Doctor Daddy Read online

  As for the Internet business, it made no sense. She had a man, right here. They’d shared so much, and now Luke might not be leaving after all. Sure, there’d be issues to work out after Sean’s return, but with a full patient list, the practice could easily accommodate a third doctor.

  The possibility that Jane was shedding him as easily as Bart ate away at Luke. That didn’t seem like the Jane he knew. If he confronted her now, though, he had no idea what he’d say. Besides, she’d turned prickly as a pincushion.

  After work, he collected his daughters from Maryam’s. “Let’s go shopping. I want to buy Tina a bunny, remember?” Zoey said when they reached home.

  “Later this evening.” He had a list of groceries to get, as well.

  “What’s for dinner?” His daughter prowled into the kitchen. “Tina likes macaroni and cheese.”

  “She’s too young for that.” As a six-month-old, the baby was still on formula augmented by baby food and mashed fruit. “Are you hinting that you’d like macaroni and cheese?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Let’s fix it together,” he suggested.

  Zoey fetched a box from the pantry and Luke put water on to boil. He showed her how to measure the milk and salt, while Tina rolled around on the floor and occasionally sat up to watch.

  Day by day, they were becoming a real family, he reflected as they ate companionably. If only Jane were here.

  Had just a week passed since they made love? He’d been running on all cylinders, what with Pauline’s marriage, Zoey’s acting out, the arrest of Tina’s grandmother and his struggle to plan the baby’s future. Jane should understand how complicated his life had become. Why was she shutting him out again, as she’d done ten years ago?

  Luke wanted so much more from her, he couldn’t believe she didn’t feel the same way. For heaven’s sake, they loved each other.

  The lights in the room seemed to dim. He’d never thought his feelings through before, but now he recognized the utter truth of them.

  He’d held Jane at arm’s length, driving her away because of old, unrecognized fears. She’d sensed them, and she’d refused to accept anything less than full emotional commitment.

  Now what was he going to do about it?

  “Daddy!” Zoey called. “Somebody’s at the door.”

  His spirits lifted. Then, halfway to the entrance, he heard the chatter of girlish voices. Not Jane, after all.

  On the porch, Suzy Ching thrust a flyer into his hand. “You have to come to our party tomorrow afternoon, three o’clock. It’s at the Lorenzes’ house.”

  “We’re celebrating Historic Harmony Circle,” Carly piped up. “That’s what we’ve called our Web pages.”

  “There’ll be fresh-baked snacks,” added Brittany.

  He skimmed the colorful flyer. “I’m impressed with the way you guys put this together.”

  “You haven’t even seen the site yet.” Carly greeted Zoey with a hug. “It went live this afternoon. Can we come in and show you?”

  “Sure.”

  The girls provided the address. On Luke’s laptop, sharp graphics leaped out, proclaiming “Historic Harmony Circle” above a professional-quality layout of photos and text.

  There was Minnie’s cottage, sunlight gleaming on the handcrafted shutters and willow porch furniture. Beside it ran an interview in which the elderly woman recalled the World War II years before most of the development was built.

  At the girls’ excited urging, Luke clicked to the next page. “That’s you, Daddy!” Zoey exclaimed.

  Sure enough, the camera had caught him hefting a trash can filled with compost from Bart’s truck, and there was Jane, dumping the contents onto her garden. Even half-covered with dirt, she looked beautiful.

  “There’s the pool party.” Brittany directed his gaze to a montage of shots from the potluck. One showed Jane entering the enclosure, her arms encircling a bowl of pasta salad. She wore a wistful expression as she peered at someone just out of the scene.

  At me.

  “Look!” Zoey pointed to another photo.

  Carly had captured Luke surrounded by new neighbors. Instead of paying attention to his companions, Luke’s tiny image peered eagerly into the distance, his face filled with yearning.

  For Jane.

  His chest tightened. Why hadn’t he recognized sooner how much he loved her?

  This morning, she’d acted as if she’d already written him off. He had to win her back.

