The Family Doctor (10 page)

H
OSPITAL
E
MPLOYEE
D
IES
of Hypothermia.

Kate imagined the headlines as she slogged up the path behind Tony. She hadn't anticipated rain, even though this was Vancouver. It had been hot and sunny for several weeks, and she'd expected more of the summery weather. But when her alarm blared at four-forty-five and she managed to unglue her eyes, the clouds outside her window were thick and it was already sprinkling.

She'd waited for him to call and cancel. Instead, he called and confirmed. And now, twenty-three long minutes into the walk, the sprinkle had turned into a full-scale downpour. Her jacket was dripping. Her bare legs were freezing. Her new trainers were sopping.

“This is invigorating.” Tony was marching along the pathway, using his cane, but still moving at a pace that made her pant, although at 6:00 a.m. the only pace she was truly capable of was a stationary one.

Horizontal
and stationary.

“Feels good, breathing in all this fresh air.” He drew in a deep lungful and expelled it.

She was trying not to breathe. All that chilly air made her shiver. “It's waking me up, I'll say that for it.” She swung her arms back and forth to get her circulation going. The effort exhausted her.

He trudged upward and onward. “The kids had a great time last night. They named all the hamsters after the dwarfs in Snow White.”

“Eliza told me. She also said that your mom spoiled them silly. She let them make sugar cookies and decorate them, and she made them burgers and fries for dinner, but she let them eat their dessert first.”

“Mom's big on ice cream as an appetizer. She has shares in Baskin-Robbins.”

“She's a pretty cool grandma by the sounds of it. In fact, Eliza said she was
way cool.
She's green with envy that McKensy has hamsters
and
a grandma.” It had been fascinating for Kate to learn of this entirely different side of Dorothy.

“Your ex doesn't have family?” He held a bush back so she could pass. Drops of water trickled down his unshaven face.

“Nope. He grew up in foster homes.” The path was rising at an astonishing rate, and Kate tried her best not to sound winded. “He married young, and then his first wife died when Eliza was only three months old. Scott had no experience at all with babies, and no one to turn to for help.”

“So you came along and rescued them both.”

“Yeah.” She tried to ignore the water dripping
down her neck. “Nurses are great rescuers. It's one of the things in our makeup that causes us the most difficulty. It's so hard to resist the impulse to rush in and fix everything.”

“So do you think you've got it licked now? That fixing addiction?”

She laughed. “I'm in recovery.” But was she? She thought of Scott and decided she had a ways to go. “I do one day at a time and I still have my slips.”

“And where does your job fit in with recovery? Seems to me you spend all your working hours fixing things between people.”

“Nope.” She shook her head. “I don't fix anything. All I do is give people guidelines on how to fix whatever it is by themselves. There's a big difference.”

Thank goodness they'd finally reached the top of the hill. Kate's heart was pounding. Clouds of mist obscured the city, so there was no view. She thought longingly of a hot shower, coffee, breakfast. In a tentative voice she said, “Tony, think we should head back?”

“God, I thought you'd never ask.” He gave a huge sigh of relief. “I didn't want to be a wimp, but I'm soaked and I've had enough of this walking in the rain.”

Kate threw back her head and gave a victory shout that startled Tony and echoed to them from the mists.

They made their way down the hill faster than they'd come up. Except for their two vehicles, the car park was deserted.

“Same time tomorrow morning?” He gave her a challenging look.

“Tomorrow's Saturday.” Weekdays were one thing, but getting up before dawn on the weekend horrified her. “I have to cut the lawn if this rain clears, so maybe we'd better stick to weekdays.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They stopped beside her car. As she fumbled in her pocket for the keys, she felt his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked up at him, and her breath caught in her throat. He was going to kiss her.

Getting up had been worth it, after all.

She tipped her head back, sighed and closed her eyes.

 

S
HE'D HAD HIS FULL ATTENTION
from the moment she'd climbed out of her car looking dazed and sleepy, hair tied in a messy knot at her neck, face shiny and free of makeup. It was a turn-on, because he'd never before seen Kate anything but perfectly groomed.

