’s hands stilled. “Is something wrong?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Not exactly in what way?”

  When he sank onto the couch beside her, Zady searched for an answer that would be honest but not too revealing. “I’m still figuring out where the boundaries are.”

  “Between us?” He stretched his shoulders. “Of course between us. Stupid question.”

  “The massage was great.” Although he deserved one in return, that would be too intimate, Zady decided.

  “You’re welcome.” Nick plopped his feet on the coffee table.

  “Shoes off.”

  “Hmm? Oh.” He kicked off his shoes before putting his sock-covered feet back on the table. “Have to get in the habit of setting a good example, don’t I?”

  “We’re parents now, in a sense,” Zady agreed.

  “This is like being married without the fun part,” Nick teased.

  “If I had more energy, I’d slap you.”

  “If I had more energy, you’d miss.”

  Her glance fell on the book, which she’d left on the coffee table. “Did you see this? A nurse and her husband wrote it, about exploring the backyard. Their little girl shot some of the photos.”

  Nick flipped it open. “Terrific. And already slightly smudged.”

  “After Marshall brought it over, he and Linda and I toured the yard with it.” It had been impossible to avoid a few fingerprints on the pages.

  “A gift from my cousin. Interesting.” Nick set the book down. “You admire him, don’t you?”

  “He’s been supportive about this whole move,” she responded. “And he picked out that book after I mentioned our close encounter with a possum.”

  “You bring out the best in him.”

  “There’s a lot of best to bring out.”

  If Nick had an answer, he must have been too tired to mention it. All he said was, “I’m going to collapse in my room now.”

  “Me, too.” Recalling the sleeping girl, Zady added, “Very quietly.”

  “I’ll lock up and switch off the lights. Now that I’m the man of the house.”

  “Okay, boss.”

  They’d survived moving in and sorting out the kids and their stuff, Zady reflected as she strolled wearily to her room. But she suspected there’d be many more hurdles ahead.

  * * *

  WAS IT POSSIBLE that for once in their lives, his cousin envied him? Nick wondered the next morning as he flipped pancakes, one of his few culinary specialties.

  Last night, he’d caught a hint of longing in Marshall’s gaze as they set up Caleb’s room with stuffed animals and cartoon-character sheets. And the man had gone out of his way to find a book that would please the children.

  If Marshall wished to get married and have kids, surely he’d have little trouble finding the right woman. The guy owned a house larger than this one and owed no med-school debts, plus he’d inherited a significant amount five years ago when his father died. Nor was he bad-looking. He could be charming, too, when he stopped passing judgment on everyone around him.

  In college, Nick recalled his cousin dating a lively girl named Belle. For several years, she’d joined family celebrations and given the impression they were all but engaged. After graduation, for reasons Nick never learned, they’d broken up.

  All day, curiosity about his cousin’s unexpected reaction to Caleb and off-duty friendship with Zady teased at Nick. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him, especially when matters were progressing smoothly in his new home. Zady had appreciated the breakfast he’d cooked,
and, as he’d hoped, having Linda around kept Caleb on course during preparations for the day.

  After following his son’s van to preschool, Nick had observed the first half hour of activities before concluding it was okay for him to leave. He had plenty of unpacking and organizing to do at home.

  Home. That’s what was troubling him—the possibility that Marshall not only envied him having a son, but coveted his closeness to Zady. The man had established a relationship with her outside the office, nothing inappropriate, but there were plenty of instances at Safe Harbor of doctors marrying nurses. The eminent Cole Rattigan had wed his surgical nurse. Come to think of it, Nick’s office mate, Jack Ryder, was married to his surgical nurse, too.

  Why should Nick care? Zady wasn’t his girlfriend, and she’d only promised to stay on as nanny for six months. Also, he refused to compete with his cousin in the romance department. A woman ought to be able to figure out which man she truly cared about.

  The problem was that, so far, Zady hadn’t shown any indications of falling for either of them. Since she was, in a sense, his employee, Nick supposed he should keep his distance. But did she have to be so much fun to hang out with? And did she have to have freckles that tempted him to play connect the dots all the way down her chest until he unbuttoned her blouse?

  Well, Nick had domestic duties. He headed for the supermarket.

  That night, he prepared vegetable lasagna from an internet recipe. It emerged runny, but everyone claimed to love it.

  After dinner, they took turns shooting videos of the kids romping around and performing a hilariously clumsy version of the hokeypokey. As a bedtime story, Nick found a website on his phone about the disputed history of the song and dance, which had been around since the early 1800s. There’d been versions known as the Hokey Cokey and the Hoey Oka.

  “This has nothing to do with karaoke, where people sing along with recordings,” he informed the children as the four of them curled on his queen-size bed. “That’s a Japanese term.”

  “You’re confusing them,” Zady said.

  “If children aren’t confused occasionally, their parents are oversimplifying things,” Nick replied, although he suspected she was right.