  For his entire adult life, Luke had drawn women easily. He’d never had to break through a barrier to win a lady’s heart. Now he had no idea how to proceed.

  Taking the mouse, Carly clicked on a link that read “Weddings.” “This is my favorite section.”

  “Mine, too,” Suzy said.

  “There’s Mom,” crowed Brittany as a new array of photos appeared.

  On the steps of a church stood Carly and Brittany’s parents, Diane and Josh Lorenz, flanked by their daughters. “We wore dark red because it was Christmas,” Carly explained.

  “It was cute the way Josh proposed,” her stepsister volunteered. “Mom thought he was fixing up his house to sell and move away. Instead, he asked her to pick out the bedroom curtains she liked because he hoped we’d be moving in with him.”

  Lower on the page, Luke glimpsed Jane in a pink bridesmaid’s dress at Brooke’s wedding. To his eye, she outshone fellow bridesmaid Renée. He supposed it would be rude to consider anyone more beautiful than Brooke was in her bridal gown.

  “Can you believe Oliver knelt down in the sprinklers when he proposed to Brooke?” Suzy giggled. “He was imitating her favorite romantic scene from a TV show, where it was raining.”

  “Since it rarely rains around here, he went with sprinklers,” Carly explained to Zoey.

  “Rafe and Sherry had a good story, too.” Brittany indicated a picture of Luke’s landlords in their wedding finery. “She’d pawned her favorite diamond earrings to pay her bills. Rafe redeemed them instead of buying a ring.”

  “She didn’t get a ring?” Zoey asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Suzy said. “He bought her one later.”

  “You’ve done an impressive job with this site,” Luke told his visitors. “You could hire yourselves out as Web designers.”

  “Carly did most of the work,” Suzy told him.

  “You still have to come to our party,” Brittany informed him. “There’ll be raspberry chocolate cake.”

  “Yes!” Zoey cried. “Can we, Daddy?”

  “Of course.”

  With only half his attention, Luke listened to the girls reviewing their plans for tomorrow. In the meantime, he began making important ones of his own.

  Chapter Seventeen

  If there was magic on the Internet, it eluded Jane.

  She should have been more precise about age, she reflected on Saturday morning as she read through the list of responses. She’d hesitated to specify a range, in case Mr. Perfect fell just outside the parameters, but she had no interest in an arthritic seventy-two-year-old whom she suspected hoped for a nurse. Medical profession indeed.

  None of the other prospects appealed to her, either. Neurotic, egotistical or just plain boring…slim pickings.

  Her phone rang. She hesitated, noticing that the caller’s number was blocked, but decided to take a chance. “Yes?”

  “This is the answering service, Dr. McKay. You’re needed at your office immediately,” said a woman.

  “I’m not on call.”

  “This is urgent. Please report to your office at once.” The caller hung up.

  How odd. Normally the service summoned Jane to the hospital. In fact, her office was closed on Saturdays.

  Come to think of it, that woman had sounded suspiciously like Brooke. Her number should have shown on the display but perhaps Brooke was using someone else’s phone.

  What on earth was she up to? Perhaps a surprise. It occurred to her Sean might have come to visit unexpectedly. She checked the blog where h
e was recording his experiences, but found no mention of a trip home.

  Perhaps she’d mistaken the voice. It could be a practical joke; over the years, many people had acquired this phone number. Perhaps she should call Brooke to double-check. Still, if her friends were planning a surprise, she hated to spoil it.

  Jane decided to go. She didn’t exactly have a busy morning ahead, anyway.

  She changed from her baggy sweats to slacks and a sweater, and applied light makeup. Thanks to Renée’s talents, her hair required only a quick brush to look shiny and soft.

  A few minutes later, driving along Central Avenue, Jane swung by the front of the office in an effort to spot whatever was being plotted. With the shades drawn, she couldn’t see inside.

  What the heck. She was too curious to simply go home.

  In the back, Jane found Luke’s car occupying its usual space. Had the same woman summoned him, or was he involved in this?