The green waterproof jacket she wore came below her shorts, which for some weird reason he found sexy as hell. As she'd walked ahead of him on the trail, he couldn't keep his eyes off her long,
slim legs. He couldn't keep from fantasizing that she had nothing on under the damned coat.

Now he slid a hand under her wet hair and drew her toward him.

She came willingly.

Tipping his head, he brought his mouth down on hers.

Her skin was wet and warm, her lips full and soft. She tasted of the coffee he'd brought her, and of the toothpaste she'd used, and of something subtle and sweet and intimate that was strictly Kate.

As he tasted her more fully, she made a small appreciative noise in her throat, and the sound excited him. Deepening the kiss, he dropped his cane and used his free hand to draw her closer, and her arms slid around him. Then she pulled back a little, unzipping his jacket and her own and sliding her arms inside.

It was intimate and thrilling. He could feel the water from her coat wetting his sweatshirt. He could feel her hands, warm and tentative and arousing, touching his back.

He closed his eyes and moved his lips from her mouth to her cheek, nuzzling her jawline, breathing in the fragrant, sweet smell of her neck when she tipped her head back.

“Kate. Katie. Katherine.” He breathed the variations of her name, liking the sound of it, the feel of it on his lips. He felt the shudder that ran through
her when he claimed her lips again, more aggressively this time.

A sharp clap of thunder startled him.

“Hell's bells.” He opened his eyes and squinted up at the sky just as rain began pounding down on them. “It's a bloody deluge.”

After helping her unlock her car, he hurried around to the passenger side and clambered in beside her. She started the engine and turned on the heater as rain pounded against the roof. For a while they sat side by side in silence, watching the torrent pour down the windshield.

“I like kissing you,” he finally said in a companionable tone.

“I like being kissed by you.” Her voice was as matter of fact as his had been.

He tried not to let his apprehension show. “So where do we go from here?”

“I'd say to work.” She pointed at the clock on the dash and grinned at him. “Wouldn't you?”

“Right.” She
was
right. There was no need to analyze what had happened. He reached over and touched her wet, sleek hair, smoothing it back behind her ears. He liked her ears, delicate and pinned close to her head. “I'll see you at the Admin meeting at ten, then.”

“I'll be there.” She smiled at him. “Dried off and properly dressed.”

“More's the pity.” He got out and made a dash
for his car, and by the time he got it started and the wipers going, she was driving away.

He sat with the motor running, thinking about Kate.

It's a big mistake, he reminded himself, getting involved with a co-worker. You know all the reasons, you've always claimed it wasn't something you'd ever do. And besides, she's not someone you can just have an affair with, O'Connor. She's got a kid, just like you do. She's responsible and respectable. McKensy likes her way too much.

For heaven's sake, man, it was only a kiss, not a roll in the flower beds. It was erotic, though. He thought of the way her breasts had pressed against him, nipples hard from the chill—maybe from more than the chill—and he shuddered. If the sun had been shining, he might have gone nuts enough to drag her into the flower beds, after all.

He smiled at his own insanity.
Me Tarzan, you Jane.
Sex for the sake of sex. Wasn't that supposed to be every man's fantasy?

One thing about it, fantasy sure as hell took his mind off other things. He hadn't thought about his mother or his father or Wilson or the impending visit for all of two hours now.

Get moving, O'Connor. You're gonna be late for work.

 

K
ATE'S PHONE RANG
that afternoon.

“For some reason,” Tony began, “I forgot to
ask you this morning if you'd sit with me at the kids' recital on Monday night? Mom usually comes, but she's got a bowling tournament.”

Kate hesitated. Scott had always come with her to the recitals, and Eliza loved having them both there. But if it came to a choice between sitting with Scott or sitting with Tony—no choice.

“I'd like that,” she said.

“Shall McKensy and I pick you two up, or do you want to meet us at the studio?”

“We'll meet you there.”

“Good. I'll get tickets and watch for you. I'll try to get us seats front row center. How often will we have the chance to see our very own troll and rabbit cavorting around a stage?”

“Not again in this lifetime, I fervently hope,” she said.

“The girls can't eat much before they perform, so I thought we'd all go out for dinner afterward—if you agree. There's an Italian place that's good for families. It'll be quiet on Monday night.”

Now,
this
was sounding a bit more like the kind of date she fancied. “I'll check with Eliza, but it sounds perfect. Thank you.”

Families, he'd said. She visualized him and McKensy, her and Eliza, waving from the windows of a green cottage with a white picket fence and a huge tree in the front yard. But then just where did Scott fit into that cozy picture?

“D
ADDY'S COMING WITH US
, right, Kate?”

It was Monday afternoon, and Kate was doing a final fitting on the rabbit costume Eliza would wear in the recital.

She'd hurried home, but it was already 5:20, and the show started at six-thirty. The costumes the school provided weren't new, and the fur had a tendency to molt.

Kate sneezed for the third time. “Hold still, I need to take this in a little right here.” So she was avoiding an answer, so what?

“Daddy's coming, isn't he?” Eliza was nothing if not persistent.

“Did you ask him?”

“Of course I did, a long time ago. He said he was gonna talk to you about it.”

Scott had. He'd said he hadn't had time to get a ticket and asked her to pick one up for him. He'd meet her at the studio but he'd be a little late. It was his usual system to avoid spending his own money.

Kate had told him he'd have to get his own
ticket, that she had a date. Scott had looked surprised, and then he'd laughed.

“You got a date for a kid's dancing thing? What is he, a little light in the loafers?”

Give herself credit, Kate thought, she'd managed to walk away without saying anything.

“Daddy
is
coming, isn't he, Kate?”

She was feeling uncomfortable. She resented being Scott's messenger. “I don't know, sweetie.” Why should she feel responsible for the bloody man? But it wasn't Scott she felt responsible for, she reminded herself. It was this beautiful little girl.

Eliza looked enchanting with her spiky hair freshly done, her cheeks pink with excitement, her long, gangly legs sticking out the bottom of the ridiculous costume. Now, if Kate could only get this darned tail to stay in the right place—

“But he always comes with you, you always watch me together.” Kate sighed. Eliza wasn't going to let it go.

“Not this time.”
The truth shall make you free.
“This time I'm not going with your daddy. Mr. O'Connor asked me to sit with him. I told you that, remember?”

Eliza jerked away and Kate stabbed a needle into her middle finger.

“Ouch, Eliza, you've got to hold still.” She sucked her stabbed finger. “We have to leave soon and this tail is drooping.”

“That's not fair.” Eliza's face was scarlet, her
blue eyes mutinous. “You should sit with my daddy, not with Mr. O'Connor.”

Kate struggled to remain calm. “Eliza, you know your daddy and I aren't married anymore. When people aren't married, they have other friends.”

“But you and Daddy are friends. You always sit with Daddy at my dance things.”

“I always have, yes. But tonight I'm not going to. That doesn't mean your daddy can't come on his own.” Kate was feeling worse and worse about this whole thing.

“But he won't.” Tears poured down Eliza's face. “You know he won't come by himself. He likes to come with you. And I want him to be there.”

“Then you need to tell him that.”

“
You
tell him. You're the grown-up, not me.” Eliza tore off the costume, splitting several seams that Kate had painstakingly stitched.

“If my daddy doesn't come, it's all your fault,” she hollered as she tore off in search of her father.

Kate sewed the costume together and had a quick shower, feeling tense and edgy. She put on a pair of amber silk trousers and a matching top, gave her hair a quick brush, and went looking for Eliza.

“All ready, sweetie?” The girl was sitting in Kate's kitchen, her costume stuffed in a carrier bag. Crossing her fingers mentally, Kate said, “Is your daddy going to come watch you perform?”

“He said maybe.” Eliza shot Kate an angry look,
and she didn't say another word during the drive to the studio.

Tony was waiting just inside the entrance. He looked at Kate and silently whistled, and for an instant she felt a rush of pleasure. But Eliza ignored his cheerful greeting, and once again Kate felt embarrassed by her stepdaughter's behavior.

Eliza didn't respond when Kate gave her a good-luck hug and assured her she was going to be the best rabbit that had ever danced a tap solo.

One of the dressers came and took Eliza backstage, and for the first time she could remember, Kate was relieved to see her go.