  Cautiously, she entered through the rear door into the quiet emptiness of the hallway. Her body quivered at a rush of memories from the evening when she and Luke had made love. His mouth on hers, his hands cupping her breasts…

  She had to stop doing this.

  “Hello?” No answer.

  Jane passed the nurses’ station. Above the desk, someone had hung a streamer dangling paper cutout booties and bottles. Was this a baby shower?

  At a bend in the hallway, she glimpsed light streaming out of Luke’s office. Teddy-bear-shaped Mylar balloons clustered around the door frame.

  “Okay, this is cute,” Jane called. “Whose baby are we celebrating?”

  Luke ducked to avoid the balloons as he emerged. His smile seemed uncharacteristically twitchy. “Come in and I’ll explain.”

  She got a weird feeling about this. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think.”

  He blinked. “What’s that?”

  As Jane strode in, he retreated. Suspiciously, she peered around his room for an infant. Nothing, unless he’d hidden it behind the desk.

  “You snared another baby, didn’t you?” Jane challenged. “Let me guess. A besotted unmarried mom has bequeathed her little darling to the great Dr. Van Dam, and you plan to sweet-talk me into helping you raise it.”

  “Not exactly,” he said.

  She assumed a dignified stance, marred slightly when a low-hanging pink streamer got tangled in her hair. Jane pushed it away. “Then what?”

  “You want a family, right? What would you say to two adorable little girls, and a father thrown in for good measure?” he asked.

  I can’t have heard right. She leaned against the desk to steady her suddenly wobbly knees. “Would you clarify, please?”

  “I’m asking you to marry me, Jane.” His gray eyes shone with violet depths. “Seemed premature for wedding bells, so I figured the baby angle might be fun.”

  There had to be a catch. “Luke, we’ve known each other how long? You’ve never showed the least inclination to…You’ve never considered me your…I’m not buying this.”

  He had never looked more befuddled. “I mean this, Jane. Why is it so hard to believe?”

  “You may have conned Brooke into calling me but I’m not that gullible.” What on earth was he trying to pull?

  Determination replaced his confusion. “I didn’t explain very well. Why don’t you sit down.”

  Since her legs refused to resume their normal function, she dropped into the nearest chair. “Well?”

  Then Luke did something so outrageous that Jane feared she’d dreamed this entire episode. He got down on one knee in front of her.

  The most elusive man she’d ever met gazed up at her pleadingly. “I’ve been running away from getting hurt all my life. Then I discovered that nothing could hurt worse than losing you.” He swallowed hard. “I don’t pretend I’ll make an ideal husband. I can be clueless, as you know better than anyone. But we belong together. Marry me.”

  Yes. The answer stuck in Jane’s throat. After holding her emotions in check for so long, she didn’t trust them now. Besides, why did he imagine he was the only person who feared getting hurt?

  “What I feel goes beyond love,” Luke went on. “It would kill me to lose you. I breathe you, Jane. You’re part of me and I want to be part of you, forever.”

  He fumbled in his pocket and retrieved a jeweler’s box. Surely he hadn’t bought a ring! Not the Luke Van Dam who’d slept with her in medical school and then accepted their estrangement with no sign of regret.

  As Jane’s thoughts tumbled over each other, he pried open the box. Against black velvet sparkled a flower-shaped ring with jeweled petals.

  He took a deep breath. “If you prefer a diamond, we can exchange it. Zoey insisted it was perfect, with you being a gardener and all.”

  “Zoey picked my ring?”

  “When the girls and I went shopping for the decorations last night, we stopped at a jewelry store. I told Zoey I was buying you a ring as a present and she insisted on making the choice.”

  She couldn’t believe this. “So your daughter knew about the proposal before I did?”

  “I just said it was a gift. I don’t think she understood the ramifications.”

  “Well, I’m sure Brooke did. Who else knows?”

  “The Little Foxes helped decorate on the condition that I give them the balloons and streamers for their party this afternoon.” His face flushed. “I’m not good at this stuff, Jane. I’m doing my best to be romantic.”

  Her fingers grazed his hand as she reached toward the ring. How real he felt.