“I've snagged us the best seats in the house,” Tony said. “Is Eliza having a little attack of stage fright? I thought McKensy might, but she said she's enjoying herself too much to be scared. She disappeared the minute we got here.” He escorted Kate through the maze of chairs, seating her as he'd promised, front row, center. “Can I get you a drink? They have soda or coffee, and bottled water.”

“I need something cold and wet. Water, please.”

Tony left her, and Kate turned and anxiously searched the crowd for Scott. Surely he wouldn't let Eliza down. But there was no sign of him.

The noise level increased as more and more parents and friends arrived, and by the time the lights dimmed and the recital began, the small room was filled to capacity. Kate looked around several more
times for Scott. She knew it was unlikely in the extreme that he'd appear now, but for Eliza's sake she kept hoping.

“Here we go.” Tony reached over and took Kate's hand in his as first McKensy, wearing a green costume covered with scales, and then Eliza, with her bunny ears, fur bodysuit and crooked tail came on stage.

Kate caught a glimpse of Tony's face. It was filled with humor and intense pride as he watched his daughter capering across the stage. McKensy had spotted Tony, and although she wasn't allowed to wave at him, Kate could tell she was dancing her heart out for her father.

Eliza also saw Kate. Their eyes met, then Kate watched the girl scan the crowd, searching for Scott. When she didn't see him, she went on with her dance, but there was no energy in it.

Like all the dance recitals Kate had attended, this one went on far too long, but this time she wasn't bored at all. She was far too conscious of Tony holding her hand, of the way he'd threaded his fingers through her own, cradling her hand on his thigh, stroking his thumb across her skin and making her shiver. But she knew, too, that Eliza's sharp gaze had spotted them holding hands. There was no reason in the world to feel guilty, but she did.

When at last the final number was over and the curtain calls came to an end, they got to their feet and waited for the girls to finish changing and find
them. McKensy was first out of the dressing room. She flew to her father and threw her arms around his waist.

“Hey, duchess, you were the best dancing troll I've ever seen.” He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small box tied with gold ribbon. “My compliments, mademoiselle.”

“Ooh, Papa, thank you.” Eyes shining, McKensy tore open the box, revealing a delicate silver chain with a pewter troll dangling from it. “I love it, I love it,” she crowed.

Kate cursed herself for not doing something similar for Eliza, who walked slowly out of the dressing room just as McKensy asked Kate to fasten the troll around her neck for her.

“Eliza, over here.” Kate thought for a moment the girl hadn't seen them, because she stopped some distance away and stood in the middle of the crowd.

“Eliza?”

At last, she came slowly toward them.

“Eliza, you were wonderful,” Kate enthused. She drew the girl into her arms and hugged her close, kissing her cheek. Eliza's body was stiff, her expression stony.

Tony added his congratulations, and then pulled out another small box with the same gold ribbon from his suit pocket and handed it to Eliza.

“For the best of the bunnies,” he complimented.

“Open it, Eliza, I'll bet it's like mine,” Mc
Kensy urged. “Only you'll have a bunny instead of a troll, right, Papa?”

“I don't want it.” Eliza thrust the gift at Kate without even glancing at Tony or McKensy. “I want to go home now.”

“But we're going out to dinner.” Kate had to hold on to her temper. Eliza's deliberate rudeness was becoming intolerable

“I'm not hungry. I want to go home, Kate.”

“Would you excuse us for a moment, please?” Kate took Eliza's arm in a firm grip and marched her into the crowded washroom, searching for a corner that afforded a bit of privacy.

There was none. Every cubicle was full, and people were waiting in line. Kate bent down to Eliza's level, and in a quiet voice she said, “Okay, young lady, just what's going on with you?”

Eliza's mouth opened wide and she let out a shriek that had everyone in the room staring. When Kate tried to put her arms around her, Eliza lashed out at her with her fists and her feet, screaming, “Go away. I don't want you, I want my daddy.”

A blow to her cheekbone made Kate's eyes water. Then Eliza's foot connected with her shin, and Kate gasped in pain. She grabbed Eliza's fists in her own and held on. “Eliza, stop that this minute. Hitting is not allowed.”

“She needs a good smack, in my opinion,” an older woman declared, shaking her white head in
disapproval. “In my day, children weren't allowed to act like that.”

Two small girls watched from a few feet away, eyes wide. One of the mothers smiled at Kate, her expression sympathetic.

Kate took a deep breath, trying to focus on Eliza rather than her audience and her own exasperation. Eliza was still shrieking at the top of her lungs, and then the shrieks turned into words. “I hate you. Go away. I want my daddy.”

A cubicle was vacant, and Kate tugged Eliza inside and shut the door. Eliza slumped down on the floor, arms over her head, her shouts turning into sobs.

Kate waited for what felt like an eternity. She stroked Eliza's head and tried not to think about Tony and McKensy waiting outside. She tried to rationalize the frustration and outright anger she felt. She wanted to go out to dinner with Tony. She wanted Eliza to behave well, the way McKensy did. She wanted a chance tonight at a life that approached normal.

When Eliza had calmed somewhat, Kate said, “Okay, kid, we can't stay in this toilet all night. Tony and McKensy are waiting outside. It's not fair to just let them wait.”

“I don't care about them. I want to go home,” Eliza sobbed. “I want my daddy.”

“Okay.” Kate thought for a moment. “I'll drop you at home before the rest of us go for dinner.”

Eliza's head shot up and she glared at Kate with swollen, teary eyes. “I want you to stay home, too.”

Kate's patience was slipping. “Sorry, Eliza. I promised I'd go out to dinner with Tony and McKensy, and that's what I'm doing. I'll drop you at home first, though, if you're really sure that's what you want.”

“That's not fair.” Eliza began to wail again. “I don't want you to go with them.”

“Eliza, I'm losing my patience with you. Get up and we'll wash your face with some cool water, and then we're out of here.”

But Eliza stayed huddled in a ball on the floor.

At her wit's end, Kate got to her feet and lifted the heavy girl into her arms. It was like carrying a bag of limp, soggy laundry. Good thing she was strong, Kate thought, struggling her way out of the cubicle. Deciding to skip the face washing, she staggered into the reception area, which was now deserted except for Tony and McKensy, waiting on a bench near the door.

Tony got up and came toward her, extending his arms in an offer to take Eliza. The girl's face was buried in Kate's neck, but she must have seen through the corner of her eye what was happening, because she wound her arms so tight around Kate's neck it became difficult to breathe.

“Eliza, loosen up, you're choking me to death.” Kate's patience was nearing an end. She managed
to get a breath and gasped, “I'm sorry, but she's decided she wants to go home, so could I meet you at the restaurant?”

“We can follow you home, and then you can ride with us,” Tony offered.

Kate thought it over. “You're already late with your reservation. I'll meet you there.” She was furious with Eliza for causing such problems.

“Fine.” He wrote down the address and then put a hand on Eliza's head. “Bye, Eliza. I'm sorry you're not feeling well.”

Stony silence.

He slipped the little package he'd brought for Eliza into Kate's handbag and held first one door and then the other so she could dump her burden into the passenger seat of her car. Eliza curled into a ball and wrapped her arms around her head.

“See you in about half an hour,” Kate promised in a bright tone that belied the way she was feeling. It took every bit of her self-control to keep silent on the drive home. When she pulled up in front of her house, she felt the urge to scream. For the first time in weeks, Scott's beaten up old car wasn't in the driveway.

Foreboding filled Kate even as she snapped, “Okay, Eliza, here we are. Let's go find your daddy.”

But that was impossible, because Scott wasn't home.

 

T
HERE WAS NO WAY
K
ATE
could leave Eliza by herself, and four frantic calls confirmed there were no baby-sitters available at the last moment.

Feeling mad enough to smash something, Kate called the restaurant and told Tony she couldn't make it. She could hear the same disappointment in his voice that she felt.

Eliza was sitting on the living room couch, tears dry now, shoulders slumped. For the first time ever, Kate found it difficult to summon up sympathy for the little girl.

To calm herself, she put the kettle on and found a chamomile tea bag. Taking a deep breath she prayed for patience. Once the tea was steeped, she returned to the living room and sat down beside her stepdaughter.

“We need to talk about this, Eliza.”

But Eliza, her expression closed tight, got to her feet. “I'm going to have a bath and put my jammies on.” She started to walk away and then turned and gave Kate a woebegone look. “Please, please can I sleep in your bed tonight, Kate?”