  She definitely wasn’t dreaming.

  Inside Jane, a swell of emotions threatened to explode. She’d fallen in love with an unattainable dream because that was what her heart needed: an impossible love, a devotion that transcended limitations. But while she was struggling to protect herself, Luke had matured into a man capable of loving her back. A man who did love her.

  “I can’t believe…” Her voice caught.

  “Please,” he said. “Finish that sentence.”

  Restraint vanished. “I love you, too, like a whirlwind and an ocean storm and a volcano erupting all in one. I love you so much my head might spin right off.” Jane halted, breathing hard, as if she’d run all the way from safety to the edge of a cliff—a cliff that overlooked a glorious new vista.

  “Marry me?”

  “Yes!” She threw her arms around him so vigorously that they both tumbled to the floor.

  On the way down, he kissed her hungrily. Lying there, Jane got lost in his strength and the wonderful sensation of his body against hers. She had no idea how much time had passed until Luke said, “Would you say yes again? I want to savor it.”

  “You bet,” she said. “Yes, yes, yes!”

  They’d have made love, she felt certain, except that far too many people knew they were here and no doubt awaited the good news. Instead, they sat up and Luke slipped the ring on her finger.

  A little loose, but that was easily fixed. “Zoey has great taste, by the way.”

  “She’ll be thrilled when she sees you wearing it.”

  They kissed again, and sat grinning at each other until common sense prevailed. Finally they got up, retrieved the champagne left from her birthday and took down the decorations for the Little Foxes.

  Jane made a mental note to reclaim them after the party. Because in view of Luke’s talent for attracting babies, she never knew when they might need them again.

  MUCH AS LUKE LONGED to have Jane to himself, he knew that had to wait. So, after they drove away separately, he swung by Brooke’s house. There he retrieved the girls, handed over the decorations and quietly assured Brooke that all had gone wonderfully well but that she’d have to get the details from Jane.

  At home, he barely contained his excitement while fixing lunch and listening to Zoey’s account of how Tina and Marlene had become best friends. She’d woven an entire fantasy about how the two babies would grow up together.

  Indeed they would—righ
t next door to each other. Just before she took off in her car, Jane had said, “You’ll be moving into my house, right? Good. It’s bigger, and I could use the help in the garden.”

  He’d laughed. “Gladly.”

  They’d agreed to share their news with Zoey together and attend the Little Foxes’ celebration as a family. Jane would arrive at Luke’s shortly before the party. First, though, she’d wanted to handle a few matters, like removing her profile from the Internet and thanking Brooke for her help.

  Luke used the girls’ quiet time to call his parents with the news.

  “I remember Jane from when you were in med school,” his father said. “Great girl. Always liked her better than Pauline.”

  “You were way ahead of me,” Luke told him.

  As for his mom, she said, “I promise not to give you a painting for a wedding present. But I would appreciate an invitation.”

  “Are you kidding? You and Dad are the guests of honor!”

  “We haven’t seen each other in over a decade. I suppose he can manage not to yell at me this once,” Marie said.

  “He’s much mellower than he used to be.” Grandparenthood had accomplished that.

  “Glad to hear it.” Marie wished Luke well and hung up.

  He reached Kris, who congratulated Luke warmly. “You didn’t mention a fiancée the other night.”

  “I didn’t know she’d say yes.”

  “Well, I envy you,” Kris admitted. “I’ve wrecked two engagements. At thirty-six, I may have to accept that there isn’t a right woman for me.”

  “I’m only a year and half younger,” Luke reminded him. “You’ve got time. By the way, any chance of you being my best man?”

  “Anytime, any place, bro.”

  A short while later, their older brother, Quent, also gladly agreed to join the wedding party. “E-mail me when you set the date.”

  “Will do. And bring the kids,” Luke told him. “I’d like my girls to get to know their cousins.”

  “Excellent idea.”

  He’d barely clicked off when Zoey peeked into the kitchen, where he’d retreated to stay as far out of earshot as possible. “Who was that on the phone?”